He Started It by Hitting on Me

You Don't Know

It's the best time to read when you're alone in a silent school library with no one around you. Or maybe it's better for a scene in a horror movie. Not wanting to eat for one of the most rare times, I sat in a slightly uncomfortable chair with a book in my hands. Lunch was crowded with tons of teenagers I'd rather stay away from. I really am antisocial, aren't I?
It's also the best time to get out of Key's hands; he's been bothering me with things like, "You like Jonghyun~" or "Face it girl, you will get for this boy one day." Does anyone understand how difficult and annoying it is for a guy like Key to keep saying things like those? God, I swear I will lose my sanity and rip him to pieces with my bare hands. Do you see what that dinosaur does? He's causing me to think about ripping my best guy friend into pieces.
I don't like him. I don't like Jonghyun. Why can't Key seem to get that? I don't have feelings for Jonghyun. I shifted in my seat and gave out a sigh. He's merely a friend. Nothing more that that.
Again with this, Mi Young? You know Key's right. He's always right, remember? You like Jongh-
Shut up! Just shut up! I don't.
You're just as stubborn as him. He was like this when he was denial the first time. Eventually you'll stop denying it.
Leave me alone. You know nothing.
Your conscience is always right. You have feelings for him.
You're just as worse as Key.
I groaned mutely and pressed a hand against my forehead hard. This was common recently-for a few weeks I've been fighting with my conscience on this dreadful topic. Our constant arguing was never finished. We were always going at it. And oddly enough, it reminded me of Jonghyun. I shook my head almost vigorously. Stop thinking about him. That'll just make things worse. Just stop it. Stop it. I went back to my less than interesting book and went on reading.
The library's door to enter opened as I heard someone coming in and then it closed lightly. I blinked and went on scanning the page about a boy who lost an apple supposedly. I didn't hear footsteps until I felt a presence close by. Having the need to look around, I took my eyes off the page and stared into the eyes of Haneul. Her overly perky smile waved hi at me. I nodded at Haneul. "Hey. I thought you left again," I admitted, not really wondering why she wasn't present most of the time.
"Nah, I just have a lot of work to catch up on. Teachers are really rough here," Haneul muttered, taking a seat across from me.
I raised my eyebrows slightly and nodded. "Yeah, they tend to be like that in Korea," I answered.
Haneul giggled. "Why are teachers like that, though? Can't they be nice?"
"I think some are. We're just unlucky, you know?"
"I know," Haneul laughed lightly, her pearls glittering in my sight. I stared at her for another second, and then went back to my tedious book. Several minutes passed by as I read two whole pages of the guy not finding the apple. He was starting to become suspicious of where it may be. At first I wasn't looking around the room to see if she was still there, when she actually was. It wasn't until later I slowly looked up from my book and stared at her smiling face.
I blinked. "Can I help you?" I asked with no emotion.
"I'm bored~" Haneul chirped. I almost grimaced at the sound of her squeaky voice.
"You should go to lunch or something then. That's what you have, right?" I asked. Haneul shook her head. I raised an eyebrow. "No?" She nodded. "Yes?" I said, scrunching my nose. "Make up your mind."
"I don't have lunch this period," she replied.
"So you have a free period?" I tried.
She shook her head once more. I gave her a bewildered look. "Then why the hell are you skipping class?" I asked.
"I'm not," she replied simply.
Okay. This is officially weird. I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why are you here then..." I mumbled, trailing off.
"I don't go to this school," she told me, her face blank of expression. I widened my eyes at her, giving her a look of 'what-you-talkin'-about'. She ignored that as she said, "I came here without transferring."
I raised an eyebrow. "Okay...I'm confused right now..." I said slowly.
"It's the same with the hospital," she stated, not blinking once. "They didn't notice me. I blended right in." Wow. So she was part of a mental institute. "They let me wear the nurse uniform and they let me do whatever I wanted to do. So I helped Hea Won unnie out."
My eyebrows rose to the point until my forehead creased. "Excuse me?" I asked, wanting her to repeat it once more.
"Hea Won unnie was doing pretty well and I had to give her some medicine to help her out. She was healthy, except for a few bruises here and there. That wasn't what I wanted, though. So I mixed some wires around, and now she's living fine on her own."
It took me a moment for realization to smack me in the face. I widened my eyes yet my brow wrinkled. "You did that?" I whispered, my heart jumping over once.
"It shouldn't be kept a secret anymore," Haneul replied blatantly.
I suddenly found my teeth grinding against each other. "You...you ing killed her," I growled loud enough for her to hear. Anger found itself in the acid of my stomach and began to boil rather quickly. Haneul's impassive face remained undisturbed. "Why?" I asked.
"We have our reasons," she replied.
"But you don't have a goddamn reason. You barely know her. Why the would you do that?" I asked, my nails clenching onto the book I was holding.
"Why wouldn't I?" she raised an eyebrow. "It's not like she had so much to live for."
I glared at her. "You're ing mental," I spat.
"You're no better than me, Mi Young." Haneul did not sound anywhere near the annoying voice I was used to. She sounded normal. She would have been considered that if it weren't for the words coming out of her mouth. I put the book down and let my hands spread on the table.
"Was this reasonable? Do you know how much trouble you've caused this past month?" I asked.
"I am aware of everything I have done. It was what I wanted. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Have you ever heard of that?"
My fists clenched tightly until my knuckles turned to an odd shade of white. "Listen, , I want to know why you did what you did. You had no right to do that. She was my best friend-"
"That's exactly why I did it," Haneul interrupted.
I blinked once. "What..."
"Course you wouldn't understand. You were always this slow. I've made of that inference when I first met you," she replied. I glowered at her. She kept on talking. "You see, Mi Young, I was always here. I didn't leave. I was just waiting for the perfect moment to strike again."
I kept silent, waiting for her to go on. "You were busy with your friends and life, with college and your things, so I waited until it was just right to let it all go downhill. Have you wondered once in that time where I was gone? No, you didn't. And that is where you made your mistake. If you had been wondering at all, you'd have your suspicions of where I was and what I was doing. I'd say myself I did a pretty good job at making your life more miserable than it already is, right?" she smirked a bit, the corners of her mouth slightly upright.
The damned masochist of this girl. My hand found its way to her collar and I pulled it towards me roughly, her head going along. She stayed expressionless as I did so. I glared at her. "I knew you were no good. You were always a little deep down inside," I growled at her, shaking her once.
"Another mistake: I was always like this on the outside. My facade has done pretty well, don't you think?" she asked a rhetorical question, her curls bobbing as she cocked her head to the right. I pulled her in closer, my eyes burning through her glazed ones. "You're not a threat to me, Mi Young. You know I'm stronger than you. I can throw you to the ground right now and you'd be bleeding quite dreadfully. It's only because you're that weak...and you're weaker now, thanks to that lover of yours," Haneul commented.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I hissed at her.
"It's obvious you and Jonghyun are much more than what you guys used to be, though it seems you're more dense than he is...and more afraid to admit it."
"I do not like him, got that? And he is nothing of this business, so leave him out of this," I retorted between clenched teeth.
Haneul's short chuckle caused her shoulders to bob gently up and down. "He's part of the reason why I killed Hea Won in the first place. Ah, I remember her face when I came to visit her. She was smiling, being kind, though she was the one covered with gauze. It seems like I didn't hit her well enough when she was in the car-"
"You did that, too? You sadistic , what the hell is wrong with you?" I almost yelled, shaking her back and forth.
"And then she died a slow, painful death. I adored the look on your face when she died. It was the best one I've ever seen, and much better than the ones in movies as well," she mentioned. Having enough of what I was hearing, my fist was arriving towards her face. As soon as it landed on her cheek without much force, she spoke, saying, "Go ahead, Mi Young. Do it and beat me up. Just get it over with. Punch me."
I was going to go along with what she said, but didn't do anything. I realized where we were and what we were doing. Slowly, my hands let go of her collar and face, as they both crept over to me. I kept still.
Haneul clicked her tongue. "I knew you weren't going to do it. You fear what might happen if you did do it. I guess the past has changed you..." She began to get up from the chair and then stood in front of me. I looked up at her with a solemn expression. Her mouth turned into a sinister smirk. "But you're still pathetic."
She left after that, without a goodbye, without a look back. She was gone from the library and out of my sight. As soon as she disappeared, all I could think about was Hea Won's face after she died, over and over again.