Bittersweet | Do Kyung-seok

𝟭𝟲. numb to the feeling

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
'cause one second it was perfect

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     𝐓he day before the festival was always the busiest time of the year at Hankuk University. Everybody was preparing. There was not an inch of the university that wasn't busy with students and holding a bunch of materials for their creative kiosks and activities to be set up for the most awaited event.

     As for Chaewon, she could not be bothered surrounding herself with the same obnoxious people at the meeting. Honestly, it was just getting too much and she was afraid she'd finally lash out at them.

     She helped get the tables out of the building and into their own bar tent, leaving just as soon as she arrived so she wouldn't have to converse with the other senior guys who were so intent on keeping her there. Chaewon wasn't stupid. They only wanted to talk shit about the other girls and compare them to each other if they weren't flirting with them.

     Her nightmare wouldn't seem to end. It was only starting to get worse. When she returned inside the building to grab another set of tables, it turned out their uniform had arrived and everybody━the girls━was already changing into them. Chaewon already wanted to poke out her eyes when Yoonbyul handed her the uniform.

     "That's the uniform?" Yoonbyul crossed her arms as she and Eun, Yena, and Tae-hee all looked at them from head to toe. "I don't like it."

     "Me neither," Eun muttered.

     "It's shit," Chaewon said through gritted teeth as she pulled down the back of her skirt for the umpteenth time. Mirae looked uncomfortable beside her. Soo-ah and Jihyo were the ones who looked happy about it. "It's white and red and short. This is horrible."

     "You said you picked the design with them."

     "Well, Jung-yeob and Jungho said this design is nice, so I just went along with it. The skirt looked a bit longer in the photo."

     "Who said it was a good idea to let the men do that in the first place anyway?" Chaewon scoffed.

     Nobody said a word.

     "What do you think?" Soo-ah glanced at her and Mirae. The latter looked the most uncomfortable but Chaewon was just furious. "Will you be okay in this uniform?"

     Mirae hesitated. "I'm a bit..."

     "You don't like it?" Soo-ah narrowed her eyes. She almost looked annoyed. "Let's not wear this if Mirae doesn't want to."

     "Why are you putting it on me?" Mirae said defensively.

     "Right!" Chaewon said almost too eagerly. "Put it on me. Because I do not want to wear this at all if it only satisfies the others."

     "Are we allowed to not wear this uniform?" Jihyo asked.

     "What are you doing?" Then the door opened and all the guys rushed inside. Chaewon instantly rolled her eyes at the sound of their voices. "We'll have customers soon."

     Jung-yeob shamelessly gaped at them. "Our bar will be packed. You girls looked exactly as how I imagined."

     "None of us imagined this," Yoonbyul retorted.

     The other guy behind him stepped forward rather uneasily and said: "Isn't it a bit too short?"

     "What are you talking about? I've seen many girls in skirts like this."