Recovery

Chapter Twelve: Summer

Kwangsun placed two packaged sandwiches and a pair of water bottles on the table, stuffing his wallet back into his pocket. He exchanged glances with Daeun, frowning.

"Sorry," he mouthed. "It looks like we'll have to go hungry tomorrow."

Chaewon nibbled at the gifted food, sniffling. Slowly, her emotions simmered down, leaving her silent.

"I can't believe him," she mumbled. "What an asshole..."

Kwangsun and Daeun watched the two eat in despair. The latter held the towering man's hand, tightening her grip as her stomach grumbled.

"It's okay," Kwangsun whispered. "Everything will be alright."

Daeun nodded, nuzzling her face against the man's arm. After the two swallowed their last bites, Kwangsun rested his cheek atop his fist.

"Anything you two would like to say, or get off your chest?"

"I hate him," Chaewon grumbled.

"Hate?"

"He pretended to not like me for all this time before going behind my back and living out his fantasies in hopes I wouldn't find out," Chaewon explained. "I'll never forgive him."

Kwangsun, eyed the empty wrapper in Chaewon's hand, "But what if him doing whatever he did with another girl was his sign of respect for you? Him choosing to not try anything with you could show that he cares about your guys' relationship; enough to the point that he suppresses his desires just for you."

"Still..." Chaewon trailed. "He didn't have to pick someone that looked like me."

"Well, this is kind of also your fault-" Kwangsun flinched from Daeun's pinch, causing him to chuckle nervously. "What I meant to say is: while, from what we know, what he did was pretty douchey, he is not the sole person to blame. He doesn't seem like someone who would party like that, so I would assume you brought him to the party."

Kwangsun turned to Gaeul, eyeing her aimless stare into the table. "How about you, Gaeul? How do you feel?"

"Down," she replied.

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Gaeul sighed, "Nothing. What can I do?"

"Not saying it's the most morally right thing you can do, but you can swoop in and comfort Y/n while he sulks," Kwangsun proposed. "He might not be able to handle seeing that girl, so he might end up alone. That is, if you can handle seeing him though."

Chaewon sighed, "Speaking of not being able to see him, can I stay at your place, Gaeul?"

"My dorm isn't really suited to house you..." Gaeul trailed

"Why not?"

Gaeul scratched her head, "It's a little complicated..."

"You can stay at our place," Kwangsun offered. "It's probably nowhere near as spacious as yours, but I'm sure we can figure something out. We'd just need to do something about our food situation."

"I can pay for our food," Chaewon replied. "I have a lot of money saved up from working for Mr. Kim- I mean Y/n."

"I don't know... you shouldn't spend your saved money like that," Kwangsun mumbled.

Chaewon waved dismissively, "It will be my form of paying rent."

"If you say so..."

Chaewon placed her backpack and a suitcase against the front door's wall, resting the grocery bags wrapped around her arms on the ground.