I Feel [COMPLETE]

Paradise

( A/N: last chapter ahh! i'm sad it's over :< but enjoy!!! )

"Lose me to who? Soyeon?" I say, confused.

"Yeah, who else?" Shuhua huffed, not used to being this angry with me.

"So you're not in love with me?" I don't take her hands out of my grip until I know that she's not going to try to tackle me to the ground to kiss me or something.

"No, of course not. I just.." Shuhua was hesitant to go on, "if you and Soyeon get together, you won't spend any time with me. Yuqi, you're my best friend. Just the thought of you wanting to spend all of your time with her instead of me makes me want to cry."

"So you were trying to.. seduce me?" How does that make any sense?

"Yes," Shuhua admitted, embarrassed, "I'd thought that maybe if you liked me instead of her, I wouldn't lose you."

"Why do you think that you'd lose me?" I pull her in for a hug before she can respond, shaking my head softly at her antics. But I at least understood where she was coming from.

When Shuhua was fourteen, she moved from Taiwan to here in Korea. She attended school without knowing much of any Korean, and people made fun of her in front of her face because she didn't know what they were saying. But I was there to help her, being the only other student in the entire school who could speak Mandarin fluently. I translated things for her, got the bullies off of her back, sat with her through Korean language classes, and we just bonded.

Shuhua must be more thankful to me than I could ever imagine.

She pulls away from me with a sad smile. She opened her bedroom door just a little to let a whining Haku in. She pet his head softly, but her eyes were still serious and defeated. This isn't my Shuhua.

"That night after the party, you fell asleep before I did and," Haku licked her face, trying to cheer her up, "you cuddled me whispering her name. You still haven't told me what happened, by the way."

"I'm sorry, Shuhua, really, these past few weeks have been–"

"Confusing?"

I nod shyly.

"Yuqi, no matter how much I don't want it to be true.. she's something special to you."

"But that doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I ignored you for a while," I retort, admitting that I did something wrong.

"Girls, dinner time!" Shuhua's mother called.

Haku barked at me and Shuhua then dashed away as soon as he heard the sound of food entering his and Mata's bowls. I got a whiff of the delicious smell from the kitchen, and couldn't resist going there as well, even though Shuhua and I were in the middle for an important conversation. She followed me with a small sigh.

That night, we had another sleepover. I caught her up on everything that has happened between Soyeon and I, choosing not to skip over anything, even silly details. I don't exactly know how, but the conversation shifts to what Shuhua and Soyeon were talking about this morning.

It turns out, Shuhua was telling Soyeon to stay away from me and never talk to me again. A pillow fight erupted from that confession.

We were getting tired, but tomorrow is Saturday, so we can stay up as late as we want. Shuhua and I spent the rest of the night—until we fell asleep—devising a plan or speech to brief Soyeon on why Shuhua told her those things. We also played silly confidence tests online to see if I would be ready to ask her the question that's been lingering in the air.