pretty pleated skirts , 이바다

007

dahee stood outside the classroom door like she always did. she always waited for bada to show up, but that eagerness grew after saturday night. she was nervous, but she really wanted to see her. to dahee's dismay, bada didn't show up to school that day.

—

     bada stepped inside of the restaurant, and walked towards the table doyun sat at. she pulled out her chair, and sat down.

     "hey," doyun said with a smile, "how have you been?"

     "i didn't come here to chit-chat," bada shut him down, coldly.

     "i know. i was just hoping that maybe things would be different when you got here," doyun said before taking a sip from his drink.

     "look— when my mom set us up... i was really happy, and you've done nothing wrong. it's me. i'm the issue," bada inhaled sharply, "when i asked you if we could take a break... it was because i— i needed to figure things out, and—"

     "do you like girls?" doyun cut bada off. "sorry, it's just... the things i've heard. it's hard to not think so. just tell me you're not and we can be alright, okay?" the boy pleaded.

     bada's face went cold, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. "n-no, i'm—" her voice was shaking.

     "bada... be honest with me. please."

     bada tapped her foot loudly, and fidgeted with her fingers. she didn't know how to be honest with him. "i-i'm sorry, i—"

      "so i guess we are over? right?" doyun said looking directly at bada who couldn't even look at him. she wanted to cry. she wanted to call her mom and cry in her arms, but she knew she couldn't.

"doyun, i'm sorry," was all bada could say.

"yeah," doyun angrily stood up and grabbed his coat, and walked out the restaurant.

bada immediately began to cry as she sat at the table alone. she covered her face with her hands, and cried her heart out in front of all those strangers.

—

bada walked into her apartment only to be met by her mom sitting on the couch. she hoped that her face wasn't red and puffy, but it didn't matter anyways.

"what the hell, bada," her mother exclaimed. "i get a call from your school that you're absent, and then i get a call from doyun telling me that you broke up with him? how could you?"

"i don't want to talk about it, mom," bada said as she turned to go to her room, but her mom grabbed her wrist, turned her around, and slapped her across the face. bada could feel tears welling in her eyes as she stared down at the ground.

"why do you always have to ruin everything? i provided you with a loving boyfriend, and what? you throw it all away? how dare you."

"how dare you. i don't want a loving boyfriend. i never did. i wanted a loving mother, but you just couldn't give me that, so you threw doyun into my life to make up for it. am i right?" bada yelled as she looked up at her mother, crying.

"i provide you with a roof to live under, and food to eat. i'm the reason you live comfortably because your father couldn't give you that. shouldn't that be enough?" her mother yelled back.