Was It All For Nothing? - By Sarah Jaju

Tough choices (Part 28)

Min-Jae:

I was definitely not going to be one of those depressed guys after getting rejected by my best friend. Yeah, that probably sounded better in my head. 

After a long time Hae-Ri, Jessica and I had planned to meet at one of the cafés near our university. Weirdly, it felt like everything had changed between Hae-Ri and I; all those years of friendship felt like they were for nothing. Just because of my stupid confession, which was totally uncalled for, by the way.

Suddenly, my phone rang. 

"Nae, Jess. We're still on, right?", I asked nervously. I had to make it up to Hae-Ri, and I had to regain her trust. Also, I had to do it quick, before it was too late.

"Eoh, nae. I just felt like we needed to talk. We haven't talked much lately, have we?", she admitted.

"I guess thats true, but it's not necessarily my fault is it? I've been busy...but its not like you've got time either.", I mentioned.

"Min-Jae Yah. Hae-Ri told me about-", Jessica started, but I decided that I didn't want to hear it, as I knew what she was going to say next.

"She did? Well I expected that, to be honest. Can we not talk about it though? I wanna get over it. I wanna get over her.", I said, cutting her off rather rudely.

"Oh, of course! I get it. Are you okay though? I'm worried about you!", she said, to my surprise.

"Oh come on! You should be worrying about your oh-so-hot senior boyfriend right now, not me.", I said smiling, as I was happy for her.

"Yah! You knew about that?! Waah, Jinja! I did not expect that in the least. Like at all.", her voice boomed through the tiny speakers of my phone, and I winced in surprise, breaking into a short laugh.

"Mm, I knew about it, and I was also involved in helping Ho-Jin to ask you out for the ball, remember?", I chuckled, reached for the nearest pen on my table. I needed something to fidget with.

"Oh, right! Wow, yes, it does click into place now that I think about it.", she said, and I noticed the grin in her voice.

-awkward silence- 

"...you must hate him, don't you?", Jessica asks, and I sense the strain in her voice...she was forcing herself for me to open up to her, she must've truly cared.

"...who?", I ask, even though it's pretty obvious.

"Jeon Hae-Jun.", she continued, not giving up at all.

"I must say...of course. Who wouldn't, after getting replaced by him? But I do respect her opinion. She's the one who gets to choose, obviously. More than him or me, it's about her. Isn't it?", I said, my voice breaking.

"Min-Jae, please don't tell me that you think you're not worthy of her?", Jess silently spoke, making the tiny vibrations tickle my ear.

I didn't reply; there was no point; she wouldn't understand.

"Min-Jae-Yah! That's messed up! Don't do that to yourself, you deserve someone who wants you, someone who thinks of you as more than a friend. I know it's hard, but you've gotta put her behind!", Jessica said, and once again, I winced. This time, because I new it was the truth, yet I couldn't bring myself to believe it.

Jessica:

6 o' clock. 45 minutes remaining, alright, I could finish my tasks by then. Number one, change my bedsheets; number two, change my pillowcases; number three, water my table-plant; and lastly, get dressed.