YOU, ME, & SHE • |KTH AU| •

thirty-four

My heart is pounding as I glare across the table at Jennie. She averts her eyes guiltily, staring down at her plate.

How could she be so careless? What now?

"Well?" Taehyung says impatiently. "How do you girls know each other and why hide it?" His eyes drill into me, then flick to Jennie demanding, "One of you had better start talking."

I glance at him briefly before my eyes flick back to Jennie, but she still won't look at me. How dare she?? She's the one who slipped up not me, she should fix this mess.

"I said talk, damn it!" Taehyung slams his fist on the table, making us both jump. Jennie lets out a little whimper, shifting uncomfortably under the weight of Taehyung's stare. After a moment, she clamps a hand over her mouth, pale face contorting. "I think I'm gonna be sick," She mumbles through her fingers before bolting from her chair and out of the room faster than a jackrabbit.

Go figure she'd bail and leave me holding the bag!

Now all eyes are solely on me as Taehyung, Iseul, and Hyejin wait for me to talk. Well, I've nothing to say. I shove a huge forkful of scrambled eggs in my mouth, and chew and chew and chew, making my intention clear.

Taehyung lets out an angry sigh, pushing back from the table and standing. "This is not over." He murmurs to me before stalking off after Jennie.

As soon as he's gone, I quickly stand up to leave too. But before I can bolt, a hand closes firmly around my wrist. I turn to see Iseul frowning up at me, holding me in place.

"Oh no you don't," She says, grip tightening. "You're not leaving until you tell us what's going on. I'm sick of you keeping things from me."

I glance between Iseul and Hyejin helplessly, and they stare back with identical impatient expressions.

What the hell do I do?

Several long seconds of silence stretch out until Iseul pushes herself up from the table.

"I can't believe it," She mumbles, hands balled into fists at her sides. "Remember when you bailed on me after I asked about you and Jennie? I didn't stop pestering you after that because I'm stupid. I just thought that if I'm chill and patient, then you'd eventually open up to me. But now I'm seeing you never had any intention to do so."

She takes a step closer, jabbing an accusing finger against my chest. "I don't understand why you're so uncommunicative. We're meant to trust each other fully, Narae, that's what best friends do. But clearly that trust only ran one way for you. How could you keep such a big secret from me all this time? And why, and what else are you keeping from me??"

A few angry tears escapes Iseul's eyes as her voice rises. "Our friendship means everything to me, but it's obvious it isn't the same for you. You value your secrets over my feelings. Well I refuse to be an afterthought anymore. From now on we do things my way — with full transparency — or not at all."

Iseul closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. "And for the record, I know you have feelings for Taehyung."

I open my mouth, but she raises a hand to silence me. "It's no use denying it, I'm totally convinced. And I feel like such a fool for not picking it up sooner. You've been so good at hiding it that I didn't pick it up until recently. And I've been waiting for you to tell me all about that too." With that, she spins on her heel and storms away.

I drag my hands down my face with a groan.

"What a charmingly chaotic situation you've orchestrated for yourself..."

I open my eyes to see Hyejin watching me with a sardonic smirk on her face.

"Color me impressed at your knack for creating catastrophe." She clicks her tongue patronizingly.