𝐍𝐎 𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘, 𝐍𝐎 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐄.양중원

..stop spreading the lies!!!

'just the two of us,
the deepening moonstruck,
oh you make me go crazy over you.'

'friday 5th october, 13:07pm.'

MINJI, yunah and jihye all sit around their usual bench during lunch time, as jihye hesitantly waits to break the news to them. she hasn't seen jungwon, not yet, and she figures it'll probably be best to wait until after today's council meeting to tell him, as they walk home together.

minji plays with jihye's hand as yunah slowly finishes off her lunch, beckoning jihye to speak up. jihye's not exactly sure why she feels so skittish- these girls are her best friends, and she shouldn't feel embarrassed talking about yesterday.

but the second she sees wonyoung and asami moving to join them, she closes up again. she looks to the side, trying to look anywhere but at the girls' she's supposed to be talking to, crossing her arms over her chest lightly. wonyoung seems to notice this, taking a seat beside jihye, comfortingly playing with her hair. "hey, jihye. what's up, babe?"

wonyoung knows what arin said. she works on the counter opposite arin and jungwon in food tech, and she heard it all. she didn't want to intervene there- she felt it would be mean to embarrass arin infront of someone she clearly liked a lot, but she was going to tell jihye anyways.

but judging by jihye's closed-off demeanour, she deduces now isn't the right time to introduce her to more drama in her life. now is the right time to listen, to understand, to be there for her. wonyoung isn't sure what it is bothering her, but whatever it is, she wants to help.

(and maybe it's an excuse to get closer to jihye too.)

jihye feels that nervous feeling in the pits of her stomach loosen a little, as she turns to smile at them all. "uhm. it's kinda awkward to say, but my parents are splitting. like, divorcing."

minji coughs, yunah almost spits her food out, asami widens her eyes, and wonyoung comfortingly moves to hug jihye.

jihye giggles at their reactions, and hugs wonyoung back. she smells like strawberries.

"i'm so sorry.." asami adds, as jihye chuckles. "don't. It's fine, i promise. well. maybe not, actually. i don't know." jihye sighs, burying her face in her hands with a tired groan. "not only that, my dad might move to literal new york and if I don't go with him, I stay with my mom. and things are really complex with her."

wonyoung winces, feeling really bad for jihye, because not only does she have family issues, she has a fake trying to start nonsense rumours about her. she doesn't know when to break it, but she knows that now is definitely not the time.

jihye falters, biting her lip softly to stop her tears from falling. asami clearly notices, as she holds jihyes hand, smiling charmingly. "i gotta go to the toilet. come with?"

jihye nods, almost gratefully, as yunah, minji and wonyoung watch the two walk away in sister-like worry.

asami and jihye sit in the stall, jihye fidgeting with her nails quietly. asami sighs, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "jihye, it doesn't hurt to tell someone, you know. say something. who do you want to talk to?"

jihye thinks for only a few seconds, before clearing her throat decisively. "jungwon. I wanna tell jungwon."

and meanwhile, wonyoung tells minji and yunah all she heard. minji frowns in disapproval, and yunah swears under her breath, promising she'd make arin absolutely cry if she saw her any time soon.

the student council meeting begins by jungwon providing the members their jobs.

and he starts off by giving jihye the most jobs.

she's not stupid. she understands social cues and she can feel his negative energy. he's angry at her, and she has no idea why, and its making her feel more miserable.

she coughs aggressively, jungwon glaring at her. "can you shut up for once?" he hisses, his tone so hostile she has to pause a bit to actually comprehend he just spoke to her like that.

but jihye is way too exhausted, both mentally and physically, to protest, as she quietly continues her work, suppressing sickly coughs behind her hand.

minji watches with a frown, as wonyoung and asami mutter between themselves, extremely unimpressed by jungwons tone.

and yet, none of them knew that it was the least to come.