Summer Serenade x Reader

28

After a long day at university, my mind was still reeling from everything that had happened. Yoongi's words had stuck with me, and I knew I couldn't leave things the way they were with Jihyo. As soon as I got home, I took a deep breath and decided to call her. My heart was pounding as the phone rang, but I knew this conversation needed to happen.

Jihyo picked up after a few rings, her voice cautious. "Hey, Y/N."

"Hey," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. "We need to talk."

There was a pause, then she sighed. "Yeah, we do."

I took a deep breath. "Jihyo, I don’t want to fight with you. But I need to understand what happened. Why did you tell Lisa about Jungkook and me?"

Jihyo was silent for a moment, then she spoke, her voice soft and filled with regret. "Y/N, I’m so sorry. Lisa... she manipulated me. She made me feel like I was the outsider in our group, like you and Yuri had something special that I wasn’t a part of. She twisted things around, making it seem like I was always the third wheel. I guess I was feeling insecure, and I let her get into my head."

Hearing her words made my heart ache. I could feel the pain in her voice, and it made me even angrier—not at her, but at Lisa. How could she do this? How could she use my best friend's insecurities against her?

"Jihyo," I said, trying to keep my voice calm but firm, "Lisa is toxic. She knows exactly how to push our buttons and make us doubt ourselves. But you should have come to me or Yuri if you were feeling that way. We’ve been best friends for so long—I would never want you to feel like you’re not a part of our group."

"I know, Y/N," she said, her voice breaking. "I was stupid. I let her get to me, and I betrayed your trust. I don’t know how to make it right."

I felt a surge of anger, not at Jihyo, but at Lisa. "It’s not your fault, Jihyo. Lisa played you, and she played me too. But we can’t let her win. We have to stick together, you, me, and Yuri. We can’t let her tear us apart."

Jihyo sniffled on the other end, and I could tell she was crying. "I’m so sorry, Y/N. I don’t want to lose our friendship. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it right."

My anger melted away, replaced by a deep sadness for what we had both gone through. "I’m not going anywhere, Jihyo. We’ll figure this out together. But we have to be more careful from now on. Lisa will do anything to drive a wedge between us, and we can’t let her."

"Thank you, Y/N," she whispered, relief evident in her voice. "I promise, I won’t let her get to me again."

We talked for a while longer, trying to rebuild the trust that had been shaken. By the end of the conversation, I felt a little more at ease, knowing that our friendship was still intact, even if it had been tested.

As I hung up the phone, I couldn’t help but feel a burning anger towards Lisa. She had tried to use my best friend against me, and that was something I couldn’t forgive easily. But for now, I was just glad that Jihyo and I were on the same page again.

I knew this wasn’t over—Lisa wouldn’t give up that easily—but at least now, I wasn’t facing her manipulations alone.

A few days later, Jungkook was set to celebrate his 22nd birthday, and he had planned a big party at his family’s farmhouse. It wasn’t just a small gathering—he had invited half of the university, including Lisa and her gang, which made me a bit nervous. I knew we had to be cautious around Lisa, especially after everything that had happened.

But before I could dwell too much on that, there was something else I needed to focus on—finding the perfect gift for Jungkook. It was his 22nd birthday, and I wanted to give him something special, something that would show him just how much he meant to me. The problem was, I had no idea what to get him.