Nocturnal Buddies ✩ Yang Jeongin

Chapter 40

It felt like Hyunjoo's hand was forced- she felt like she needed to speak up immediately. The four friends even worked late into the night to gather evidence that went against Jiyoon's claim. Hyunjoo would later post them on her account to expose the younger girl's true nature. This included the tweet that Jiyoon had tried to delete- the one with Jeongin and Minho, along with her text messages in their group chat.

Hyunjoo felt uneasy the entire day she was on campus, feeling like people were constantly watching her. She knew that people were still going to hate on her, and she was well aware that they'll continue to choose Jiyoon's side.

Despite being surrounded by two of her friends, she felt too anxious to be out in public. Areum and Jaehyun tried to keep her mind off of it, but they noticed how each laugh and response was delayed. She was too preoccupied with being consumed by her fear that she couldn't even pay attention to her surroundings.

All her fears would be confirmed when two guys, who didn't seem like they attended the university, approached the three friends. They were shouting at Hyunjoo, and their presence made it clear that they weren't fans of the older girl either. Attention was drawn to the five, causing Hyunjoo's mind to spiral into a panic due to all the eyes. She hated confrontation, but she hated the unnecessary attention more than anything.

Her breathing felt like it started to constrict with each step those two guys moved toward her and her friends. The sound of her blood pulsated loudly in her ears, as her heart started to slam against her rib cage. She started to scan around, hoping to find a campus officer nearby, but everything appeared hazy for her. Her eyes would eventually catch onto someone holding their phone up, recording the whole ordeal.

The immense feeling to throw up right there and then was overwhelming. It felt like her whole body was giving up on her, growing weak with each passing second Areum tried to handle the situation as maturely as possible. Jaehyun noticed Hyunjoo starting to grow faint and immediately went to aid her. Her overwhelming anxiety ate at her without mercy, leaving her defenseless when one of the guys pushed past Areum to get to her.

The guy peered down at the girl who was seconds away from having a panic attack, lips curving up amusingly into a grin. "Yo, I think this bitch is about to pass out," he laughed, drawing his friend's attention away from the younger girl.

"Leave her alone." Jaehyun tried his best to cover his friend, but there was only so much he could do.

Hyunjoo wanted to speak, but she couldn't- all her words were blocked by the lump in her throat. She swallowed down her saliva a few times, desperately wanting to force it down, but it failed every time. Tears started to prick her eyes, and that's what she hated the most, showing some stranger her vulnerable side.

"Aw, is the little, baby bitch going to cry?" the guy cooed, taunting her.

She knew, she knew more than anything that something was going to come of this. People would make fun of her for not being able to defend herself, or they'll call her a bitch for defending herself. Her stomach was twisting and turning with nausea, but she didn't want to stand idly and just let her friends protect her. With everything she had in her, she pushed down the fear crawling its way up and stood up straight, wiping away the tears that formed in her eyes.

"Please leave us alone," she said dryly, eyes locking with the male that came to taunt her.

The guy's lips pulled into an amused smile at the sudden change. "Please leave us alone," he mocked in a high pitched voice. He turned his attention to his friend, who was preoccupied with Areum. "Dude, do you hear this bitch?"

"Why are you here?" Hyunjoo calmly asked, not entirely sure of their motive.

"Because you made our Jiyoon sad," he answered, drawing his attention back to the older girl. "We're here to make you pay."