between the spolight - purinz ✧

the games she played.

yunjin's pov —

the hallway was quiet as chaewon and i walked side by side, an unspoken promise lingering in the silence. i could feel the lingering tension in her grip on my hand, but for the first time in days, i felt certain we were facing it together. whatever giselle had tried to stir up between us, we had pushed back. and now, after finally talking through everything, i realized i couldn't let giselle keep slipping past boundaries. it was time to set things right.

as we rounded the corner to the common area, i paused, pulling chaewon to a stop beside me. "are you sure you want to do this?" i asked, studying her face.

she looked back at me, her expression steady, her eyes more certain than they'd been in a while. "we have to, yunjin. she'll keep going if we don't."

with a final nod, i steeled myself, focusing on the door at the far end of the hall. the light under the crack told me giselle was inside. with chaewon's hand resting on my arm for support, i knocked, and after a few seconds, the door creaked open.

giselle's eyes widened when she saw us. her usual confidence faltered for a split second, but then she gave us a soft smile that felt as calculated as it did false.

"yunjin, chaewon. what a surprise," she said, her voice calm, almost too calm. she didn't step back to let us in, and i could see the wheels turning behind her eyes, trying to figure out what we knew, what we wanted. "what brings you here so late?"

i glanced at chaewon, then took a step forward. "we know what you did, giselle."

her smile wavered, her eyes darting from me to chaewon. "i don't know what you're talking about."

chaewon crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "enough with the games, giselle. we know you lied to me. and to yunjin."

for a split second, giselle's face twisted with something dark—frustration, irritation—but she quickly masked it, forcing a fake look of concern. "chaewon, are you really going to take her side? after everything we talked about?"

she looked at chaewon as if i wasn't even there, and i felt the weight of it—a kind of intense, possessive fixation that made my skin prickle. i thought i'd seen glimpses of it before, but standing here, watching her eyes linger on chaewon, it was clearer than ever. thid wasn't just about driving a wedge between us. this was something else, something deeper.

"stop pretending," i said, my voice low. "we know about the kiss."

the calm facade she'd tried to hold cracked, just for a second. "oh? you mean the kiss that happened because you let it happen?" she spat, her eyes flashing with something close to anger. "or are you trying to rewrite history now, yunjin? i told chaewon because she deserves to know the truth."

"the truth?" chaewon scoffed. "you mean the twisted story you made up so you could get between us?"

i saw something shift in giselle's expression—a flash of vulnerability, a fracture in her careful mask. but then her gaze hardened, and she looked directly at me. "you didn't tell her about all the times you led me on, did you?" she said, her voice sharper, louder. "all those times you kept me close, only to pull away?"

i felt chaewon's hand tense on my arm. giselle's words hit me like ice, but I kept my voice steady. "giselle, i was always clear with you. whatever you thought we had—whatever you wanted it to be—it wasn't there."

giselle's face twisted into a sneer, the calm, friendly facade completely gone now. "oh, really? is that what you think? because i've seen the way you look at me, yunjin. you kept me close when it was convenient, let me believe i was special to you, only to throw me aside for her." she gestured sharply at chaewon, her voice laced with bitterness. "and now you want to blame me for trying to hold on to what we had?"

"we never had anything," i said firmly, forcing myself to meet her gaze. "what you're doing isn't love or friendship, giselle. it's manipulation."

a tense silence fell over us. giselle's face twisted with anger, but beneath it, i caught a glimmer of something else—something raw, vulnerable, even hurt. for a moment, i almost felt sorry for her.

almost.

she let out a hollow laugh, crossing her arms as she looked at me, then at chaewon. "fine. maybe i did go a little far. but if you think you two are going to come out of this unscathed, think again. people are already talking, yunjin. they've noticed the tension."

chaewon's jaw clenched, and she took a step forward. "if you think you can control what happens between us, you're wrong. whatever you try to do, whatever you say—we're stronger than that."

giselle's expression flickered with frustration, but then a slow, twisted smile crept across her face. "we'll see."

with that, she stepped back, giving us a little wave before closing the door in our faces.

the hallway felt colder as chaewon and i walked away, the tension of the confrontation lingering in the air. i couldn't shake the sick feeling in my stomach, the heavy realization of just how far giselle was willing to go to tear us apart. and part of me couldn't help but wonder how many others she'd hurt this way, how many others had believed her lies.

chaewon's voice cut through my thoughts. "are you okay?"

i took a shaky breath, forcing a smile as i looked at her. "i am. i just... i didn't realize how far gone she was. i thought i knew her."

chaewon gave my hand a reassuring squeeze, her eyes warm and steady. "you did what you had to do. we both did."

in that moment, i felt the weight of everything—the anger, the betrayal, the frustration—begin to lift, replaced by something quieter, stronger. we walked back to my room together, her hand in mine, a renewed sense of trust and resilience settling between us.

we'd faced down the lies, confronted the manipulation. giselle's threats lingered in the back of my mind, but standing beside chaewon, i knew one thing for certain:

whatever came next, we'd be ready. together.