dandelions｜kim dohoon

chapter five - hidden thorns 🌹

the days following her quiet confession to dohoon were a blur of emotions, each moment more intense than the last. yewon couldn't help but replay his words over and over in her head, the way he had smiled at her, the warmth in his eyes, the promise of something real. yet, beneath all of that, something had shifted-something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

it wasn't just the uncertainty that gnawed at her, though that too lingered in the back of her mind. there was something else: a pressure, a weight that seemed to grow heavier with each passing day. and it was all thanks to aeri.

yewon tried to brush it off at first, thinking that maybe it was just her imagination. aeri's smiles, too sweet and too perfect to be genuine, had always made her uneasy, but she had been willing to ignore it, thinking that her rivalry with aeri was nothing more than a petty schoolgirl problem.

but now, it was different.

yewon could feel the venom in aeri's eyes whenever they crossed paths, the way she would subtly position herself between yewon and dohoon, always finding a reason to interrupt their conversations. it was as if aeri had become a constant presence in her life, a shadow lurking just behind her every move. and yewon hated it.

the worst part? aeri's passive-aggressive jabs were always wrapped in a delicate shell of sweetness. to everyone else, she was the picture of kindness and grace, the perfect vice president, the ideal student leader.

but yewon could see through it all-the way aeri's words dripped with hidden contempt, the way she would deliberately go out of her way to embarrass her in front of others, to make her feel small.

and yet, despite all of this, dohoon remained oblivious. it was like he couldn't see what was happening right under his nose. yewon had tried to tell him, to make him understand how aeri was undermining her at every turn, but he hadn't listened. he hadn't seen it.

the frustration bubbled inside yewon, threatening to boil over. it wasn't just aeri's passive-aggressive behavior that was wearing her down. it was the silence from dohoon, the way he had distanced himself in subtle ways.

sure, they still talked, still shared those stolen moments together, but something was different. he was colder now, more distant. the warmth in his eyes had been replaced by uncertainty, and yewon couldn't figure out why.

it didn't help that youngjae, who had been so understanding and protective of her from the very beginning, seemed to be stepping into a more prominent role in her life again. ever since her confession to dohoon, he had been around more-sometimes too much.

at first, yewon had welcomed the familiar presence of her ex, the one person who had once known her better than anyone. but now, it felt suffocating. she didn't know how to balance everything, the way youngjae was becoming more and more protective of her, even at the expense of his friendship with dohoon.

it wasn't that yewon didn't appreciate youngjae's support. it wasn't that she didn't value his friendship-it was just that she didn't know what to do with it anymore. hadn't they broken up for a reason? she thought, hadn't they both moved on?

yet, every time they were together, the past seemed to resurface. old feelings, old wounds, resurfacing like ghosts she couldn't shake off. youngjae would say things that made her heart ache, things that made her remember why she had once fallen for him in the first place, but it only made the present feel that much more complicated.

it all came to a head one chilly afternoon in the school courtyard, when yewon found herself caught in the middle of yet another confrontation between aeri and herself. the air was tense, the words exchanged sharp and cutting.

aeri, ever the poised student council vice president, was making her usual round of passive-aggressive comments, subtly undermining yewon's place in the school hierarchy, acting as if she was doing it all for yewon's benefit.

yewon had enough.

"i don't need your help, aeri," yewon said through clenched teeth, her voice trembling with frustration. "stop pretending like you're looking out for me when all you're doing is tearing me down."

aeri's smile was as sharp as a knife, her eyes flashing with irritation. "oh, yewon. you're so dramatic. i'm just trying to help you, but i see now that you're beyond help."

yewon's patience snapped. "you think you're so perfect, don't you? but everyone sees through your act. you don't care about me. you never have."

the silence between them hung heavy, and for a moment, yewon wondered if she had gone too far. but before aeri could respond, youngjae appeared at yewon's side, his presence immediately causing the tension to shift.

"what's going on here?" youngjae asked, his tone sharper than usual. his eyes flicked between yewon and aeri, his expression hardening as he took in the scene.

aeri, never one to show weakness, put on her usual mask of calm. "oh, nothing, youngjae. just a little disagreement with yewon. she's always so dramatic, don't you think?"

youngjae's gaze flicked to yewon, concern filling his eyes. "yewon, are you okay?" he asked, his voice gentle but laced with a quiet protectiveness that made yewon's heart race in a way she didn't expect. why did he still care so much?

but before yewon could answer, aeri cut in, her voice icy. "youngjae, you're just encouraging her. you know she doesn't belong here. maybe you should stop protecting her, for both your sake and dohoon's."

the mention of dohoon's name was enough to snap youngjae out of his protective mode. his jaw tightened, and he turned to aeri, his voice cold. "you've got no right to speak about dohoon like that. you're the one trying to tear everyone apart, aeri."

the words hung in the air like a challenge, and for a brief moment, it seemed like aeri might retaliate, but instead, she smiled-a smile that sent a chill down yewon's spine.

"we'll see who gets torn apart in the end," aeri said smoothly, her tone dripping with an underlying threat. with that, she turned on her heel and walked away, her every step filled with cold finality.

youngjae watched her leave, his expression a mixture of frustration and concern. he turned back to yewon, his eyes softer now. "i'm sorry you had to deal with that," he said quietly.

yewon could only nod, her heart a tangled mess of emotions. she didn't know what to think anymore. aeri's words, youngjae's presence, and dohoon's growing distance all weighed heavily on her mind. had her dreams, her wishes, always been foolish? was this what it felt like to want something that was never meant to be?

"it's fine," yewon said, forcing a smile. "i can handle it."

but even as she said the words, she didn't feel like she believed them. the weight of everything was starting to crack her resolve, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep pretending everything was fine.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

dohoon had been watching from a distance. he had seen the confrontation between yewon and aeri, had witnessed the way youngjae had stepped in, defending yewon in a way that seemed almost... too familiar.

why did youngjae care so much? he couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to their relationship than he had been told. more than he understood.

but he didn't want to confront yewon. not yet. he wasn't ready to face whatever this... whatever they were becoming.

instead, he walked away, his heart heavy with the uncertainty that seemed to hang over everything. he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do anymore.

yewon, caught in the middle, could only watch as everything she had hoped for, everything she had dreamed about, began to unravel. her wishes-like dandelion seeds-floated away on the wind, slipping through her fingers.

and she wasn't sure if she could catch them again.