dandelions｜kim dohoon

chapter six - shattered illusions 💔

dohoon had always been good at reading people, at understanding their intentions before they even spoke. it was one of the things that had made him so adept at being student council president-he could sense when someone was lying, when someone was hiding something. he had prided himself on that ability, believing that it made him an effective leader.

but recently, he felt like he had been living in a fog. the clarity he once prided himself on was slipping through his fingers, like sand in an hourglass. his relationship with yewon had become more complicated than he ever imagined, and everything that had once been so clear to him now seemed clouded with doubt.

he had seen the way aeri had been treating yewon-those subtle, insidious comments that seemed innocent enough to everyone else but cut yewon to the bone. but he had refused to believe it.

he had refused to acknowledge the growing tension between them. after all, aeri had always been his ally, his best friend's girlfriend, someone he trusted. why would she try to hurt yewon?

but all of that changed when he saw it with his own eyes.

it was a quiet afternoon, and dohoon had been wandering the halls of the school, lost in thought. he had been avoiding yewon, trying to make sense of his feelings for her, trying to figure out what to do with the storm that raged inside him every time she was near.

his heart felt like it was caught between two worlds-one where he could stay safe, unchallenged, and another where he could throw caution to the wind and embrace the feelings he was trying to ignore.

he wasn't sure what he was hoping for when he wandered into the courtyard, but what he saw was enough to shake him to his core.

aeri was standing by the bulletin board, her posture stiff, her smile practiced. yewon stood nearby, looking more vulnerable than he had ever seen her. her shoulders were slumped, her eyes downcast, and she seemed to be avoiding aeri's gaze. dohoon could feel the tension in the air before aeri spoke.

"you know," aeri said, her voice deceptively sweet, "you really should learn to stay in your place, yewon. not everyone belongs in the same circles, no matter how hard they try."

dohoon's breath caught in his throat as he watched yewon flinch at the words. he had never seen her look so small, so defeated, and it broke something inside him.

aeri continued, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "maybe it's time you realized that you're just... not cut out for this. not cut out for dohoon's world."

dohoon could see the way yewon's fists clenched at her sides, how her expression flickered between anger and hurt. she wasn't going to take this lying down, he knew that, but he also knew that she couldn't stand up to aeri.

not with the way aeri wielded her power. not with the way everyone else had been so blind to her manipulation.

that was when it hit him-he had been blind too. he had been so caught up in his own confusion, in his own insecurities, that he hadn't seen the way aeri had been sabotaging yewon at every turn.

he hadn't seen the way aeri had been pushing yewon out of his life, making her feel small and insignificant, all while pretending to be the perfect ally.

the realization hit him like a punch to the gut.

he couldn't stay silent anymore.

he stepped forward, his voice sharp with fury as he called out to aeri. "stop."

aeri turned, her smile still firmly in place, though it faltered slightly when she saw the anger in his eyes. "dohoon? what's wrong?"

"don't act like you don't know," dohoon snapped. "i've been watching you. i know what you've been doing."