dino's twin sister ➳ seventeen

Thirty Two ➵ Resolution

I stand outside of the room with wide eyes. I feel frozen in my place, the realisation slowly sinking in.

I can only just hear the manager saying goodbye to the two, my ears blocking out the sound. The next thing I know, the door is opened and the two step outside.

Joshua freezes when he sees me, his eyes widening.

He gulps nervously. "Areum, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." I say hoarsely, snapping out of my daze.

"How long have you been here?" He asks and the girl stares at me worried, obviously catching on to who I am.

"I've just gotten here." I lie and he looks noticeably relieved.

"Oh, okay. I'm on a break now, do you want to go somewhere?" He asks.

I nod. "Sure."

"This is Jasmine, by the way." He introduces me to the girl I already know.

She smiles and bows and I do the same. She has short, purple dyed hair and foreign facial features like her eyes and skin tone. She's very pretty, I can't believe that she's younger than me.

"Nice to meet you." I grin falsely, my mind still repeating their previous conversation.

"You too." She bows again before hurrying away.
L
Joshua gently grabs my hand and pulls me towards an empty room with sofas inside. I sit down beside him, our hands still interlocked. I feel my breathes fasten, the haunting thoughts not leaving me.

"Why were you inside the office together?" I question and he looks caught off guard.

"Oh, just company stuff. Nothing important."

Why is he lying?

I thought that we should be able to trust each other, not live in a relationship filled with lies.

His words make me even angrier and upset. He seems to notice the change in my expression because he places his hand over mine calmingly.

"What's wrong?"

I debate inside my head whether to confront him or drag out the situation further. If I tell him now, I may let my emotions get the best of me and my words may run uncontrollably, but if I wait I can see how long he lies about the situation.

I decide to confront him now.

"I heard your conversation." I mumble and he looks at me surprised.

"What?"

"You heard me. I deserve the truth, Joshua, so tell me."

He sighs. "I didn't want you to find out like that. I was going to tell you myself."

"When?" I ask, raising my voice. "I just asked you, and you lied to me!"

He stays silent.

"When were you going to tell me, Joshua?" I repeat whilst glaring at him.

"I didn't exactly think about it. I was just going to tell you when I thought the time was right."

"You didn't think that I deserved to know straight away?"

"No, of course I did, I just didn't know how to tell you."

"I can't believe this." I whisper and fold my arms.

He sighs again. "This isn't my fault, Areum, I didn't want this to happen."

"I didn't say that it was your fault."

It's silent for a few moments, the atmosphere so tense that you could cut it with a knife. I finally look up him and speak again.

"I thought your company told you to break up with me because I was too young...Jasmine is younger..."

He doesn't respond, he just turns away from me.

"Joshua..." I warn lowly. "Tell me what's going on."

"I didn't want to break up with you." He whispers and I frown.

What is he even talking about?

"What did the company really say?"

"It wasn't just the company..."

"What's going on?" I ask, worried.

"It was mostly Kim Eui." He admits and I gasp, standing up.

"What are you talking about? What did she say to you?"

"She said that she could easily make what happened to Vernon happen to you if I didn't break up with you. I didn't want to see you hurt again, especially since you were already in the hospital, I'm so sorry, I know I should have told you the truth but I was worried in case she hurt you like she did with Vernon."

I sit silently, absorbing all of this new information. Kim Eui made Joshua break up with me, not just his company.

"But the manager said that he'd already spoken to you about me." I frown.

"He did. He just said I should be careful because you're Dino's sister, and if we broke up it would be awkward between Dino and I."

"I'm so angry." I mutter and stand up.

He grips my wrist and I stop to face him. "Where are you going?"

"To find that bit-"

"Areum, don't. She's not worth it. What matters is that we're together now, and not even me having a fake girlfriend can destroy that. I love you, star, you know that, right?"

I nod. "Of course I do. I have one more thing to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Jasmine is Dino's new girlfriend."

His eyes widen. "Oh my god..."

"I know," I sigh. "He's going to be devastated."

"I have an idea." Joshua says, a small mischievous smile growing on his features.

"Yeah?"

"Why doesn't Jasmine just date Dino instead of me? Then it won't be fake, and there won't need to be a fake break up after a few months."

"That could work." I agree.

"I'll ask my manager in the morning, he's probably already left." He informs me.

I sit back down and smile, leaning closer to him. I knew everything would be sorted quickly, I just didn't expect to have sorted things as quick.

I close my eyes and rest my head onto his shoulder, feeling a lot more relaxed than beforehand.

It's silent for a few minutes, and I feel myself begin to slowly fall asleep beside Joshua. But something, like usual, interrupts us.

But it's not one of the boys shouting or the sound of people in the corridor.

It's the fire alarm.