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3

"Rise and shine," Hani yells as she jumps on top of me, "It's time to wakey wakey!"

Groaning, I push her away and she falls on the floor, "Are you out of your mind? Why aren't you suffering from after-effects of being drunk?"

"Honey, that doesn't work on me," She winks as she stands up and sits on the edge of my bed, "But I did forget some details about yesterday."

Stretching my arms, I let out a sigh, "Did you wake me up for this?"

She ignores me and continues, "Lia and what was his name- Six? Four? Two?"

"Ten," I fiddle with my hands, "My ex-boyfriend, Ten."

"Wait-" Hani shakes her head and laughs dryly, "He's the jerk who left you without any explanation?"

"Yeah, he is the one."

"You've got such a weird name," I laugh as I poke his cheek, "Ten, nine, eight-"

"Yeji, Yeji, Yeji," He says my name and smiles, "I love it."

"Love what?" I tilt my head and smile as he places a kiss on my forehead.

"You," He places a kiss on my nose, "Your name, everything about you."

"Me too," I hide my face behind my hands and mumble, "Your smile, you. I love it all."

"Yeji?" Hani pokes my stomach and I welp in pain, "You zoned out again."

"Sorry," I sigh as I smile timidly, "Just some memories which came into my mind."

"About him?" She asks as she scoots close to me, "Did you- uh, feel jealous when you saw him with Lia?"

"Not really," I shrug as I think about the two of them, their intertwined hands, their genuine smiles, "I wasn't jealous but I felt envious. Once upon a time, that was us but he left me."

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault I forced you to go out," She stares at the floor and sighs.

"Hani," I laugh quietly as I say, "It's not your fault, it's a small world, we were bound to meet."

It wasn't such a small world though, yet somehow our paths collided once again.

She squeezes my shoulder and leaves me to freshen myself.

I heave a sigh and think about the look of unfamiliarity in Ten's eyes. Did he really not recognise me? Did he move on from me so easily while I'm still hurt?

•

"Do you think I should call Lia and invite her?" I ask Hani as I scroll through my Twitter.

"Yeah!" She exclaims as she nudges my arm with her foot, "I'm bored, we can hang out and have fun."

"I never invited you."

She places a hand over her heart and sighs, "You're betraying our friendship?"

"Stop being dramatic," I tell her as I text Lia and ask her whether she's free or not.

Lia seemed like she really liked my book and her expressions were genuine. I wanted to thank her for liking my book and helping me yesterday. She deserves that much.

My phone buzzes and I pick it up and read her message.

Lia: I'm free, I'd love to meet you. Can you meet me outside the place where we were yesterday?

I show the message to Hani who nods her head, "Time to go and make a new friend!"

Shaking my head at Hani, I throw a pillow at her and stand up, "Go and get changed."

Feeling satisfied with my black halter top and jeans, I put my hair into a high ponytail.

"Calm down,Yeji." I pat my heart and smile at myself in the mirror, "Ten won't be there. It's just Lia."

Tilting my head, I realise that I look innocent and soft and I didn't want to be the innocent, quiet girl today. I apply a dark shade of red lipstick and smile.

I like the color red on my lips. It makes me feel brave, bold and beautiful.

"You ready?" Hani peaks her head inside my room and looks at me and winks, "Looking stylish, babe."

Shaking my head, I laugh, "I know."

•

Hani links my arm with hers as we walk towards the small restaurant where we had chicken and soju.

"Lia said she'll pick us up, right?"

I nod my head, "Yeah, she offered to give us a ride and I agreed."

"Such a humble rich person," Hani laughs as she tucks her red hair behind her ear.

"You're saying that like you ain't rich," I shake my head at her, "You're a model and a well- known one, dating a boy from a famous idol group-"

"Okay, okay!" She raises her hand and smiles, "You win."

A loud horn interrupts us and makes me jump.

"What the-" Hani begins but she stops when she sees Lia waving at her, "It's her and Ten.."

There he is, Ten. All I can see is that he's wearing a denim jacket and is siting in the driver's seat.

I hesitantly walk towards his white Audi and open the door as Hani follows me inside.

"I'm sorry for being late," Lia apologises as she turns around and smiles, "Ten took his time getting ready."

"Hey!" He exclaims as he smiles, "A singer needs to look good."

"But you always look good," She pouts as she stares outside the window, "It's unfair actually."

"I'm not the only one," He meets my gaze through the rear mirror but it's for a brief second only, "All of you girls are beautiful and look at Hani, she's a model."

"Oh my god," Lia gasps as she looks at Hani who smiles proudly, "I didn't recognise you at first, so that's why you looked familiar!"

"I get that a lot when I'm with Yeji," She laughs as she looks at me, "It's like the whole of Korea has read her book, I'm so jealous of her."

"Speaking of her book,  I can't describe how much I love it," Lia gushes as she smiles brightly, "I'm really curious though, about the boy who broke your heart."

I choke on my saliva and start coughing. Hani pats my back as she stifles her laughter.

"Some things are better left unsaid." She tells Lia and smiles, "I'm her best friend yet I don't know the boy she wrote about. Maybe he's fictional, right Yeji?"

I smile timidly at her, thankful for her lies, "Yeah, I guess."

Raising my head, I see that Ten is looking at me with uncertainty in his eyes.

I want to look away, I want to hide from his questioning eyes but I can't.

Maintaining our eye contact, I say, "That boy doesn't exist. He's just a mixture of all the boys I encountered in my life. Apparently, all of them taught me an important lesson."

Hani squeezes my hand softly as Lia says, "Ohh!! That's so inspiring, this is why I love your words."

I smile and let out a soft chuckle as I stare at Lia.

It is certainly a good feeling to know that your words inspire someone, that they hold the power to make someone's day, that even on a bad day, they can make a person smile.

That's why I write, that's why I will keep on writing because somewhere, someone might need my words to save them.

•

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