Sinful Passion

twenty-three

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Chaeyoung asked Jeongyeon, stepping up to her desk after one of their classes.

Jeongyeon dropped her pen in shock before turning around to face Chaeyoung, who gave her a weird look because she wasn't usually this jumpy.

"Oh, uh..." Jeongyeon trailed off. Her gaze darted from her best friend's eyes, to her lips, then quickly across her whole body, before landing on the wall clock which hung above the whiteboard. Jeongyeon was trying her best to act normal, but if her eyes hadn't deceived her that day, then she could probably never look at Chaeyoung the same way again.

She stood up, a little too abruptly, causing her plastic chair to scrape loudly against the classroom floor and draw the attention of a few surrounding students. Jeongyeon grabbed Chaeyoung's hand and started pulling her out of the room. "Come with me, Chaeyoung."

Chaeyoung kept asking where Jeongyeon was taking her, but the latter didn't respond until they arrived at an empty classroom. She shut the door, closed all the windows, and left a very confused Chaeyoung who'd taken a seat at an empty desk. Jeongyeon began pacing around at the front of the room.

"What's up, unnie?" Chaeyoung asked, an amused smile on her face. That same playful, charming smile that so many girls fell for... Chaeyoung looked so innocent. Jeongyeon stared hard at Chaeyoung for a moment before resuming her pacing. She couldn't believe it; she refused to believe it.

Chaeyoung's expression settled into a more serious one when she realised Jeongyeon wasn't joking about whatever she wanted to talk about. Jeongyeon was hesitating really badly. She paced, then stopped, then continued. She kept scrutinising Chaeyoung's face, then sighing and looking away as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

"I'm just gonna-" Jeongyeon took another deep breath, and Chaeyoung looked at her expectantly. "...get straight to the point."

Chaeyoung nodded, still smiling a little.

"You. And your mom. What's going on between you two?"

Chaeyoung's face froze in that same smile. Two seconds passed. "What do you mean?"

To an outsider, nothing looked out of place. But Jeongyeon saw the stiffness in Chaeyoung's face, and heard the measured carefulness of her tone. She was faking. Chaeyoung knew that Jeongyeon knew.

Jeongyeon sighed, not in annoyance or disappointment, but to recognise and dispel the tension. She sat down with Chaeyoung. "Chaeyoung, it's okay. I can keep secrets. And nothing you say now will shock me."

What seemed like an eternity passed before Chaeyoung finally said, in an almost inaudible voice," ...Mina and I are in a relationship."

Jeongyeon loved Chaeyoung to pieces. She knew Chaeyoung could be irrational at times, but she had a good heart and Jeongyeon trusted her to make good decisions for herself. But all the muscles in Jeongyeon's body tensed involuntarily when she heard the words come from Chaeyoung herself. Chaeyoung seemed to notice this, and she seemed to shrink.

Jeongyeon forced herself to relax. "Okay. For how long?"

"Um, four months. About a week after she moved into the house," Chaeyoung answered. She was eyeing Jeongyeon warily, as if more scared of her now because she wasn't reacting strongly.

"I saw you two kissing," Jeongyeon explained. "In your car. I was going home from school."

Millions of emotions flashed across Chaeyoung's face in an instant, but she was still primarily confused.