Two Sides | Ateez San

43 The Truth

"She said it'd be fun."

Seul looked to Yeosang, confused. "What the hell do you mean 'She said it'd be fun'?"

Yeosang stared down at his hands as he twiddled his thumbs nervously. "I'm sure you noticed she was depressed, didn't you?"

Seul stayed silent. She had always noticed that Ziyu had acted differently in the last few years of her life, but she always pushed it to the back of her mind. Ziyu had said she wished to die or how she was going to jump off or in front of things, but they were just jokes. Right?

"Then... what did she meet you for?" Seul asked, her voice merely coming out as a whisper.

Yeosang thought to that day, the day before Ziyu took her life. She had called him to hang out because she had something to tell him. Yeosang, being a simple minded thirteen year old boy, thought she had planned to break up with him.

"She just wanted to tell me about her... plan.." Yeosang stopped and took a deep breath, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "I tried to stop her, I really did."

Seul felt like it was just yesterday when she was in 8th grade with Ziyu and Yeosang, the three of them laughing and having fun together, taking jabs at each other though none of them took it personally... or so they thought. Their jokes always got under Ziyu's skin, but she never told them to stop and it all piled up where she'd over think everything she did, trying her hardest to be perfect, driving her to depression, which she'd always make jokes about.

"You probably don't want to hear this-"

"I didn't want to hear any of this."

Yeosang rolled his eyes before continuing. "Ziyu told me that she.. hated you."

A bitter smile played upon Seul's lips. "I know."

Yeosang looked at her with wide eyes. He went to say before she cut him off.

"We grew distant after she moved here from China with my family and I. She only started to be my friend again to get close to you." She laughed sadly as tears fell freely from her face "Isn't it funny how I spent so much of my time crying over someone who used me?"

Seul sat on her bed staring lifelessly at the friendship bracelet on her wrist. The friendship bracelet she had made with Ziyu.

She got up, headed downstairs and grabbed a lighter from a drawer in the kitchen. She went outside into the backyard, lighting the bracelet on fire and throwing it to the ground.

Seul looked up to the sky with a glare and lifted her right hand, holding her middle finger up to it. She went back inside, promising herself to never cry over this again.