𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 - 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐬

(THIRTEEN)

Jiwoo kept her head down when she walked into the coffee shop. Sooyoung was waiting for her at the same table with a cup of lemonade for Jiwoo, as promised.

Jiwoo sat down and sipped her drink slowly, waiting for Sooyoung to speak.

"So, I don't really know what exactly is going on," Sooyoung began, "but if you want to talk I'm here to listen."

"Thank you." Jiwoo finally looked up at her. "But I don't feel comfortable enough with you yet to talk about it. It's a really long, complicated story that I hate telling. Sorry."

Sooyoung shook her head. "Don't be sorry. You're not ready to talk about it, and I respect that."

Jiwoo was beyond confused. No one had ever just... been okay with her saying no. "For now, I think I just want to listen to you for a while. If that's okay. Tell me the tea."

"Well..." Sooyoung thought for a moment. "I'm pretty boring, so I don't have any tea to spill, but I have tea from my friends if you're interested. I know you don't know any of them so a lot of it won't make sense, but they're pretty interesting stories even if you don't understand."

"That sounds great."

"Let's see, what tea do I have? Oh! Remember my friend Songhee I mentioned yesterday? My neighbour?" Jiwoo nodded. "She's been doing this weird thing for the past few years that really pisses me off. There's this girl she's friends with – I can't tell if they're dating or not, or if they're just friends with benefits – but Songhee tells me all these stories about this girl. She doesn't seem to notice that I hate them, because she never stops."

Jiwoo stirred her lemonade with the straw and tried not to let Sooyoung see that her hands were shaking. "What are the stories about?" She asked.

"That's the thing," Sooyoung replied, "I don't even know why she's telling me these stories! They're super personal, so I feel like it's none of my business. Sorry, off track. She tells me about all kinds of stuff she does with this girl, but also what the girl does with other people. I don't think they're dating, otherwise Songhee would be upset over the girl sleeping with other people, right?"

"Songhee sounds like a bitch," Jiwoo blurted out. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry–"

Sooyoung ruffled her hair. "You're right. She spills so much of this girl's information, but she never even says her name. It's dehumanising and disgusting. But this morning on my way out, she stopped me to tell me a story. I guess she met up with the girl again last night. I'll spare you the details – she got very graphic – and summarise it by saying they hooked up."

Jiwoo gripped her hands tightly together under the table to calm her nerves. Disgusting was the perfect word for it, in her opinion.

"The sad thing is, I don't think the girl likes Songhee at all. She said the girl cries sometimes, and that she sings herself lullabies when Songhee... you know." Sooyoung sighed and leaned her head on her hand. "I'm no psychologist, but my best guess for those things is that the girl doesn't want it and she needs to distract herself."

"What do you think about the girl?"

Sooyoung stared at Jiwoo. "I don't know her, so I can't really think anything of her. But if she's how Songhee says she is, then I feel really, really bad for her." Her voice was so sincere Jiwoo could've sworn she knew the girl well to have felt for her so deeply.

Jiwoo quietly asked, "You don't think she's... a slut? You aren't angry with her?"

"No, I don't think she fully understands what she's doing. Songhee told me that the girl does all of it 'just to be a good friend'."

With a half-assed excuse and a rushed goodbye, Jiwoo removed herself from the situation. She ran all the way home and sprawled out on the floor in her room.

She really doesn't think I'm a bad person?

-

a/n: it's 2:36 in the morning
i posted 6 new chapters
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