PARADOX - SEULRENE

beginning

"so, irene is your real girlfriend, not her friend you mentioned to me before..." said chaeyeon. it was after your last class when you two had a quick catch up about your progress.

"yeah... it's really her... sorry for lying about that," you said.

"it's okay. i understand why. you don't want people to tell you things, right?"

"to be honest, i don't mind about what others will say. but irene wanted to protect me by being discreet. she doesn't like people bashing me because of her."

"that's sweet of her..." chaeyeon forced a smile. "anyway, i want to apologise for the things i've said about her last time when we were in the library."

"you are entitled to your own opinion." you tapped her shoulder. "don't worry about that."

"but i still feel guilty for having a bad impression of her all this time."

"everybody thinks the same way about her," you joshed.

"that's exactly my point," said chaeyeon, smiling shyly. "i don't want to belong to that group anymore."

"that's comforting to hear, chaeyeon. thanks."

"you're welcome. so, how's the arm going?"

"ah this?" you raised your injured arm. "getting better. i have an appointment tomorrow with the doctor to have the stitches removed."

"that's... great..." chaeyeon's eyes darted on the people approaching me from behind. based on their voices, you knew it was byulyi and hyojung. "i should get going. i'll see you tomorrow, seulgi."

"all right. you take care, chaeyeon."

"you too." and with that, chaeyeon left right away.

"bear!" byulyi draped an arm around your shoulder.

"careful with the arm, byulyi!" said hyojung.

you laughed. "it's fine now, hyojung. don't worry."

"yeah. let's get that removed now, dude. i miss my sparring partner," said byulyi.

"me too. i missed going to the dojo."

"i don't think you'd be allowed to play right away, seulgi," said hyojung.

"we can try, right?" asked byulyi.

"i'll tell irene about it," hyojung warned. "i'm sure she'll be mad if she finds out."

"since when did you and irene become best friends?" asked byulyi, surprised. she turned to you. "dude, look at what's happening now!"

"who's irene's new best friend?"

you turned around and saw yongsun, sooyoung, and yerim approaching. "i believe i'm her 'bestest' friend in the whole wide universe," yongsun continued.

byulyi approached them right away. "hey, beautiful! i missed you."

"oh yeah? how many girls did you use that line with today?" asked yongsun, looking sceptic.

"just you. only you..." byulyi puckered her lips out, attempting to kiss yongsun's cheek. yongsun playfully slapped her.

"oh, c'mon, guys! get a room!" said sooyoung, pretending to be annoyed. you all laughed.

"by the way, byulyi, did you tell seulgi about the news yet?" asked yongsun.

"ah. yeah. i forgot." byulyi turned back to you. "about the case filed against simon and jinhwan, our parents talked it over. their guardians apologised but agreed that their sons deserve punishment."