Perfect Strangers | jjk ff

Clandestine Love

My daily school life undeniably felt different a few days subsequent to Jungkook's expulsion, particularly because I longed snickering at him getting in trouble by our teachers for either forgetting his books, being tardy for class, or regularly sleeping during lectures.

Now all I saw when I turned around was an empty, unoccupied seat without my favorite person sitting on it.

I was currently exploring around the homerooms and hallways in search for Aeri, hoping I could get Jungkook off of my mind for once with her special expertise of magically making me feel consoled with her stupidly humorous jokes.

Sooner or later, I spotted her petite figure by one of the lockers with her back facing my direction.

Discreetly taking baby steps towards her in order to surprise her, I creeped up behind my best friend and energetically greeted her, "Hey Aeri!"

Her whole body jumped up from my unanticipated voice, causing her to unintentionally drop whatever was in her possession onto the floor.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." I apologized, hurriedly bending down to pick it up for her.

But as I acquired her belonging, I identified it as a rouge pink envelope with a scarlet, heart-shaped sticker on the tip of the seal flap.

"Oh my god is this a love letter? For who for who?" I questioned with the utmost excitement, especially because Aeri has never unveiled any information about her crush to me before, or if she even had one.

Queerly, she remained uncommunicative and didn't open her mouth, but her reluctantly shifted gaze spoke for her.

Following the direction of her eyes, it took me to the third metallic locker from the left, which instantly induced a state of confusion and dubiousness in me from a certain realization.

"Isn't this... Taehyung's locker?"

Aeri winced at the mention of my ex-boyfriend's name, as if she was anxiously wishing inside that I wouldn't notice.

After her prolonged and mystifying silent treatment towards me, she inhaled heavily and separated her lips to speak at last.

"Look, Hana. I'm gonna be honest with you." she said with evident nervousness in her tone, clasping her hands together and intertwining her fingers in jitteriness.

Another lengthy second passed, and Aeri finally made her long-awaited confession.

"The only reason why I was friends with you was so I could get closer to Taehyung..."

My best friend's statement of betrayal coming as an absolute bombshell, I was immediately overwhelmed by this afflictive, penetrating sensation in my heart that I've never underwent before.

"... What?" I asked as I hoped I was merely experiencing problems with my hearing abilities, my mind denying to accept the cruel and utterly unbelievable truth she had just spilled.

"I couldn't tell you before because you were his girlfriend, but I can finally tell you now." Aeri paused in her painful revelation, actually looking straight at my shattered expression this time.

"I've actually had the biggest crush on Taehyung for the longest time."

"Y-You're lying right? Please tell me this is just a joke Aeri. Please tell me you're just playing around with me!" I beseeched desperately in a shaky voice, tightly clutching her arms as if I was expecting it to keep our friendship from falling apart.

I couldn't believe it.

I didn't want to.

Removing my hand from her sedately and without haste, she apprised me of the ruthless reality, "I'm really not Hana. I'm telling you the truth."

Stabbing me yet again with her knife-like words, I weakly took a step backwards away from the deceptive exploiter who I used to call my peer.

"I was going to tell you eventually I swear! But I just couldn't find the right timing!" Aeri attempted to justify her wrongdoing and make herself sound reasonable, as if I was going to be all "oh okay" and go back to normal with her.

My tears were starting to build up in the corners of my eyes, but I didn't dare to let them fall for a good-for-nothing who didn't deserve them.

"S-So you've been using me this whole entire time? All those secrets, giggles, and tears, were they all an act?" I faltered while a mixture of sheer rage and distress deluged my feelings, wondering if any of what we had before I knew of her clandestine love for Taehyung were genuine.

Her averting eyes serving as a transparent "yes," all she really could do was present me with an entirely useless and overused phrase.

"I'm really sorry Hana..."

Indifferently dropping her love letter onto the floor like how she did with our companionship, I gave her a cold, crestfallen glare before leaving her side forever.

Aeri was my shoulder to cry on, my partner in crime, my personal jokester, and my sister that I've never had.

She was my best friend.

But not anymore.