Accidentally Assisting

Chapter 19 - Jungkookie

"Because you're in love with him!"

We both freeze at her words, and suddenly it's so quiet that I can hear my quickly pulsing heart. Eun stares at me, eyes widened out of shock. Her statement is floating between us, having sucked all the air out of the room.

Fights are something very dangerous. They make you say things you don't mean, or that you would have at least brought across differently. And the worst thing is that you can never, ever take back your words.

What 's said is said, what's done is done.

I'll never forget what Eun has just told me, no matter how many times she apologizes for it.

"Shut up." My voice is barely a whisper. All strength as left my body.

"Rose," Eun says in a low, hesitant voice as I've remained frozen, "I'm sorry. I'd been meaning to confront you about that anyway, just not... like that. I apologize."

When I still do not utter a single word, she gulps and asks quietly: "Do you... do you want to cancel tonight?"

Precisely at this moment, the doorbell rings. Soobin.

So, I shake my head. "No, Soobin came all the way here. Let's still go out for his sake."

My best friend slowly nods at that, observing worriedly. "Oh...okay."

When she starts walking out the room, I call her back. "Eun?"

She immediately turns around. "Yes?"

"Your words... they hurt-"

Eun flinches a little bit at my words. "I know, Rose, I'm sorry-"

"Let me speak," I interrupt her with a sign of my hand, and she turns silent again. "Your words are true, but that's not why they hurt. They hurt because of the way you said them. Like an insult."

The doorbell rings a second time, and my voice turns emotionless again. "You should answer that."

My friend nods sheepishly before leaving the room. It's only when she has done so that I allow a single teardrop to run down my cheek and mumble to myself in a lost voice: "She said it like I was crazy for loving someone."

...

The pre-drinking at one of the bars is probably one of the most awkward I've been to in my life. Eun and I refuse to talk to each other, and, therefore, only start conversations with Soobin separately. Our friend picks up on that behavior of ours pretty quickly and decides not to comment on it, at least not in the beginning.

However, when I consistently avoid Eun's apologizing gaze, he seems to have had enough. "What is going on with you two?"

"Nothing!", Eun and I immediately respond, feeling guilty. The whole point of still going out despite what happened between us was to not drag Soobin into our mess. And now, we've failed even at that.

"Nothing...?" Soobin responds slowly, his head turning from one person to the other. He's clearly not having it. Now I see why BigHit chose him as the leader for Tomorrow by Together. "Did you girls fight?"

"No," Eun and I respond at the same time again. One thing we can agree on is that Soobin should not have to play peacemaker with us. He obviously does that enough already with his members.

Soobin has crossed his arms now, leaning back in his chair as if he wanted to grasp a better picture of us. "What's the problem, then? You're off, both of you."

"There is no problem," Eun responds passive-aggressively. "Some people should just really learn to see the truth in the eye."

Oh, that little bitch. She's messing with the wrong person. I offer her a fake smile. "Some people just stop being brutally honest just because they want to be right."