Around

Chapter 3

"You do hear that I wanted you to make up with Yoohyeon, not the other way around, right?" Gahyeon strolled her way inside her studio with Handong in tow.

"Not now, Gahyeon." She ran her palm on her face and sighed loudly. Since when her friends decided that it was a great time to remind her that she was an idiot? Her works were piling up and the pressure of it, adding with the amount of stress from her problem made her skull almost explode, almost.

"Then when is the right time, Siyeon? Seriously, what happened to you two?" Handong chimed in.

" Never sounds like the right time," she answered sarcastically.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny."

"Why are you two here anyway?"

"Duh, we miss you. You bailed on our last dinner night and you didn't even play Overwatch with me, at all!" Gahyeon burst out with such a high intensity that can only be rivalled by Bora.

"But my workplace out of all places?"

"We tried to meet you outside of your studio, but you vanished like smoke as soon as your work time was over. It's either you're here or you're nowhere. So, you didn't give us much choice." Gahyeon spoke fervently, almost like rapping.

She stood up from her seat, walking past them to reach for the coffee she put on the shelf earlier. How she wished she bought whiskey instead. Gahyeon and Handong already sat on the stools that they got from the corner of the studio. They had the right to be mad at her. It was her first time bailing from their regular meet up because she couldn't find the courage to face Yoohyeon or any judgment from her friends, not in the meantime.

She drowned herself in her works and wandered aimlessly to search for a peaceful mind by taking her camera everywhere she went. Photography was her only way out at the moment. She kept in touch with her friends through text messages but she would ghost them when they tried to bring the topic of her avoidance. She was a coward, she admitted it. She didn't like confrontation.

"You know that you can tell us anything, right?" Handong looked at her with a kind, understanding smile, as if she already knew what's going on.

"I know. It's just, it's hard for me to bring that up."

"Bring what up?" Gahyeon peppered her, eyes bouncing between her and Handong.

She traced her cup sleeve, pondering whether she should tell them the details or not. She probably could handle Handong's reaction just fine, but she doubted Gahyeon's reaction to her problem. Gahyeon tends to have a 'loud reaction' that she's sure will cause her more anxiety than relief. They looked at her expectantly, waiting for her answer. At the last second, she exhaled loudly and pushed her doubts away. She needed to let it out and sooner or later people would know, just like Yoohyeon did. She pulled another stool and started to tell them her story. When she finished, Handong nodded and hugged her while Gahyeon kept silent with her hand covering her mouth. If the situation was different, she would find it funny and tease her about it.

"I need a moment to process this," Gahyeon said, still taken aback by what she heard.

"I'm sorry, guys. I know I caused so many problems by acting this way. But I'll try to fix the mess I've created." She said guiltily, head hung low and eyes twitched brimming with tears.

"I think you two should talk it out, for real this time." Handong stroked her hair.

"But she's avoiding me now."

"From the way that you told us earlier, you let anger and fear cloud your judgment. That's why you ended up fighting all the time. Next time, try to keep your anger and fear in check when talking to her. I'm sure Yoohyeon was just confused and didn't mean to do that."