Written Hearts, Kang Taehyun

31.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾🐿☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

It was a New Year.
A new start where all your regrets and mistakes last year didn't matter anymore. Well, to an extent.

This motto only applied to Mirai. She wanted to have a clean start and not worry about her health or Taehyun. For the whole break, she only hangs out with him once. Just once.

The most she stayed by his side was sadly during finals week. And should she even count that as hanging out? Majority of their time was him either making fun of her dumbness or taking a nap.

And let's not mention the amount of doctor notes she received during the break. She had to lay several visits to her physician and discuss nothing but surgery. It wasn't a definite event yet, but the idea was hovering above each of their heads.

For now though, Mirai had one goal in mind. To make all her friends smile. She didn't want to be that one gloomy friend who hangs out in the corner anymore. She wanted each of her friends to notice this brand new Mirai that has a bright persona.

And so Mirai takes her first step into this goal by walking to school with Jinhee.

"Winter break went by unbelievably fast..." Mirai said before releasing a yawn. She still wasn't used to waking up early ever since she'd started waking up at 12:00 p.m.

"Yup, I could've sworn we were just at the shrine saying our prayers during new years" Jinhee recalled.

"That was the first time I went out with you guys for New Years. Who would've thought we would get separated in the midst of it though.."

Jinhee huffed out a sigh, remembering the day crystal clear. "Geez, and who's fault was that? You kept getting carried away with the food and eventually Beomgyu and I had to wait 30 minutes for you to pick up your phone!"

Mirai waved her hand to the girl. " I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

"But I can feel it, this year will be my year..." She then raised her fist in the air before doing a little victory dance. Jinhee joined and let out a smile.

"Let's both make a good first impression at school today"

——

Arriving at the campus, things didn't turn out as they planned.

When the two walked inside the building, nothing but glares and whispers were occuring amongst the other students. Mirai didn't think much about it at first, but it was starting to feel a bit suffocating as they reached the hallways.

What was up with these people?

"Jinhee, is there something in my face?" Mirai asked to the girl.

Jinhee shook her head, making Mirai even more confused as to why people were giving her unpleasant looks.

"Then why do they keep staring at us?" Mirai whispered.

"I'm not sure and shouldn't people know that it's rude to stare" Jinhee whispered back in an irritated way.

We made it to where our lockers were located and there was this group of girls also present, huddling across from them.

"Oh my god, that must be Lee Mirai"

"Yeah, the one who took Taehyun away from Jeonmae..."

What? Take Taehyun away?

"Gosh what a heartless thing to do, she even made the poor girl cry"

"Ugh, I can't stand girls who just use those boys for popularity. They should know their place"

"Hey!" Jinhee violently slammed her locker door, giving each of us a jolt.

"If you're gonna talk shit, say it right in front of us. Go ahead. Let's see what happens."

.....

"Yeah that's what I thought. All you girls know how to do is talk behind people's back, but when they've got your attention, you stay silent. I find that very amusing." She scoffed.

Because the girls had nothing more to say, they just walked out of their sights.

Jinhee went back to her usual calm composed self before speaking to her friend. "Mirai, don't even bother believing what they said. It's obviously a lie"

Mirai returned a soft smile. "Thank you Jinhee. I didn't really care what they had to say. but I'm not sure where people get the idea of me taking Taehyun like that"

She found it rather odd that people were starting to call her out with her friendship with Taehyun during the middle of the year. What sparked over winter break that caused this many people to despise her?

Not wanting to be exposed to any more girls like them, the two made their way inside their classroom. If anything, the atmosphere here was much more overwhelming than anywhere else. Everyone was giving her deadly glares.

"Here too..." Mirai sighed.

"What, do you idiots have something to say too?" Jinhee yelled, causing them to look away immediately.

The only people who acted normal out of the situation were Beomgyu, Huening Kai, and Taehyun. They were completely unaware of the rumors spreading around.

"I wonder what made Jinhee so angry in the morning" Said Kai to the other boys.

"Everyone has been acting weird lately" Taehyum mentioned, now noticing the weird looks on people.

Miraculously, Mirai survived the first period and next was gym class. Instead of dressing in the girl's locker room, afraid more commotions would arise, Jinhee and Mirai changed their uniforms in the storage room. They begged the janitors for the keys and it was worth it.

For the activity, they had to run a mile around the block and make it back after 40 minutes. During these types of runs, it was the best time for Beomgyu to discuss what was up with Mirai and Jinhee.

"Yo! What was that about during math?" Beomgyu asked, referring to the whole yelling thing between Jinhee.

"People are accusing me of taking Taehyun away from Jeonmae and using him for popularity" Mirai summarized which made Beomgyu gasp.

"Huh what?! Who made that up?"

"Not sure, but when I find out... there will be hell" Jinhee cracked her knuckles and released some heavy bloodlust. This side of her was still new to the other two.

"That's such a dumb way just to put Mirai down. I bet they're just jealous of their friendship" Beomgyu reasoned while nodding.

"I hope this misunderstanding gets cleared up soon. I've been holding my bladder for so long and I can't risk myself going inside the bathroom. That's where all the petty fights happen in the movies!" Mirai whined, ruffling her hair in the process.

The fact that Mirai cared less about why people were hating on her but rather more of the interferences now between her normal tasks demonstrates how much people's opinion about her didn't matter to the girl. Just as long as they wouldn't go to such lengths and ruin her bond between her close friends, they could honestly keep talking crap.

Beomgyu and Jinhee both returned the same expression.

"fighting!"

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾🐿☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

a/n: how will Mirai handle the situation now? Comment your thoughts and don't forget to vote!

I'll do my best to not leave y'all on a cliff hanger for too long :)