Sheets | Chaelisa converted

Chapter 28

"Lisa, can you turn that god-awful music down so I can concentrate?" Chaeyoung grumbled from the passenger seat, Lisa just snickering but twisting the volume dial to the left once, before reaching over to pinch her cheek. Not looking up from her screen, Chaeyoung just let out a half-hearted 'hmph' and puffed her cheeks out, ballooning Lisa's finger off her face. Her friend-that-she-happened-to-have-slept-with just laughed at the response again, pulling over to the curb as other cars lazily drifted around them.

"Made any progress?" Lisa asked, leaning over the centre console curiously.

"Nope," Chaeyoung sighed, sinking into the seat, massaging her sore eyes. Not only had classes been stifling with everyone staring at her with questions burning from their eyes, but Mingyu had completely ignored her as she passed him in the halls after school, while Sana had not hesitated to hide her ginormous stink eye. Chaeyoung felt bad about what she said to Mingyu, but she didn't regret it; she knew that she could have approached it with more tact, but in that moment the anger had just clouded and suffocated her. If she hadn't gotten out those biting words, she may have just choked.

She had planned to drag her feet to the train station and take the train after Mingyu's, but instead she almost got run over by Lisa when she pulled up to the school, after ditching last period in favour of a nap in another corner of the school. She had quickly scolded Chaeyoung for being so mentally absent, but when she saw her downcast face her chastising had immediately morphed into concern, and Chaeyoung almost cried when Lisa gently tugged on her hand to pull her into the car. Lisa hadn't said a whole lot after that once she assured her that she was fine -  a lie, they both knew - and she had decided to at least try and lessen the guilt by sending Mingyu an apology. Sure, maybe an apology in person, or even a phone call would be better, but...

She was scared.

Scared that she would get that burning, choking feeling clawing up her throat again, or that Mingyu will get even more hurt. Either way, texting was the safest option. She could only hope her eloquent writing could convey some sort of sincerity. Though lacking in courage, she hoped that she would at least have sincerity.

But writing an apologetic text message was not easy, and she had been labouring over the black text on her glowing screen for the entire car ride back to her house.

"It's just a text, Chae," Lisa said, lips twitching. "Not an essay."

"Not listening to someone who only gets Ds on their english essays," she replied swiftly, Lisa just humming as she fished out a cigarette from an elastic on her front mirror. After struggling for another 5 minutes, Lisa's smoke drifting out from the slit in the window and one of her hands gently tapping on her forearm, she just cursed under her breath and pressed send.

Chaeyoung - 4:14pm
Hey Mingyu,
I just wanted to apologise for what
I said earlier today - I was a bitch.
Sorry for sating those things, I wasn't
thinking clearly. If you want to talk,
you can contact me any time.
Sorry again.

"Oh shit, there's a typo," she sighed, Lisa plucking her phone from her fingers as she moved to correct it in a subsequent message. Pouting a little, she reached over to Lisa to try and take her phone back, but she just shook her head and slipped it into her back pocket.

"At least for the rest of the ride home could you just relax, Chaeyoung?" Lisa said, brown eyes glinting. Frowning, Chaeyoung crossed her arms and nodded, slumping in her seat. She glanced at Lisa's profile from her periphery, and felt the tension in her muscles wane as the small, content smile peeked from Lisa's pink lips. A small one appeared on her own mouth as Lisa reached across towards her and linked their fingers.