Recompense [ Inso's Law ]

2: Avoidance or Reflection?

With an embarrassed look, she kneeled down to pick them up. In the corner of the frame, another person kneeled down alongside her. She looked up, startled.

A guy with shaggy back hair and glasses gathered some of the papers and tried to hand it to her. They locked eyes and stared at each other.

The camera lingered on their stare, focusing on each of their faces.

"Who stares at another person this long?"

"Shush."

"Um, thank you..." The girl finally broke the staring contest and grabbed the papers out of his hand.

Smiling, the boy nodded before saying something and leaving.

Freezing, the girl gaped at him.

In a minor flashback, the screen showed a close-up of the boy's face, and the audio of his words finally plays.

"You should be more careful, next time."

'Oh wow, the guy who doesn't talk to anyone talked to her. What a development,' Yeomin thought in a deadpan manner.

Ponytail girl stayed frozen, kneeling on the floor with the papers in hand.

―Present day―

After another moment of hesitation, the girl spoke up, "Hey...no need to be rude, he's not that bad"

"Rude?" The brunette stopped. "Rude? What? Do you like him?"

As the mocking thoughts from earlier petered out, Yeomin was left with a rising discomfort.

Turning away from the mirror, the brunette sent an accusatory stare toward Ponytail girl. Taken aback, she flailed trying to make a response.

"That's not―I was just saying―"

Walking towards her suddenly, the brunette interrupted her speech. "If you want him, you should go ahead and take him. Trash should stay together after all~"

"Ahh, I feel dirty. Come on, Ha Eun, let's go."

With a needlessly dramatic flair, the brunette and the girl with black hair walked out of the bathroom.

"God, she's such an eyesore." Their voices carried as the door closed.

Looking at a loss, Ponytail girl pauses, standing still as the ending credit's music plays.

"She's so unreasonable! You can't just hate people because they don't agree with you!" her father complained, getting up to fiddle with the screen.

Awkwardly, Yeomin stayed silent. Shame slid down her back as a cold shiver.

'That's basically how I treated Ham Dan-I.'

Yeomin stared at her leg, which flared with an imaginary itch. 'Just because she wouldn't hate Yeoryeong, I said those things...'

"...Sorry. I said too much."

Yeomin winced, thinking back to her words. Even an idiot could tell she didn't mean a word of what she said. Dan-I really deserved another apology. A genuine apology. They were actual friends, even if only for a moment. Though Yeomin now knows she only did it to avoid Yeoryeong, Dan-I did legitimately try to be her friend. She was one of the few that did. Disregarding that just because she wouldn't hate Yeoryeong, her childhood friend? It was too much.