They're Made of Glass | SEVENTEEN

10 | sleeping beauty

Holding the necklace (her necklace) up to the light, I watched the dull diamond spin and glint softly. Finding someone as different as her should've been easy. It's not everyday a girl faints in the middle of the courtyard, yet it seemed like because it was so odd, the school worked harder than ever trying to keep that one off of the records. After the whole incident last year with Hyemi's sister, the school made sure to take extra precautions when dealing with anything out of the ordinary.

So my mystery girl, wherever she was out there, was missing a necklace and a name. Finding her was definitely harder than I thought it would be.

"Hey." I looked up to see Jihoon walking towards me. Pushing myself off of the wall I had been leaning against, I pocketed the necklace and watched as Jihoon got closer. I grinned.

"Don't tell me you're still looking for Eunji. Dude, she's gone." Jihoon gets closer and I see how uneasy he looks. The grin wipes off my face and the longer I look at him, the more I feel like something's up.

"We're friends, right?" The question caught me off guard, but seeing how uncharacteristically tense he was made me nod.

"Yeah of course." I said. "Did you talk to your dad or something? You look-"

"Why did you tell me to go keep an eye on Eunji?" He asks. "She told you it wasn't her necklace, we should've left it at that but instead you told me to follow her. I followed her to work, watched her at school, but why? Why did I have to do this?"

"You know that I've been looking for the necklace girl." I reply calmly. Jihoon clenches his fists. "Plus, you were there at the clubroom. That reaction of hers was different. I know that she's seen that necklace before and I-"

"Hansol, I'm fucking losing my mind okay." Jihoon grabs me by the collar of my shirt and the next thing I know, I'm up against the wall. But this time, Jihoon's grip is keeping me in place. I look down at his hands. His knuckles are white and shaking. I look at Jihoon. His eyes are hard.

"Tell me the real reason why you wanted me to watch her. We're friends right? So tell me. And don't...don't fucking lie to me." I clench my jaw in annoyance.

"I did tell you the real reason. That's all! That's the only reason why I wanted you to-"

"Shut up." He snarls, slamming me against the wall. The back of my head hits the wall of the café and for a second, everything is spinning. But it's not like with her where I feel like I'm on the moon. With Jihoon, I feel sick like I'm on one of those spinning rollercoasters that never stop. When the dizziness passes, I'm angry.

"Jesus, Jihoon, what the fuck has gotten into you!"

"Me? What's gotten into me? What about you! You've been fucking lying to me this entire time!" Jihoon shouts. I stopped cold and stare at him.

"You've known this entire time that it was Eunji. Ever since that time we met her in the clubroom, I bet." He continues. "And then you send me to go watch her, to keep and eye on her, and shit when you know all this time that it was her. I fucking paid back all of her debt Hansol!" I shake my head, both bewildered and confused.

"What debt? Wait, what are you talking about?" I yell.

"I'm talking about how you're fucking family has been pairing you up with your mystery girl from the start! It's Eunji, you bastard! It's always been her and you've fucking known this entire time!"

My mind goes blank. The hand that had been gripping Jihoon's jacket falls to my side as I take in all this new information. Shaking my head, I look at Jihoon.

"That's bullshit. You know that I've been looking for this girl for months." Jihoon's shoulders relax for the briefest moment. I continue.

"I didn't know it was her. And this is the first time I've heard about my family being a part of this. Jihoon, you've gotta believe me. Why would I ever lie to you?"

"That's what I've been wondering." Jihoon says, his eyebrows furrowed. "Why would you do this to me." His hands loosen and then drop from my collar. I push myself off the wall and watch Jihoon, hands running through his hair before he turns and slams his fist against the concrete wall. When he pulls it away, it's bleeding. There's a smudge of red on the wall and then Jihoon collapses against it, his back pressed against the wall and his hand covering his eyes.

"I don't understand." I say as I watch him. "What does this have to do with anything? Why are you getting so worked up over Lee Eunji?" Jihoon freezes which, for some reason, makes me angry.

"What am I supposed to do?" Jihoon says. A lifeless chuckle escapes his lips. "For the first time, you said you've found a girl you really liked. You fucking do anything you can to find her, even sending me after her. So what am I supposed to do?" He asks. It dawns on me then. I take a shaky step back, away from Jihoon. My hands are cold and clammy for some reason and there's a lump growing in my throat.

"You like her." I say. "You like Lee Eunji." Jihoon doesn't say anything which is enough confirmation for me. I shake my head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I ask him.

"What difference would it have made? It's too late...neither of us can stop now." Deep down, I know he's right. He likes Eunji and so do I. We both can't just stop now because we like the same girl.

Whatever happens, I know I'm still right about one thing.

Love is complicated.

— ☆ —

Author's Note:
I know I put like Prince Hansol and Prince Jihoon but some of these guys ARE NOT romantic interests for Eunji. Some of the princes are just there to "save" her. Like Seungcheol is more of a brotherly character than a romantic interest