youngmin's grip on her wrist has tightened. "you expect me to be happy for you when one of my good friends completely blew me off and stole my girlfriend?!" he laughs dryly. dayeon feels youngmin tense up beside her, and she has to slither out of his grip so she can hold him back from doing anything he might regret later.
"i stole your girlfriend because you clearly weren't doing what you were supposed to, asshole," youngmin's voice makes her shiver. "if you were treating her right, do you think she'd willingly accept me? you know what you were doing behind her back, jeon woong."
woong tuts. "good god, hyung," he breathes, shaking his head. "this is between me and dayeon. me," he points to himself, "and dayeon," and at her. "so stay out of it."
he roughly grabs her free hand and pulls her along with him, and though youngmin's hold on her wrist is still tight, she looks back at him and shakes her head, silently allowing him to let go. youngmin looks worried, but she quickly mouths an it's okay to reassure him.
dayeon is pushed out to the back exit of the building, where literally no one walks past — it's just an alleyway with one or two street lamps, and it gets pretty scary at night; she's a little thankful it's 2pm and it's bright outside.
"what? what is it that you want now?" she looks defeated. "woong, if you believed that we would be like the people we were back in high school, i'm sorry to tell you that we were just a bunch of teenagers who had no idea what the hell the world had in store for us," she purses her lips together. "i have to admit that initially i wanted us to work, but after i heard everything, and the way i felt like i had to put up an act whenever i was around you, i– i can't, woong."
his hands rest on her shoulders, and as he leans closer to her, his features soften, lips slightly pouted and eyes wide. "dayeon, it was a mistake," he's telling her. "please? all that i did when i was still with you, all of that, i wasn't thinking straight and it was all just one big mistake, really! please, dayeon, i can't lose you again, not like this."
"it'll just go back to how it started," she tries to reason. "i can't face you as someone more than your friend and a member of your dance crew anymore, woong. and i can't hurt youngmin like this, nor will i be able to look at rohee in the eye if i get back with you– it's just– this is a mess, let's just not," she shrugs off his hands off her shoulders. "we both know whatever we had was unhealthy. let's stop."
dayeon turns on her heel, about to reach for the door handle and step back inside the building, until woong calls her name again. "you told me we would work if we both put in effort," he throws her words back at her. "but who's the one not putting in effort now?"
her hands ball up into fists by her side. she turns and gives him one last look, brows knitted together and lips parted. "you ask yourself that when you told rohee i meant nothing to you, jeon woong."
when she goes back inside the building, dayeon's thoughts are clouded and she's brisk walking, not looking ahead of her. she hears people calling her name but pushes them aside, but then she bumps into someone and is halted.
"hey," youngmin's voice is like the calm after a storm. he stands in front of her, looks down, pushes stray strands of hair away from her eyes. "everything okay?"
it was like a snap back to real time. "youngmin, y-yeah, everything's good," she pulls herself together. "can i leave? i don't think i want to stay here any longer today," she glances at the back door. "it was a little too much."
"i'll walk you to the bus stop," he smiles, and he does as he says. they walk in silence, her hand loosely holding onto his ring finger and pinky. youngmin takes her whole hand and squeezes it gently, causing her to meet his eyes and be greeted with a soft smile when she looks up at him.
when they sit on the bench side by side, their entwined hands are settled on his lap, his thumb slowly stroking her skin. "you know, i said all of that straight to his face, but if you ever have a change of heart, you know you can just go, right?" youngmin says. "i don't want you to feel forced to be with me just because i like you."
"im youngmin," she warns, flicking the side of his face with her free hand. he flinches, but gently shoves her in the shoulder. "i was the one who ended things. i choose what i want to do, and i choose to get to know you better. to be with you."
her bus arrives shortly after. he drops a kiss on her forehead, promising he'll text her later that night. on her journey back home, it felt like every print he left on her body were on fire.
𓆝𓆟𓆜𓆞
bfl promos ended im sad
but IM DONE WITH SCHOOL im gonna have my shit together so im gonna start focusing on this book more and make yall hate woong even more!!!!
