chapter 3
~friends~
The loud sound of the bell marked the end of yet another school day. The teacher bid the students goodbye and left the classroom. This was followed by the shuffling of feet as the students gathered their possessions and rushed out of the classroom.
Yoon-ah groaned in relief and dropped her pencil. The pencil clattered on the floor and rolled away to the other end of the classroom.
Uncaring, Yoon-ah blew stray hair out of her eyes and buried her face in her hands to collect herself. She was exhausted and every single minute of the day had felt like torture. Yoon-ah's head hurt from carrying the weight of her thoughts.
It was now nearly silent in the classroom, with a few students lingering around and talking. With a smile, Sua looked back at Jukyung to introduce herself and her friends to the newcomer.
"Lim Jukyung," Sua sounded out the girl's name one syllable at a time. "Right?"
A smile spread across her face as she nodded brightly.
"I'm Sua," the former exclaimed.
"This is my friend Kang Soojin," she added, introducing the raven-haired girl beside her.
With a polite smile, Soojin introduced herself to Jukyung, leaving the girl's stomach upset with jealousy. Fortunately, a warm smile from the girl immediately melted away those negative feelings, replacing them with happiness.
"And that's Song Yoon-ah," Soojin continued, pointing at the girl at the back of her class.
When Yoon-ah heard her name, her head perked up, and she looked around in a daze, searching for the person who had called her.
The three girls laughed at Yoon-ah's confused state. Sua turned to the brunette and motioned for her to join them, and she silently obeyed. She sent her friends a weak smile before Sua spoke up again.
"Wah! You are so pretty. You must have been popular at your old school." Sua mused, starting a conversation with Jukyung with Soojin speaking up once in a while.
Jukyung shrugged and shook her head in denial, chucking awkwardly.
"Yah! Don't be so modest," Sua exclaimed. "By the way, do you have a Stargram account?"
Jukyung responded with another shake of the head.
"Are you trying to be one of those mysterious girls like Yoon-ie here?" Sua gasped, teasing the new girl. "You know, followers will pile up the second you create an account."
"Even second-in-class Soojin here has a Stargram account," Sua said, nudging the girl in question. Soojin laughed in response before shaking her head.
"I rarely post," she defended herself.
All this while, Yoon-ah stood as a silent spectator and all the chatter from the girls was lost to her ears. What school Jukyung came from and what lip tint she wore were the last concerns on her mind.
After what seemed like an eternity, the girl seemed to shake herself out of her daze.
Soojin's sharp eyes noticed the brunette's gaze sharpen as her friend refocused on the conversation.
"We are thinking about eating out today, why don't you join us?" Sua was asking Lim Jukyung. However, it seemed as though the girl was hesitant.
"Let's go, ImJu" Yoon-ah cut in. "It's going to be fun."
Jukyung's eyes widened as she heard the nickname the pretty girl had just called her. Since Jukyung was a child, she had never had any real friends, and when Yoon-ah had called her by that nickname, the girl had been pleasantly surprised.
"Come on," Yoon-ah said, giving the flustered girl her hand. "I want to get to know you better."
Jukyung nodded slowly. "Let's go." She spoke up, smiling.
Sua cheered and skipped out of the classroom with Kang Soojin following close behind her. Yoon-ah tugged on Jukyung's hand and pulled her out of the classroom.
The four girls walking down the corridor seemed almost ethereal. Several students lingering in the hallways gaped at them. There emerged mummers in the corridor and awed whispers replaced the spectators' conversations.
"Yah! Isn't that the new angel student?"
"She's so pretty!"
"Of course, she'd become friends with the angels of our school. What would you expect?"
"It is true. Beautiful things really do belong together."
"Wowwww, the new girl managed to become friends with the Goddess herself."
The girls started their evening by eating a variety of delicious foods. At the local restaurant, Yoon-ah introduced Jukyung to her favorite dishes.
"Ohh," the brunette cheered, bouncing up and down on the chair like a child as the waiter placed the dishes on their counter.
"This one is my favorite," Yoon-ah said, savoring bibimbap, and passing some onto Jukyung's plate. As Jukyung tried a bite, her eyes widened.
"Wow!" she exclaimed, her jaw dropping in awe. "This is amazing!"
Nodding proudly, Yoon-ah kept his eyes focused on the task at hand. Food.
"That's because this place sells the best," she chimed in.
With a laugh, Sua shook her head.
"Our Yoon-ie loves food." She told Jukyung.
"Mhmm," Yoon-ah hummed, nodding in all seriousness. "Food is bae."
The other girls burst out laughing.
"I'm not kidding!" Yoon-ah protested but joined in the laughter regardless.
After a hearty meal, Sua tried to convince the girls to go to the arcade. Jukyung and Yoon-ah agreed immediately. However, it was a whole different story trying to convince Soojin to go. While the two girls argued, Yoon-ah excused herself to make a phone call to Mr. Choi.
"I will be late Mr. Choi," Yoon-ah said on the phone.
Upon hearing a hum in response, she was about to put down her phone but Mr. Choi interrupted her with a reluctant confirmation, "So you won't be going there today, Miss?"
"No, not today," Yoon-ah said, her hands clenching. She scoffed playfully upon hearing a happy exhale of breath on the other end and hung up the phone.
The brunette let out a shaky breath, unclenching her hands, and walked back to her friends. Sua was still busy talking to Soojin while Jukyung stood there awkwardly beside them. Taking this chance, Yoon-ah decided to approach her new friend.
"I noticed the nickname made you uncomfortable," she murmured her apology. "I won't use it again."
Jukyung looked up at her and was confused for a moment. When she realized what was happening, her eyes widened in horror and she shook her head quickly.
"No, I really like it," she reassured her. "I was just surprised, that's all."
Yoon-ah shrugged and looked away with raised brows, earning a pout from Jukyung.
"I really loved it," Jukyung whined but was interrupted by Sua beckoning the two girls over.
"Soojin's coming!" Sua exclaimed, clapping her hands in joy.
Yoon-ah looked over at Jukyung and cracked a smile.
"Let's go, ImJu" she chimed. "The arcade is this way." She added, making the other girl break into a wide smile.
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That evening was the most fun any of the girls had had in a long time. For Lim Jukyung, it was the first time she ever went out and had fun with friends, while Sua was thrilled to have so many photos for her Stargram followers.
As for Yoon-ah and Soojin, it was a welcome distraction from the mess of lives they had.
The girls spent the evening trying to beat each other at a variety of games, failing miserably and laughing till their stomachs hurt. They danced and sang their hearts out. To enthuse the others, they cheered and hollered to no end.
"Yoon-ah-ya! I'm so happy you came today," Sua exclaimed. "You never hang out with Soojin and me on Fridays."
"I had nowhere to be today," Yoon-ah said, pouting. "Besides, I wanted to spend time with my besties."
Sua giggled at the comment, and Soojin rolled her eyes playfully. "Yah! Don't roll your eyes at me!" Yoon-ah exclaimed, lightly hitting Soojin on the arm. "I'm sincere."
"Okay, okay," Soojin said, holding her hands up in defense. "I believe you."
Jukyung looked at the three girls and felt the biggest smile spread across her face. It was the first time she had made friends, and they appeared to have a special bond that she couldn't wait to share with them.
Changing schools had been the best thing that had ever happened to her in her life.
A sudden growl came from her stomach. Her cheeks turned red and she covered her stomach in embarrassment. Due to her self-consciousness amidst the beautiful girls, Juykyung had hardly eaten at the restaurant.
Despite the clamor and chaos in the arcade, Yoon-ah heard the sound and smirked at Jukyung, causing her face to turn a deeper shade of red.
Watching the girl opening her mouth to speak, Jukyung waited with bated breath for the snarky remark she had learned to expect from her past experiences.
"Yah! I'm hungry," Yoon-ah whined and pouted.
"What's up with you today, Yoon-ah-ya?" Sua said, chuckling. "We just ate!"
"That's okay, I'll get the snacks." Soojin suddenly said.
Yoon-ah smiled at the black-haired girl and turned her head away, winking discreetly at Jukyung. Pleasantly surprised, the girl smiled wide and thanked her softly.
Jukyung felt a little guilty for expecting the girl to humiliate her and scolded herself mentally. She was indeed ecstatic to have made such a friend on her first day itself. She understood well why Yoon-ah was so popular at school. Her aura was powerful.
Jukyung was herself captivated by the power Yoon-ah had possessed even just walking beside her. The sound of her boots clicking in the hallway when they walked together, was enough to give Jukyung a glimpse of what lay in store.
Yoon-ah seemed a little cold at first. However, once they spoke, the girl seemed warm and kind, yet her persona was such that one would not risk getting on her bad side. There seemed to be an air of practiced indifference about Yoon-ah and it seemed as though she could be daunting if she chose to be.
Yet, Yoon-ah had been nothing but nice to Jukyung since the second she met her.
Jukyung smiled to herself and skipped towards Sua who had invited her to play a game.
While Soojin was busy at the snack counter, Yoon-ah watched Sua and Jukyung locked in a fierce competition of Whack-a-Mole. She lay her head against the wall, letting her mind drift back to their conversation before. In retrospect, she realized that she hadn't exactly lied, but instead only shared the partial truth with her friends.
Yoon-ah was not one for sharing her troubles with others, and neither was she one for nosing into somebody else's business. Perhaps that was why she hated when people tried to nose into hers. Her problems were her own, and she'd deal with them on her own. She didn't need anybody to do that for her.
As for today, she could not bring herself to go to the hospital. Her thoughts became overwhelmingly haunted after the events that had transpired that day.
A distraction was required for her to clear her head. She wasn't mentally prepared to go.
Prior to entering the compound again, she needed to regain her resilience. She needed her strength to face dejection again. Having gone in the first place, she knew she would only be disappointed. Eunnie wouldn't have let me see her again.
Yoon-ah's eyes burned and tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. A familiar black-haired girl waved her hand in front of the girl's eyes, snapping her out of her reverie.
"Hey! You okay?" Soojin asked the girl, concerned, who nodded and smiled at her friend in response.
"I got your snacks," she said, waving the snacks in front of the brunette's face. The girl's face immediately brightened and she laughed while trying to grab onto the packets. Soojin ran away, with Yoon-ah hot on her heels.
While the girls sat on the couches, munching on the snacks, Kang Soojin glanced at Yoon-ah. Even though she knew the girl was going through something, she chose not to push it until the girl told her herself. Soojin understood that if she wanted something kept to herself.
I would know, she thought with a bitter laugh.
After a memorable day, the girls posed for the silliest of pictures at the photo booth.
"Those better never get out in public," Yoon-ah huffed, eyeing the goofy pictures they clicked in the photo booth.
"You look good," Jukyung complimented her, earning a playful scoff from the other girl.
The girls shared their numbers with Jukyung and Sua promised to add her to the group chat. As they ran down the streets, Yoon-ah linking her arm with Jukyung and pulling her along to the bus stop. When they reached, Soojin bid her goodbyes and left for her extra classes on foot as her house was nearby.
Yoon-ah's brown hair blew in the breeze as the three girls waited for the bus at the stop, chatting away about the day's experiences and their plans for the weekend. Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of Yoon-ah's phone. The girl glanced at the caller ID and her brown eyes widened. She excused herself, walking a little further away from the other girls, and answered the phone call.
"Hello?" she spoke into the phone.
"Yoon-ah-yah...." a husky voice spoke from the other end.
Yoon-ah knew why the person had called her. Fighting back a smile, she decided to feign obliviousness.
"Yeah? Is everything alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, the test results are all good," the caller said, the relief in their voice evident. "Her operation went well. She will be discharged soon."
"That's incredible!" Yoon-ah said, her rosy lips finally breaking into a smile. The boy hummed happily in response.
Of course she knew what he would say.
Yoon-ah had already gotten the news from her sources, but hearing the ecstasy in the boy's voice did something to her. It was as if his joy had somehow seeped into the girl's demeanor through the mobile phone.
"I'll come to visit soon," she said excitedly.
A deep chuckle emanated from the other end. Several seconds of silence followed; she could hear the caller's soft breathing from the other side.
"Yoon-ah," he spoke up softly, reluctantly breaking the silence.
"I also needed to talk to you about something." The boy's voice was suddenly very somber and serious. Yoon-ah's breath hitched in her throat. Does he know?
"About that day, "The boy appeared hesitant as he spoke. "I just wanted to thank you," he finally breathed out.
Oh, Relief flooded through her system and a shaky laugh escaped her lips, earning an agitated protest from the other end of the phone.
However, the boy's tone softened soon after. "Really, thank you."
The streetlamps began to light up near the bus stop. Yoon-ah's gaze shifted to the darkening horizon and she spoke back into the phone softly.
"You're welcome, Han Seojun."
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choi.sua
choi.sua Look who finally decided to hang out with us
@soojin123 today was soo fun<3
liked by soojin123, user04, user_45 and 213 others
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Comments
user_45 what is her id?
user03 @choi.sua who is this girl?
soojin123 Yoon-ah doesn't know you uploaded this, does she?
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choi.sua @ soojin123 shushhh
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