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━━━ " 📂 " ..⃗. ༉
𝙍 𝙊 𝙈 𝘼 𝙉 𝘾 𝙄 𝙉 𝙂
! chapter one hundred
& thirty seven ─── ʚĭɞ
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Returning to school for yet another week didn't interest Miyeon as much as it probably should do. The weekend had gone far too quickly, spending Saturday with Seojun and then Suho and Sunday being filled with going food shopping and visiting Eunjoo before a dinner with her father just seemed so much better.
And even the evening meal at a restaurant far too fancy for Miyeon to feel completely comfortable in had been more fun than going to school for yet another day.
Her father was doing well, Sangwon was busy at his work and also enjoying the freedom that splitting with Yujin had brought him. As the days passed, it seemed to bring him even more clarity towards the situation, the Hwang man realising just how much the woman had influenced him.
Their divorce was in the works, something that almost felt bittersweet. The father and daughter would be free from the monster that had stayed within their home, but at the same time that was the woman Sangwon had once fallen in love with, and the woman that Miyeon had called her mother so lovingly.
But the Yujin they had seen first was long gone, and now she was seen upon the arm of a business man from Daegu - which the investigator that Sangwon had hired to find out just how deep his wife's infidelities ran had found out to be the 'friend' that Yujin seemed to visit so much.
And the morning after Miyeon had poured over the information that Sangwon had gathered, she woke to the manual alarm clock that had been bought after the incident on Saturday morning and changed for school, heading towards Saebom High, shrouded in plenty of layers including the leather jacket that didn't belong to her.
"Waiting for me?" A voice broke through Miyeon's thoughts and she looked up to see Hyunwoo smiling down at her. She had barely seen him since he had revealed what he had figured out, their friendship merely consisting of smiles and greetings in the corridors, nothing else. "I know you're not, only a joke of course. But you look pretty lost in thought, something on your mind?"
"Not many people would offer to be this nice to someone who was essentially playing with your feelings." Miyeon still felt incredibly guilty for that, even though Hyunwoo's reaction was always to brush away her words - just as he was doing right then, making sure to look both ways as they crossed the street.
"Don't be silly." The boy shook his head, dark hair bouncing along with his movements and he pushed up his glasses. "I told you that I still wanted to be friends right? No matter who you like - now stop worrying about me and tell me what's got you so lost in thought that you stop in the middle of the pathway."
"I did?" Miyeon's eyes were slightly wide as she heard just how Hyunwoo had found her. "I mentioned my family situation to you, right?" The Song boy nodded. "Well I had dinner with my dad last night.. found out more about my mom's cheating and stuff about their divorce."
"Wow.. I see." Hyunwoo nodded, a similar expression on his face to when he found out just how Kwon Yujin was. "Bittersweet, right?"
"Mhm.." Miyeon trailed off as they entered the school building, hit with warm are as they began to climb the many school stairs up to their floor. "Clearly it's a good thing, but I'm almost hoping that she somehow goes back to how she was, even though she definitely won't."
"I understand that." Hyunwoo said, as they continued up the staircases. "It's not wrong for you to feel that way though, you've known her all your life - she's your mother, yet she turned into this awful person.
It seemed that a conversation with Hyunwoo help her figure out just how she was feeling, and a smile graced her features as she waved her goodbyes to Hyunwoo and passed through the doors into her classroom.
"How's Hyunwoo?" Seojun asked as she approached, but when Miyeon studied his features there wasn't even a hint of jealousy there the common emotion seemed to have been replaced by friendly interest.
"He's good." Miyeon nodded, placing her bag down by her desk but instead of sitting down in her own seat she lifted herself up to sit on the top of Seojun's desk, crossing her legs and smiling down at him. "You don't mind?"
The Han boy blinked slowly, glancing down at where she was sat before meeting her eyes. "You're already there, aren't you. Besides, this makes it easier for me to show you this." Seojun replied, moving his gaze to his phone, tapping the screen a few times before holding it up to the girl, who read the title and gently pulled the phone out of his grasp with protest from him.
Someone had posted on the school community revealling just what Soojin had done, revealling all of her ugly thoughts and malicious actions, and it was spreading school the school like wildfire - they had overheard the entire thing on the bathroom. And when Miyeon glanced around the classroom, she could hear that was what the small clusters of people were muttering about.
She met Sooa's eyes and a quick greeting was passed between the two, the latter's gaze flickering down to Seojun before winking at Miyeon and turning back to Taehoon. The Choi girl didn't seem too fazed by the post on the school community, already knowing everything said within it.
"It seems the webmaster does post some good things." Seojun commented, although his words were laced with slight disgust at the thought of Jin Huijeong - he had figured out that she had been Gowoon's bully before.
"Perhaps she does." Miyeon hummed in response. "Was there anything else interesting on there?" She asked as she passed his phone back to him. Seojun just shook his head and returned to texting one of his friends. He didn't say anything as Miyeon reached to untuck his shirt collar from his grey sweater.
The night before, Miyeon had sent the link to Seojun's video to the webmaster- or someone who would get it to her. She figured it would be the best way to bring more attention to the video she posted, which, when checked, seemed to be doing incredibly well.
Her own phone vibrated, and she glanced down at it to see a message written from Heekyung, who she had also contacted about the video. 'No need to send the link, I've already found it' the message read, quickly followed by words of praise towards Seojun's singing.
It was doing exactly as she hoped it to be, although as she was about to type out a reply to Heekyung when someone entered the room that made every single conversaton fall quiet.
Then the muttering began, eyes upon Kang Soojin as she entered the classroom and headed towards her usual seat. Miyeon slipped off of her seat after meeting Seojun's eyes with a knowing look, approaching Jugyeong who followed Soojin into the classroom.
"Jugyeong.. have you seen the online community?" Sihyun asked slowly.
All eyes were on the Im girl. "The online community?" Jugyeong repeated, reaching in her pocket for her phone and only offering a small smile of greeting to Miyeon when she saw her moving to stand by Sooa.
Soojin was doing the same, the muttering beginning again as both her and Jugyeong read the post. Hazarding a glance over at Suho, the Hwang girl only saw him staring straight ahead, jaw set.
"How could she say that? To a friend of all people?" One of the girls muttered as Soojin looked across the classroom, seeing the people she could once call her friends all thinking the exact same thing.
She met Miyeon's eyes for just a moment, and yet another bittersweet feeling came over the Hwang girl. Yet another person in her life who had started off so sweet but turned so sour.
"She betrayed a friend because of a guy?" One of the boys peered over Hyunkyu's shoulder to look at his phone asked, eyebrows raised.
"Don't you feel sorry for Jugyeong?" Hyunkyu asked, the boys agreeing with him.
"Was she the one who took that photo of Jugyeong and Suho?" Another boy asked, sitting closer by Sooa and Miyeon who had twisted around to see him. "Are you a stalker? You're mad scary."
"How will Kang Soojin show her face at school ever again?" The girl beside him with the bangs was saying, more and more words of agreement and comments.
Soojin met Miyeon's eyes once more, a replaying of the scene in which the Hwang girl had told her exactly what would happen to her if people found out, and it was laying right out in front of her.
She had given up all the friends she had because of pure jealousy. And she knew there was no coming back from it.
It only showed further when she ran from the classroom, the students within surprised to find Jugyeong running after her.
And with that coming to a true end when Jugyeong returned alone meant that the entire situation was over, and with it a strange calmness.
Which was never destined to last for long.