'' ᶜᵒⁿᶠʳᵒⁿᵗᵉᵈ ᵇʸ ᶠʳᶦᵉⁿᵈˢ ᶠʳᵒᵐ ᵗʰᵉ ᵖᵃˢᵗ ''
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When the couple saw one another early the following morning, neither of them mentioned what had happened the night before. They went back to their usual routine, with Sunoh making breakfast while Nari got ready for school, and each ignored the feeling of disappointment mixed with guilt that surfaced whenever they made eye contact. Though they tried to push the image of their unresponsive Love Alarms away, it flashed in front of their eyes every now and then and caused the silences in between their little conversations that had once been comfortable to turn slightly awkward now.
"Ready?" Sunoh asked quietly after they'd finished breakfast and put their shoes on.
Nari swung her bag over her shoulder and nodded to him, following him out of the front door and locking it behind her.
The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Sunoh gathered up enough courage to take Nari's hand, entwining their fingers and breaking the awkward atmosphere between them by asking her about their schedule for that day when she turned to look up at him in surprise.
Grateful that he had made the first move to ease the tension between them, Nari pulled a smile onto her face and proceeded to tell him about the lessons that they were supposed to have that day as she held onto his hand a little tighter.
─🌊─
Sunoh had been lost in thought when he bumped into someone while rounding a corner as he walked through the school corridors during break time. Raising his gaze to look at the wide-eyed boy in front of him, Sunoh felt his heart sink slightly as he instantly recognised him.
"Joo-won..." he uttered, trailing off as he struggled to think of something else to say.
Moon Joo-won was not only the heart and soul of the classroom—always making everyone around him smile and laugh because of his good-natured personality and funny jokes—but he was also the second closest friend of Sunoh's, with the first being Hye-yeon. The two had met at the beginning of middle school and had befriended one another because both of them were considered popular by the rest of the student body, but then they gradually found out that they have a lot in common. They listened to the same music and liked the same sport, and both wanted to be free of the restraints placed upon them by their rich and famous families. They used to spend a lot of their free time outside of school together, and they naturally grew closer.
But recently the two hadn't spoken due to Sunoh's heartbreak following his breakup with Jojo which had resulted in him pushing everyone close to him away, including his two closest friends.
"Oh, Sunoh," Joo-won replied, his face forming an unusual blank expression.
Joo-won was known for his bright smile that barely ever left his face, and so to see him expressionless was very, very rare. Sunoh had seen Joo-won shoot such a look at people who didn't pass his vibe check a couple of times before, but he had never had that kind of expression directed at him before.
The Hwang boy shifted on the spot, uncomfortable now that he was the target of Joo-won's blank stare.
"Hey," Joo-won greeted when he noticed that Sunoh wasn't leaving.
"Yeah—um—hi," Sunoh replied awkwardly.
He suddenly felt awfully guilty for spending all of his time with his new girlfriend instead of making up with his friends as he stared at the boy opposite him, realising that it had been almost 4 months since they had last spoken. Sunoh looked down at his shoes as he realised then just how much he missed his friends and how much he wanted to speak to them again, but he felt unsure of whether they would feel the same way. The words that he had yelled at them while pushing them out of his life replayed in his mind, making him feel worse by the second as his hope to rekindle their friendship faded. His fingers began to fiddle with the hem of his blazer as he struggled to figure out how to fix the mess that he had created, so many thoughts rushing through his mind but not one word escaping him.
Joo-won noticed the boy's unusual hesitance to leave. It was pretty hard not to notice this considering that Sunoh had used every excuse possible to avoid Joo-won during the past few months, making it awfully obvious every time that he didn't want to stick around long enough to talk. Joo-won realised then that perhaps this was Sunoh's way of telling him that he wanted to fix the crack in their friendship—that he wasn't running off because he wanted to talk and sort things out between them. If that was the case, then Joo-won was willing to give him a chance to speak.
"Where were you heading?" Joo-won asked, attempting to strike up a conversation with the awkward brunet in front of him as his piercing stare softened slightly. "You seemed to be rushing somewhere..."
"Ah...yes," Sunoh answered, his voice coming out a little stiff, "I was looking for Nari."
"Nari?" Joo-won repeated, falling silent for a moment as he tried to remember if he knew someone with that name. A look of recognition spread across his features after a minute and he asked, "Oh, you mean Seo Nari? The quiet girl in our class that sits at the front near the door?"
Sunoh dipped his head in a nod.
"Ah, okay...I see," Joo-won uttered as he nodded in understanding. He paused before adding, "That makes sense—I've seen you hanging out with her often. I heard you guys were dating—is that true?"
Sunoh nodded again, his grip on the hem of his school blazer tightening. "Yeah."
"How long have you guys been dating?"
"Almost 3 months."
Joo-won's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he did the maths. "Wait...isn't that only—like—a month after your breakup with Kim Jojo?"
At the mention of his ex-girlfriend, Sunoh visibly stiffened. He would be lying if he were to say that he hadn't thought of her recently, because he had, but thoughts about her were usually in the background of his mind now. Being reminded of her and the abrupt end of their relationship was like a slap in the face to him.
"Right," Sunoh let out, stiffly nodding again.
"But you were still hung up on Jojo back then," Joo-won carried on speaking, his eyebrows furrowing as a light frown graced his features, "Weren't you? How come you got into a relationship when you were still—?"
He cut himself off, pausing for a moment as the cogs in his brain turned, piecing together bits and pieces of information to form a bigger picture.
Joo-won's frown deepened and he threw his friend an accusatory look as he said, "Hold on...are you using Seo Nari? As a way to get over Kim Jojo—as a rebound?"
Sunoh's gaze found his shoes once again. "It's not exactly like that," he mumbled.
"Then what's it like, exactly?" Joo-won asked, folding his arms across his chest. "If you're not using her as a rebound, then are you telling me that you're already over Kim Jojo and that you like Seo Nari now? Because the last time that I checked, you were so hung up on your ex-girlfriend that you didn't want anyone to interrupt your little pity party and you ended up cutting ties with everyone around you."
Joo-won knew that he was being harsh—of course he did—but he couldn't help himself. He had been pretty upset when Sunoh had suddenly pushed him away and refused to answer any of his calls or texts, leaving him hanging for months on end. Now that he had the opportunity to talk to Sunoh again, Joo-won wanted to relieve some of his pent-up frustration which had built up over the time that Sunoh had spent ignoring him.
"You didn't let anyone get close to you," Joo-won carried on, his voice rising by the minute. "Not me or Hye-yeon or your parents or anyone else—no one could get close to you. You shut down completely and refused to interact with anyone. So how come you let her in? How come you've been dating Seo Nari—someone you've never interacted with before—all this time that you've been ignoring us? Explain yourself, Sunoh."
Swallowing thickly, Sunoh fought to find the right words to explain the situation.
He had been feeling guilty enough just by looking at Joo-won, but having Joo-won confront him about the split in their friendship and the nature of his sudden relationship with Nari that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere made him feel even worse. He wished he knew what the right thing to say was.
"Well?" Joo-won prompted when Sunoh remained silent for too long, raising an eyebrow.
"I, uh...can we go talk about this somewhere else ?" Sunoh asked quietly, his gaze darting around the busy corridor that they were standing in before settling on his friend. "I'll explain everything to you, just...let's go somewhere else first."
Joo-won stared at him silently for a moment, his gaze hard, before letting out a sigh. "Fine," he agreed, his tone and posture softening up again, "Let's go—I know a quiet place where we can talk."
As much as he wanted to get back at Sunoh for leaving him hanging for months, Joo-won wanted the tear in their relationship to be patched up quickly much more. He was willing to hear Sunoh out if it meant that afterwards, they would go back to how they were before.
The two boys left the corridor and walked side-by-side in silence as Joo-won led them to the quiet place that he know of, each hoping for the best outcome to their upcoming talk.
─🌊─
"You're dating Hwang Sunoh?"
Nari raised her gaze from her hands, which she was busy washing in the bathroom sink, to the mirror through which she made eye contact with an all too familiar girl.
"Well?" Park Gulmi demanded, unfolding her arms from across her chest and slowly approaching the Seo girl with her two minions following after her. "I asked you a question."
"Yes," Nari answered simply, "We're dating."
Gulmi let out a laugh and muttered 'unbelievable' under her breath, just loud enough for Nari to pick up on it. "You're really dating?"
"Yes."
Nari rinsed her hands and shook some of the water off after closing the tap. She then walked over to the paper towel dispenser and took one, drying her hands thoroughly and focusing her attention on the action rather than the three girls burning holes in her side profile with their intense gazes.
Just as Nari threw her paper towel away and made a move to leave the bathroom, the two minions obstructed her path and prevented her from leaving.
"Where are you going?" Gulmi droned, her smile not quite reaching her eyes as Nari turned to look at her. "Don't you know that it's rude to walk away from someone that's trying to have a conversation with you? Or did your lowlife parents never teach you any manners?"
Nari stiffened at the mention of her parents, her gaze flickering away from the girl in front of her briefly. "You, of all people, should know not to drag my parents into conversations like these," she said quietly as her gaze travelled back to the brunette.
Gulmi tilted her head slightly as her eyes narrowed. "I, of all people," she mocked, "Know that bringing you parents into conversations like these is the only way to get you to listen most of the time."
A moment of silence passed between the two girls, one staring at the other with hatred burning in her eyes while the second stared back with a hint of melancholy washing over her features.
"What did you do to Hwang Sunoh to get him to agree to date you?" Gulmi asked, breaking the silence.
Nari frowned at her choice of wording. "I didn't do anything—"
"Cut the cr*p," Gulmi hissed, her lips twitching into a scowl. "You must've done something—there's no way he would willingly go out with someone like you. Have you seen yourself? You're nothing but a nuisance. You cling to rich boys like a parasite, fluttering your lashes at them and playing the innocent girl act just so that they'll pity you and stick around—just who do you think you are, Seo Nari? You're not someone that's worth the attention of someone like Hwang Sunoh, so stop whatever you're doing to keep him around—selling yourself to him or blackmailing him or whatever else it is that you do to get yourself rich boyfriends these days—stop it all and leave him alone. He deserves so much better than you."
"I'm not selling myself to him, nor am I blackmailing him," Nari replied calmly, hurt flashing across her eyes. "Do you really think of me as someone that does that?"
"You've done it before," Gulmi shot her down bluntly. "Who's to say you're not doing it again now?"
Nari was quiet for a few moments, knowing that there was nothing she could say to convince the girl in front of her. Gulmi had always been stubborn—once she believed in something, there was no convincing her otherwise no matter how much evidence you supplied her with.
"I'm not doing anything like that," Nari said, her voice still remaining calm despite the whirlwind of emotions welling up inside of her. "I never did."
"Bullsh*t."
Ignoring Gulmi's short comment, Nari carried on, "All I did was ask him out, and he said yes—I didn't do anything other than asking him to date me. I never forced him into anything, and I'm not tying him down with anything. He's a free person and he can leave me whenever he wants—I won't force him to stay with me. I never forced anyone to stay with me. I did ask, and I did beg—I'll admit that—but I never forced anyone."
Gulmi scoffed in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? I know what you're like and what you've done in the past. Do you really think that a few sentences like that will convince me? Drop your good girl act and tell me what you did to Hwang Sunoh right now."
"I'm telling you—I didn't do anything!"
"Stop f*cking lying to me!" Gulmi screeched, her calm demeanour crumbling to reveal the anger that had been bubbling up beneath the surface. "Hwang Sunoh changed after his breakup with my cousin—he was cold and distant and he didn't let anyone get close to him! But you ? He let you in. Why is that, I wonder?"
Taking a step forwards, Gulmi took a fistful of Nari's hair before the dark-haired girl could step away. Despite the satisfaction welling inside of her at the sound of Nari's pitiful whimpers of pain, Gulmi's scowl remained dark and a dangerous glint shone in her narrowed eyes.
"Why?! Tell me," Gulmi demanded, tugging on Nari's hair and eliciting another sharp cry from her, "Why did he let you in when he shut everyone else out? What's so special about you? What exactly did you say to him to have him let you stick around him for this long? There has to be something that you did to get him to act like that with you!"
"I didn't say anything," Nari replied, trying to free her hair from the brunette's grasp. "Please, let go—it hurts—"
"Oh it hurts, does it?" Gulmi snarled, tugging on her hair again though harsher this time. "Maybe you should've thought about that before going after a man that was already taken!"
"But he wasn't—"
Another harsh tug had Nari cutting herself off with a cry of pain followed by a meek whimper.
"He was !" Gulmi hissed, "I marked him as mine on the very first day that he transferred here! Everyone else in this entire damn school knew that I had my eye on him, and yet my brainless cousin and your gold-digging a** didn't?! I call bullsh*t! You knew—of course you knew! You knew, and yet you still went after him despite that!"
"But Sunoh didn't agree," Nari replied in between whimpers of pain. Her eyes glistened with tears as she felt another harsh tug on her hair, and she desperately tried to rid her dark locks of the brunette's fingers as she carried on, "Sunoh never said anything about liking you or even being interested in you—you can't just claim someone without asking them if they like you or not!"
"Shut up !" Gulmi screeched, untangling her fingers from Nari's hair and shoving the dark-haired girl away from herself. As her minions caught Nari, Gulmi carried on, "Of course he likes me! There's no boy in this school who could resist my charms—he has to like me! We're perfect for one another! We're destined to be together! And you," she stalked over to Nari and glared down her nose at her, "Are getting in the way of our happily ever after!"
Nari cowered away from her, looking up at the brunette with wide eyes. "What happened to you?" she asked quietly, a single tear escaping her eye and falling down her cheek. "To us? You used to be so nice—so sweet—and we were so, so close ... what ever happened?"
"Ask yourself that question, you backstabbing b*tch," Gulmi hissed in response, glowering at Nari with a newfound hatred now that the dark-haired girl had brought up their past. Her glare worsened with every childhood memory shared with Nari that swam up in her mind, her anger being fuelled by each one. "Stay away from Sunoh if you don't want me to destroy your life. You know very well that I have enough power to do that—I can and I will destroy you if you throw yourself at my man one more time. I have photos, screenshots, articles—you name it, I have it. And I'll use everything to bring you down."
Shaking her head slightly, Nari stared up at her with wide and glossy eyes. "You're crazy," she uttered, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Crazy?" Gulmi echoed before throwing her head back and letting out a loud laugh. She stopped abruptly, turning to glare down at Nari again as she threatened, "I'll show you crazy."
Gulmi went to grab a hold of Nari again but stopped when she saw Nari flinch away from her. Satisfaction ran through her again, and she decided that it would be best to save what she had planned to do to the dark-haired girl for later since she deemed herself to have installed enough fear into Nari for now.
Twirling a strand of Nari's dark hair around her slender finger, Gulmi adopted a sickeningly sweet tone of voice as she said, "Listen, Ri-ri ," she spat the old nickname out as though it was poison on her tongue, "I'll let you go for today. But I'm warning you—I have my eye on you. One wrong move—one—and I'll make sure to show you just how crazy I can be. Tell Sunoh or anyone else about what happened here today and I'll move the D-day of your demise forward. Have I made myself clear?"
Nari's gaze focused on the tile floor as she slowly nodded. She couldn't do anything else—she was scared of the person that Gulmi had become, and too many voices were yelling at her inside of her head for her to think clearly. She was used to hearing them by now, but their biting words was something that she would never get used to. They screamed at her to shut up and agree with the girl that was worth more than she would ever be, and Nari obeyed them.
Satisfied by her reply, Gulmi signalled for her minions to let the dark-haired girl go. She sent Nari one last scathing look before plastering an innocent smile onto her face and leaving the bathroom with her followers right behind her.
Once they were gone, Nari let out a shaky breath of relief and sunk to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest as she leant back against the sink behind her and fought back a breakdown.
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well that was intense 👀
Sunoh is finally beginning to come out of his shell and wants to talk to his friends again, but meanwhile Nari has to deal with old friends hunting her down and forcing her back into the shell that she had just begun to come out of thanks to her boyfriend 😩 I wonder what'll happen to the both of them next?
sorry about bursting y'all's happy bubble by the way, but as you all probably know by now, drama and angst is something that I just can't resist unfortunately ;^;
I hope you guys enjoyed the update and apologies for the wait again. I've added "slow updates" to the title of this book because I just can't update this fic as regularly as the others for some reason. I know I kept promising to try my best and update more regularly, but it's too hard for me so I'll just update when I can. I'm sorry, and thank you for your patience and understanding ❤
oh, by the way, thank you all so much for 31k reads and 1.8k votes!! it really means a lot to me so thank you so so much!! I'm confused as to why the reads keep increasing despite the lack of frequent updates 😂 but I'm grateful nonetheless ❤
anyways, I love you beans!! thank you to old readers for sticking around and welcome to the new readers!! I hope you're enjoying the story so far and will continue to do so as the story unravels. please vote and comment if you can, I love hearing from you!! stay safe, my precious beans!! :)) ❤