JUNGWON'S POV :
the night of the dance
Bareum pulled me away from Hayun just before she was about to say something.
I'll find her in a bit, hopefully whatever this girl has to say won't take too long
She firmly held my wrist as she led me out.
I don't exactly know who.. this person is. I know she's in 3-2 but that's all really.
We stood at the edge of the balcony outside the dance hall as the moon shone brightly on us
I shook off her hand gently as my wrist was getting a bit sore and i cleared my throat
"Is there something you need or?" I broke the silence, you could hear the muffled music from within the dance hall quite loudly though
"I guess you could say that" Bareum chuckled slightly, biting her lip
"What is it?" I raised an eyebrow in curiosity
"I like you, Jungwon"
Those words hit me like a truck
.. I don't even know who this girl is?
"Sorry? I don't even know you that well" I awkwardly chuckled at her confession, not knowing what to say
I saw her expression change, sadness.
I felt a little pang in my heart for the girl, but my heart belongs to someone else.
"I've loved young since our first day of high school, you're handsome, smart and funny.. Jungwon I really like you and I hope you like me back" she confessed, which only made me feel even more guilty for her
"..I'm sorry.. I like someone else, I— don't like you back." I replied
Her expression changed quickly again and she pulled me closer to her, closing the gap between us
She kissed me, forcefully
For way too long
If I pushed her, I think it might cause a scene.
Her hands gripped onto my blazer collar as she tilted her head into me
I then heard the sound of someone shouting, and two pairs of heels running
"Hayun! Hayun wait!"
My heart sank
. . . hearing that name being called out
It was like someone had just hit me with a truck or something, and everything was about to crash to the ground
I shoved Bareum with as much force as possible and she crashed to the floor
I stared at Hayun, her eyes were overflowing with tears of pain. She held onto the front of her dress, being careful not the trip over
"Hayun!"
I called out to her and started running after her, overtaking Yujin that was presumably with her
Hayun disappeared off into the busy dance hall
I then saw Jake and Ni-ki closing off a circle that surrounded Hayun, who was being tightly hugged by Eunji, and some others from the group
I ran towards them
"Hayun, please let me explain" I pleaded to her
"Jungwon, I think you need to leave her alone." Yoon blocked my view of Hayun from inside the circle
"I swear I didn't do anythi—"
"Then why is there smeared lipstick on your lips?" Yoon gritted her teeth at me
Dae then said something to Hayun and they all began leaving the dance hall
"Jungwon, that's fucked up man"
"you should know by now how much she likes you."
Ni-ki sighed, I could tell he was disappointed.
"Ni-ki please, it's not what you think." I stopped Ni-ki by holding onto his wrist
"Let's talk later, I have to go help Hayun." Ni-ki shook off my hand and gave me a cold glare before following behind the others
I felt tears stinging my eyes, my breathing became shakey. I frantically looked around for the only person that would understand. Heeseung.
He spotted the older boy, with the rest of the friend group not too far away and pushed his way over to them
"Heeseung... something happened and now- everyone hates me- I've been misunderstood please help me" it felt like my airway was closing up as my hands were shaking when I held onto his arm
"What happened Jungwon?" Jen asked me, and i just.. broke down into tears. They wouldn't stop falling from my eyes
"Let's take you outside, you need some fresh air" Chae put her arm around my shoulder and patted my back as she ushered us out
It was like everything really was falling apart, my own best friend won't even talk to me
I had a million thoughts going through my head, 999,999 of them being about her.
I tightly gripped my hands, digging my nails into my palms to try and stop them from shaking.
I slid down the wall outside the dance hall, needing a rest. Heeseung and Sunoo sat with me as the rest crouched and sat on the floor
"Jungwon, can you speak to me?" Chae asked me, crouching before me with concern
"I—....." I couldn't speak. I can't breath.
"You're having a panic attack" Chae said to me, holding onto my hands gently
"Hold my hands okay" I slowly unrolled my fingers and held Chae's hand
"Now look at me, breathe in— breathe out.." I followed her actions with her, my crying soon turned into sniffles and my shaking stopped over time
"You're doing great Jungwon" she said, soft spoken to me
After I calmed down from my panic attack, we sat in silence for a bit
"How the hell did you do that" Jen asked Chae, making us all laugh a little bit. Jen always makes people laugh when they need it
"When I used to have them, my older sister Chaeyoung always did that with me" she replied
"What happened, Jungwon?" Heeseung put his hand on my shoulder
"Hayun hates me"
"Huh?" Everyone turned their attention to me with those three words that came out of my mouth
"How? What?" Yeji stuttered in confusion
"She saw Bareum kiss me, but I'm pretty sure she saw it as me kissing Bareum"
"Who the hell is Bareum" Heeseung asked, in a bit of a threatening tone
"I don't even know her that well— I think she's in 3-2. She confessed to me, and I rejected her but like in a split second she grabbed me by my collar and kissed me"
"Fucking hell.." Jay said under his breath, putting his hand over his mouth in utter shock
"Yeah.."
"Then I saw Hayun, who was crying, running past us and I tried to chase after her— but I couldn't find her in the dance hall— and-.." Chae hushed me for a moment to try and keep me calm
"Jungwon you're getting yourself worked up again, say it slowly and calmly"
"I couldn't find her in the dance hall, but then I saw Eunji hugging her with the rest of the group circling Hayun" I recalled "then I tried to explain to her what it was a misunderstanding and then Yoon snapped at me— then they started to leave and Ni-ki even yelled at me"
"Why won't anyone— just hear me out?"
"We're here to listen, Jungwon. And we understand that it was a misunderstanding" Yeji reassured me and everyone nodded
"We can tell the others what happened if you like? They're more likely to listen to someone like Heeseung— not saying you can't but I think in the way they reacted they're upset too right now at you" Jen suggested
"That's probably for the best" I sighed and we all sat against the wall
We sat in silence, listening to the music booming from within the dance hall, we weren't that far away from the entrance so it was quite loud
The music died down and another speaker started playing a song
" I found a guy, told me I was a star,
He held the door held my hand in the dark,
And he's perfect on paper but he's lying to my face,
Does he think that I'm the kinda girl who needs to be saved? "
I instantly knew who that voice was
It was Hayun's
Her voice is different, it just stands out to me
I know for a fact, she was singing about me
Guilt washed over me again, just thinking about how she was feeling made me want to cry for her
I wish she could just listen to me
I tilted my head back as it hit the wall, deep in my thoughts of how I could fix this
I never knew how well Eunji could sing until now, she sounds similar to Hayun but she has a less powerful voice
" All I want is love that lasts,
Is all I want too much to ask?
Is it something wrong with me?
All I want is a good guy,
Are my expectations far too high?
Try my best but what can I say,
All I have is myself at the end of the day,
But shouldn't that be enough for me? "
Hayun's voice had pain, and meaning to it as she sang those lyrics.
I felt a single tear fall fron my eye
I'm so sorry..
Me, Heeseung and Sunoo spent the rest of the night listening to the group singing karaoke inside the dance hall, and just talking about things to get her off my mind