"Jimin, can we please just-" Yoojung started, but only to get cut off before she could finish again.
"I'm done with these." Jimin stood up, a whole stack of newspaper strips in his hands. He passed it to Yoojung without even looking her in the eye. "Could you please settle the glue and pass it to Minhyun?"
"Jimin, wait-"
"Minhyun-" Jimin headed towards the door, totally ignoring Yoojung. "I'm done with my job. Gonna head to the to the toilet real quick."
Yoojung's face fell. Now Jimin was talking to her, but the way he spoke was distant. Since when did he ever use the word "please"? Yoojung's heart sank.
Taehyung seemed to have caught on that something wasn't right, his eyes trailing after Jimin after he left the room.
"Minhyun! I need to use the restroom as well, I'll be back real quick." Taehyung jumped up from his seat, shoving the plastic bottles he had in his hands to Jennie, who was sitting next to him. He ran out of the room, totally ignoring the angry shouts of an irritated Jennie.
The friendship was falling apart. It was over. And it was all her fault. Yoojung mechanically stirred the glue in the bowl over and over again, not hearing Minhyun calling her name several times until Doyeon walked over and waved a hand in front of her face.
"Yoojung!"
Yoojung jumped.
"I'm sorry, I blanked out for a few seconds right there. What's up?"
"We're going to the bookshop to grab more supplies for a bit." Doyeon gestured towards Minhyun. "Are you done with the glue? Minhyun wants you to coat the newspaper strips in the glue mixture while we're gone."
"Sure."
Minhyun and Doyeon headed out of the classroom, shutting the door behind them. Yoojung sat back down, continuing the task that Minhyun had just assigned her.
It was only Jennie and her in the classroom, and for once, it was awfully quiet. If Yoojung was told a month ago that there would come a day when Jennie and Yoojung could sit in a room together without trying to kill each other, Yoojung would never have believed it. But there they were, Jennie's back facing Yoojung, both focused on their own tasks, not talking - but more importantly, not fighting.
But suddenly, the lights went out.
It took Yoojung three whole seconds to figure out what was happening when the lights in the room went out, the aircon stopped and she heard a loud shriek from Jennie across the room. The room was badly lit and ventilated, with only small windows at the top of the room.
"OMG WHAT IS HAPPENING?!" Jennie yelled. "CHOI YOOJUNG!"
"I'm here, Jennie Kim." Compared to Jennie, Yoojung was extremely calm. "It's just a power shortage, no need to freak out."
"HOLD ME! HOLD ME!" Jennie was not getting any more calm. "I HATE THE DARK - GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
Yoojung tried hard not to laugh. Jennie Kim? That fearless maniac of a girl? Scared of the dark? It was hard to believe. "Chill, girl. It's just the dark."
"OMG CHOI YOOJUNG I SWEAR-" Jennie shrieked. Yoojung was sure she heard something that sounded like a wail. "P-Please. I'll do anything you want if you help me get out of here right now."
"I'm on it." Yoojung laughed, groping her way around in the dark, trying to make her way towards Jennie. The idea of Jennie owing her one sure sounded great.
"Faster-" Jennie sniffled. At this point, Yoojung was sure she was crying. "Please-"
Finally, Yoojung got hold of a hand and Jennie grabbed on tightly to her. She was trembling.
"Are you alright?" Yoojung asked, placing her other hand over Jennie's. Her hands were stone cold.
"Let's g-get o-out." Jennie stammered and took a step forward.
Yoojung literally had to support most of Jennie's weight because she was so weak in the legs. After like 5 whole minutes, they finally made their way to the door. Yoojung grabbed the handle and pushed open the door, expecting it to open.
But it didn't.
The door was spoilt. Of all times. During the blackout. When Yoojung and Jennie were the only ones stuck in the room. And Jennie was a crying mess.
"Screw my life." Yoojung muttered under her breath, shoving her entire body into the door but to no avail. "What great timing."
"What are you doing?" Jennie spat. "Quick - open the door! Choi Yoojung!"
Yoojung let out a deep sigh. "The door is faulty." She slumped back against the wall. "We'll have to call one of them to get someone to help."
"Noooo..." Jennie whined. "I don't think I can last..."
"Come on, Jennie. Don't be a wimp."
"You don't get it, I-"
"It's just the dark. Get over it."
"No, I-"
"I'll just call Jim-" Yoojung hesitated. "-Taehyung to get us out. We'll be out in no time."
"I was kidnapped when I was 9."
~
"What did you say?" Yoojung couldn't believe her ears. "I'm not sure if I heard you right."
"I think you did." Jennie, slumped onto the floor against the wall next to the door, holding her knees close to her, still sobbing hard. "That's why I'm afraid of the dark, Choi Yoojung. There, I said it. Laugh at me."
Yoojung's expression softened. "No, no, no." Yoojung whipped out her phone and switched on the flashlight. "Look - there's light now. Do you feel better?"
Jennie looked up at the light Yoojung was holding, her face relaxing a little. She glanced at the opposite end of the room shrouded in darkness and cowered slightly. Then she realised Yoojung was watching her all this time. "You're not going to laugh at me?"
Yoojung frowned, crouching down to sit opposite Jennie, putting some space between her and the opposite end of the room. There was a tiny bit of light coming in from below the door and windows near the door, while the opposite end was pitch dark. Yoojung figured, that if Jennie was afraid of the dark, having something, in this case herself, between her and the dark, would make things less scary. "Why would I laugh at you?"
"You know-" Jennie bit her lower lip. "Because we hate each other and stuff?"
Yoojung chuckled slightly. "Oh, Jennie Kim. Just because we hate each other doesn't mean I don't have a heart, alright? Plus, if it were the other way round, I'm sure you'd do the same too."
Silence.
Yoojung gasped. "Oh my gosh! You wouldn't?!"
"Umm..."
"You-"
"I'm kidding!" Jennie giggled, and Yoojung was relieved to hear that she was no longer sobbing uncontrollably. "Even if it was my worst enemy in the world, I would help her when she faces something she fears the most." A pause. "Because I know how it feels like."
"Exactly. There's nothing to laugh about." Yoojung hesitated, recalling what Jennie had just said earlier. "Especially when you have a past experience related to it. Totally understandable."
Silence fell over the room.
"Can you please keep it a secret?" Jennie spoke softly. "About what I said earlier."
"My lips are sealed." And Yoojung meant every word she said.
The two girls sat in silence for a while.
"Wait... have you called someone to come?" Jennie asked suddenly.
Oops. Yoojung had totally forgotten. "Oh, crap."
Yoojung unlocked her phone and dialled Jimin's number- Oh, wait. She deleted it and dialed Taehyung's number instead. She was about to hit the dial button, but hesitated.
"Wait, I don't know if we'll ever get a chance to talk like this ever again so..." Yoojung put down the phone temporarily. "Can I ask why you hate me so much?"
Jennie didn't reply immediately. It seemed like she had a lot to think about. Finally, she spoke. "Um... To be honest, I don't know."
"What?"
"I don't know. I always thought you hated me, so I decided to be mean to you so that you wouldn't have the chance to be mean to me first."
"Lies." Yoojung muttered. "You bullied me first! That's why I hated you so much."
"What?!" Jennie gasped. "I bullied you? No, I didn't! You're the one who spilled that nasty drink all over me during lunch and called it an accident!"
"Okay, fine. That wasn't an accident." Yoojung frowned. "But I only did that because you dumped water on my head on the first day of school and laughed at me after that!"
"No, I didn't!"
"Oh - yes, you did. On the first day of school, I was walking under the classroom window and you dumped a huge pail of water on my head then started laughing together with your girl friends - I still remember seeing you, Chaeyoung and Yongsun's face in the window, laughing with each other-"
"I never ever did such a thing! On the first day of school, I literally didn't go near the windows at all..." Jennie's voice trailed off. "Wait-"
"Ah, so now you remember?"
"No, listen-" Jennie grabbed Yoojung's hand suddenly. "I think I know what happened-"
"What?"
"I went near the window only once and that was because I heard the boys from our class were playing basketball and something really funny happened, which was when Hoseok jumped really high and dunked the ball but was too afraid to let go of the hoop... That's why we were laughing."
"Why should I believe you?" Yoojung was still suspicious.
"Well, because we saw the water fall from a floor above but we totally didn't know it hit you!" Jennie exclaimed. "Holy crap, I can't believe you thought it was me all this time! Is that you did so many mean things back to me?!"
Come to think of it, Yoojung didn't actually see Jennie pour the water on her. She just assumed it came from them because they were all laughing... Was this whole thing a misunderstanding which led to a year and a half's worth of tit-for-tat and bickering?
"But- You're so mean to everyone, I just assumed-" Yoojung thought for a while. "You even treat Doyeon so badly all the time."
"I was being mean to you because I actually disliked you since I thought you disliked me but well, if you don't then I don't either. The way I treat Doyeon... and everyone..." Jennie sighed. "I guess that's something I need to change. My parents didn't bother much about me since young... They just left me in the hands of the maid-" Jennie choked up a little. "All I wanted was their time, but they only gave me money. Come to think of it, I know I've been a spoilt brat all my life, but I have no idea how to change."
Yoojung was taken aback. All this while, she thought of Jennie as this whiny little bitch who had no manners, no compassion, no conscience whatsoever but she never actually tried to understand her or reach out a hand to her. They had missed out on these one and a half of years of potential friendship. Today, it was time for her to put it to an end. Yoojung took Jennie's hand in hers and squeezed it slightly.
"It's never too late to change. This time, I'll help you."
~
"Crap! Why can't this door open?" Taehyung pushed at the door of the room when he and Jimin arrived a few minutes later.
Jimin looked up, startled. "What?"
"This door - it can't open!" Taehyung slammed his body against the door, but to no avail. "Nope!"
"What?" Jimin stepped forward, gently nudging Taehyung out of the way. "Let me try." Jimin tried a few times, but yet, to no avail as well. "What's wrong with this door?"
"Is that Taehyung?" Jimin and Taehyung heard Yoojung yell from inside the room.
"Ye-" Jimin was about to answer.
"Yup, it's us! What happened?" Taehyung interrupted.
"We were just about to call you! It's like totally pitch dark in here! I think there was a short circuit or something! And the door seems to be faulty as well... Can you go call someone for help?"
"I'm on it!" Taehyung yelled back, before turning to Jimin. "Jimin, you wait here, alright? I'll be back real quick." And Taehyung ran off.
Jimin sat down outside the door, trying to listen to what was going on inside the room. But nothing much could be heard, since the room was soundproofed pretty well.
On the other side of the door, Jennie and Yoojung were now sitting side by side, putting their ugly past behind them. Yoojung was holding on tight to Jennie's hand, while Jennie clutched on to Yoojung's hand for dear life, her eyes closed shut.
"Wait... So you're afraid of the dark but when you close your eyes, it's alright?" Yoojung asked curiously. "And does that mean you leave off the lights on while sleeping?"
"Um... How else do I sleep, Choi Yoojung?" Jennie scoffed. "And... well, duh. I leave the lights on."
"There - it's 'Yoojung', not 'Choi Yoojung'. And 'how else do I sleep' and 'well, duh' is rude too. You see? You need to change all these habits so you can sound nicer."
Jennie laughed. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Choi Yoojung- I mean, Yoojung. You don't speak too politely yourself."
"What?"
"You've always called me nasty things and I've never heard you call me 'Jennie' - only 'Jennie Kim', 'idiot', 'bitch', the list goes on."
Yoojung scoffed. "Please. That's in the past now. Now, I'm your manners teacher."
"Oh, really?"
"Mmhmm."
The two girls shared a laugh.
"You're not as bad as I thought, really." Yoojung said, and she really meant it. "I'm actually glad this happened."
"You are?" Jennie asked slowly. "I thought... I thought you were in a bad mood or something."
Yoojung kept silent. "Was that why you avoided talking to me earlier? I was surprised you wouldn't call me a sulky melonhead or something."
"What?!" Jennie stifled a laugh. "Melonhead sounds good, maybe I should use it next time."
"Oh, no. No more calling people names, Jennie. I'm gonna help you become a real dainty polite girl."
Jennie and Yoojung laughed out loud and their laughs echoed in the empty dark room. Then there was silence for a short while.
"I bet something happened between you and Jimin." Jennie spoke all of a sudden, breaking the silence. "What? Did he get rejected by you or something?"
Holy crap. This Jennie had some mad skills. Yoojung gasped. "How do you know?"
"Logic, Yoojung." Yoojung didn't need to see Jennie's face to know that she was smirking. "Nah, just kidding. Come on, you know how many guys I've dated. I've got more experience than the whole of F5 put together."
Yoojung wanted to laugh, but she realised that Jennie was right. Jennie had dated more than 10 guys this year, and it was barely even halfway through the year. There was Mino the basketballer from Class 12A, Seungri the from Class 12C, Jiyong the senior who came back to visit, and the list goes on. Yoojung was pretty sure there was something going on between her deskmate Yoongi and Jennie at some point. She was indeed a love gu-
"Yoojung, I have to say, I'm pretty much a love guru, alright?" Jennie slung an arm around Yoojung's shoulder. "Let me tell you something, I'm someone who doesn't take advantage of others, alright? So since you've decided to be my manners teacher, I'll be your relationship advisor. What do you say?"
Yoojung thought hard. Should she say yes? Did she even need advice now that the whole relationship or friendship (even she wasn't clear which it was) was falling into pieces?
Jennie seemed to have read her mind. "Lesson number one, how to handle the situation when your good friend confesses to you and you don't want to date him because you're afraid of ruining the friendship."
How could Jennie read her mind so clearly?
"Imagine hanging out together with your good friend whom you rejected and your boyfriend - will you be able to handle that?" Jennie put a hand on Yoojung's shoulder. "If you can't even handle such a situation, it means that getting a boyfriend would make you unable to hang out with your good friend anymore. Also known as, friendship over. Then... if you have feelings for that good friend, you might as well go for it!"
What Jennie said made something suddenly click in Yoojung. She was totally right.
"Yoojung, you have feelings for him, don't you?" Jennie asked quietly. "Your heart starts beating faster when you're around him, you wonder where he is when he isn't around, you think about him all the time and most importantly, you-" Jennie leaned closer and whispered into Yoojung's ear. "You cannot imagine life without him, can you?"
Then it struck Yoojung.
She was in love with Park Jimin.