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Hyewon's Fault

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Hyewon woke up from her nightmare. Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to calm down. Dry tears stained her cheeks and she immediately got up from the cold water. Sighing, her tired eyes struggled to open as she turned her phone on. She called her aunt's number.

Aunt Yunseo spoke through the other line, her tired voice displaying.

therapy

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Countless personal messages and missed calls went through Jake's phone, yet he never bothered to look through it. He is currently accompanied by Jay, Heeseung, and Jungwon at a famous sushi bar downtown.

Heeseung questioned as he looked through Jake's phone. He's deeply concerned about the friendship of the two.

It's not a mystery that both Sunghoon and Jake have been the closest pals, yet here they were, in a serious fight. Jake took his phone from Heeseung and turned it off, putting it down the table as he chugged on his soda with a scowl.

Jake frowned.

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He recalled how dull Hyewon's eyes were, and how silent she suddenly was. If something like a 'simple insult' could affect someone so much, it would no longer be something simple.

Hyewon ran away and skipped classes even though she obviously wouldn't like to skip a single one.

Jake noticed the subtle look of disappointment in Heeseung's face. He knew well what the boy was thinking about. He can feel that Heeseung thinks that ignoring Sunghoon was overboard.

You see, Heeseung is a loyal man. If he was in the same situation, he would rather brush things off after talking Sunghoon's mistake to him. He would never ignore his friend, especially over someone he is not even very fond of.

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Jake knew all of this very well. He let out yet another huff. Jake pointed at Jay, who only shook his head. But something in the older's eyes pressured Jay to talk.

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Jay stated. Jay continued as he lazily rests his chin by the palm of his hand.

Jay shrugs as he takes a piece of sushi to his hand and devours it. The gloomy talk surely affected the taste of the scrumptious delicacy.

Jungwon asked, both concerned and intrigued by what was going on. Jay says while the rest— except Jake— nodded in understanding.

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Jake was too absorbed in the anger and disappointment he felt. Jake told as he frustratedly rubbed his face, it was very evident how disturbed and irked he was. It was very unusual of him, that's why the others only chose to understand him and go with his flow.

Heeseung suggested in hopes of cheering his pal up, and thankfully, he did succeed.

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Morning came and unlike all the other days, Hyewon woke up late. It was already 7:40 in the morning when she woke up. Class started long ago. Still, she took her time and watered her plants. Maybe she was just finding an excuse to attend late at school, or even not go after all.

Because after doing almost all of her household chores, she then did her usual routine and treated herself to a cup of ice cream on the way to school in hopes to lighten her mood even for just a little bit.

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Hyewon can't help but feel gloomy as she recalled what happened yesterday and the dream she had last night. Out of all the times I've been out of therapy, why would it go back suddenly? She thought, disappointed to herself. She has stopped visiting her therapist as nightmares stopped coming for her every night.

All this time, she thought she was healing from the trauma, but all it took was one word, and her better days all went in shambles.

Did Sunghoon's words affect her that much? Or maybe it was because she stopped medication months ago?

Whatever it is, she shrugged all her thoughts out of her head as she continued her way inside the building, where she was scolded by a teacher.

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Hyewon lied with a low voice as she bowed respectfully to the senior.

The teacher kept on yelling, but whatever goes in, quickly goes out of Hyewon's ears.

Hyewon's lips were quivering profusely, intimidated by the stern adult. Her anxiety combined with the voice of the teacher wasn't helping her at all. She was getting nervous and nervous each second, but thankfully, Mrs Kim had seen them.

Mrs Kim called. And when she saw that– indeed– it was one of her students, Mrs. Kim immediately went closer. She is the only one who is aware of Hyewon's condition.

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Mrs. Kim asked in concern, while Hyewon only nodded, embarrassed at herself when she shouldn't even be. Mrs. Kim said as she caressed Hyewon's back. Mrs. Kim simply excused Hyewon from the stern teacher and they both left.

Mrs. Kim asked as they went on their way to her classroom. Hyewon remained silent. It's not like she purposely avoided Mrs. Kim's question, she couldn't even open her mouth to speak.

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She was tearing up, and it seemed like talking would just make her tears fall. She didn't want that, especially when her kind teacher was just beside her.

They made it to the classroom yetHyewon never dared to speak. Mrs. Kim respected that and excused her to the subject teacher who is currently teaching.

With that, Hyewon went inside, her head hung low as she went to the seat beside the window.

Meanwhile, Soojin took a glimpse of Hyewon, and unexplainable guilt rushed through her. Up until now, her dear friend is sad.

She saw how her friend's eyes glimmered with tears, and how red her nose was. Hyewon is obviously not okay, and it's all because of Sunghoon- Soojin thought.

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She turned to Sunghoon. She glared at Sunghoon, who only stared at Hyewon blankly. His expression was neutral, and just as expected, no one could define what he was feeling. Could it be a feeling of guilt, shock, or nothing at all?

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The first class finished, and the second one, then the third one. It was already lunch break, yet Hyewon was still surrounded with a dark and suffocating atmosphere.

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Soojin softly approached Hyewon, sitting on the empty seat beside her. Hyewon made the effort to let out a small smile as she faced her friend.

She shortly greeted. Despite the facade, Soojin knows that Hyewon felt otherwise. She didn't know why she's still sad, but the best thing she wanted to do was to comfort her friend.

She put her arms around her shoulders and spoke. Soojin attempted to boost Hyewon's smile, but as much as Hyewon wanted to, she didn't have the energy to even fake it.

It's like she had become a very different person in a span of a day. She was energetic and joyful on her first few days. But now, she's like a withering rose, cold, silent and pale.

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Hyewon politely refused before she stood up. Soojin was absolutely disheartened, was her friend avoiding her now? Hyewon suggested in hopes of making up for the disappointment that was clear in Soojin's expression.

Soojin said before they fled to the cafeteria.

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Meanwhile, Sunghoon was still sitting at the classroom the entire time, witnessing the conversation unfold. Having to hear Hyewon and Soojin definitely knocked some sense out of him. His best friend has been very good at ignoring him, Sunghoon learned to reflect on his actions.

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Did I.. really do something wrong?

Was I really being insensitive?

Was I too harsh on her?

Guilt was slowly panning into him. All this time, he was disregarding the fact that he isn't the only one who could feel— That he must've hurt his best friend and much more on Hyewon's feelings because of the words he said.

A part of him knew that he needed to apologise to them.. , his egoistic personality won't admit to it; He'd never admit to himself that he was the wrong one.

It's Hyewon's fault for trying hard to get him to pay attention to her. It's Hyewon's fault that she was taking Jake away. It's Hyewon's fault that Jake was spending less time with him and the rest. It's Hyewon's fault that now, his best friend isn't talking to him.

For Sunghoon, everything is Hyewon's fault. For him, Hyewon ruined everything. There were already bad outcomes to the choice he made... yet he never learned.

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"Tch, why should I say sorry to that girl?"

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