ch. 24

"for that, i'll say goodbye."

-let go

"are you sure that you don't want me to walk you to the entrance?"

eunbi looks over her shoulder to see her brother flashing her a worried expression.

"yes i'm sure," she sighs as she opens the door of the car. "i will be fine."

"what happens if that girl is waiting for you there?"

she slaps her forehead with her hand, already regretting the fact that she chose her brother to drive her to school today. "i already told my friends to wait at the gate, so you don't have to worry."

hearing that makes him let out a sigh of relief. "okay, but if anything happens call me or the others okay?"

she nods before placing a small peck on his forehead. "i'll see you later."

she steps out of the black vehicle, feeling refreshed after a week of doing absolutely nothing, and takes her first stride toward school. she can feel the sensation of anticipation building within her as she gets closer and closer, thoughts of everyone's reactions exciting her.

her? nervous?

fuck no.

she is park eunbi, the screaming queen, the baddest bitch alive.

spotting a cluster of boys standing in front of the school gate, a smile pulls on the girl's lips as her hand waves for their attention. they look over to her direction and immediately the one with red highlights in his hair rushes over to her when he notices her open arms, tackling her into a hug.

"eunbi!"

"woah there sanshine," the brunette giggles, ruffling his soft hair. "i just got here."

his head nuzzles in the crook of her neck. "i just missed you a lot, that's all."

her heart melts at his cuteness and she tightens the hug. "i missed you too."

suddenly, the boy is pushed to the side and a new pair of arms pulls her into an embrace. "time's up san-ah, it's my turn to hug the princess!"

"ah wooyoung!" she squeals when her body is lifted off the ground and twirled around in the air.

the black-haired boy holds her by the waist tenderly and abruptly kisses her on the forehead, earning a disgusted expression and a push to the ground. "princess, you're so mean!"

ignoring him, she ventures toward the rest of the boys as she furiously wipes her forehead. "hey, does anyone have any hand sanitizer or disinfectant wipes?"

"yah!"

the remaining boys laugh at how stupid their friend looked on the floor before greeting the female with their smiles. they catch up a little by asking each other about their week, exchanging the little details with one another.

seonghwa cups her cheeks and turns her head to the side to check on the injuries on her face, a sense of relaxation overcoming his concerns. "i'm glad that you recovered well."

"you're such a worrywart," hongjoong sighs while pinching the bridge of his nose. "she's a strong girl. she can take care of herself."

"yep!" the girl beams in agreement. "surprisingly the bruises went away after a week and the cuts have healed."

"that's good to know," yeosang comments as he leans against the gate.

although his eyes are focusing on his phone, the blond male adds one more thing to the conversation. "but if you need me to send someone to the hospital, i will gladly do it."

"thanks yeosang," she replies as she stifles a laugh from the offer.

someone's head then balances on top of hers and leans some of their weight onto her back, groaning with exhaustion. "i'm so tired."

already knowing who it is, she decides to tease the male. "hi so tired, i'm eunbi."

"that's not my name, i'm mingi!"

"i'm playing with you," she cackles, a wide grin spreading on her lips, before softly pushing him off her. "let's go to class now since everyone is here."

after reuniting and catching up with her friends, the group begins their way into school with the female as the center of attention. everyone stops their chattering and avert their gazes from one another to watch them powerfully enter the campus with confidence.

she can hear the side conversations about all the rumors about her and she scoffs at the fact that people are so gullible.

if they want the truth, she has it.

in the corner of her eye, she notices someone pull up beside her with a cocky smirk plastered on their face. "it looks like the ugly rat is back."

"wow, thank you for the warm welcome." she sarcastically rolls her eyes at jongho and pulls the boy in a headlock, rubbing her fist into his head.

"ow! let me go, noona!" he whines as he flails his hands around.

hearing him call her the correct term, she reluctantly releases him so he can catch his breath. "man, you love to test my patience little apple."

he holds his head in pain while glaring at the female. "yah! don't call me that when we're at school. it makes me feel unmanly!"

"then don't call me ugly rat," she negotiates, successfully ending their little fight.

the guys decide to walk the girl to class for precaution, upholding small conversations while ignoring all the comments about her being thrown around the school and observing their surroundings. once in a while, the group's laughter catches everyone's attention during their walk.

when crossing the intersection in the campus, however, they unexpectedly bump into two people they all know well.

siyeon and yunho.

at first, the males of the group wanted to take a detour and avoid those two, but after glancing at their female friend's nonchalant expression they decided to take on the obstacle with full force. noticing the return of the vocalist, siyeon walks up to the group with a smirk and taunts the girl by pushing her shoulder a little. "so, how was the suspension?"

eunbi acknowledges the tension building around her and holds her arm out so none of her friends can interfere between them.

"it was great!" she exclaims, a fake smile pulling on her lips. "i didn't have to breathe in this toxic air and see a prickly, ugly bitch for a week."

yeosang in the back turns around and covers his mouth to hide his laughter, which earns a glare from the female dancer.

"now if you excuse us," eunbi takes a step to the side.

but the girl in front of her blocks her path.

"what's wrong with checking on my friend?" she asks oh-so 'innocently'. "i hope you didn't spend the whole week crying because of what happened."

"you know how worried she was during the whole week?" yunho pitches in, bringing his girlfriend closer to him. "she barely ate and slept because of you."

"of course not," the brunette responds as an irk mark begins to appear on her temple. "but for her kind actions, i have a present for the both of you."

"oh what is-"

before siyeon could finish her question, a fist hovers in front of her face. her eyes widen at how it's so close to touching her nose, and for a few seconds, her life flashes in her mind while she breaks into cold sweat. everyone witnessing the interaction gasps in shock or stares in surprise.

no one saw that coming.

"a farewell."

not knowing what she was talking about, the vocalist meets gaze with her two best friends with a sad smile and proceeds with her explanation. "thank you guys for being in my life, because i would not meet these amazing people behind me without the both of you."

she looks over her shoulder for a little to see all the guys grinning proudly at her, helping her to continue on.

"you know, i expected better from the both of you."

she locks contact yunho's luscious brown eyes. "especially you."

"what are you blabbering about?" the light brunette, who thinks this is a joke, scoffs. "you're just talking nonsense."

"no, i am not." lowering her arm, she sighs and shakes her head in disappointment. "i understand that she's your girlfriend, but it hurts that you trust her more than me, someone you have known longer."

"so thank you, because you made me realize that the years invested in a friendship does not matter, but the amount of trust you have in the person."

she feels a gentle grasp on her trembling hand and turns her head to come across san standing beside her, staring straight forward with a confident expression. intertwining their fingers together, eunbi builds the courage to say her final words to the people who used to mean the world to her.

"i never thought there would be a day for this..."

yunho, panic clearly written in his expression, leaves his girlfriend behind and slowly approaches the girl with his hands fanned out. "we can talk this through, you know? you could just apologize to siyeon for what happened before and we can return to normal-"

"return to normal?" san rebukes, raising an eyebrow at him. "really? you have no idea what she has been going through, and you call her your best friend."

mingi joins in, placing his hand on the girl's shoulder. "whenever she's gone at lunch, you never ask where she is or even notice her absence."

seonghwa hovers over eunbi and reassuringly pats her head, which causes her to let out a pleasant hum. "she got hurt making lunch for you and siyeon, yet you never asked if she was okay."

"i don't recall thanking her for bringing chicken during practice." this time, yeosang steps up from the back and stands next to san. "maybe it was because you were busy texting your girlfriend."

hongjoong goes to the front and shakes his head discontentedly. "despite the fact that you two are best friends, you never checked on her with all the bruises and scars on her face."

wrapping his arms around the brunette's neck, wooyoung rests his chin on her head and glares at yunho. "when she got into that fight with siyeon, you never asked for her side of the story."

"wow hyung." jongho cracks his knuckles loudly before rolling his sleeves up. "i never thought you were this pathetic."

hearing that, the male looks over to eunbi with a confused face. "eunbi-nie, what are they talking about-"

"don't call me that."

not wanting to make this more painful, she averts her gaze on him to the cement pathway and lets her feelings pour out.

it was now or never.

"for someone who only cares about himself, you wouldn't understand what i've been through."

when she lifts her gaze, yunho notices something different about her eyes. they don't hold the galaxy sparkles they usually hold, but something else.

seriousness and resentment.

"i'm always attending to your needs," she states, her unwavering gaze still locked onto his. "but you never attended mine."

"these guys did though," she softly smiles as she eyes each one of them. "despite the fact that we've only known each other for a few months, they actually care about my well-being unlike you."

"and because of that, you made me aware that i deserve better people in my life."

waving her free hand, everyone except san backs up to give the female more space while she takes in a deep breath. she leads the group away from the dumbfounded couple to her class, escaping the toxic air around them.

but before they disappear from their sight, eunbi says one more thing to yunho and siyeon.

"this is goodbye."