0.9

A week had passed by since Areum and Wonwoo last talked. He waited for her every morning, but she never showed up. And when he'd give up and head to school, he'd find her there, with Hajoon's arm wrapped around her. He hated how she was avoiding him. She doesn't even look at him. She was ignoring the whole group, and they had no idea why.

"Shouldn't we talk to her?" Jun questioned.

"I mean, we did try," Mingyu began. "She ended up walking away. Everyone was laughing at me."

"Wow, why's she acting this way?" Vernon questioned, looking shocked.

"I have no idea, and honestly, I don't care," Seungkwan said. "I do miss her, a lot. I really love Areum, but the way she's treating us? It's just so rude."

Wonwoo was quiet. He didn't want to talk about her. He just wanted to go home.

He turned around, stealing a quick glance at her, and she was busy laughing about something Hajoon said. His heart ached, he really missed her.

He couldn't study anymore. He couldn't live. He spent his day reading their old conversations and listening to old voicemails from her, which made his heart ache even more. He sent her multiple texts apologizing to her, but she just ignored them all.

Meanwhile, Areum hung out with Hajoon everyday. He would always go over to her place, they'd eat lunch together, hang out for a while and then he'd go back home. And then they'd text all night. Areum doesn't really get much time to study anymore.

"Wonwoo? You there?"

Seungkwan waved his hand in front of Wonwoo's face, trying to grab his attention.

"Huh? What?"

"There's a party tonight, we're going," Seungkwan repeated.

"No, I'm not going anywhere," Wonwoo answered quickly.

"Yes you are." Seungkwan glared at him. "You have to show Areum that you don't care, you're living your life normally, and you're having fun."

"Also it's our senior year," Mingyu added. "We're graduating. We need to have fun."

After their classes, they ended up going to Mingyu's place, where they got ready for the party. Wonwoo drove them to the party, and when they walked in, he immediately found an empty spot on a couch where he sat down, scrolling through his phone.

Soon, Jun sat down next to him with a drink in his hand.

"Why aren't you dancing with them?" Wonwoo asked.

"Not in the mood, really," Jun answered.

They spent the night talking about topics, sometimes topics related to school, when Jun saw something.

"Hey, isn't that Hajoon?"

"I'm not really interested," Wonwoo said.

"But you want to see this." Jun pointed somewhere, and Wonwoo followed, until his eyes landed on him.

Hajoon was kissing a random girl, while Areum was in the kitchen, just a few steps away from him, yet she couldn't see him. When Areum walked back to him, he immediately pulled away, pretending like nothing happened.

How did she not see this? How couldn't she see him almost eating that girl's face? Was she that clueless? Wonwoo was shocked, this wasn't his best friend. It wasn't the Areum he knew.

Anger filled his chest as he stood up, walking towards Areum. When he reached, he grabbed her arm and started dragging her away.

"What the hell! Let go!" She protested, but Wonwoo ignored her.

He kept dragging her until they stepped out of the house. Areum immediately yanked her arm away from him, glaring at him.

"Are you stupid?" She yelled.

"You need to listen to me," he began. "I do not care if you hate me or not, but your so called boyfriend is cheating on you. We just saw him kissing another girl, and the moment you came back, he pulled away and acted like nothing happened."

"What are you—"

"You need to stop acting stupid and just listen," Wonwoo raised his voice. "Why the hell aren't you listening to me? I'm supposed to be your best friend. You ditched me for a guy. We've been friends our whole lives, and you chose another guy over me."

"You chose to break my heart for someone else. I'm never forgiving you for this, but you need to actually open your eyes and see that you're starting to lose your friends, no, your family, for a guy who doesn't even care about you!"

"I spent the whole week trying to apologize to you, when it wasn't even my fault. I waited for you every single day so we could go to school together, like we always do, but you left me. For Hajoon."

By the end of Wonwoo's speech, Areum's eyes widened in shock, while Wonwoo finally felt relieved that he let it all out. He hated how heartbroken he left. He hated how she never listened to him. He needed to let his feelings out, and when he saw that he had an opportunity, he had to take it.

"You're lying," Areum said. "You just want me to break—"

"No, stop." He placed his finger on her mouth. "I'm not lying. I was your best friend, I would do anything for you to make you happy. If Hajoon was a good guy, I'd let you be with him. But this guy sucks, and I hate how blind you are. He's going to break your heart, and when he does, do not come to me."

Before she could say anything, Wonwoo left to his car. The moment he sat inside, he slammed the steering wheel once. And then he did it again. And again. And again.

Until it finally happened. Tears started streaming down his face, and he wasn't able to stop it anymore. He was letting all of his feelings out.