the 1

23

"Violence shouldn't be tolerated here."

Jiwoo cocks a smirk at the sight of Hyejoo's baseball bat which made the redhead groan in annoyance and if Jinsoul didn't stop her hands from swinging it back and forth then Hyejoo would've made Jiwoo's face get covered in blood.

Still flabbergasted with the revelations they heard minutes ago, Karina and Jungeun were silent. Suddenly, all the anger Jungeun felt towards Jinsoul faded into nothing because she was at fault too.

How could she ever forget that night?

"Karina, where are you taking me?" Jungeun asks, annoyed at Karina's sudden actions of grabbing her out of the house and onto the garden where other couples roamed around.

Karina didn't even know where she got the courage to kiss Jungeun that night but she did and she expected for the blonde to ran away or even slap her yet to her surprise she didn't.

And that's when Karina knew she liked Jungeun.

With all her heart. Even if she was with Jinsoul.

And maybe there was also a part of Jungeun that liked Karina's kiss. Even if it was wrong.

"Since when did you start giving Hyejoo drugs?" Sooyoung asked despite trembling lips, despite the suffocating feeling that was starting to suck her in the darkness and despite the fear of locking eyes with Jiwoo. The woman she once loved.

Maybe to even continue loving.

A shrug is what Sooyoung got as a response. Jiwoo looked so uninterested, so unalive. This was nothing like Jiwoo years ago would do. Something in her changed and maybe that's what they failed to see. That things just don't stay the same.

"I have one question for you." Hyejoo mumbles under her breath but loud enough for everyone to hear. Jiwoo's eyes were on her and Hyejoo matched her stare, empty and just as hollow.

The brunette hummed innocently, a wide grin plastered around her face as she waited for the redhead's next words. Hyejoo let out a deep breath before speaking, "Why did you do all of this?"

It was a stupid question. That was what Hyejoo thought to herself after asking that but she had no other question she can think about. She just wanted to know why, why she would do drugs, why she would cheat on Sooyoung, why she would give her drugs, why she would drag everyone to he mess. Just why.

Another shrug came out of Jiwoo but this time there was an emotion on her face or that's what Jinsoul liked to believe because as Jiwoo tries to mask her face with another grin, the blonde noticed how quick the anguish passed through her doe eyes.

The brunette clears her throat, "I did all of that because all of you were happy." It almost came out as a whisper from her mouth but it didn't fail to reach everyone's ears. Some held their breaths, others gasped in disbelief while the remaining ones stayed quiet, listening to every word Jiwoo has to say.

Silence fell upon all of them before Jiwoo spoke once again, this time her voice starting to falter. "All of you were so happy with your lives that none of you ever cared about what was starting to go on with me."

"That's pure bullshit, Jiwoo! You could've told us something, you should've spoke for yourself instead of dragging us to this hell!"

Karina's voice blared throughout the entire place and Jungeun soothed her with a comforting rub on her back. The purplehead was angry, in rage and it's totally not because of Kim Jiwoo. There were other reasons why she was mad.

"I tried to tell you about it but all of you only laughed at me. Only Jinsoul was willing to listen even though I have cursed her a lot."

All eyes landed on the blonde was once again and Jinsoul sucked in a breath. Attention. She didn't want their focus on her, she didn't want to listen to their murmurs as they stared at her. She didn't want that.

Everyone was silent and eyes were fixated on Jinsoul that would sometimes move from the blonde to the brunette.

Jiwoo choked on air before speaking, "A year ago, I told Jinsoul about how my depression was starting to eat me alive. It was an accidental call and I was even about to scream at her but then I heard her crying, mumbling Jungeun's name, asking her why just can't it he her, asking why did she have to kiss Karina that night."

The brunette bitterly chuckles, "And so I joined her too. I cried to her about how Sooyoung was starting to make me feel like I was shit, like how Jungeun would joke about my insecurities, like how Chaewon and Hyejoo would buzz behind my back."

She pauses and flashes a melancholic smile at everyone, "All of you were having such fun times in your life and maybe ruining it would make all of you realize that you don't deserve to be happy at all."

Sooyoung didn't know what to say as tears started to form at the edge of her eyes. They were all at fault. Fuck. Her eyes move to Jinsoul who looked pale, paler than she's ever been.

"If you were miserable then you should have kept it to yourself instead of dragging us with you. You're no fun, Jiwoo." Karina spats out and the next thing she knew, a hand landed on her cheeks.

Jinsoul just slapped her.

"You're no fun too, Karina. You know that right? Maybe you should just go back and enjoy your silly little vacation at Amsterdam if you can't understand Jiwoo's side. Why are you acting like this huh? It's not like Jiwoo did anything wrong to you!"

The blonde screamed with whole rage burning up in her, making her paler than before and Sooyoung was starting to get concerned. So was Jiwoo who is well aware about Jinsoul being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

"You should've done something to help her!" Jinsoul screamed once again, spit flying all over the room. She was angry, she was mad, she was burning with rage and she was starting to get sucked in the darkness.

Her vision started to blur but she couldn't pay attention to it, not when Karina is being an ass to everyone. "Jiwoo's your friend too!"

Jinsoul started to feel dizzy, "Maybe what Jiwoo did was wrong but you have no right to invalidate how she felt. It's not easy to tell your story to everyone without getting judged, it's not easy to-"

Voices filled with panic started to rise up in the department while Jinsoul held her head as her vision started to get more blur, and then everything went black all of a sudden but not before hearing Hyejoo say, "Oh god Jinsoul, you're one hot mess!"