𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡 ;ʰˢʲ [English Version]

Chapter XXVI

"What's wrong? Why does it seem like Beyoncé died?"

Aera entered the classroom with a joke, seeing how everyone was staring at their phones with surprised expressions, murmuring things she couldn't understand.

When SooAh looked at her, she showed her the phone, noticing the title of what seemed to be a post from a website unfamiliar to her.

'The true identity of the Goddess of Saebom, Lim Jukyeong: A traitorous goddess.'

Aera frowned, taking the phone, seeing a photo of Jukyeong and her true self — it was a selfie the brunette had posted during the first days of class. Then there was a photo of her and Suho. She remembered it — it was the one she used to have as her wallpaper, one SooAh had taken of them when they went camping a year ago and Suho had posted it on his social media account. The last picture in the first gallery was of Jukyeong and Suho kissing on the stairs of the hospital.

As the girl's eyes reached the description, a commotion could be heard, but she didn't pay attention as she read the small paragraph beneath the photos.

'What's the use of being such a pretty girl when you're a slut? Stealing your best friend's boyfriend — isn't that going too far, Lim Jukyeong?'

Swallowing a bit harshly, the young woman kept scrolling down the article, her pulse racing as she saw more photos, this time revealing Jukyeong's bare face, without a drop of makeup. Aera blinked, reading some of the comments beneath that picture.

'Wow, I'm sure that guy had no idea. You can't leave a beautiful girl for the dumpling girl, that would be ridiculous.'

'Is that the girl who stole Jang Aera's boyfriend? Wow...'

However, the girl didn't stop there; she kept scrolling until she reached the end of the post, where she found photos of herself with Seojun. There were several — Aera and he used to upload photos every time they went out together, thanks to SooAh forcing her to open an Instagram account, which she found quite useful.

Feeling her blood boil when she saw that picture, one she had no idea where they got from, but never thought she would see. In it, Seojun and Jukyeong were hugging in what looked like a karaoke bar or a party — the colored lights didn't give her more clues. In the other picture, they seemed to be sharing a kiss, the girl holding the taller one's face while he held her hands.

Lowering her eyes to the description, she felt her hand tighten around her friend's phone with such force that her knuckles turned white.

'Someone who steals once will steal twice. Lim Jukyeong is the perfect description of that saying, don't you think? Apparently, her friend's new love also caught her eye.'

"Aera."

SooAh's voice was heard, and looking up, the black-haired girl turned, seeing Jukyeong there. She walked up to her, showing her the last image without raising her voice. Her lips trembled, her eyes stung, but still, she managed to form a sentence. "I let it go once, I didn't think you'd be capable of doing it a second time..."

Without letting any words escape the other girl's mouth, Aera walked past her without even touching her, leaving the place under the watchful gaze of everyone. She walked quickly through the hallway, ignoring SooAh and Taehoo's calls, who ran after her when they saw her leave in that state.

In her rush to go down the stairs, Aera tripped at the bottom. Her hands stopped her face from hitting the floor, but she couldn't prevent SooAh's phone screen from cracking slightly. Hearing her friends' shouts and the worried gasps of some teenagers still in the hallway, she could only feel her heart pounding harder and her eyes stinging even more.