miniskirt.

ninety two

there's always a light at the end of the tunnel

lisa hesitated at the door, waiting for a moment. she clenched her fist, heart rate accelerating increasingly at each passing second.

would chaeyoung want to see her? she didn't seem to want to see anyone.

"chaeyoung?" lisa finally called out, knocking on the door.

she heard a shuffle, then the door opened.

"yes?"

"i-i was wondering if maybe you wanted to..."

"talk?" she scoffed. "it's like you and jennie share the same braincell. i'll pass."

the blonde stopped her from slamming the door in her face. chaeyoung's unamused look hid a lot of what she was trying to conceal.

"come on chae, this is like my second home. let me in please."

"sorry. i'm not alone right now."

"you act like you're a freaking lesbian—chaeyoung, can we just talk? why can't i come inside?"

"i don't want you to! i just don't want to talk to you or jennie, okay?"

"wow." lisa clenched her jaw. "you told me that whenever i needed anything i could go to you. so why the hell can't you tell me what's wrong? am i not going to understand? will i not listen? because unlike your mom who clearly disregarded your feelings, i actually do care about you!"

"just get lost!" chaeyoung yelled back. "i don't need you here, because both of you remind me of jimin!"

"what?"

she looked like she was trying so hard to keep it in. stepping outside, she shut the door behind her, and sighed.

"you'll probably tell me everything will be fine. that i'll be fine. that's something he would've said too, but what if i didn't want to break up?"

"chae—"

"save it. i don't need the pity party."

"this isn't some goddamn pity party." lisa tugged on chaeyoung's shirt, balling up her fist. "get yourself together! look at you, you look like a fucking mess!"

"you look like you haven't eaten properly in days, your skin is so pale—looks like you hardly left the house, i can see that you've been crying...why can't we just talk? is there anything wrong in that?"

there was another long pause between them, just standing like that. lisa was desperately trying to figure out what was going on in chaeyoung's head. why exactly was she shutting everyone out?

she understood that not talking to jimin was probably what her parents forced her to do, but the rest of them?

chaeyoung looked away from her finally. "my mom forced me."

"she's been so strict on me lately, as if i haven't been following all of her rules my whole life. the one time i disobey—and she acts like it's fucking world war 3?"

none of it had been jimin's fault, ever. unlike most the boys who chaeyoung had known, had been friends with, jimin was extremely attentive when it came to girls.

she remembered still the first day they had met. she had always known him, but never properly associated with him until one day in the summer.

he was working as a cashier at Starbucks. that had been the first time she actually talked to him, the second time was at the carnival, following a week later.

a few weeks following then, chaeyoung had lied to her parents saying she was going to see a movie with jennie and lalisa. in reality, she had been with jimin.

her life had revolved around events like that afterwards, it helped since jimin was also pretty set straight on his priorities, they met up to study often, and actually got work done. chaeyoung didn't realize that there were actually boys like him who existed.

her parents' way had influenced her too much.

"and now he hates me." chaeyoung exhaled shakily. "i know he does. i ended things awfully with him lisa, i-i didn't know how to just end it without telling him that my mom made me do this! i didn't want him to think that i'd really listen to my mom after many months of telling him how much i wanted to tell them about him, about us. i feel like a...a coward. i let him down, and now i can't even look at him."

"chae, he can't hate you. hate is such a strong word—"

"he blocked me." she cut her off, then shrugged. "i don't blame him. i would too."

the blonde wrapped her arms around her friend, resting her chin on chaeyoung's shoulder. she could hear the girl's soft sniffles.

"i'm glad that you and jungkook sorted things out though. he really likes you."

"chaeyoung, don't be like this."

"some relationships aren't meant to be lalisa. you know this. high school relationships are pretty bogus anyways." she sighed again.

"yes, i'm sad, but i'll move on eventually. give me time please."