The Call Girl

Diary 3: Entry 3

It was a Sunday night. I was in my room preparing a gift for Jiu. Earlier that week I had gone to a market and bought a cute, little basket that now sat on my desk. Inside was a plush bunny and a box of choco-pies. I knew what she liked.

And to top it off was the card. I had just applied my finishing touches - pink ink, glitter, the works - when I heard a knock at my door.

Sighing, I stood and opened the door. Sua and Siyeon shoved past me into my room. I closed my door behind them.

"Alright," I said, "to what do I owe this pleasure?"

Sua plopped herself down on my bed and crossed her arms, her features stone cold. "You're not answering your messages or your phone, and you're not turning up to lectures. You're not at the cafe, or the uni food court. You've dropped off the face off the earth." By the time she'd finished speaking, Sua's voice had risen to a shrill screech.

"Argh! Keep it down, will you?" I groaned.

"No, she won't," said Siyeon. Then In a softer tone, she said, "We're just worried, okay? You've been acting really strange."

"It's Jiu, isn't it?" Sua demanded.

I pursed my lips and looked anywhere but her face.

"I'm right, aren't I?" Sua stood and strode to my desk. "What's all this, huh?"

"Gifts for Jiu," I murmured.

Sua cupped her ear. "What? I can't hear you."

"They gifts for Jiu," I snapped.

"Come on, Yoohyeon, she's a call girl, she doesn't love you," Sua bellowed.

"What do you know?" I yelled back, tears forming in my eyes.

Siyeon jumped between us and gently pushed us away from each other. "Okay, okay, let's all just...take a step off the accelerator. Sua, honey?" she pouted at the shorter girl. "Can you sit back down for me?"

Sua crossed her arms for a few seconds, then harrumphed. "You know that always works..." she muttered bitterly and complied.

Siyeon looked at me with less warmth. "Can you too, please?"

I sighed, nodded, and sat on my bed leaving a space between me and Sua.

"Yoohyeon, why do you think Jiu loves you?" Siyeon asked gently.

I bit my lip and fidgeted my fingers in my lap. "Because...she's nice to me. Really nice. And she's attentive. It's like she can read my mind."

"You don't exactly make it hard," Sua called out.

"Shush!" Siyeon hissed, then looked back to me.

After a moment, I continued. "And...we hung out outside of the, uh...you know..."

"The sex!" Sua called out again, this time smirking.

Siyeon shot a glare. "Behave!"

Sua merely smiled and blinked coyly up at Siyeon. "Okay," she said breathily.

Siyeon pinched her brow.

"And also this!" I said.

Siyeon and Sua looked at me askance.

"This is...I...I have to see this all the time. I just...really wanted to know what it felt like for someone to look at me like that. To know what love feels like. And Jiu does!

Sua placed her hand on mine. "But Yoohyeon, we do love you. You're our best friend."

"I know, an-and please don't think I don't appreciate that. I do. You guys are the best friends anyone could ask for, I just..."

"Didn't want to miss out," Siyeon finished for me.

When I gathered the courage to look back up at her, I saw that there was no pity. Only affection.

And the tears I'd been holding back finally fell.

My friends rushed in and held me tight. I cried into their shoulders as they rubbed my back and whispered sweet nothings to me. My heart was so full. It was warmer and gentler than anything I had felt with Jiu. Jiu was great, but...it wasn't this.

Everything finally clicked into place. This was what I needed.

After a long while, we pulled apart.

"You know what you have to do, right?" Sua said. This time, she said it gently.

I shook my head.

"You have to apologise to her. For real this time. If you really love her, show her that you respect her for who she is, not just for what she makes you feel. Even if she doesn't feel the same way."

I swallowed, but I steeled myself and nodded. "I will."

Siyeon smiled a reassuring smile. "It's not going to be easy, but you're doing the right thing."

"And you already have the perfect apology gift," Sua said, gesturing at my desk.

My eyes followed and I grinned. It was a good gift.