dandelions | t-ara | eunyeon | 2/?
ham eunjung & park jiyeon; drama, romance; 2839 words;
a/n: i hope this isn't too boring and you'll enjoy this story at least a little.
dandelions
II
dragonflies skim the skin of the pond
Eunjung walked aimlessly through the school grounds, hiding her hands in her pockets and sighing here and there, not exactly sure if she was leading or following her new roommate around: she just noticed when they reached the pound and she walked over the bridge and leaning against the rail to look down at the crystal clear water and count the yellow fish.
Hyomin busied herself with her bright pink cell phone for awhile, giving the newcomer some time to enjoy the view, but one would say it was almost worrisome when she didn't speak: her ideas would turn into a secret ticking bomb, just waiting for the moment she'd set the wick on fire. Flipping her phone closed, she held it against her thin lips, glancing at Eunjung with curious, nearly perfectly round eyes. "Unni", she called and the word sounded almost unfitting given her hesitancy, if only she wasn't so used to skillfully discovering things others would never know about, "you studied here before, didn't you?" Hyomin knew by now that was the undeniable truth: otherwise, how would she've known Soyeon? But she wanted to approach the matter smoothily.
The older girl didn't seem to find her curiousity bothersome, merely scrouching down to pick a few of the tiny little blue rocks and gather them in her palm. "Mhm", she hummed distractedly, raising her face as soon as she noticed she wasn't giving Hyomin proper attention and gracing her with an apologetic smile. Her short locks fell over her face again and she waved her head to push them aside, only t have them gracefully back in place. "I did."
When she spoke, and only then, Hyomin remembered she had been waiting for an answer, but got carried away with admiring how Eunjung's face seemed to glow with the mere curve of her lips like there was light under her skin. She turned around to face the rail, holding onto it with her both hands, and swinging herself on her heels. "So you were friends with Soyeon unni since back then."
Eunjung got on her two feet again. "Soyeon ah?", she repeated, raising her eyebrows at the mention of her name. "I wouldn't put it exactly that way." In fact, it was perhaps very far from reality, even if it did feel good to see a familiar face among all those strangers. She stopped by Hyomin's side, resting her elbows over the rail and looking down at the fish again, allowing one of the tiny rocks to fall into the water and watching them quickly swim away. "We hung out with the same people... We had friends in common, but we've never been especially close."
The older girl had been waiting for questions to be thrown at her as soon as she stepped inside the school, but she was happy to talk about Soyeon: instead of the bad times, Hyomin reminded her of the good ones she had forgotten about. It brought a smile to her face that did not go unnoticed by Hyomin and the girl bit on her lower lip, nervously watching Eunjung throw a second rock at the pond as far as she could and gasp as it sunk in the water. Carefully, she added: "Did you meet Jiyeon too back then?"
Eunjung turned her head all too soon and, before she could process what the girl had just asked her, she was already facing Hyomin, allowing her to watch all the tiniest changes on her own features at the mention of the girl's name. For a moment, her easy, natural smile vanished off her face, until her lips were barely parted in a surprised expression, almost questioningly, but the glinting in her eyes was stronger, making them look deeper. "Jiyeon ah?", the name slipped through her lips in a whisper barely audible and she didn't recognize her voice: it had been too long ago the last time she spoke it. Her only reaction was to blink a few times and just then she put the smile back on her face, but it was nervous, and Eunjung didn't believe it herself. "I... remember her." Shifting her attention back to the water, she threw another rock at the pond, but it didn't kick even once, sinking straightaway. She looked disappointed.
"Ah... I see." Honestly speaking, Hyomin was confused, for she didn't expect such a reaction. It only confirmed her suspicions about something not being quite right with Jiyeon... but there was another thing in there, something new, she couldn't catch on yet. The girl folded her arms over her chest again, frowning and thinking through all those little newfound details. "What to do?", she mumbled to herself in frustration, earning a glance from Eunjung, but there wasn't much she could put together with only those little pieces of information she got: it was a complex puzzle she was trying to solve by herself-made of secrets no one was willing to tell. She flailed her shoulders childishly, bumping onto Eunjung's and looking at her with her lower lip stubbornly stuck out. "Was she already like that back then?"
"Like... what?"
The last thing Eunjung wanted, for the few years she remained away from that school, was to talk about, think of or remember-anything related to Jiyeon. She wanted to completely erase her from her mind, to pretend she had never existed-they had never met-like she was some sort of infectuous disease intoxicating her mind and she need the cure of. But now she was back... now she felt like her eyes scanned the crowd after her face and her ears tried to distinguish her distinct tone among all the other voices she heard: even mentioning her name had her heart beating so fast it nearly hurt and her blood tinting her cheeks of a reddish color, as if a magic spell brought up feelings she had pushed to the depths of her heart and ignored for years-they all screamed at her at the same time now, making her confused and scared, yet longing and yearning.
She was curious too: every single detail about this girl Jiyeon had developed into, she wanted them all.
But Hyomin hesitated, prolonguing the painful throbbing underneath Eunjung's ribcage, while she tried to select her words-but guessing there wasn't an easy way to put it: "She hardly ever smiles."
And that traded little piece of information wiped off the smile on her own face for a while.
Her heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor, but it wouldn't make a difference: the classrooms nearby were all emptied by now. It was only Jiyeon, pushing the double doors open and stepping inside, letting them automatically close behind herself with a discreet creeking sound. She liked the silence, the vacant room smelling of ink and the paintings hanging unfinished on the walls. The first year found peace in the art club's classroom: it always helped her to calm down, and it was exactly what she was seeking now, sitting at the bench in the middle of the room with her cat-like eyes closed and resting her palm over her chest. "Shut up", Jiyeon ordered weakly, her tone lowering at every word, "shut up, shut up", but her heart wouldn't listen, no matter how many times she repeated: it had gone deaf by now.
"Do you care to explain?", a demanding voice came from the doors and Jiyeon, who had been too busy with her mantra to notice a second pair of footsteps echoing just outside the room, looked in her direction, startled, only to find Soyeon standing by the entrance with her arms crossed unamusedly and a quirked eyebrow insisting on an answer.
Jiyeon looked away with a tired expression. "What do you want?" Her tone was almost resignated, but Soyeon knew her better: from all those people, she was the only one who had always been there for her, and she knew Jiyeon the best-the good and the bad. Unfortunately, it also meant she knew about everything, and it was twice as hard to look at her. Soyeon would have to fight to get something out of Jiyeon.
"I want you to refresh my mind of when, exactly, you developed this sudden amnesia." She walked inside the room uninvited, but it had never stopped her before. "Did you just trip and hit your head?" With a defeated sigh, she placed her hands over Jiyeon's shoulders. "What are you up to now?"
Jiyeon didn't answer her: she wasn't sure of what she was doing herself. But it didn't keep her from leaning backwards against Soyeon's frame and looking up at her. Soyeon was beautiful in a way she didn't see all very often, some sort of dilapidated beauty, and Jiyeon considered herself to be truely lucky for having her around. She just admired her for a second, catching the familiar details of her features with her wide eyes. "You are on my side, aren't you?"
But Soyeon scrunched up her face and huffed, muttering a playful halfhearted "aish" and receiving a nudge in the ribs as her punishment. "Sure I am! More than you are~"
Soyeon couldn't explain when or why it happened, but she felt it now she slid her arms down Jiyeon's shoulders to hook them around her frame and hug her against her own body until Jiyeon would close her eyes and let Soyeon's embrace promise her everything would be okay: somehow, after all those years, she grew protectiveness over Jiyeon. She was so sure, if only it had been her, things would've turned out differently-if only it wasn't Eunjung... "Don't leave me", Jiyeon's pleaded in a whisper, her hands holding Soyeon's arms in place as soon as she threatened to inch away and the childish tone of her voice had the older girl frowning, but she still leaned her cheek against Jiyeon's hair and held her tighter.
"I won't", she promised, "ever". Soyeon closed her eyes, nestling the girl in her arms, protective-possessive, waiting.
"I don't want to remember", Jiyeon finally admitted in a tone so low for her husky voice the other girl had to concentrate to listen, "because it isn't fair."
And Soyeon knew-she knew about everything, but she still agreed, "I know", and blinding herself to Jiyeon's reasons, she choose not to see, "Forget it all." Soyeon pressed her forehead against Jiyeon's hair and promised once again: "I'll protect you..."
"What do you mean, she doesn't smile?", Eunjung asked and her tone was nearly angry, causing Hyomin to step away in surprise.
"I mean...", she tried again in a more careful way, "even when she's with Soyeon...", but her words made Eunjung frown harder: even in her beautiful face it wasn't a nice sight. Somehow, Hyomin hadn't been smooth enough, right? And perhaps one of those little things she didn't understand was showing now.
"Soyeon?", the girl repeated. "Why Soyeon?"
"Uhn...", she started, frowning at the question. "Because... Soyeon unni is the one who's closest to her... and always around her", Hyomin explained and only after Eunjung's expression softened she added: "the only one Jiyeon allows to get actually close to her."
Eunjung shifted her gaze to the ground, letting the anger leave her little by little as it was replaced by something else, while she realized Soyeon was now... what she had been back then. "Does it mean... she replaced me?", she asked herself in a whisper, running a hand through the short locks on the back of her head in frustration. Eunjung breathed out an annoyed "aish". She disliked it... in fact, she hated it-more than she expected to. She never considered the idea of Jiyeon... finding someone else, just the thought was enough to drive her insane.
Hyomin watched her like she was the only spectator to a private show, catching the sight of Eunjung resting her hands on her hips inquietly. "Unni..."
"Where can I find her?", she cut her off, resolute, raising her eyes to look at Hyomin directly with a newfound determination: she wasn't not even thinking-and possibly not even breathing-when she decided. "Jiyeon. Where can I find her now?"
She dipped the brush in the ink and watched a drop of the dark liquid fall back in the bottle before taking it to the sheet of paper. Soyeon watched while the first year drew a few lines over the paper and it absorbed the ink rather quickly: she had always been very good with the brush, drawing with smooth, but precise moves. It intrigued Soyeon, how the other knew exactly what she was doing, where everything went, even before there was anything on the paper: her mind was probably a very beautiful place, filled with things Soyeon could've never imagined herself. But Jiyeon scrunched up her face as soon as she finished sketching the face of the figure she was drawing, disapprovingly, and crumpled the sheet into a ball, throwing it away.
"Why did you do that?", Soyeon asked, frowning, leaning forwards to look up and face Jiyeon from where she was standing, sitting beside her on a bench. "It looked okay." Jiyeon pursed her lips, but didn't answer, merely looking back at Soyeon with narrow eyes. "Really! Well, I liked it."
"It looked dead."
Soyeon widened his eyes with a huff at the younger girl's stubborness, grabbing her chin. "Yah, Park Jiyeon, why are you like this?" And Jiyeon didn't look away, daring Soyeon to say anything else under her heavy gaze, because she knew the other couldn't go on with her scolding.
They just stared at each other for a long time: Jiyeon in a somewhat cold calmness, while Soyeon felt frustration building up inside of her, until there was the sound of the doors being pushed open and both switched their attention to the third girl stepping inside.
"Eunjung unni...", Soyeon said in a surprised, low tone, not quite sure about what to do when she appeared so suddenly, but Eunjung didn't look at her for more than a fraction of second, landing her eyes on Jiyeon.
"You", she said, walking up towards the two and causing Soyeon to stand up, "why did you lie? Huh?"
"Unni, don't-"
Eunjung just raised a hand to tell Soyeon to stay out of that. "You really don't remember?" She was so angry. "You forgot everything?" Jiyeon just looked at her with a deadly gaze-Soyeon hardly saw that expression on her face and it made her even more worried.
"Unni, why are you-"
"Why did you lie?!", she insisted, angry, confused and clearly upset.
"You lied to me first!", Jiyeon finally exploded, her tone much louder than usual: it was rare of her to even speak in the same tone as other people, always contained and calm. She got on her feet, narrowing her long eyes even more and walking away from Eunjung. "Just leave me alone, I don't want to see your face." She sent another deadly glare at Hyomin who stood by the door-she widened her eyes and reminded herself to never piss off Jiyeon-before disappearing behind it.
"I'm sorry", Soyeon said after the silence became unbearable, "but I don't think you should bother her anymore."
Eunjung looked at her and the younger could see she was upset. "I just don't understand..."
"Unni..." Soyeon sighed heavily: it seemed like it was time for her to watch out after her dongsaeng. "You choose this when you left."
"But... I'm back now", Eunjung answered. "I'm back again and she's pretending she doesn't know me. How can she not remember me?" Her question sounded a little too desperate and Soyeon almost felt bad for telling her the truth:
"It's because you should've never come back."
Hyomin watched Soyeon leave, her gaze following the girl down the corridor for a moment before falling on Eunjung's back again. She felt terribly bad for Eunjung for some reason, pouting at her figure, but after taking a deep breath she stepped inside the place and walked up to the older girl, hooking her arms around her neck childishly. "Well, I'm happy you're here, because I'm not lonely in my room anymore." She smiled, peeking at Eunjung's face with her round eyes and trying to make her feel more welcome: maybe she felt a little guilty, too, for bringing her there just to listen to those words. "Should we throw you a small party? Come with me, let's plan it: I'll try to negotiate illegal cupcakes with the cook, what do you think?"
Eunjung didn't have enough energy to protest and just offered her a discreet curving up of the corners of her lips, the best she could do now for Hyomin's efforts, and let the younger girl guide her to wherever: on her mind, however, she kept those words on replay: she had wanted to see Jiyeon so much... but it turned out she other would rather have her disappear from her face?
It was disheartening, but she had decided already that she'd change Jiyeon's mind: whatever it takes.
a/n: i hope this isn't too boring and you'll enjoy this story at least a little.
dandelions
II
dragonflies skim the skin of the pond
Eunjung walked aimlessly through the school grounds, hiding her hands in her pockets and sighing here and there, not exactly sure if she was leading or following her new roommate around: she just noticed when they reached the pound and she walked over the bridge and leaning against the rail to look down at the crystal clear water and count the yellow fish.
Hyomin busied herself with her bright pink cell phone for awhile, giving the newcomer some time to enjoy the view, but one would say it was almost worrisome when she didn't speak: her ideas would turn into a secret ticking bomb, just waiting for the moment she'd set the wick on fire. Flipping her phone closed, she held it against her thin lips, glancing at Eunjung with curious, nearly perfectly round eyes. "Unni", she called and the word sounded almost unfitting given her hesitancy, if only she wasn't so used to skillfully discovering things others would never know about, "you studied here before, didn't you?" Hyomin knew by now that was the undeniable truth: otherwise, how would she've known Soyeon? But she wanted to approach the matter smoothily.
The older girl didn't seem to find her curiousity bothersome, merely scrouching down to pick a few of the tiny little blue rocks and gather them in her palm. "Mhm", she hummed distractedly, raising her face as soon as she noticed she wasn't giving Hyomin proper attention and gracing her with an apologetic smile. Her short locks fell over her face again and she waved her head to push them aside, only t have them gracefully back in place. "I did."
When she spoke, and only then, Hyomin remembered she had been waiting for an answer, but got carried away with admiring how Eunjung's face seemed to glow with the mere curve of her lips like there was light under her skin. She turned around to face the rail, holding onto it with her both hands, and swinging herself on her heels. "So you were friends with Soyeon unni since back then."
Eunjung got on her two feet again. "Soyeon ah?", she repeated, raising her eyebrows at the mention of her name. "I wouldn't put it exactly that way." In fact, it was perhaps very far from reality, even if it did feel good to see a familiar face among all those strangers. She stopped by Hyomin's side, resting her elbows over the rail and looking down at the fish again, allowing one of the tiny rocks to fall into the water and watching them quickly swim away. "We hung out with the same people... We had friends in common, but we've never been especially close."
The older girl had been waiting for questions to be thrown at her as soon as she stepped inside the school, but she was happy to talk about Soyeon: instead of the bad times, Hyomin reminded her of the good ones she had forgotten about. It brought a smile to her face that did not go unnoticed by Hyomin and the girl bit on her lower lip, nervously watching Eunjung throw a second rock at the pond as far as she could and gasp as it sunk in the water. Carefully, she added: "Did you meet Jiyeon too back then?"
Eunjung turned her head all too soon and, before she could process what the girl had just asked her, she was already facing Hyomin, allowing her to watch all the tiniest changes on her own features at the mention of the girl's name. For a moment, her easy, natural smile vanished off her face, until her lips were barely parted in a surprised expression, almost questioningly, but the glinting in her eyes was stronger, making them look deeper. "Jiyeon ah?", the name slipped through her lips in a whisper barely audible and she didn't recognize her voice: it had been too long ago the last time she spoke it. Her only reaction was to blink a few times and just then she put the smile back on her face, but it was nervous, and Eunjung didn't believe it herself. "I... remember her." Shifting her attention back to the water, she threw another rock at the pond, but it didn't kick even once, sinking straightaway. She looked disappointed.
"Ah... I see." Honestly speaking, Hyomin was confused, for she didn't expect such a reaction. It only confirmed her suspicions about something not being quite right with Jiyeon... but there was another thing in there, something new, she couldn't catch on yet. The girl folded her arms over her chest again, frowning and thinking through all those little newfound details. "What to do?", she mumbled to herself in frustration, earning a glance from Eunjung, but there wasn't much she could put together with only those little pieces of information she got: it was a complex puzzle she was trying to solve by herself-made of secrets no one was willing to tell. She flailed her shoulders childishly, bumping onto Eunjung's and looking at her with her lower lip stubbornly stuck out. "Was she already like that back then?"
"Like... what?"
The last thing Eunjung wanted, for the few years she remained away from that school, was to talk about, think of or remember-anything related to Jiyeon. She wanted to completely erase her from her mind, to pretend she had never existed-they had never met-like she was some sort of infectuous disease intoxicating her mind and she need the cure of. But now she was back... now she felt like her eyes scanned the crowd after her face and her ears tried to distinguish her distinct tone among all the other voices she heard: even mentioning her name had her heart beating so fast it nearly hurt and her blood tinting her cheeks of a reddish color, as if a magic spell brought up feelings she had pushed to the depths of her heart and ignored for years-they all screamed at her at the same time now, making her confused and scared, yet longing and yearning.
She was curious too: every single detail about this girl Jiyeon had developed into, she wanted them all.
But Hyomin hesitated, prolonguing the painful throbbing underneath Eunjung's ribcage, while she tried to select her words-but guessing there wasn't an easy way to put it: "She hardly ever smiles."
And that traded little piece of information wiped off the smile on her own face for a while.
Her heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor, but it wouldn't make a difference: the classrooms nearby were all emptied by now. It was only Jiyeon, pushing the double doors open and stepping inside, letting them automatically close behind herself with a discreet creeking sound. She liked the silence, the vacant room smelling of ink and the paintings hanging unfinished on the walls. The first year found peace in the art club's classroom: it always helped her to calm down, and it was exactly what she was seeking now, sitting at the bench in the middle of the room with her cat-like eyes closed and resting her palm over her chest. "Shut up", Jiyeon ordered weakly, her tone lowering at every word, "shut up, shut up", but her heart wouldn't listen, no matter how many times she repeated: it had gone deaf by now.
"Do you care to explain?", a demanding voice came from the doors and Jiyeon, who had been too busy with her mantra to notice a second pair of footsteps echoing just outside the room, looked in her direction, startled, only to find Soyeon standing by the entrance with her arms crossed unamusedly and a quirked eyebrow insisting on an answer.
Jiyeon looked away with a tired expression. "What do you want?" Her tone was almost resignated, but Soyeon knew her better: from all those people, she was the only one who had always been there for her, and she knew Jiyeon the best-the good and the bad. Unfortunately, it also meant she knew about everything, and it was twice as hard to look at her. Soyeon would have to fight to get something out of Jiyeon.
"I want you to refresh my mind of when, exactly, you developed this sudden amnesia." She walked inside the room uninvited, but it had never stopped her before. "Did you just trip and hit your head?" With a defeated sigh, she placed her hands over Jiyeon's shoulders. "What are you up to now?"
Jiyeon didn't answer her: she wasn't sure of what she was doing herself. But it didn't keep her from leaning backwards against Soyeon's frame and looking up at her. Soyeon was beautiful in a way she didn't see all very often, some sort of dilapidated beauty, and Jiyeon considered herself to be truely lucky for having her around. She just admired her for a second, catching the familiar details of her features with her wide eyes. "You are on my side, aren't you?"
But Soyeon scrunched up her face and huffed, muttering a playful halfhearted "aish" and receiving a nudge in the ribs as her punishment. "Sure I am! More than you are~"
Soyeon couldn't explain when or why it happened, but she felt it now she slid her arms down Jiyeon's shoulders to hook them around her frame and hug her against her own body until Jiyeon would close her eyes and let Soyeon's embrace promise her everything would be okay: somehow, after all those years, she grew protectiveness over Jiyeon. She was so sure, if only it had been her, things would've turned out differently-if only it wasn't Eunjung... "Don't leave me", Jiyeon's pleaded in a whisper, her hands holding Soyeon's arms in place as soon as she threatened to inch away and the childish tone of her voice had the older girl frowning, but she still leaned her cheek against Jiyeon's hair and held her tighter.
"I won't", she promised, "ever". Soyeon closed her eyes, nestling the girl in her arms, protective-possessive, waiting.
"I don't want to remember", Jiyeon finally admitted in a tone so low for her husky voice the other girl had to concentrate to listen, "because it isn't fair."
And Soyeon knew-she knew about everything, but she still agreed, "I know", and blinding herself to Jiyeon's reasons, she choose not to see, "Forget it all." Soyeon pressed her forehead against Jiyeon's hair and promised once again: "I'll protect you..."
"What do you mean, she doesn't smile?", Eunjung asked and her tone was nearly angry, causing Hyomin to step away in surprise.
"I mean...", she tried again in a more careful way, "even when she's with Soyeon...", but her words made Eunjung frown harder: even in her beautiful face it wasn't a nice sight. Somehow, Hyomin hadn't been smooth enough, right? And perhaps one of those little things she didn't understand was showing now.
"Soyeon?", the girl repeated. "Why Soyeon?"
"Uhn...", she started, frowning at the question. "Because... Soyeon unni is the one who's closest to her... and always around her", Hyomin explained and only after Eunjung's expression softened she added: "the only one Jiyeon allows to get actually close to her."
Eunjung shifted her gaze to the ground, letting the anger leave her little by little as it was replaced by something else, while she realized Soyeon was now... what she had been back then. "Does it mean... she replaced me?", she asked herself in a whisper, running a hand through the short locks on the back of her head in frustration. Eunjung breathed out an annoyed "aish". She disliked it... in fact, she hated it-more than she expected to. She never considered the idea of Jiyeon... finding someone else, just the thought was enough to drive her insane.
Hyomin watched her like she was the only spectator to a private show, catching the sight of Eunjung resting her hands on her hips inquietly. "Unni..."
"Where can I find her?", she cut her off, resolute, raising her eyes to look at Hyomin directly with a newfound determination: she wasn't not even thinking-and possibly not even breathing-when she decided. "Jiyeon. Where can I find her now?"
She dipped the brush in the ink and watched a drop of the dark liquid fall back in the bottle before taking it to the sheet of paper. Soyeon watched while the first year drew a few lines over the paper and it absorbed the ink rather quickly: she had always been very good with the brush, drawing with smooth, but precise moves. It intrigued Soyeon, how the other knew exactly what she was doing, where everything went, even before there was anything on the paper: her mind was probably a very beautiful place, filled with things Soyeon could've never imagined herself. But Jiyeon scrunched up her face as soon as she finished sketching the face of the figure she was drawing, disapprovingly, and crumpled the sheet into a ball, throwing it away.
"Why did you do that?", Soyeon asked, frowning, leaning forwards to look up and face Jiyeon from where she was standing, sitting beside her on a bench. "It looked okay." Jiyeon pursed her lips, but didn't answer, merely looking back at Soyeon with narrow eyes. "Really! Well, I liked it."
"It looked dead."
Soyeon widened his eyes with a huff at the younger girl's stubborness, grabbing her chin. "Yah, Park Jiyeon, why are you like this?" And Jiyeon didn't look away, daring Soyeon to say anything else under her heavy gaze, because she knew the other couldn't go on with her scolding.
They just stared at each other for a long time: Jiyeon in a somewhat cold calmness, while Soyeon felt frustration building up inside of her, until there was the sound of the doors being pushed open and both switched their attention to the third girl stepping inside.
"Eunjung unni...", Soyeon said in a surprised, low tone, not quite sure about what to do when she appeared so suddenly, but Eunjung didn't look at her for more than a fraction of second, landing her eyes on Jiyeon.
"You", she said, walking up towards the two and causing Soyeon to stand up, "why did you lie? Huh?"
"Unni, don't-"
Eunjung just raised a hand to tell Soyeon to stay out of that. "You really don't remember?" She was so angry. "You forgot everything?" Jiyeon just looked at her with a deadly gaze-Soyeon hardly saw that expression on her face and it made her even more worried.
"Unni, why are you-"
"Why did you lie?!", she insisted, angry, confused and clearly upset.
"You lied to me first!", Jiyeon finally exploded, her tone much louder than usual: it was rare of her to even speak in the same tone as other people, always contained and calm. She got on her feet, narrowing her long eyes even more and walking away from Eunjung. "Just leave me alone, I don't want to see your face." She sent another deadly glare at Hyomin who stood by the door-she widened her eyes and reminded herself to never piss off Jiyeon-before disappearing behind it.
"I'm sorry", Soyeon said after the silence became unbearable, "but I don't think you should bother her anymore."
Eunjung looked at her and the younger could see she was upset. "I just don't understand..."
"Unni..." Soyeon sighed heavily: it seemed like it was time for her to watch out after her dongsaeng. "You choose this when you left."
"But... I'm back now", Eunjung answered. "I'm back again and she's pretending she doesn't know me. How can she not remember me?" Her question sounded a little too desperate and Soyeon almost felt bad for telling her the truth:
"It's because you should've never come back."
Hyomin watched Soyeon leave, her gaze following the girl down the corridor for a moment before falling on Eunjung's back again. She felt terribly bad for Eunjung for some reason, pouting at her figure, but after taking a deep breath she stepped inside the place and walked up to the older girl, hooking her arms around her neck childishly. "Well, I'm happy you're here, because I'm not lonely in my room anymore." She smiled, peeking at Eunjung's face with her round eyes and trying to make her feel more welcome: maybe she felt a little guilty, too, for bringing her there just to listen to those words. "Should we throw you a small party? Come with me, let's plan it: I'll try to negotiate illegal cupcakes with the cook, what do you think?"
Eunjung didn't have enough energy to protest and just offered her a discreet curving up of the corners of her lips, the best she could do now for Hyomin's efforts, and let the younger girl guide her to wherever: on her mind, however, she kept those words on replay: she had wanted to see Jiyeon so much... but it turned out she other would rather have her disappear from her face?
It was disheartening, but she had decided already that she'd change Jiyeon's mind: whatever it takes.