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IRENE almost dropped the glass slipper figurine she was preparing upon hearing so, and yeri sat there with her mouth agape. joy sat there from across her, an invitation still midway through her tongue, staring at her in disbelief. wendy even popped out of the back room.

all because she finally got the guts to say it.

"what?" wendy asked, walking towards their position in the living room. "i couldn't hear it clearly, so, if you please, repeat what you just said."

"i don't think you're going to want to hear it again," irene murmured, only to be wavered off by the former.

seulgi rolled her eyes. "you heard it loud and clear, wendy."

"i need to hear it again, coming from your own lips."

seulgi sighed and bit her lip, pausing for a moment. "i-i slept with jimin."

"again," joy initiated before sealing another envelope, much to seulgi's dismay.

"again," she repeated.

"wait, again?" wendy sat down next to joy on the couch, where she was still busy putting last minute invitations to their respective envelopes. seulgi was using the same coffee table to eat from a styrofoam bowl of ramen, while irene and yeri worked behind them by the dining table, busy packing the wedding souvenirs.

"that's what she just said, unnie," yeri sighed, gingerly placing the figurines into their small boxes.

"hush, yerim, continue your task." wendy placed the necklaces she was trying on by the coffee table. "what happened this time?"

"can we not talk about this, right now?" seulgi asked, obviously affected. "i-i just want to enjoy a cup of ramen by myself."

"if you're not going to help, then you're going to spill, kang," wendy said. seulgi hated how easily her friends were able to bully her. "what happened?"

kang seulgi let go of her chopsticks and tucked her hands by her feet, looking up at her friends, who were looking at her expectantly. "this isn't exactly a short story, wendy."

"we have all day."

she sighed one more time, before scooting over and pursing her lips. she hesitated to being the story, because she already knew what would happen, but she did so anyway.

"i, uh, failed my audition," she began, looking down. "you know, for the drama i got called back for recently."

each of her friends' heads snapped up, particularly joy's, who knew the struggle seulgi has been to just to practice for her role firsthand.

"unnie," joy said, placing the invitation in her hands to offer a comforting hand for her.

"it's okay, joy," seulgi said, looking up to offer her a smile and placing a hand over where hers was over her shoulder. "it's not that big of a deal, anyway."

"no wonder you've been so down lately," irene said, slowly walking over to the couch behind her.

"it's okay, really." seulgi wanted to brush it off. "they said my acting was a little bit too overbearing, and that i might overshadow the lead, since i was only auditioning for a supporting role. i think, well, maybe they could be right."

"well, i think they have no idea what talent is until it hits them in the face," yeri said, offering seulgi a warm, comforting smile. "elite, biased assholes."

irene raised an eyebrow at her. "language please, yerim."

"she's got a point," wendy affirmed. "it is a big deal, seulgi. it's your dream we're talking about." she held seulgi's hand. "i think either the second or third time will be the charm, hon, trust me."

"yeah, it'll be better soon."

"we just know it."

seulgi smiled. she knew she could always count on her friends to make everything easy for her. sometimes, they were all she needed. but times like this were the exception, because she still had that other thing with jimin to deal with.

"thanks, guys."

"we got your booty, unnie," joy said.

"so, moving on from all this negativity," wendy said, still squeezing seulgi's hand, "how is this all connected to jimin?"

"well, i cried so hard after that," she said, momentarily letting go of wendy. "i called each of you guys but none of you answered." each of the girls had guilty looks on their faces almost right after she said it.

"so that was what that missed call was," yeri said. "i feel bad. i have no idea where i was."

"we were together that day, yeri," irene reminded her. "that was the day we met that jungkook guy you were so smitten with."

yeri's mouth formed a circle at irene. "unnie!"

"yeah, i'm sorry, too," joy said. "i think i was with jooheon-wait, no, seokjin. it was definitely seokjin."

"you were on a date again?"

joy nodded. "fifth time that week. crazy fun times."

"well, i have an excuse when i say i had wedding preparations to attend to," wendy said, "so don't consider yourself clean, joy."

"my phone was on silent! isn't that, like, an unwritten rule during dates?"

"doesn't count."

"yes, it does!

"well, we all still need to feel bad. we weren't there when a girlfriend needed us."

"guys, don't apologize, it's fine." seulgi bit her lip, waiting for them to calm down. "since none of you were picking up, i started to panic, and i called jimin. a-and he came." wendy and joy nodded at her, and irene looked at her intently as she spoke.

"i didn't know what he was doing, or where he came from, but the next moment after i called, i felt him sit by the sidewalk next to me. he didn't even say anything, and he just sat there with me, until i talked. he didn't even hug me until he felt that i was breaking."

joy gave a slight smile. "he's a sweetie." wendy nodded.

"he just let me cry," seulgi continued. "i had no recollection of the time we spent on that sidewalk, because the only thing i could feel was his embrace and his heartbeat thumping next to my temple." she bit her lip. "he didn't even have to talk to me, and i didn't even have to talk to him. i guess, well, i just needed someone to be there. and he was there."

irene almost smiled at that, and joy almost saw.

seulgi smiled while recollecting, and continued to speak. "he drove me home the moment after that, and i-i have no idea why, exactly, but i have never felt safer the moment he hugged me, or led me inside his car. he looked just as broken as i am, and he knew for a fact that he had to be strong for my sake at that time, and he did." she smiled again. "he kept his walls up for me."

seulgi blinked at her ramen. she looked up at wendy, who was looking at her wholeheartedly. "i don't know how exactly, too, but the moment we reached home, i got so embarrassed, that i started running away from him, even though we lived in the same apartment." she chuckled lowly. "and the next minute i knew, i was in my room, contemplating why i wasn't beside him, and after that, i was kissing him." she looked up again. "and he was kissing me back."

"this sounds way too dramatic for my liking," yeri commented again.

"stop your whining, kim." wendy smiled at seulgi after frowning at her dongsaeng. "then you guys slept with each other? just like that?"

seulgi nodded. "i know, it's weird, but it's something i couldn't explain. something about it felt...raw. we weren't drunk or anything. neither of us were high, either. we just, well, did it." seulgi sighed to herself. "nothing else but emotions. i didn't know what it was, but it was special, and it felt so right."

images of jimin's radiant aura, his warm smile, and the feeling of his fervent kisses started coming back to seulgi - the way he gently kissed her down, intertwined his hand with hers, made her feel good, everything.

all topped off with his beautiful eyes staring into hers.

"that, my dear, is love," wendy said, joy nodding after her.

"how romantic," irene said, placing a hand on seulgi's shoulder.

"jimin oppa sounds like such a kind and nice man," joy said, resuming her work with her invitations. "i can't see any girl who wouldn't want some of that." wendy shushed her.

"he is, he really is," seulgi confirmed. "he's what every girl deserves to have. he's perfect."

too bad she wasn't one of those girls.

"so i assume you're together now?" wendy asked, leaning back with a smile, only to be surprised the moment seulgi looked down instead of smiling. "seulgi?"

the latter's head snapped up, looking at her best friend rather sadly. "what's wrong? i thought everything with jimin was okay?"

"if everything was okay with jimin, wendy, she wouldn't be so down like this, even if she did fail that audition," irene said.

"so everything isn't okay?" she shook her head. "what happened?"

seulgi rubbed her arm. it was never okay, she figured. she still felt guilty for doing what she had already done - even with good intentions in heart, she still felt so bad for jimin. he was so sweet and sincere; he always was. but he deserved to be free from her anyway.

"i-i talked to him, the morning after that," she began again. "he was lying there, i was lying next to him. i wasn't able to tell him why i kept pushing him away, and confusing him, even, the day before, when he came to pick me up. so, i decided to tell him that same morning."

every one of the girls kept quiet as seulgi talked, her voice shaking.

"i cleared the air between us," she said. "it took me a little longer than a while, but i finally did it. i apologized to him, told him everything i've been feeling, nothing held back. i told him that i did still love him, but it was my fault we werw both hurting. and that everything i did for him - the smallest things, up until the time i decided to push him away because i knew it wasn't right - i had only him in mind, and i only had good intentions with them."

wendy could see the tears threatening to come out of seulgi's eyes, but decided not to move just yet.

"i never meant to hurt him. that, that was all on me - because even if i try hard enough, even if i wanted to do what i think is right, i tend to screw up so much that he ends up paying for everything, even this one. he suffered the first time i broke up with him. he paid the price when i decided to lead him on because i was aware of his feelings and unaware of my own, and when i decided i would push him away for his own good. everything i do seems to hurt him in ways i can't understand, and i can't have that going on and on because all i know is i can't bear to see him like this."

the first teardrop fell, and irene held her hand tightly.

"and the thing is, after all i've done to him, he still couldn't accept the fact that it was my fault," she said. "jimin fucking apologized - because of the way he acted, because he said he couldn't control his own feelings that well, because he thought he should have considered if i wanted to be in a relationship at all before doing anything dangerous. i can't believe that after so much trouble i've caused, he still chooses to see what he loves in me and blame himself for everything."

yeri finally put down the figurine and she looked over to where seulgi was, and was listening intently.

"i just want him to move on, so i can, too. it was my fault the first time, and i can't be the one who makes the mistake the second time. i don't want that, i don't deserve him. jimin deserves a girl who's going to make him feel twice the love he's willing to reciprocate, and trust me, that's a lot of love." seulgi tried to chuckle, and her friends smiled along, but it quickly faded as she came back to her story. "i still love him, i really do. i'm not even lying when i say this, and you guys know if i'm lying. but i can't bear to tell him. he needs someone else, someone who's better and more than i will ever be."

she stayed silent for a little while, biting her lip, letting her tears flow. "jimin is all the good left in the world, and he deserves to feel some love. genuine love."

kang seulgi stayed silent a few moments after that, and stared blankly at the cup of instant ramen in front of her, no longer steaming hot, sitting there in front of her with her wooden chopsticks, as if mocking her, making fun of her current stage. even if the ramen was making fun of her, she couldn't care less - she deserved it, she figured.

but that was when irene, still seated at the chair behind her, slowly, yet surely, snaked her arms around her neck, placing her chin by her head, making her feel loved. that was also when wendy stood up to walk over and sit by the floor next to her, laying a head on her shoulder, holding on to one of her arms. her other side was quickly occupied by kim yeri, who awkwardly stalked from the dining table to the spot beside her, letting joy, who was busy fighting tears, get ready to cuddle by wendy, but was still busy being stubborn.

"i'm not crying, okay?" joy said, blinking upwards, once she saw the way her friends were looking at her. "it's just, like, a really hot day-"

"just get over here, sooyoung," wendy said, making the others laugh wholeheartedly, motioning her over, making her stand abruptly and tiptoe to wendy's side, sniffling, laying a head over her shoulder.

"oh, unnie," joy said, sniffling lightly, hand on one of seulgi's forearms.

seulgi very well knew what this was. this was their infamous group hug; whenever one of them, or all of them, needs consoling, it was a rule that all five had to chip in and hug the sad one, and give their share of affection.

and she never thought she'd feel more secure.

they just sat there, hugging each other, making each one of them feel loved for a few moments, before breaking the silence with hushed voices, like they always do. and sure enough, it always seemed to work; it worked with wendy's past fights with yoongi, yeri's school frustrations, even irene's job hunting failures. joy never really needed a group hug so far, but was always present to give one when it was necessary.

"we're so sorry, seulgi," wendy said, squeezing seulgi's hand. "we know you still love each other, but it's probably for the best. it was a tough decision to make."

"it was," joy agreed. "not following your feelings, thinking of what's better for him."

"that was a bold move, seulgi unnie," yeri added. "we're so proud of you."

"that's probably the bravest thing you've ever done," joy added, making seulgi laugh.

"you're always going to keep thinking of him, will you?"

seulgi nodded. "that's what i always think of." she sniffled. "him."

"you've done a great thing, seulgi," irene said. "but, honey, you shouldn't be so doubting upon yourself." she stroked a few strands of seulgi's hair. "you deserve some love too, okay? even if you were thinking of him when you decided to do that, know that you'll need someone too."

"everyone does," wendy said. "maybe it's just not meant to be jimin, but this person will come eventually. i'm sure fate isn't that cruel."

seulgi clicked her tongue. "i'm always going to need someone who'll love me," she said, looking at her friends, "but with you guys? i don't think a guy is necessary."

"aw, we're always going to be here, unnie, you know that." joy held out her hand, too.

"i know, joy, i know."

"with us by your side, even if you do keep making mistakes, we'll always be here for you." irene said, tapping all of her friends' heads. "sisters, until the end."

"got that right."

seulgi smiled in pure happiness. she didn't think her friends would be this supportive - they were, after all, the type to scold you and make you feel bad about your mistakes. she preferred that; it made her think of what she had done, and reflect on why it was so wrong, most of the time at least, when it didn't make her feel bad enough as she did.

but friends aren't friends if they don't stop to make you feel loved every once in a while, you know? they're your rocks, your foundations, your courage.

in that moment, nothing else but the love of her four best friends mattered.

"alright, guys, can i eat my ramen now? it's really cold."

· · ─────── ·· ─────── · ·

sorry for the long wait! i was busy these past few days, since school will be starting very very soon :(

also, a short note: please don't hate on seulgi for her choices or actions. it doesn't reflect her in real life, and it's also essential to the plot! i'll be replying to some of your comments, too, so please leave some!

- nayeonsbunny -