EPISODE 5 :"Growing Defiance"
679 Words
Sung-Hung froze at the café doorway.
Woo-Jin and So-Mi sat close. Too close.
Their hands brushed on the table — familiar, comfortable — as if it wasn’t the first time.
For a second, she couldn’t breathe.
…They look like—
She swallowed hard, straightened her shoulders, and walked in.
Coffee ordered. Calm face.
Heart nowhere near calm.
She sat a few tables away, pretending to scroll, listening without meaning to.
They didn’t see her.
So-Mi laughed softly, leaning in.
“I study so much and still she tops. How is that fair?”
Woo-Jin chuckled.
“You’ll do fine. Why are you so obsessed? Sung-Hung’s your friend.”
So-Mi scoffed.
“Friend? Please. She just clings to me. Someone like her would be alone otherwise.”
Woo-Jin frowned.
“Come on, that’s—”
“She brings bad luck,” So-Mi whispered sharply. “Look at her life. Father gone, mother miserable… If I wasn’t being kind, she'd have no one.”
A beat of silence.
Sung-Hung’s vision blurred.
She pressed her nails into her palm, trying to stay quiet, stay upright.
So… this is what I was to you? Pity? A burden?
A tear slipped. She wiped it fast.
Woo-Jin shifted in his seat, discomfort flickering across his face.
So-Mi caught it immediately. Her smile sharpened.
“Why are you looking like that?”
A soft laugh — sweet, but poisonous underneath.
“Don’t waste your sympathy on her. Talking to her is a waste of time anyway.”
Woo-Jin stiffened.
“So-Mi—”
“She drains people,” So-Mi murmured, honey-sweet but blade-sharp.
“You’ll see. Stay close to her long enough and she’ll pull you down with her too.”
The waiter stopped beside Sung-Hung.
“Miss… are you okay?”
She shook her head, voice barely there.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
She wasn’t.
She stood, leaving the untouched coffee, and walked out before her knees could give up on her.
Outside, the air felt colder.
---
Sung-Hung paused on the abundant college rooftop, wind tugging at her hair. The city sprawled below — cars, people, lights — all moving as if her heartbreak didn’t exist.
She pressed her palms to the cool metal railing and exhaled slowly. Her chest ached, her mind replaying the café scene: Woo-Jin shifting uneasily, So-Mi’s words slicing sharper than expected.
"I was blind. I thought I knew who my friends were."
A single tear slid down, but she wiped it quickly. She wouldn’t let them see her collapse. Not here. Not anymore.
By the time she reached home, night had thickened. Hae-Jin’s voice snapped her from her thoughts:
“Where have you been? Again late! Dinner’s cold now!”
She bowed, avoided eye contact, breath catching.
"I'm sorry… Mom… it won’t happen again."
Her mother’s eyebrows pinched as usual. She didn’t reply and went to her room.
Sung-Hung shrugged off her bag and went straight to her own room.
Food had lost its appeal; her stomach was too knotted to consider eating.
She sank onto her bed, staring at the ceiling, the echo of So-Mi’s laughter and cruel words pounding in her mind.
Her eyes widened as she recalled the beastly man’s warning:
“Don’t share everything blindly. Not all hearts are safe.” (Ep.2)
She was lost in thought, barely noticing the soft slip of paper that had appeared under her door — familiar in weight, unfamiliar in origin.
Morning came fast. She packed her bag quickly and rushed to college. Just as she opened the door to leave, she noticed the slip on the floor.
She picked it up but left it on her study table, pressed for time.
“I’ll read this later,” she murmured.
Sung-Hung reached college on time.
Avoiding So-Mi was effortless; the girl’s usual smug grin faltered when Sung-Hung met her gaze.
Her eyes flicked to the slip of paper still on her study table.
Her fingers itched to pick it up. Her heart thudded.
But she didn’t. Not yet.
For now, the secret waited.
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End of Episode 5 😊
- Writer
