The Line

"What!? She said what!?" Harin yelled into the phone. "Did you two… No way! What!?"

"Calm down, we just slept. It's not what you think," Younghee replied as she wiped down the table, putting the cloth back on the side of the kitchen counter then walking out to the balcony.

"Yeah because that would not be giving up on her, Younghee. You need to set boundaries."

She scoffed, looking down at the street as if trying to spot someone, "you're one to talk."

"Hey, you're the one that started this in the first place."

"Yeah, yeah. All my fault."

"Anyway, I might go ghost for a few days."

"Is it her anniversary?"

"Yeah. I owe it to my dad to spend a few days with him this time."

"I understand. Call me if you need someone to talk to."

Harin laughed, "isn't that our routine at this point?"

Younghee replied with a light laugh in agreement before hanging up, just in time for the front door to open and Ari carrying something in her hands. She waved the bag in her hands as she saw Younghee, causing the contents to sway against each other and making some sort of clattering sound.

"We did it! Cheers!" Ari fell back on the couch as she raised the drink in her hand for a toast. She smiled as the glass bottles clinked against each other and she took a sip. It was just carbonated water but her excitement about the move was obvious and made Younghee grin. 

I'm glad she's happy.

Her finger twitched for a second as her phone rang, she quickly glanced down at the caller and picked it up hurriedly as she got up. "Sorry, I'll be right back." She murmured to Ari as she headed for her room, shutting the door behind her.

"Unnie, hey."

Ari's eyes grew sharper as she stared at the door, her hand slowly lowering to put the drink on the table as her smile disappeared.

Unnie? She doesn't have a sister though.

She stood up and glanced around the unfamiliar living room. She hated it. She hated how new it was. How empty it was. How foreign it was. She hated the change. And she hated it even more alone. She pursed her lips as she walked to her room and slammed her door shut.

The lone laptop sat on her empty desk was quickly fired up as she impatiently tapped her finger against the table. Ari leaned her head on her hand as she opened up the search engine. It was in her favour that the Seo family were public figures.

Meanwhile, Nari was lying on her bed aimlessly scrolling on her phone after finishing all her assignments due to a sudden burst of productivity. At least that was what she wanted to believe it was. In truth, it was more of a distraction so she would stop thinking about the gradual change in Younghee's behaviour towards her. 

Against her better judgement, Nari opened up her messages app and clicked into her contacts.

: How come you haven't came over lately?

Younghee: I've been busy

:Are you free later tonight?

: Can we call?

: Younghee?

...What the hell? Why is she treating me like how she usually treats... them.

Feeling annoyed and on edge, Nari quickly got dressed and headed out of her apartment. Knocking continuously on Younghee's door, her desperation grew. She knew she shouldn't act that way but she couldn't help it. Suddenly, a shout came from behind her, pulling her out of her daydreaming state.

"Stop knocking!" It was an old lady who had emerged from the neighbouring apartment. 

"Oh sorry," Nari quickly bowed in apology.

The lady quickly slammed her door shut as she mumbled disapprovingly under her breath. Nari looked around nervously and bit her lips. The messages she had sent Younghee earlier were still on delivered and she knew calling her would be crossing the line so she had no choice but to sit by the door and wait.

About 20 minutes passed by before the elevator stopped on the floor. Nari expectantly turned to it as apart from the old lady, only Younghee lived on that floor so this had to be her. Her legs suddenly gained strength in them again and stood up as the elevator door opened.

As soon as she saw who it was, her eager smile faltered.

What?

"Oh, are you here to see Younghee?" Ari smiled.

Nari felt her heart sink as the girl pulled out a key and unlocked the apartment door.

How..

Ari turned to her as she pulled the key back out, "she's not here. We've moved."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Didn't she tell you?" Ari asked with a hint of triumph in her tone. She quickly dimmed down her smug face and walked in, "looks like your time is up. I bet you thought you were different compared to those girls, didn't you?"

Nari stared at her with a horrified look on her face, her brows furrowed as she spoke, "what is your problem?"

Ari blinked at the unexpected snap back and chuckled before bursting into a full-on laugh. "Oh my, I bet Younghee doesn't know you're this feisty."

"And I bet she doesn't know you're this nasty either."

Ari stiffened as a frown appeared on her face. "I'd draw the line with her if I were you. The space in her heart you thought was yours? That already had a visitor way before you even knew her."

Nari gritted her teeth, her body hesitated before she turned away like she was forced to give up. She felt the burning stare of Ari on the back of her head as the elevator door shut. Once it started moving, Nari bit her lips as hard as she could as she started feeling a sense of hopelessness.

Should I just give up..?

Ari watched as the number on the elevator descended to the bottom floor before shutting the door behind her.

Ironic she calls you my replacement when you're her's.

After digging through the last few boxes they had left behind to take at a later date, that were mainly filled with things that belonged to Younghee, she finally found what she had been looking for; a photo album. She flipped over the first couple of pages then stopped suddenly. 

"Huh... why is this here?" Ari murmured, staring at the picture of her and Younghee as a child, posing outside their elementary school. It was a photo her mum had took of them just days after they had met because of how much they stuck to each other. Ari had almost forgotten the shy and timid girl she met back then but looking at the picture, even the smallest moments came back in an instant. Turning over the pages, the pictures of Younghee alone decreased noticeably and was replaced with the two of them.

It's like a slideshow of the past.

She paused again as she saw a picture of Younghee with a woman about a few years older. Ari quickly pulled out her phone and held a picture up to the one in the album. Bingo.

-

"And then she just came out of nowhere!"

Yun Sera smirked as Minjee ranted on, telling her the tale of the other night. Her smile only grew wider as her phone buzzed to reveal an incoming call from the senior.

"Minjee, you still like the senior, right?"

"Of course, I didn't spend months chasing after him for nothing, you know?"

"Then do you think you can help with clearing his name? I heard there's been a rumour spreading that he harassed Nari that night. Since you were there, you can tell everyone what really happened."

Minjee squinted her eyes questionably as she leaned back. But it was obvious she'd agree, and Sera could see that. She'd have to be dumb to not pick up on her hatred for Nari, especially after being the one to start the conflict that pulled them apart to begin with.

"Fine, but only if you make sure it doesn't trace back to me. I don't want him to think I had anything to do with the rumours that you started in the first place."

Sera gave her a look then shrugged and turned back to her phone.

"Anyway, is that scar ever going to heal?" Minjee pointed at her forehead.

Her mouth twitched. "Get out."

"Huh?"

"I said get out. Go home and just do what I told you to do."

"Sera—"

"Go!"

Minjee jumped at her sudden scream and quickly got up, leaving the hospital room in a panic. Like Sera who viewed her appearance as the most important thing, Minjee held one thing dear to her heart, one that she wouldn't tolerate slander towards. Her social standing. Like many of their friends therefore, despite not wanting to put up with Yun Sera's personality, they still do because they know it would help them if they were on her good side. And for her to get back on her good side now, there was only one thing she could do.

Nari quickly took an empty seat near the front of the lecture hall, having made it just in time before the professor had gotten there. She glanced around quickly, looking at the room full of students but turned back to her bag as she noticed Younghee wasn't there. 

She never skips though..

Before her thoughts could be consumed by her again, Nari felt an odd sense of discomfort, like everyone was staring at her. As hard as it was, she tried to ignore it and sat through the lesson, trying to focus on the professor rather than the whispers. Once the lecture had ended, she quickly got up and left, deciding to go back home as the rest of her day was free. She kept her head down as she made her way through the corridor until someone bumped into her. 

"Sorry," Nari quickly apologised and flashed a polite smile. 

The girl who had bumped into her stared at her before turning to her friend as they both started laughing whilst walking away. Nari glared at them, annoyed, but decided against doing anything and accepted some people were just rude. Before she could turn away however, she felt a chilling taunting gaze from one of them.

"Fake bitch."

Her stomach dropped at the words as she quickly looked away. Nari hurriedly made it back to her apartment with her head in fight or flight mode the entire time from the anxiety. She sat against the front door with her hands hugging her knees as she tried to calm herself. 

"It's okay, they probably weren't talking about you... It's fine... You're okay."

Suddenly she felt the overwhelming urge to cry and started sobbing. All the stress and misunderstandings she had endured the past few months ate her up all at once. The small incidents, the big fallouts, everything, started to tear away at her. It wasn't hard to guess what might've happened. Her cutting off ties with her old friends meant something like this wasn't going to be avoidable, especially given how Minjee still hated her.

I didn't even do anything to her... and her, I.. what's the point, I've tried so many times already... It's so stupid.

…I give up. This was stupid. 

Over the next week, Baek Nari had practically disappeared. Emails and messages went unread and she stopped showing up to university. She didn't have many friends to begin with but her being gone was easily noticed as people she didn't even know had been talking about her as if they knew her business. 

The reason behind the sudden uproar of gossips surrounding her was a post made on their university forum that painted her in negative light for 'rejecting' the senior that night and supposedly leading him on whilst knowing her 'friend' had liked him. Since Nari, the senior and Minjee were the last to leave, none of the others stepped in to explain their side of the story because frankly, they didn't know what happened after they left. This and in addition to the incident at the start of the year meant all the negative attention from the student body threw itself onto the poor girl. 

But of course, not everyone is heartless and dumb enough to believe a rumour without hearing both sides. A day just after the message was posted, it was deleted due to massive reporting before Nari could even find out it existed and eventually, the passive aggressive remarks faded and people stopped talking.

When she returned the following week, she had already stopped feeling any sort of sadness or sorrow and sat patiently in her mandarin class as she waited for it to begin. 

"Hey."

She turned her head and almost jumped as she saw Ari.

Oh right, I forgot we were in the same class.

Ari gave a small apologetic smile before she sat down next to her. "Sorry about the other day."

To Nari's surprise, she could tell Ari really did mean the apology but that didn't mean she was ready to forgive her. Still, she dismissed it and told her to not worry about it too much. After all, she was probably the only person who still talked to her right now, and Nari would rather someone who expressed how she felt to her face than talk about her behind her back. Maybe it was because she was tired, but for some reason, she felt like Ari was a honest person and that was good enough. But she was also the type to hurt someone without realising.

The professor cleared this throat, drawing the attention from all the students to him as he announced a paired activity. Nari quickly turned to Ari with an expectant look.

"Oh, erm, sorry, I already agreed to be partners with someone," Ari said awkwardly as she got up. "We can do it together next time." 

Nari gave a small nod as she moved to a different seat and began to filled with her pen, trying not to get anxious. With how things were between people who knew her and her right now topped with the fact she hadn't spoken much to anyone else in the class, Nari was completely frozen and helpless.

What do I do? Should I just leave? No one will notice if I slipped out now, right? ...But what if people see somehow.. Never mind, I'll just do it alone.

She sighed to herself quietly, not noticing someone who was stood by Ari's now empty seat. 

"Hi, do you have a partner yet?"