Answer Me, Kang Seoyeon

The moment Kang Seoyeon got home, she spent the entire day staring at her phone.

More precisely — at one number saved in her contacts.

—Kang Hyunwoo.

She opened those three syllables and closed them again. Over and over.

…I got it. I really got it.

His number was sitting right there in the palm of her hand.

Just that one fact kept her heart hammering.

It was nothing but eleven digits. So why did her chest keep pounding like this?

Seoyeon flopped face-down onto her bed and buried her face in the blanket.

…I'm insane. Seriously.

Every time she closed her eyes, he came back.

The way he'd awkwardly scratched the back of his head when they ran into each other at the sparring gym. That moment his face had gone red and he'd mumbled something half-coherent. And then — that brief kiss on the ring yesterday.

Just remembering it set her face on fire.

…I want to do it again.

The thought flashed through her, and Seoyeon jerked her head side to side in pure panic.

…No. No. What the hell are you thinking, Kang Seoyeon.

She slapped her own cheek. Hard. Snap out of it.

But no matter how hard she tried, once that feeling had bloomed it refused to settle.

His body heat. His scent. They kept resurfacing all over her skin. If this kept up, she was genuinely going to lose it.

…No. This isn't — it's not like that.

Seoyeon forced herself to soothe the thought down.

…It's because of Arin. Right. I need to apologize to Arin. That's why I got his number — so I can talk to him about how to fix things. Any other feelings… absolutely not.

She repeated it to herself again and again. She had to. Otherwise this feeling kept trying to slide somewhere it absolutely should not go.

And yet.

As the hours dragged on, Seoyeon's eyes kept flicking toward her phone.

She needed to call him.

About Arin.

To seriously discuss how she should apologize.

The justification was clean and clear.

But strangely — the second she tried to hit the call button, her fingertips shook and her heart went completely wild.

Was this really nerves over talking about Arin?

Or did she just want to hear his voice?

Even she couldn't tell the difference anymore.

…Should I call. Or not.

She lay down. Sat up. Picked up the phone. Set it back down.

Restless, fidgeting, the night grew deeper around her.

…No. It's late. Tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow.

She folded the impulse away any number of times.

But every time she folded it, her hand drifted back toward the phone.

She wanted to hear his voice so badly it ached.

Even if Arin was only the excuse. Just one word would be enough.

In the end.

When the world outside the window had gone fully dark, late into the night — Seoyeon couldn't hold out any longer and pressed the call button.

…I-it's fine. Just talking about Arin. That's it. Only that.

Pressing a hand against her hammering chest, she lifted the phone to her ear.

Beep—— beep——

The ringtone pulsed.

Once. Twice.

In that brief span, her heart felt ready to burst.

And then.

The call finally connected.

That night.

Yoon Arin lay under the same blanket as Kang Hyunwoo, but sleep would not come for her at all.

Right beside her, Hyunwoo was out cold. Steady breathing. That defenseless sleeping face.

On any other night, just looking at him would have settled her heart. Tonight, it didn't work.

In the dark, Arin stared blankly at the ceiling.

…I saw it. This afternoon.

The scene kept looping through her head.

When she'd gone looking for Hyunwoo at the sparring gym earlier.

Arin had, in fact, seen everything.

Hyunwoo and Seoyeon off in the corner, talking about something with serious faces.

She hadn't heard what they were saying.

But the second she walked over, both of them had flinched and put space between their bodies — that moment was burned into her eyes.

…Did they think I wouldn't notice.

Hyunwoo had acted like nothing happened.

Seoyeon had slipped away looking just as casual.

But Arin was no fool.

They pulled apart that obviously and pretended they hadn't been talking, and they thought she wouldn't catch it?

She'd seen the whole thing.

The more she thought about it, the more her insides seethed and boiled.

…Kang Seoyeon, that little bitch.

It was so damn irritating.

Of all people — her man.

Of all people — her childhood friend.

Annoyance surged up hot and sharp.

But.

On top of that irritation, another feeling suddenly layered itself in.

…But.

Lunchtime came back to her.

Seoyeon sitting across from her in the cafeteria, smiling awkwardly as she tried to start a conversation. Then, when Arin moved to leave, grabbing her wrist in a panic.

—I'm sorry.

That trembling voice. That apology.

Arin had shaken her off cold. Without a single word of answer, she'd shut her out completely.

…Was I a little harsh back then.

A long sigh slipped out of her.

Of course Seoyeon had been in the wrong first.

With Hyunwoo, that… no. She didn't even want to think about that part.

Being angry and feeling betrayed was only natural.

But still — did she really have to crush that coldly an apology her lifelong friend had finally scraped up the courage to offer?

Somewhere in her chest felt strangely heavy.

Tomorrow… maybe I should at least hear her out.

She was tossing under that guilt when —

Bzzzzzt——!

Hyunwoo's phone, sitting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by the pillow, vibrated once. Short. Sharp.

A muted notification. In the dark, the screen glowed faintly.

Without much thought, Arin's eyes drifted to the display.

And then.

…Huh?

Arin's breath snagged in her throat.

The caller's name on the screen. The instant she saw those three syllables, her whole body locked up.

…Why.

Her heart dropped with a thud.

Why, at this hour… is Seoyeon… calling Hyunwoo's phone…

This late at night, Seoyeon was calling Kang Hyunwoo.

After putting on that whole show of pulling away this afternoon, pretending they were nothing to each other.

Night falls, and suddenly she's sneaking a call.

…It's not that.

Arin forced herself to shake her head.

…I must have misread it. Or else… it's nothing. She's just trying to apologize. That's all it is.

But the harder she soothed herself, the colder her heart went the other way.

How ridiculous she looked — feeling sorry for Seoyeon just a second ago.

How stupid it was to toss and turn feeling guilty for ignoring that apology.

…While I was busy feeling bad for you. You were secretly calling my man?

Irritation. Betrayal. And a black, choking jealousy — all of it surged up at once.

Arin quietly sat up.

Soundlessly, so she wouldn't wake Hyunwoo sleeping beside her. Then she closed her hand tight around the vibrating phone.

On the screen, the name "Kang Seoyeon" was still blinking.

Arin slipped out the front door without a sound. Cold night air hit her all at once. Only after she'd quietly shut the door did she press the answer button.

Then, in a voice packed down as tightly as she could manage, she spoke.

Kang Seoyeon's entire body froze solid.

There was no way she wouldn't know that voice.

She'd been listening to it her whole life.

But — the voice coming through the receiver right now was not the warm Yoon Arin she knew. It was ice-cold.

Arin asked again, biting each syllable off one by one.

That chill ran straight down Seoyeon's spine.

She needed to say something — anything — but her throat locked tight and nothing came out.

…Why is Arin…

Her mind went pure white.

She'd called Hyunwoo.

So why was Yoon Arin answering?

What the hell was happening on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the other end of this line?

Seoyeon's fingertips trembled like aspen leaves.

Something was badly, badly wrong — her instincts screamed it.

Seoyeon couldn't manage a single answer. She just swallowed hard and breathed.

On the other end of the line, Arin's voice grew sharper by the second.

"…."

A scream full of raw venom tore through her ear.

Seoyeon flinched and curled in on herself.

Her heart plummeted. In her entire life, her lifelong friend had never once yelled at her in a voice like that.

"…A-Arin."

She managed to force the name out in a tiny, shrinking voice. In that moment, Seoyeon was completely crushed.

Arin spat the words through gritted teeth.

"Th-that's not—"

Seoyeon bit down hard on her lip.

It was unfair.

God, it was so unfair.

This call wasn't like that.

She'd dialed so she could talk to Hyunwoo about how to apologize to Arin.

Any other feelings — well, she couldn't claim she'd never had them. But at least the reason for this call, right now, had been purely for Arin's sake.

But.

No excuse in the world felt like it would land right now.

…Unbelievable. Seriously.

Strangely, even through the crushing shame, a wave of resentment surged up hard.

Seoyeon had fought so hard not to cross that line. Not once.

She'd crushed every feeling she had for that man with everything she had.

Even on the ring, in the moment her mind had been about to completely leave her body, she'd thought of Arin and clenched her teeth and held on.

All that inferiority. All that lingering attachment. She'd swallowed every bit of it alone and sincerely — sincerely — rooted for Arin to be happy.

But right now Yoon Arin was talking to her like she'd never been that warm friend at all.

Like they'd never laughed and cried together as childhood friends.

She was treating her like nothing but a filthy girl angling for her man.

…Do you have any idea how hard I held back.

The words climbed all the way to the base of her throat.

But she swallowed them.

The second she said that out loud, it would be admitting she'd had feelings for him. And that — absolutely — could not happen.

Seoyeon swallowed the unfairness and the hurt both, and simply stayed silent.

After hammering her for a long stretch, Arin's voice suddenly dropped. But that lower register was somehow even colder.

"…R-right now?"

There was a hardness in Arin's voice that left no room for argument.

Click.

The call cut off unilaterally.

Seoyeon stood frozen in place for a long while.

She stared blankly down at the dead phone. A moment later, a message ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lit up the screen.

The place Arin wanted to meet.

…Do I have to go.

Her heart was hammering out of control.

She was terrified.

Just the thought of facing Arin this angry made her legs go weak.

But sitting on top of that fear, the unfairness still wouldn't die.

…Fine. Let's go.

Seoyeon clenched her fists tight.

She was scared. Yes.

But she couldn't run from this.

No matter how bad it got, she had things she needed to say.

She would apologize for what she'd done wrong. That much was certain.

But that didn't mean she could just take this criminal treatment with no explanation at all and leave it at that. At the very least — she wanted Arin to know how much she had thought of her. That sincerity, at least, she wanted to get across.

With shaking hands, Seoyeon grabbed her coat.

Then she started walking — heavy steps, one after another — toward the address Yoon Arin had sent.