"Oh god, oh god-"
She tapped the video's play button and watched her own self appear on her screen, in a dimly lit expensive-looking room surrounded by a crowd. Someone had filmed what had happened at the party last night. There was a loud bang sound and she screamed. A guy...no... Mr.Butt-grabber from the other night tried to calm her down.
Then she threw up all over him. He looked absolutely stricken, just before she did it a second time; all over the front of his leather jacket, again.
There was laughter and chatter from the crowd around them.
"Oh god...oh god!" It was even worse than she expected. How could she have been so stupid and careless in public? Especially with her family's reputation on the line?
She checked the video's view count and nearly passed out- it was already past two million views.
Once the video ended, she realized she was shaking. Tears were already pooling in her eyes. So of course there was nothing else to do but curl up in a ball on her bed and cry her self to sleep.
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The next day, Minji poured herself a bowl of cereal for breakfast and wrapped herself in her blanket, deciding she wasn't going for any of her morning classes. It would just be too soon, after the huge bombshell that was dropped on her last night. She couldn't face anyone yet, knowing most people probably had seen the video.
"This is great. Just great," she groaned, flicking through channels on her flatscreen TV with her remote. She had an overwhelming sudden urge to have a cigarette. But fought it down, recalling her milestone of not smoking for an entire year already.
She couldn't believe it was still only Tuesday and the party incident was merely two days ago. It definitely felt as if it had been longer than that since what happened at the party. t to
There was nothing interesting on TV so Minji gave up and settled on playing some games on her phone. Even that soon lost its novelty and she found herself sinking into endless boredom. It seemed as if nothing could distract her effectively enough, to forget she was literally going viral on the internet...and of course, it was for being an idiot.
Sighing, she pushed herself off her sofa and miserably stalked over to her kitchen for more cereal. It took far longer than she would have liked; she promptly regretted living in such a big apartment. Reaching her destination, she grabbed a cornflakes box and poured some into her bowl. When she did the same with her carton of milk, only drops came out.
"Shit," she shook the carton for good measure. Nothing. "Guess I have to get more milk now."
It was clear the universe was against her.
She really didn't want to leave her home so she settled for eating three twinkies and some jam, right out of the jar. Yes. This was what the great Hwang Minji, heir to the billion dollar TitaniumShield Inc, had been reduced to. Hiding from the world, snacking on unnecessary carbs and eating jam straight out of a jar for breakfast. How far had she fallen?
Afternoon came soon enough and she remembered she had to go for afternoon classes. Of course, Minji dreaded it. But she got her shit together anyway, slapped on some makeup and marched out the door- like the total trooper she was.
Classes were boring as hell; Minji wished she hadn't gone. It was the usual; her trying to stay awake while her lecturers babbled on, pesky classmates asking for spare pens (or even weirder, spare gum), her forgetting she had a paper due on that day so she begged her lecturer for an extended deadline, etc. You know...just the usual.
Soon, she was done with her classes for the day. Lunchtime came and Minji had never been more relieved as she stopped at her favorite cafe, MarshmellowKoala, for a cup of coffee and some dumplings. However, her mood was soon darkened by the realization that she still hadn't given her friends a heads up on what had happened at the meeting last night. Nervously, she unlocked her phone and began typing a text message.
God, they were going to hate her. Her chest felt tight, suddenly she had no appetite for her dumplings. A car beeped on the road somewhere, startling her a little.
MinniePancakes053: yo
Pausing, she scrambled her brain for what else to say.
MinniePancakes053: we need to talk.
She waited for a response. Nothing.
Sighing, Minji sipped her coffee quietly.
Ping!
She whipped out her phone again and peered at the screen.
025SexySoobin: yeah, we need to.
"Shit...does she already know? Do they already know?"
Half an hour later, Soobin and the other two arrived in their shiny cars- all gleaming with a foreboding intent under sunlight. Minji watched them sashay to the table she sat at and slip into their own seats, all without saying a word. The suspense was killing her.
She sighed, "So I guess you already know what happened? Professor Bahk told you?"
Goen scowled. "Yup."
More silence. Minji sighed again, "Look-"
"How could you rat us out?" Jiyoung glared.
Huh? Minji's eyebrows creased. "What are you talking about? I didn't-"
"I always knew you couldn't be trusted," Geon snarked, rolling his eyes.
"You're so totally fake. Acting so nice to our faces when you're really a snake; I already told you how much I needed the position in that stupid committee to get into Harvard for my masters?" Soobin clenched her fists.
"I didn't rat you guys out alright? Professor Bahk discovered it him self! What are you all talking about?" Minji's throat felt like sandpaper.
Soobin just scowled, crossing her arms. "You know what, I'm kinda glad that video got leaked online. You do need a little humbling, no offense."
Geon laughed absentmindedly, already tapping away at his phone.
Minji's stomach clenched.
"It wasn't funny...you know how my aunt and uncle are about our company's image. They-"
"You've been acting so full of your self lately. Just because we're friends with you, doesn't mean you're suddenly hot shit Minnie." Jiyoung snarled. "And yes, the video totally was funny. That's another thing about you; you're so fake...and uptight. God, when will you quit being so lame?"
There was a silence, and it was deafening. Speechless, Minji put her coffee cup down, grabbed her hand bag and walked away. Her vision was blurry all of a sudden.