The office grows silent. Sam grabs her phone and unlocks it, to see Kareen's contact photo on the screen. She smiles at the cute picture of Kareen. She is smiling at the camera, her eyes closed, and her hands making a peace symbol for the camera. Sam chuckles to herself.
Across from her, Ereen rolls over and stares at Sam.
"You two sure seem close," Ereen says in an annoyed tone.
This scares Sam just a little, causing her to jump. She immediately calms down once she realizes its just Ereen. She sighs in relief.
"I wouldn't say that," Sam retorts. "Today is the first time we've ever really talked."
Sam turns to face Ereen, lowering her phone from her face.
"Sure doesn't seem like it..." Ereen says softly, her voice cracking a bit.
Sam notices Ereen's softness, and how she doesn't seem as vicious as her usual self.
"I'm sorry I... you know... punched you," Sam says softly, turning her head to the side.
Ereen just sighs and rolls back over, facing away from Sam.
"It's no big deal. I punched you too." She bluntly replies.
Sam turns back to Ereen and sees that she had rolled back over. She frowns, trying to understand why Ereen is so down if it wasn't because of the fight.
"E-Ereen, are you ok?"
Sam jumps straight to the point, bluntly asking Ereen if something is the matter. She expected a harsh response, but what happened next caught her off guard.
"If I tell you, will you promise to not tell anyone?" Ereen says, muffled by the blanket she pulled over her mouth.
Completely taken aback by this side of Ereen, Sam sits and stares for a moment at her, unable to process this sudden shift in personality.
"I promise I won't tell anyone. This will stay between us."
Ereen, nervous about telling Sam about her past with Kareen, takes a deep breath. She tells Sam everything, even the part about how she truly loves Kareen, but has resented her for not understanding her true feelings. After a while of explaining, Sam sits for a moment processing everything she was just told. Ereen lies underneath her blanket, awaiting a response from Sam. Her anxiety is reeling, afraid that Sam will make fun of her, or worse, reveal her secret.
Sam suddenly gets up out of her bed and walks over to Ereen. Ereen hears her movements and rolls over slightly to see Sam making her way over to her bed.
"H-Hey! What are you doing?" Ereen asks frantically.
Sam sits down on Ereen's bed. This causes Ereen to sit up, blushing and confused by what Sam is doing.
"G-Get out of my-"
Sam hugs her suddenly, her arms completely enveloping Ereen. Ereen's face was in shock at the sudden affection, her arms in the air, not sure what to do. Sam's eyes are now closed and she smiles brightly while holding Ereen.
"It's ok Ereen," Sam says comfortingly.
"I understand why you are hurt. I want to help."
These few kind words are overwhelming to Ereen, and sobs lightly, her arms now wrapped around Sam. The two now sit hugging each other, while Ereen sobs gently, her face pressed against Sam's shoulder.
"I'll help you Ereen, I know what it's like to have those feelings."
"But I was-" she sniffles, "I was so mean to you..."
Sam pulls back, releasing her arms from around Ereen. She looks Ereen in her tear-filled eyes.
"It's ok Ereen, we all make mistakes." She says assuringly, a bright smile across her face.
Ereen now begins sobbing more intensely and falls into Sam's chest to cover her face. Sam is a little surprised by this but smiles and holds her. The two stay like this for some time. Ereen calms down after a moment and catches her breath. The two now sit together on Ereen's bed, their legs hanging off the side.
"So what do you mean by worth together?" Ereen asks, still sniffling.
Sam looks especially confident, with an arrogant look on her face.
"We work together!" She says, her finger pointing up at nothing and her head held high, "You have an awful attitude, to put it bluntly."
"Gee, thanks," Ereen responds, annoyed while glaring at Sam.
"But we can work with that! You just need to use your blunt attitude with Kareen, and just tell her how you feel."
"Are you crazy? I can't just tell her how I feel outright. That's way too embarrassing! No way."
Ereen turns her head away from Sam and crosses her arms. Sam lowers her hand, and opens her eyes, looking at Ereen, confused.
"And why not? You literally told her you love her. What's the difference?"
Ereen's face turns red, embarrassed by the truth of the matter. She turns back to Sam quickly, getting flustered.
"Look! That was different, ok? Everything was different back then."
Ereen calms down, now feeling defeated.
"We were more close and things weren't as complicated. Now? I don't even know..."
Sam thinks for a moment and understands that Ereen is right. She won't allow different things to discourage her though.
"So then we start from phase one!" Sam says confidently.
"Phase one?" Ereen responds, confused, her head slightly tilted to the side.
"Yes! Phase one. We will simply start with you two being friends again."
Ereen scoffs and shakes her head as she turns away once more from Sam.
"And how do you expect that to even work? Neither of us is close to her."
"So we don't force it. It will come naturally. Just watch!"
"tsk... Yeah, ok... whatever."
Ereen turns back to Sam, who is grinning happily at her. She sighs and smiles back. The two sharing a moment with each other. An unlikely friendship between the two formed after just mere moments ago, the two fought each other.
After a moment of the two resting a little more, Sam gets up out of the bed and picks up her bag for class.
"Well, I'm feeling ok so I'm going to head back to class."
"I still feel dizzy, so I'm going to stay here longer," Ereen responds, while snuggling back into the bed's blanket.
Sam smiles and waves goodbye before leaving the room. As she walks down the hall toward her class, her demeanor changes and she frowns.
"I'm sorry about what I'm going to do, Ereen."
Meanwhile, back in the lunchroom, Yon and Yui are enjoying their free lunch and period together. They both eat happily, sitting across one another, taking small glances here and there. Finally, Yon breaks the silence between them.
"So Yui, I've actually never heard these rumors about you."
Yui tenses up and looks down, uncomfortable with the sudden topic of choice.
"I don't wanna upset you, and you can definitely say no, but what are the rumors saying about you?" Yon asks curiously.
Yui is visibly upset, but she understands that this isn't his intention. She takes a deep breath and opens up about her past, feeling comfortable with Yon.
"Well, um..." she says hesitantly.
Yui kicks her feet lightly underneath the lunch table and squirms a little. Yon can feel how uncomfortable she is and changes the subject.
"Don't worry about it! Hey, how is your lunch?" He asks nervously, afraid that he might have messed up.
Yui stops squirming and just looks down at her food. The room is silent again for a moment before Yui speaks again.
"At my old school, before I transferred, I was friends with two people I had known since I was in elementary." Yui is suddenly really serious. Yon stops eating and looks up at her, listening intently to her story.
"We were all close, my friends and I." She shifts slightly in her seat.
"Rin, the boy of our group, and someone I admired a lot." She runs her fingers together nervously.
"And Hana, someone I considered my closest friend. One day during our last year of high school, I confessed my feelings to Rin. I had grown to really like him and I thought he felt the same way, but he didn't."
Yon, feeling like he could sympathize with her situation, shook his head up and down, but what came next was unexpected.
"He accepted my confession," Yui continues, "and even said we could go out on a date the same weekend." She smiles awkwardly.
"I was ecstatic, but then the next day came..." She frowns.
"People were looking at me weirdly and whispering behind my back and I didn't know why, it wasn't until I overheard Hana talking to one of her friends about how she heard my confession to Rin that I really understood." Yui's eyes fill with tears.
"Hana had feelings for Rin too, so she started telling people that I and Rin were having sex at school after everyone left. The lies she was spreading were very hurtful for me, but I didn't care because I knew the truth and so did Rin." Tears flow down her cheeks.
"I Then I went to class and overheard Rin talking to his friends. Just like what I overheard with Hana, they were talking about the same rumor. I was ready to hear Rin defend me, something I always wanted. He didn't though." Yui wipes away the tears, but they keep falling.
"Rin instead laughed with them and acted like it was all true. He said he enjoyed doing those things with me and just went along with it. He didn't accept my confession because he loved me, he just wanted to use me. I finished up my school year, staying far away from them both, and transferred my information to this city and college." She covers her face, now crying intensely.
"I couldn't stay there with people seeing me like that, but some people transferred here just like me, so the rumors came with me..."
Yui covers her face with her arms and lies her head down on the table and cries softly into her arms. Yon can't find words to describe how he feels, nor can he respond to her story. He sits in disgust at how horrible these people were to her. His emotions are mixed with anger and sadness.
"You probably don't believe me, no one ever does," Yui says, her voice cracking, now looking at Yon. Tears fall down her face and drop like rain drops toward the floor.
Yon quickly stands up and comes around to where Yui is sitting. She watches as he comes around, confused by what he is doing. Yon doesn't waste any time and wraps his arms around her tightly. Taken aback by his sudden actions, Yui could not react.
"I believe you," Yon whispers into her ears.