032

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                  The first time Jihee ever caught sight of Byeol was when she first arrived in the reality.

It was the red carpet for the movie she wrote. She was the screenwriter of the movie that brought Jihee to where she currently was. Jihee immediately noticed how big her smile was and how her eyes were full of life, it was as if she has never experienced the pain of reality. But even so, Jihee admired her. She was a brilliant screenwriter, gifted with the ability to put into life what was seemingly an imagination.

The work that had brought her to many places was the one she wrote inspired by her love story with her fiancé, Park Sunghoon.

Their story first began because of Sunghoon's horrible eyesight. He was playing basketball and Byeol was watching from a distance with her friend, then all of a sudden, he pointed to her as if they knew each other when in truth they weren't familiar with each other at that time. She was flustered given that a guy she didn't know who was very good looking, pointed at her before shooting the ball. It was only after the game did they clear up the misunderstanding. Sunghoon thought she was his crush because they looked very much alike and he apologized for any misunderstanding that may occur.

Byeol was quick to forgive him, only because the moment he got close to her, she felt her heart skip a beat. And she didn't even know that it was the same for Sunghoon.

They spent some time as friends before one of them had the courage to take the risk and confess. But as soon as they became a couple, she wanted to keep them a secret and since he was in love with her, he couldn't say no despite wanting to tell the world how much he loved her. Her reason why she didn't want to say is because he was known throughout the school and if people found out what they were, Inseong was going to have her head in a stick and the other student's opinion of her will change.

Then she met Jungwon. It didn't really take her a while to find out he liked her, it was obvious just by how he treated her but surprisingly, she feigned ignorance. Sunghoon didn't like how close Jungwon and Byeol were because she treated him better than she treater her own boyfriend. And still, he remained quiet just so he wouldn't lose her.

Byeol for some reason, really liked the attention she was getting. She liked being smiled at, being given their full attention, being liked, and everything that admiration came with. That's when she truly saw how much of a horrible person she was, why she refused to let everyone know that she was taken and would not entertain anyone who likes her.

Everything changed when Jihee entered her life and messed her destiny up.

She lost Sunghoon. It was her fault and she regretted her choice so much because it made her realize just how important he was to her. How all the attention she was getting could never match to the one he would give to her. He was her other half, they may not know it but it was true.

And after that, she started feeling like she was robbed. As though she was missing something that she once had, but she couldn't tell what it was but she was sure that it was Jihee who stole it from her. At first she thought it was Sunghoon, yet it felt wrong. It wasn't just him. That began her suspicions toward Jihee, she was a stranger to Byeol, a nobody who came from nowhere and changed everything.

Byeol followed her all around and she knew Jihee was aware that she was being followed but she chose to ignore her. All her following then became fruitful when she caught Jihee using supernatural powers such as brainwashing at the back of the school. And she saw how Jungwon watched without even being surprised, like he knew what she was. She had to cover her mouth to stop herself from making any noise.

She ran after watching Jihee brainwash Kyungho. She ran to Jungwon's family house because she knew that was where the latter was staying, and she was thankful his mother had once told her where the hidden key was. Pushing the door open, she looked for anything that could prove Jihee's indifference but the only thing that seemed unusual from the house was the half finished candle whose light was weak, almost as if it was one swish from dying.

Maybe Byeol wasn't thinking at that moment because of the adrenaline rushing in her veins, but she touched it. She touched the glass dome only to regret it later on when her fate played in her mind, she saw what she was meant to be, what she was meant to have if Jihee had not existed. What she and Sunghoon could've been.

She fell to the floor, crying.

Jihee didn't steal Sunghoon or Jungwon or anyone.

She stole Byeol's destiny.

Everything that was meant for Byeol, the stranger took it the moment she messed with their reality.

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                   "You stole everything from me."

The candle was a part of Jihee. That's why she always warned Jungwon about touching it, why she always kept it invisible because if it was touched, there were drastic consequences. And right now, Byeol was displaying the exact scenario she never wanted to deal with.

Surprisingly, Jihee was guilty. She barely felt guilt, she only ever does when she hurt those who didn't deserve it. Those she ever hurt were only the deserving ones so guilt was a foreign feeling for her. She felt guilty because she truly robbed Byeol of everything that was meant for her. None of them was sure anymore if she would really achieve what she achieved in her original destiny.

"I'm sorry." That was the only response Jihee could give her.

"Return it back to normal please, you have magic right? Please return it back to before you arrived." Byeol begged her, grabbing her arms and shaking her. "I want my destiny back."

Her gaze remained guilty. "You can achieve great things with or without Sunghoon."

She shook her head. "No! I-I don't want a new one. I want my original destiny. Please Jihee, return it back to normal. I'll do anything!" She begged, even kneeling out of desperation.

Jihee clenched her eyes, unable to give her the truth. The truth that she can't return everything back to normal. She can't go back into time or manipulate it, the only way for things to return to what it was is if she left the reality which she couldn't do and even if she could, she didn't want to.

"I'm sorry, I can't." She apologized, avoiding meeting the crying girl's eyes.

Byeol slapped her, her eyes had the mixture of both anger and sadness. I deserve it, she thought. She continued to shake Jihee, repeatedly begging her to bring everything back to normal even if she continued to say she couldn't. Tired of how the girl was acting, Jihee lightly touched Byeol's forehead inducing a sleeping spell on her. She fell to the ground, snoring softly as tears continued to fall out of her eyes.

Jihee kneeled. "I wish I could reverse everything, I really wish I could but I can't. I'm sure you're capable of great things, still I'm sorry for ruining the one destined for you." She apologized to the sleeping girl.

She had to erase her memories about everything that needed to be erased, but she knew Byeol would continue to be suspicious of her. Still that was better than having her stroll around with knowledge Jihee wasn't sure she could handle having. She was doing her favor actually.

"Sunghoon, I'm sorry." Her eyes widened when Byeol had muttered that in her sleep.

Biting her lip, she erased Byeol's memories of everything she wasn't supposed to know. But her crying never stopped, but that was only because Jihee had no influence on emotions. Even if she erased Byeol's memories, her anger for Jihee will never change. She would remain angry with her even if she didn't know why. But she continued to remind herself that was a lot better. She could handle that.

Grabbing her phone from her bag, she dialed the person Byeol needed the most.

After how many rings, they answered.

"Sunghoon, hey."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

byeol's story :>>

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