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The days after the welcoming party were dull for Min Ho, Kitty, and Dae. It wasn't easy for their friends to watch it either, but they hadn't been put through the ringer like the trio.
Dae was utterly heart broken. He felt deeply betrayed by Min Ho and Kitty once again, and the worst part was that he hadn't even expected it. The first few days were the worst for him because he couldn't get over how much it physically pained his regularly light heart. Every interaction with Min Ho felt weighted, and Dae was on guard. He didn't even see Kitty until the first day of class, and even though she tried talking to him, he simply shook his head and walked away.
Kitty felt like she was sinking into a hopeless void of nothingness. Her friendship with Dae was more severed than ever before, and all she wanted to do was fix it. The only thing she thought that she could do was make it easier by not being with Min Ho... and that meant not talking to him at all, at least in person. She wanted to explain why she left things the way she did at the welcome party, fleeing the scene, but she couldn't.
It was even harder because along with the whole Dae part of the situation, there was still the confession to deal with. Min Ho hadn't said anything. That wasn't what bothered her... because she was the one who'd been hesitant to talk about it in the first place. It was the way Min Ho reacted after everything turned to shit at the party. The way he protected her, and oh God. The way his face looked when she said they couldn't do it.
Min Ho's face relentlessly haunted her dreams. Were they good dreams or nightmares? Kitty, herself, wasn't even sure anymore. It's not like she and Min Ho had been dating. He hadn't even admitted his feelings out loud yet. But the way he looked at her that night.... so vulnerable, so shaky, so achingly raw... it was a lot to take in. He had high expectations for their friendship. She did, too. But it was even worse because it practically felt like she'd broken up with him when they hadn't even been dating him.
When she saw him in the hallways, she went out of her way to walk on the other side and talk to anyone else. But there were times that he almost caught her- and once when he actually did.
They'd both just walked out of senior seminar class the fourth day of classes, being two of the last students out of the classroom, and he'd gently reached out and taken her wrist into the warmth of his hand. "Kitty."
She sucked in a sharp breath and turned to face him, standing just a few feet outside the classroom. "Min Ho, I..."
"We can't keep doing this. We need to talk about what happened the other night--" His face was pale, and he looked pained, like the whole situation had caused him great illness. He was pleading with her.
Kitty's eyes softened at the visibility of the way he cared, but her voice sounded hoarse when she told him, "Min Ho, we can't. Dae's still really upset with us, and it would only make things worse for him. If there's any real chance of getting his friendship even close to what it was, we can't... you know."
"I know," Min Ho scoffed harshly. His voice sounded awfully tight as he spoke. "We can't be together. But we can still talk about what happened."
"If Dae saw us together, you know he'd think it was something else... and we can't take that chance right now," Kitty said quietly. She wanted to be gentle, to ensure Min Ho that it wasn't something that she wanted either.
Min Ho's eyes were wide with great urgency. "Kitty, please."
She couldn't look at him, afraid to even see the dire expression on his face, so she turned her face away as she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Min Ho."
The few days after their conversation were the hardest for Min Ho. He tried talking to her two more times, but it was shut down. The first time, she just smiled apologetically and squeezed his arm in passing. It was a small action, and it meant something, but that made it harder. Min Ho's heart ached to be with her- not even romantically, just to be there with her. They were going through the same thing, and they couldn't even talk to each other about it. He just wished he could hold her.
Q heard the lot of it and tried to force Kitty in a small room with Min Ho, but his plan backfired, and it was the most awkward position he'd been put in. They were all in Q's and Min Ho's room, and Q tried to lock the door from the outside after claiming he, "had to go to the bathroom." The usual classic.
Min Ho simply stared at Kitty, and when his lips finally parted to speak, she darted towards the window and tried to escape the side. "Kitty, what on earth are you doing?! You can't just--"
"Will you just stop and help me open this damn thing?" She grunted, trying her hardest to pull the bottom up, but because it was stuck, she was losing her mind.
Min Ho did not get up to help. Instead, he just stared at her in shock like she'd royally offended him. When Kitty turned back to ask for his help a second time, she rolled her eyes. "Why are you pouting like that?"
"You'd really rather climb out the side of a window than speak to me about this?" Min Ho scoffed.
Kitty shot him a death glare. "You know it's not that simple. Now, help me open this thing and stop trying to distract me!"
Min Ho quirked an eyebrow as a slight smirk spread across his lips. "You think I'm distracting?"
"Oh my god, this is ridiculous" Kitty muttered, walking back to the door. She banged on the door twice. "Q! Let me out!"
When there was no response from the outside, Kitty let out a frustrated sigh and headed back towards the window. "A little help, please?"
Min Ho crossed his arms and sat back on his bed, watching her instinctively with interest. "Sorry, Covey, Q put us in a room together for a reason."
Kitty flinched, and it was only then that Min Ho realized how his words most likely came across. "I didn't mean anything by--"
"I know," Kitty muttered, feet shuffling back and forth as she tried to figure out the best way that she could possibly unwedge the stuck window.
Heaving out a sigh, Min Ho called back through the door, "Q, this isn't working! She's trying to escape out the window!"
Seconds later, the bedroom door swooshed open and Q stood there, breathless. "Kitty, stop! What are you doing? You're supposed to be talking to Min Ho!"
"Can't about this until I know Dae's not upset anymore," Kitty muttered underneath her breath, still trying to figure out the window, not caring to look back at Q.
"Kittyyyyyy," Q whined.
She finally turned around to see his face. "Can I go now?"
Q shared a dismal glance with Min Ho, and his shoulders sagged, knowing nothing would actually come out of it. "Yeah. You can go."
It wasn't until three days later that Dae finally came around and sat down to talk about it. In the early morning, when Kitty was visiting Q, he expected her to say hi to Min Ho as well, and he thought he'd be able to ask her and Min Ho to talk with him at the same time. But... Kitty never said hi to Min Ho. As soon as she said her goodbye to Q, she was out the door for the day.
After classes that day, Dae sat down with Min Ho. "I'm sorry about the way I acted at the party. I was... upset, and I shouldn't have gotten so angry at you and Kitty. I know you can't help that you, well, you know... want to be with each other. I don't want to be a bad friend, and I know I don't have any power over who either of you choose to be with."
"I appreciate it, Dae..." Min Ho noted, "but, can I ask why it upset you so much? I understand the whole Kitty and I not telling you- not that there really is much to tell- but, why were you so upset with Kitty specifically? She didn't do anything wrong."
Dae slowly shook his head. "It's just hard, seeing your ex fall for someone she used to hate, especially after how our breakup happened. I thought we only broke up because she started feeling something for girls, but... now she's fallen for you, and I know it was more than just that, and I guess that was hard to accept."
"So, you were mad at Kitty for having multiple reasons for breaking up with you last year?" Min Ho asked through a frown.
Dae tilted his head. "Kind of? It's hard to explain because it's hard to understand. So, you two really aren't dating?"
"No, and we won't be for a while at this rate," Min Ho scoffed under his breath.
"What do you mean?" Dae asked, eyebrows knit down together in confusion.
Min Ho dragged a hand down the side of his face before saying, "Kitty said she had feelings for me, but she wasn't ready to expand much on it when she said it. I'm under the impression she knows I have feelings for her too, but I hadn't gotten the chance to say anything before the welcome party, and... after that night, everything went down the drain with Kitty."
"So, tell her how you feel, and then things can be fixed," Dae suggested.
Min Ho heaved out a reluctant sigh. "It's not like it matters now, anyways. Kitty's avoiding me."
This news caused Dae to frown. He tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean, she's ignoring you? She's your best friend."
"She didn't want to even possibly hurt you, and she didn't want you to think anything of us being more than friends, so she's been saying we can't do this. I haven't had a real conversation with her about anything since before classes started," Min Ho shakily admitted.
Dae swallowed the lump of guilt settling in his throat. "She did that because of me?"
"Not because of you... just in response to your response," Min Ho muttered.
"I'm sorry. I never meant for things to become messy between you two. I just can't believe that this is actually happening. It's... a lot to take in," Dae admitted through a humorless laugh. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Min Ho shrugged weakly. "Maybe? I'm honestly not sure. I don't want to ambush her with both of us, but at least she'll listen to what you have to say."
Dae nodded firmly. "I'll talk to her. I don't want your friendship to end because of how I angry I got and the way I feel."
"Really?" Min Ho asked quietly, pure vulnerability peeking out from the shadows.
"Really," promised Dae.
Min Ho released a long-held in breath. "Thank you, Dae. You have no idea how much this means."