Best Friend Romance 단편 소설 & Face Slapping 소설

During my wedding, someone suggests that we play the game "one dollar and 50 cents". The host will call out an amount that the players will have to match by forming groups. I draw the 50-cent straw, and so does my best friend, Rebecca Cross, who is also the group favorite. My fiance, Ian Chilton, his childhood friend, Richard Price, his older sister, Anne Chilton, and my stepsister, Chelsea Whitmore, all draw one-dollar straws. For the first round, we need to make up a total of 1.50 dollars. I make a beeline toward Ian, but he gazes distractedly at Rebecca. It isn't until he is assured that she won't be eliminated that he finally loosens his painfully tight grip on my hand. Before I can truly feel my disappointment, the second round begins. This time, we need to make up a total of five dollars. Everyone instinctively surges toward Rebecca. I don't pester Ian this time, and he naturally fails to notice that I've been left out. It isn't until the host reminds them that they're 50 cents short that they reluctantly let me into their group. For the third round, we need to make up 2.50 dollars. It's clear that the six of us can conveniently form two groups of said amount, yet they debate heatedly over who gets to be in the group with Rebecca. As time is running out, Richard and Chelsea finally walk reluctantly toward me, having lost in a game of rock-paper-scissors. In the final round, we need to make up 4.50 dollars. As soon as the whistle is blown, they crowd together merrily. Ian even considerately wraps his arm around Rebecca's shoulders out of fear that she'll be jostled. Meanwhile, I'm knocked to the floor by the crowd, my palms digging deeply into splinters sticking out of the wooden floor paneling. From start to finish, nobody spares me a glance. In that instant, everything feels pointless to me. When we played hide-and-seek as children, they only realized I hadn't been "found" after nightfall. When we visited the amusement park as adults, they would always forget to buy my ticket. All things considered, it simply isn't polite to keep trying to fit into a small group that doesn't have room for me.

During our beach vacation, my wife, Carla Locke, lets her guy best friend, Alex Dugan, rub sunscreen all over her. "What have you been eating lately? Feels like you've gone up a cup size." The moment I see Alex's hand lingering on Carla's chest, the drink slips from my hand and shatters on the ground. Carla gets upset and tells me off for being so insecure. "We're just messing around. Why do you always overthink everything?" Alex shoots me a challenging look. "Don't be upset, Hubert. Carla and I are just friends. Sometimes, I wish I'd been born a woman. Then, people wouldn't keep misunderstanding our relationship." Carla leans into his embrace and shakes her head as she looks at me. "I wish you'd stop being so sensitive about this. Stop trying to ruin our friendship." However, Carla and Alex don't know that I'm from another world. After completing my mission in the previous world, the system rewards me with one wish. Since they insist they're just best friends, I'll be more than happy to grant his wish to become a woman.

I was afraid of water. But my best friend, Elara Vance, and my boyfriend, Everett Langley, were both competitive swimmers. Whenever they got together, they never ran out of things to talk about. I could never get a word in. The day Everett won the state swimming championship, I forced myself to attend the pool party to celebrate his victory, even though I was terrified of the water. But Elara suddenly grabbed my ankle and dragged me toward the deep end. "Tessa, you've been afraid of water for years. Today, I'm going to help you get over it." Everett let out a helpless laugh. "She's been afraid of water since she was a kid. Go easy on her." I thrashed desperately, trying to grab the side of the pool, but Elara grabbed me and shoved my head underwater. "Don't be scared, Tessa. This is exposure therapy. A few more gulps, and you'll be cured." My lungs burned as I choked on the water. I reached desperately for Everett. He ignored my pleas and gently coaxed me, "I'm the state swimming champion, and you're my girlfriend, but you're too scared to even get in the water. How embarrassing would that be if people found out? Just hang in there. Once you learn, you'll be fine." Elara shoved me underwater again, laughing. "Look at her kicking! This is hilarious. Film this!" Everett pulled out his phone and pointed the camera at me as I thrashed in the water. "Let's save this. We can watch it together once you learn how to swim." The two of them kept laughing and fooling around. By then, I had already lost consciousness and was slowly sinking beneath the water.

When I went to return my engagement ring, the jeweler asked me why. Right in front of her, I slid it onto my finger. It caught at the second knuckle and wouldn't go any farther. "You can see for yourself. This isn't my size." The jeweler went pale and offered to resize it on the spot. I shook my head, my voice eerily calm. "You can fix the ring size. You can't fix the shoe size. And you definitely can't fix the wedding dress." Everything about my wedding to Charles Garth was mine in name only — my name was on the invitation as the bride, and that was as far as it went. Every time I asked him to come try on the dress with me, he'd keep his eyes on his laptop and answer without looking up. "I'm busy. I already know your measurements. I gave them to the boutique myself. "Just show up and be the bride. Everything's already handled." But three days before the wedding, what I got was a ring that wouldn't fit and a dress I couldn't wear. The shoes, the gloves, the garter — every single piece was sized for my best friend. Something I'd been holding onto for a long time finally gave out, and it left a hole in my chest. Charles frowned, still trying to talk me into it. "It's just a ceremony. You two are so close — would it really be so bad if Maia stood in for you at the altar?" I didn't say anything. I didn't refuse, either. I just thought — maybe it wouldn't be so bad to swap out the groom instead.

My boyfriend and I had planned to fly to LA to watch our favorite MLB team play at home. But on the day we were supposed to leave, I waited at the airport for three hours. He never showed. It wasn't until after dark that he finally called. “Sorry, Audrey. I forgot to tell you. Natalie found out we were taking engagement photos and got so excited she couldn't sleep. She insisted I fly out with her early to scout locations.” “You can make it here on your own, right? The three of us will meet at the stadium entrance tomorrow.” I stood frozen. Natalie Brooks was my best friend. She had watched Derek Sinclair and me go from high school sweethearts to planning our wedding, and always called herself our biggest supporter. Yet with one casual “fly out early,” Derek had left me, his bride-to-be, behind at the airport. “You two have fun.” I smiled faintly. “I suddenly don't feel like going anymore.” The next day, I saw Natalie's latest post. She had uploaded a photo of herself with Ryan Kane, my favorite player. The caption read: “Thanks to Derek for pulling strings to get me this photo. Location scouting complete. The things I do for my best friend!” I calmly liked the post. Then I called the wedding planner and canceled the wedding we were supposed to have in two weeks. Natalie never stopped talking about how much she cared about my happiness, yet she had already taken the trip and surprise meant for me. I was done sharing this relationship with a third person.

I had been dating Sean Barnes for three years, and during all that time, I never once asked him to dine at a fancy restaurant. He kept a strictly balanced ledger for all our romantic spendings. If a meal crossed the budget, he would go out of his way to earn back the extra amount. Before heading off to work, he would always plant a kiss on me. “Gotta save up for that wedding, baby.” While away on those business trips, he never failed to report every detail of his itinerary, so I never once doubted him. One night before Thanksgiving, Sean claimed the cost of the gifts he got for my parents had gone way over budget, prompting yet another trip out of town. “You wouldn’t want our wedding date to keep getting pushed back time and again, would you? I’ll be back on Thanksgiving. You have my word.” Gazing at the exhaustion in his eyes, my heart softened, and I yielded. Came Thanksgiving Day, and my parents and I waited in vain late into the night, while Sean’s phone rang on without being picked up. Faced with the worried looks in my parents’ eyes, I forced a smile, then drove through the night to the place where Sean was supposed to be working out of town. When I arrived at the hotel, however, I found him holding a wedding ceremony with my best friend, Michelle Hudson. They were kissing amidst the loud cheers of the crowd. At that exact moment, a message popped up on my phone from Sean. “Sorry babe, just wrapped up with the emergency surgery.” Watching Sean put away his phone on stage with a face full of tenderness, I dialed the number of my friend, the CEO of an entertainment agency. “How much for a trending hashtag? I want the whole world to know about a certain wedding.”

Someone entered my room the night I stayed at my best friend's place. I struggled desperately, but he pinned my hands above my head. "It's been a month. Haven't you missed this?" His voice was low and clear, cool yet incredibly seductive. Before I could speak, he crushed his lips against mine. "Nora, I'm back." Just then, I heard my best friend, Emma Moore, outside the door. The man on top of me froze and lowered his voice. "Who are you?!" My voice trembled as I answered, "I'm Nora Sutton." "Damn it." He swore and quickly got off me.

My best friend Summer Woods often made me play the "instant reply game" to test our boyfriends' loyalty. She said you could tell how much a man loved you by how quickly he replied to you. During a meal, less than three seconds after she sent the text, her mysterious boyfriend transferred $800 to pay her bill. I sat there until we finished all the food before I finally received a reply from Cody, which said, "I'm in a meeting." On a certain rainy day, Summer simply texted, "I forgot to bring an umbrella", and ten minutes later, a luxury car was there to pick her up. Meanwhile, I stood drenched in the rain for an hour before Cody finally replied, "Just grab a cab." Summer would poke my head and say, "You're such a fool. You wouldn't even notice if he was cheating on you." More than once, I defended Cody, "He loves me very much. He's just too busy." Then, I'd cling to her arm and whine playfully, "Besides, I have you~" During my bachelorette party, we were drugged at a bar. Summer anxiously took out her phone and said, "Rebecca, I feel bad for you. If he still doesn't show up this time, you should just break up with him." In despair, I sent a distress message to Cody. Ten minutes later, he burst in like a madman. I thought, this time, I'd finally won, but he rushed past me and pulled Summer tightly into his embrace. "Summer, I'm sorry I'm late." I watched him carry my bestie away in shock. It turned out Summer's "mystery boyfriend", who was always there at her beck and call, was none other than my fiancé, Cody Langford.

When Jeremy Gosling proposed to me for the 9th time, I turned him down. He froze, a look of bewilderment on his face. "Why? We've been dating for seven years. What did I do wrong?" I smiled. "Your phone will tell you the reason in a moment." A second later, Jeremy's phone rang. It was my best friend, Sonia Sanderson. "Hey, master photographer, you promised to take pictures for me at the beach today. Where are you?" Sonia would always call Jeremy when he proposed to me. She had done so the last eight times. She would either ask him to take pictures for her, or edit pictures for her, or pick out new clothes for her trips. And every single time, Jeremy would leave me behind and go to her. Jeremy used to dislike her because she was the kind of woman he despised the most—the kind who would take half an hour to take pictures of food when eating out or pack two giant suitcases of new clothes for a trip. But I urged Jeremy to be more considerate of her because she was my best friend, and because her ex-husband had cheated on her and she had caught them red-handed... However, the way he became more considerate of her was by abandoning me again and again. Jeremy fell silent for a few seconds, then slowly spoke. "Alright, I'll come pick you up right now." He put the ring away, looked at me, and made another promise to me. "I'll finish the photoshoot quickly. When I get back, I'll personally put this ring on your finger." He left in a hurry. But Jeremy, I will neither believe you nor wait for you ever again.

I was an elite sniper in the special forces, and my best friend was a brilliant sniper too. She died after enduring unimaginable torture when she was captured while covering my escape. The military's top brass and her father, a general, demanded that I reveal the truth about that mission so they could honor her as a fallen hero. However, in front of everyone, I claimed I could not remember a thing. Her father was so enraged that he vomited blood on the spot. My comrades called me a coward and a traitor. Just when I was about to be sent before a military court, my fiancé, Sean Lawson, stood against the opposition and saved me. He promised to take me away from all the trouble. However, the moment I got into his car, he personally injected me with a powerful sedative. "You love keeping your mouth shut, don't you? Fine. Let's see how you like spending the rest of your life unable to speak." He threw me into an overseas black-site prison, where I endured relentless beatings and branding with red-hot irons, all so I could suffer the same despair he believed his beloved had endured before her death. Finally, he strapped me into a military-grade deep memory extraction device, determined to broadcast that so-called 'truth' to the entire world.

It was not until my death that I realized my husband would not touch me because he was deeply in love with my best friend. The two spent their entire lives longing for each other, but never crossing the line, staying loyal from afar. Even my best friend's professor husband lived his life like a celibate monk. After being reborn, I seized the moment and held the professor's hand. "I like you. Let's be together." His eyes darkened as he replied, "Perfect. I feel the same." We instantly connected. However, this time, it was my husband and best friend who were not happy about it.

Jake Carter called and asked to meet. We settled on the small hometown diner we used to hit up. He couldn't look me in the eye the entire time, and we didn't exchange a word during the meal. It wasn't until we were about to leave that he finally pulled a property deed from his bag. "This is for you," he said. "I accept my defeat. Consider it compensation for your emotional distress. Your name is already on it." I didn't bother with polite refusals. I took the deed, mumbled a quick thanks, and got up to leave. Jake scrambled to his feet, calling out from behind me with the one question he'd been burning to ask all along. "If you loved me back then, why did you let Brenda get to me first?" I turned around, looking him in the eye for the first time all day. "Are you really going to pretend you never knew how I felt? You were just playing dumb the whole time." "I-I'm sorry," he stammered. "Can we still get dinner together tomorrow?" "Forget it. I don't need your apology," I said blandly. "You were a victim in this mess, too. As for dinner, don't bother. I'm resigning from the company tomorrow, and it's best if we don't see each other again." The iron wire ring I once treasured as proof of love had turned out to be a cage. Stepping out of the diner, I threw the rusted ring straight into the trash. From now on, I would live for myself.

Because the company had a strict no-dating policy, my boyfriend and I kept our relationship a secret for ten years. During those ten years, I stayed by his side through his lowest moments, took care of his parents, and even carried his child. Our tenth anniversary happened to fall on the same day as the company’s team-building event. The man had always hated public attention. Out of nowhere, he suddenly announced that he wanted to propose to the woman he loved. In an instant, everyone looked at me with surprise and envy. They all assumed I was the one. I was so touched that tears filled my eyes, when he held out a ring and got down on one knee before my best friend.

I was playing hide-and-seek with my little niece, Julia Hanson. After counting to 20 with my eyes covered, I headed upstairs to look for her and noticed the attic door was padlocked. I was about to turn around when I heard a faint rustling sound from inside. I crept closer and pressed my ear to the wooden door. I opened my mouth, ready to yell, "Found you!" when I heard my best friend, Zoey Peterson, breathing heavily. "What if someone comes up here?" My boyfriend, Evan Wheeler, chuckled under his breath. "Relax. I promised Julia I'd get her that Barbie she's been begging for. She locked the door for us. Nobody's going to find out." I went completely still, a chill running through me. That morning, Evan and Zoey told me they were heading out to pick up a surprise for me. Then they drove off together. My nails dug into my palms. So this was the surprise they had in mind.

After finishing my meal, I went to the cashier counter to settle the bill as usual. It took me longer than usual because the signal was poor. By the time I settled the bill, I could not find Corbin, my boyfriend, or Mabel, my best friend, anywhere inside or outside the restaurant. I called over a dozen times before they finally answered. “You were taking too long, so we just went ahead. “We’re at the Perler bead craft store on the second floor. Hurry up and get over here. The mall was packed and even more crowded than usual for the holiday. The elevator came twice, and both times it was full. So, I gave up and took the escalator instead. By the time I got to the store, every seat at the craft table was already taken. Corbin and Mabel were sitting together, talking about starting at Northbridge University this September and planning out the next ten years of their lives, from graduate school all the way to their doctorates. It was this grand plan for their future, and I had no place in it. They had already made plans to enroll in prestigious universities as early as May. I, however, failed my PSATs and was still considering repeating a year to catch up. Seeing me standing frozen at the door, Corbin said in a helpless tone, “You’re always so slow. Just wait outside for now.” I watched their backs, and a sudden exhaustion washed over me. “Corbin, I’m done chasing you.”