shades of yellow » han seojun ff

23. mellow

YEONWOO DECIDED TO ride her bicycle to the study room. With her backpack packed with her books and study supplies, sneakers laced, she sped down to the café, hair flying behind her like a banner.

She slid into a chair, quietly because all her friends were in study mode. Jugyeong was just about to greet her when Suho claimed her attention. He tapped her book with his pen and demanded an answer for a maths problem.

The study session commenced smoothly, with occasional interruptions from Sua and Taehoon asking Yeonwoo for her help.

"I wonder what rank you'll be getting." Sua gazed admiringly at the girl. "You're so smart."

"She beat me sometimes in middle school." Suho said matter-of-factly, still immersed in his work.

Eyes wide, Sua and Taehoon glanced at each other. "Heol."

Sua cleared her throat. "Do you want to go to a baseball match after our exams? Hyungjin, the star player, is set to play."

"I have to go to the mountains after the exams, sorry." She hadn't seen her grandmother in ages. "But it would have been nice to see him again."

"Ooh, do you know Hyungjin?" Sua sat up, now 100% of her attention diverted towards Yeonwoo's prospective answer.

"Our grandmothers are friends." 

"Wow, Yeonwoo, we must really be destined! I know him too!"

They left the café a little while later, calling cheerful goodbyes to the couple who were going their own way to a karaoke room. Suho left quickly, but not before the three girls noticed his pallid complexion.

"He looks really tired. I wonder what's up with him?" Sujin wondered.

Yeonwoo was about to hop onto her bicycle when Sungyong appeared in front of them. 

Sujin stepped in front of her and Jugyeong protectively, and demanded roughly, "What the hell do you want?"

"Jugyeong, Yeonwoo ... " He began tentatively. "About what happened at the karaoke room, I'm—" He was interrupted by a stream of pepper spray directly aimed at his eyes.

It was Jugyeong, holding out a bottle with the nozzle aimed directly towards his level of sight.

"Damn it, I came to apologise!" Sungyong wailed in anguish, struggling to keep his eyes open as the spray began its intended effect. "I'm sorry for taking you, Jugyeong, and I'm sorry to Yeonwoo for insulting her and slapping her. I swear I won't do it again, just please for goodness sake, leave me alone!" 

He didn't even wait for his apology to be accepted. He stumbled away, arms drunkenly searching in front of him in order to find his way around.

From around the corner, Yeonwoo could've sworn she saw someone watching them.

When she reached home, she noticed a pair of extra shoes by the door. Black sneakers. In Seyeon's size.

Without thinking straight, she burst through the door, calling out, "Seyeon! Seyeon! Se—" She stopped when she saw not Seyeon, but Han Seojun and his mother sitting at the table.

"Yeonwoo?" Her mother rushed towards her, worry in her eyes. "Did you get my text that Seojun and Mihyang were coming over for dinner?"

"My phone died." The heartbroken girl said numbly. 

Again, the realisation that Seyeon was really dead hit her like a brick. Her good mood had evaporated instantly and now all she wanted to do was shrivel up and die—of humiliation or pain, she could not discern between the two.

Seojun stood up but before he could reach her, she mumbled, "I'm not hungry," and raced up the stairs. 

She slammed the door behind her, locked it, and it wasn't long before the quiet muffling of tears could be heard.

"Oh dear." Yeonwoo's mother put a hand up to her mouth, close to tears herself. She steadied herself on the wall, and her husband rushed to support her. 

"That girl ... she thinks we can't hear her crying in the morning, afternoon, night. She thinks we don't know but we know, we know. She pretends to be so strong but how could anyone be after losing someone so dear to them? Oh, my Seyeonnie—" she broke down into tears.

"We'll take our leave." Mihyang said quietly, motioning for Seojun to follow her.

As they stood outside the door, she said to Seojun, "Be kind to her, alright? She's going through a difficult time."

He fidgeted with his rings, wanting nothing more than to race up the stairs and bang on her door. But he knew she would keep the door barred and shut, for no-one else but Seyeon.