shades of yellow » han seojun ff

43. marigold

LIFE WENT ON, STRANGE as it seemed. Yes, the two did talk sometimes; he would ask what time it was and she would respond accordingly. But there was a chasm between them, an unspeakable, uncrossable bridge which none of them were willing to venture—not even Seojun.

Something had passed between them. But they refused to acknowledge it, that something more than friendship had been possible between them.

—

It's getting colder, Yeonwoo realised as she entered the warmth of the school building. She relaxed the muffler around her neck and took off her fuzzy-yellow cap.

It's nearly that time of the year.

The classroom was even louder and more crowded than she thought possible. Moreover, there were banners strung all over the place, along with pictures, streamers, and confetti.

"What's going on?" she asked, sidling up to Sua and Sujin who were leaning against the wall. 

The latter was staring critically around the walls of the room, which Yeonwoo noticed with mounting shock, were pasted with photos of Jugyeong and Seojun in a rather promiscuous position.

"Jugyeong and Seojun are dating. They took couple photos last weekend or something like that, Hyunkyu found the photos on an online shopping site," were the whispers that fluttered around the classroom.

"They must have just been modelling for something. Jugyeong had been wanting to find a part-time job." Sujin feebly tried to come up with an excuse, trying to save her friend's heart.

Jugyeong came in. Sua immediately ambushed her with a loud, "How long have you two been dating?"

Sihyun cut in, "Do we have two couples in our class now?"

With an quick anxious glance at Yeonwoo, Sujin asked Jugyeong seriously, "Are the rumours true?"

Jugyeong turned pale. "S-Sujin, I didn't mean to keep this from you, but—"

Luckily, she was saved by hoard of huge yells from the back of the classroom. Seojun's gang were racing to get in before their leader did. With no warning at all, they ripped open their shirts, revealing tacky t-shirts plastered with photos of Jugyeong and Seojun.

Seojun let out a horrified yell. He turned slowly towards Jugyeong with nothing but pure terror in his eyes, not even sparing a glance at Yeonwoo.

(It hurt more than she wanted it to).

—

Yeonwoo was exiting the Innisfree building when she suddenly heard a familiar voice saying softly, "Yeonwoo dear, is that you?"

Her voice caught in her throat, sticking so she had no words to choke out to Ms. Ko: her former cello teacher.

"I thought it was you! I'd have recognised you sooner with the hair, but you dyed it such a strong shade of black. It was your height that made me realise, Ah! My best student."

Yeonwoo's throat felt very dry.

Ms. Ko's smile widened, her eyes curving into sweet half-moons. "How was the UK?"

"I-It was nice."

Her face turned to one of concern. "But when you were a month there, I realised I had forgotten to give you my letter of recommendation to the music school you were applying to. I emailed your mother, but she didn't reply. And I emailed the school but they said they had no record of you—"

Yeonwoo's eyes filled with hot burning tears. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what happened."

Ms. Ko bit her lip. She had a small inkling as to what had really happened. Nevertheless, she placed a comforting arm on Yeonwoo's shoulder. "Are you thinking about returning to cello? We all miss you at the academy, you know."

"I haven't been playing lately."

"All musicians go through a slump, it's natural. If you bring the cello to our luthier, he'll check it over. Don't worry, we'll work it out."

Yeonwoo took a step back, eyes on the ground. "I think I need to go now. My mum said I have to be back soon."

"Alright ... give me a call when you've made up your mind, alright?"

That night, the nightmares started once again.

—

a/n: a bit of a timeskip, if y'all don't mind 😉 wanted to focus mainly on yeonwoo and her relationship with herself and seojun x