My Secret Lover

Chapter 18

Pov. Park Sunghoon*

The hard training hours of the competition were finally over and today was my first day at university again after a long time. During the lunch break, I walked past Jake but the atmosphere between us was cold and numb.

We had not clarified our barrier. I wanted to get back on good terms with him and sought out the conversation, which wasn't easy because of Heeseung's presence. I could also just leave Jake a message on Instagram or KakaoTalk, but I didn't know exactly what to write.

It was afternoon. At the moment I was in the library of the university, studying for the upcoming economic exam.

However, I couldn't concentrate. I had my gaze fixed out of the window, watching the laughing students enjoying themselves with a round of soccer.

"Hey, we see each other again, and that in school uniform. Looks good on you Hoon! May we sit with you?", asked a voice too familiar to me and when I looked up, I identified this as Sunoo. Next to him stood Riki, classically glued to his cell phone and probably playing Candy Crush Saga or something similar. "Yeah, sure!"
They both sat down and surprisingly, the youngest dropped his phone in his pocket as he briefly exchanged inconspicuous glances with Sunoo before they both looked at me.

Judging by their behavior, however, they had no intention of studying.

Sunoo looked at Riki and tried to start a non-verbal communication. It seemed very silly and looked more like Sunoo was doing pantomimes. Riki couldn't read his friend's hieroglyphics, which made the youngest groan in annoyance. "Just say it out loud!" said Riki, frowning. "Is everything back on track with Namra and Jake?" suddenly blurted out Sunoo.
Taking a deep breath, I put on my oh-so-great smile. "Namra yes, Jake no." Shrugging my shoulders, I sat back and looked out the window.

But I realized that I had been staring out the window for a while before, as my neck felt totally stiff.

"I had already thought about Namra. I heard about your victory in the competition. Congratulations! But about Jake, didn't you have time to talk to him?", Sunoo hacked in amazement.
Although my facial expression had barely moved an inch, I was completely freaking out inside, which was a mixture of anger, frustration, and sadness. "I talked to Jake briefly but out of nervousness I babbled some bullshit..."
"But-," Sunoo began, but was interrupted by me. "Am I being cross-examined here?" I let out a frustrated sigh. "Can we please not talk about me anymore? How are you guys doing, what have you been up to?", I compulsively tried to change the subject. "Phu, our lives are pretty boring compared to yours..."
Suddenly, the Ice Hockey clique approached us, apparently looking for a place to study as well. "Do you have room for three students who are eager to study?" inquired Jungwon, which Sunoo kindly confirmed. "Oh no, do we have to sit with them?" asked Hee Jay, to which the younger took his lollipop out of his mouth, giggling. "They don't have pests. You guys don't bite, do you?" quipped Jay, glancing around. "Haha and how we do, especially such motivated people like you!" said Riki wryly, which made the older one laugh even more before he and the other two sat down.

Slowly, I really had enough of the Ice Hockey clique. It was getting scary how often we actually saw each other, even though I wasn't friends with them.

"Tell me Hyung, why do you always have a lollipop in your mouth? Is that a trend right now?" inquired Sunoo as he pulled out his books from his backpack. "No, he's trying to quit smoking," Jungwon said, looking at Jay, one eyebrow raised. "YA! You don't have to tell people all over the place about that," Jay huffed, flicking his friend against the forehead playfully. "You told Jake and Hoon at the Internet Café that I had a dust allergy, even though it wasn't true! It's just karma, ok?"
"You went to the Internet Café with Jake once?", Heeseung suddenly asked me, and it felt like that must have been the first time he looked me straight in the eyes.
"Yeah...?"