fangirl | renjun

Chapter 14

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the next day, Aera came to school with her cheeks flushed a pick color and the bag beneath her eyes heavy. She was basically dragging her legs across the hallway in the morning. She would even smile on her own occasionally.

"Aera?" Yuri jumped out of her classroom and pulled her over to the side.

Right now, her back was against the wall being pinned by her much taller best friend.

"What is going on with you and Renjun?"

There was no trace of malice in Yuri's eyes, she was genuinely concerned for Aera and Renjun who looked like they were at the edge of their relationship just yesterday afternoon. Today, her flushed cheeks and dark under eyes only shouted to Yuri that there was indeed something wrong that's going on.

"Me? And Renjun?"

On the other hand, the mere mention of them being together sends her brain back to the image of the two of them kissing plays in her mind. If there was no other way to confirm her feelings for Renjun, what he did solidified her assumptions. She did like him and she can't wait to tell Yuri–

"Yuri." As if for a moment she completely forgets that she was just merely standing in front of her at that moment.

"Yeah?"

The color draining from Aera's face sent Yuri near panic mode.

"Are you okay?" Yuri's arms that had Aera trapped with a wall on her back were now holding onto her forearms. For a second, Aera even felt as her best friend tried to shake her.

She knew that guilt would eventually eat her whole, but at the very moment where she wanted to tell Yuri about everything that had happened, how the possibility of Renjun choosing her over his ex was what was happening right now, she couldn't tell her a single thing. At this very moment she realized how much small lies have been piling up beneath her feet as the reality has finally hit her– there was no longer any need for Renjun and her to continue to play pretend about their relationship.

Jaemin and Yuri were now on steady grounds when it came to their dating. They would– most likely– already choose their relationship over the small lie Aera had to tell. Especially not now where she no longer has feelings for Jaemin.

"Classes are about to start." That was the only thing that could leave her mouth at that very moment.

"Aera–"

She shakes out of Yuri's grasp and forces a smile onto her face. "I have to go." She had possibly twenty more minutes to spare, but squeezes herself out of the situation with Yuri.

"Aera–" Yuri tries to call out to Aera, but with her head held low and her speed walking to nearly the other side of the hallway, Yuri took this as a sign that she was just not ready to talk about what was going on.

As Yuri stands there staring at what was now the ghost of Aera, Renjun suddenly comes up to her looking over at what she was looking at as well.

"What are you doing?" There was no need for morning greetings coming from Renjun.

"Renjun!" Yuri turns her head around towards him so fast that for a second she really thought she was going to trip over. "Just the person I need to talk to."

Renjun was holding onto the end of her elbow after Yuri's little stumble. "And why do you need to talk to me? If this is about the group act–"

"It's about Aera."

It was that simple. All it took was Yuri mentioning her name before Renjun's ears began turning a bright color red as he avoided eye contact with Yuri.

Yuri catches the redness of his ears and his avoidant looks. "What's going on between the two of you?"

Renjun opens his mouth before closing it again. He blinked a couple of times before it became quite obvious to Yuri that he couldn't exactly answer what was going on.

"Just yesterday the two of you were fighting and all of a sudden–"

"Renjun?"

Of course Yuri was interrupted mid sentence by a voice she doesn't mind getting interrupted by.

The color fell off Renjun's face with the realization that he was standing a little too close to Yuri and that he was holding onto her elbow from that little incident earlier. He slowly turned his head towards Jaemin with his bag still on his back and looking between the two of them.

"Morning!" Yuri's voice raises as she smiles towards Jaemin.

Even with such a bright greeting from Yuri, Jaemin's expression doesn't change. All of a sudden it felt like they were back in junior high school looking straight at each other.

"It's not–"

Jaemin walked up to stand in between the two of them. He looked straight into Renjun's eyes, just as Renjun did years ago. It was obvious that Jaemin was trying his best not to burst at this very moment. But with how close he was standing in front of Renjun, his deep breathing was telling Renjun much more than what he needed to hear.

"We're not doing this again." The way he whispered towards him was soft, no one aside from the two of them could hear them and maybe Jaemin was making sure that Yuri didn't hear.

Jaemin takes a step back and walks away from Renjun, while holding onto Yuri's hand.

He stands there not believing that the little trust that they have rebuilt for their friendship was swayed so easily by a simple misunderstanding.

On the other hand, at the end of the hall, while holding onto the empty bottle she forgot to fill up at home, was Aera. She saw every little interaction Yuri and Renjun shared, but most notably the one Jaemin and Renjun exchanged.

"You saw that?" Haechan stands beside Aera with his arms over his chest and a bag behind him. Looks like he got here just in time to watch the show.

"What just happened?"

Haechan snickers before taking a deep breath in. "Trust me. A lot has happened."

Aera turned her head towards Haechan. "What?"

"Sometimes, I also ask myself that." Haechan tries to crack a joke, but instead he is met with silence from Aera as she waits for a proper answer. "I don't think I'm the person you should be asking."

"Then who else do you think I can ask?"

"Your boyfriend?" Haechan raises a finger pointing at Renjun, still stunned as he stands there.

"I don't know if you noticed it already, but we aren't exactly on the best terms at the moment."

Haechan opens his mouth before stopping and turning his head towards her. "That's something the two of you have to resolve." He shrugs his shoulders before finally entering their room.

"Wait!" Aera, instead of walking up to Renjun, chases behind Haechan. "Can you tell me what's happening and in exchange–" she pauses before looking over her shoulder, "I'll tell you something important in return."

"Something important?" Haechan snickers. "And why do you think it concerns me? That something important of yours?"

"It concerns your friends."

Haechan raises an eyebrow before taking a deep breath in. "Fine." Curiosity got the better of him. "Meet me at the theater room at lunch, and don't tell Renjun, Jaemin or Yuri about it."

Aera nods her head.

"But you have to promise that you must keep your mouth shut. About us meeting later and what I'll tell you."

"I swear on my life."

Haechan forces a smile on his face before scanning his surroundings and walking into the classroom which Aera had stopped him from entering.

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a/n:

I now have a patreon account where I'll be posting an epub / pdf version of finished fanfics of mine as well as early access to unedited but finished chapters.