Querencia

16

"It's quite rare to see Juyeon alone without Hana", Chanhee put on a remark as the said boy took the vacant seat across him in the cafeteria during their break. He might have pointed out the truth, nonetheless, he was trying to be sarcastic though he knew, Juyeon might not notice it.

"Oh, you are right", Changmin next to him suddenly highlighted, constantly hitting the former's arm till the extent the pretty boy glared, ready to throw a hand. "You two are inseparable daily, did something happen?"

For a moment, Juyeon stayed silent but inside his head was noisy. Truth be told, he was aware of the changes in Hana's attitude but he could not notice that Hana was growing a distance from him.

"We don't have any class this morning, so she's late today", he said, stabbing his food with a fork he had. "I already texted her to join us."

The answer given was not convincing for Chanhee to believe since he was aware of the conflict the pair was having. But, he did not plan to put Juyeon in a tight position, so he clicked his tongue silently, concluding the talk.

However, Kevin who has been so silent since earlier suddenly spoke up, startling everyone around the table.

"I thought she'd arrived early in the morning and stayed in the library. Did she change her plan?"

In a heartbeat, all eyes were on him with different expressions shown. Kevin was taken aback, that was for sure. Receiving such attention was not entertained.

"What happened, Kevin?" Changmin excitedly jumped on his seat, before leaning across the table. "What have we missed?"

His playful smirk and wriggling brows as he asked, made Kevin somehow gulped, confusion was clouding over the latter. A big invisible question mark appeared, masking his sight from seeing the real world.

But then, Kevin was getting dragged back when he felt an arm draped over his shoulder.

"You don't seem down even after she rejected you", Juyeon said, portraying his empathy towards his friend. "Don't worry, I'll make her realize that you are worth it for her to love."

"Hana rejected you?!" Changmin yelled with his dolphin voice, in which Chanhee automatically threw his palm, covering his best friend's mouth.

No one wanted to be the center of attention in the middle of the cafe, right?

"I look fine because I know I was rushed in confessing", Kevin shrugged, pursing his lips into a thin line. However, he did not seem able to process what Juyeon had said because he was well aware that Hana rejected him because of the boy next to him.

Was Juyeon too oblivious to see it?

"Brothers!"

It was then, that an energetic and loud voice filled the area, gaining the attention of the boys which made them automatically forget the discussion they were having. Their gazes darted towards the entrance just to spot the younger boy they hadn't seen for a while.

Screaming as he excitedly ran towards the table which was occupied by the brothers he thought his, Eric's eyes lit up to see them there. Not to mention, how he slightly clung himself around the seated Juyeon and the latter reciprocated the affection by ruffling his hair.

"Have you eaten?" the older asked as if the boy was his actual brother, warming the hearts of the onlookers.

Eric then hummed, standing still by the table, "I've eaten with Sunwoo and my sister".

"Who is Sunwoo?"

"My best friend", he answered the question thrown by Chanhee and continued with the elaboration though no one was asking. "Sunwoo has a friendly soccer match today with our team. So since he's here, me and Hana were showing him around."

"And where is your best friend, Eric?"

It seemed like Eric loved to answer questions. Not even once he stuttered to answer them who seemed to be taking turns coming to him. He could even elaborate till the night - probably.

"I ditched him with my sister", he proudly smirked, pocketing his hands in the process. It was as if he had been waiting for so long to do that but failing to get a chance.

But today, he had succeeded.

"Well, they are here already", Kevin highlighted, chinning towards a direction.

Like meerkats, all the boys turned their heads in the respective direction, having mixed reactions to the view.

Chanhee was amazed by Hana's outfit which was a common casual style yet she managed to pull the style it so well and he would give the credit to her braided hair. "From where did she buy those sneakers? I'd like to have a pair".

Meanwhile, Changmin was attracted to the boy next to her allegedly named Sunwoo, "I saw a bad vibe from that boy. He must be a troublemaker."

At that, Eric gasped, getting chilled, "How do you know?"

On the other hand, Kevin was interested in Juyeon's reaction as he eyed the two.

When Hana was seen laughing at whatever joke Sunwoo made, Juyeon was scoffing. And when Sunwoo almost tripped but did not because Hana was fast on her track to grab his hand, Juyeon let out an audible sigh as he slumped on the chair.

On top of that, when Hana was seen ruffling Sunwoo's hair, Juyeon somehow lost his appetite.

"Hi", the girl then greeted the boys as she parked herself next to her brother, Sunwoo was on the other side.

"Hey", Juyeon clasped his hands together, staring deep into her orbs with somewhat a playful grin on his face. "What's going on Hana? Did you reject Kevin for Sunwoo?"

Hearing something that was supposed to be a joke somehow killed her mood, a scoff accidentally escaping her lips as she glared down at the boy who was looking up at her. Of course, she knew it was a joke, it had always been one but it did not sound like one anymore when Juyeon said it with his mouth.

Her emotions once again had messed up.

"Maybe you are right", she crossed her arms elegantly, not breaking the stare from Juyeon. "I think I have changed my taste in man."

With that, she turned on her heels, leaving everyone behind clueless. Not even Eric's voice asking where she was heading stopped her, her heart had shattered so much.

For she was invisible.