Invisible String | Yoon Jeonghan

10 | An old crush?

"Haneul, if you're not down here within 10 seconds, I'm leaving you to walk to school. You better not blame me for being late then." SeungCheol shouts from the driveway as I hurriedly stuff the fruit custard my mom made me into my mouth.

It's 8:53a.m, and school starts at nine. If I end up walking, it will take me 9 minutes approx. So, I'm basically screwed.

"Thanks mom, bye." I say, and rush to put on my shoes.

I glance at my phone to see it's 8:55 now, and run out the door and into the passenger seat of my cousin's car.

"Wear your seatbelt." He barely finishes his sentence before speeding down the street. Needless to say, I bump my head into the glove compartment.

"Ow, that hurt!" Rubbing the painful spot on my head, I cry out. My face scrunches in pain as I lean back on my seat, whimpering. "You could've waited two more seconds, Cheol."

"Sorry, Haneul-ie. I'll get you an ice pack later." He pats my head sympathetically, yet is trying to suppress his laughter.

"I hate you, and you can leave me here now. I'll run to class from here." I tell him as I realise that we are quite close to school.

"Are you sure?" I don't know what he's asking about, but I nod in response. "You know I can tell them that we're cousins, right?"

"Do you want to be bullied?" I say, stepping out of the car.

"Do you think they can bully me?" He scoffs before driving away nonetheless. Still, I shake my head because of his reply, checking the time.

Shoot! It's 8:58.

I manage to enter the gates just in time, and breathe a sigh of relief because my first class happens to be a free class like always.

Or, so I think.

As I walk down the hallway towards my locker, I see my friend Dokyeom leaning on it, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor with his head cast downwards.

"Hi, DK~" I drag out my greeting, waving at him as I skip forward. The skip in my steps and my smile immediately dies once I realise he is not as happy to see me. He looks troubled, more than anything.

"What's wrong?" I ask him. He sighs, and looks at me with sadness that actually makes me feel down as well.

You know, when the person that spreads sunshine like joy is feeling blue, even you can't help but feel that way.

"He said that I'm not his person." I can't help but shake my head at this.

I was worried out of my mind for nothing then.

"I've told you about a hundred times now to not play mafia this early in the morning." I gently push him aside, ignoring his baffled face, and start sorting the books for today's classes in my locker. "You can't even sleep it off this early."

"But-" He pauses mid-complaint making me curious enough to look at him.

Turns out it's a bad idea, as he mercilessly pokes the bruise forming on my forehead. "How did you manage to hurt yourself?"

"Ow, that hurts!" I grimace as he sheepishly backs off a few steps. "Dokyeom, why?"

"Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. It looks horrible. I'll bring you an ice pack, wait right here." He raps, quickening his pace simultaneously. I don't even get to scold him properly.

It's fine. Let's not get angry, Haneul.

"Ah, it's so painful that it's frustrating me even more." I stomp my leg a few times, blinking away the tears that are forming. The rush to get to school on time has now faded, no longer a distraction from the pain, leaving me to suffer.