School

School, Part 2; Shin Hye Sung

"I'm sorry, but she won't come out of her room... I wonder what happened," you heard your mother say to a guest at the door. 

"That's alright, then," the guest replied, the voice belonging to that of your best friend. You hugged your pillow against your face, tears streaming down uncontrollably. 

After that scene, he still had the guts to come visit you. 

"Please just give these books back to her. She left them at school," he said, as he handed your school bag to your mother and promptly left, closing the door behind him. 

The next day, you willed yourself out of bed early, in order to avoid Shin Hyesung. 

You avoided him for the entire day, looking the other way when he began staring at you, and completely ignoring him when he tried to greet you in the halls. 

When you got home, you locked yourself into your room and sat against the door, teary eyes looking into empty space. 

You were lifeless. 

//

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HER," a voice demanded, an uncontrollable fury consuming the person the voice belonged to. 

"Nothing, you screwed up by yourself," a sarcastic voice replied, an evil smirk slowly making its way onto its owner's face. 

Enveloped in absolute rage, Hyesung grabbed ahold of the black haired man's collar and pushed him against the wall. 

"What. Do. You. Mean." He whispered, his voice dripping with venom. 

"You ruined your chances yourself. She's mine now," the man replied, sadistic joy evident in his voice. 

"You'll never get her. You're trash compared to her. You'll never dare," Hyesung threatened, his eyes dark and serious. 

"You're the worst," the man spat out. "Your standing isn't even commendable, and you think that you are worthy? Don't make me laugh," he continued on, mocking the brunet currently gripping him from the collar. "You're the one who hurt her, so let me go." 

He was the one? 

He was the one who had hurt you?

Oh, right. 

You must've seen that. 

But how can he apologize to you when you won't even look him in the eye? 

His grip on the man loosened, and the darker haired man took the chance to slap the brunet before making his escape. 

Not even responding to the sudden pang of pain, the tall man simply slumped down against the wall, a realization dawning on him. 

He loved you. 

But you hated him because of that. 

//

A flock of students gathered around the large sheet of paper posted up on the bulletin board in the center of the entrance. 

Test results were in. 

Gasps of surprise suddenly filled the room, and murmurs started going around. 

Surprised at the change in atmosphere compared to how the usual reaction to test results are, you slowly made your way up to the board, and looked up, expecting your name , {Full Name}, to be the first. 

But it wasn't. 

Instead, you were second. 

Second to a student known as Shin Hye Sung. 

Shin Hye Sung? 

But why? 

An arm suddenly shot out and grabbed you by the wrist. With a jerk, you were pulled out of the crowd, facing first place right in the face. 

"Congratulations," you muttered, staring at the ground. 

"I'm sorry," he muttered, as he tried to hug you in an embrace. 

You snapped your head to the side to avoid eye contact and struggled to free yourself, but to no avail. 

When did he get so strong? 

Against your will, your cheek was now against Hyesung's chest, and tears started welling up in your eyes. 

He was warm, and you had missed his warmth. 

"What you saw that day... With the girl, I..." He trailed on, hesitating between sentences. 

A lone tear escaped from its prison and made its way down your cheek. You shook your head, as if telling him to shut up. 

His face scrunched up in pain, and he took a deep breath before releasing you from his embrace. He held you squarely by the shoulders, and looked you in the eye. 

Surprised to see tears staining your face, he unconsciously cupped his hands against your cheek and wiped the dreaded tears away with his thumb. 

An action that made more tears come out 

Why was he being suddenly so nice to you? 

Didn't he like that girl? 

"I don't like that girl," he mumbled, as if hearing your thoughts. 

You tilted your head up and blinked away your tears, focusing on the young man's blushing face. 

"She took my cell phone strap," he continued on. "The one that you bought for the both of us." His face was a brilliant shade of red at this point, and he brought back his hand to started rubbing his nape, diverting his gaze to a nearby tree instead of you. 

You let out a soft giggle, surprised at the man's reason. 

Hearing your giggle, Hyesung blushed deeper, and grabbed onto you and pulled you back into another hug. Resting his chin gently on top of your head, he whispered, "It's important to me, okay?" 

You nodded into his chest, before asking, "Why'd you suddenly decide to try for first, though?" 

He let out a deep sigh. 

"I was aiming for second, to crush that piece of gar-... To prove your friend wrong, but I guess... Yeah..." He sheepishly replied. 

You simply gave a small shake of your head before finally returning his embrace. "You're silly sometimes," you whispered into his broad chest. 

Letting go of you, he tilted your head upwards so he could stare into your eyes. 

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"I love you"

"Wha-" 

You were cut off, as a pair of soft, warm lips suddenly fell on top of yours. You immediately shut your eyes, in an attempt to stop the blushing. 

Not that it worked, of course. 

"Hey, isn't that {Full name} and Shin Hye Sung of class 3-B?"

"They're really cute together!"

"I heard they were childhood friends, though."

"That makes it even cuter!" 

"We're...in...public..." You mumbled in-between breaths, in which prompted the man to kiss you even harder. 

Hearing you gasp for breath, he promptly let you go. Chuckling at the redness in your face. 

"You're as red as a tomato," he teased, as you struggled to regain your composure. 

"Shut up, you stupid prince," you cheekily replied, and stuck out your tongue. "You were even worse a minute ago, you know. And... I love you, too," you mumbled, purposely looking the other way in a desperate attempt to revert your face back to its original color. 

"I know," he whispered into your ear, further deepening your already uncontrollable blush. 

"But teasing you is fun," he continued on, before softly kissing you on the cheek.