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After her first class, Yeona took notice that Suho was absent, which was very unlike Suho.
So being the greatest best friend ever... She left the school grounds and took a trip to his house. A part of her used this as an excuse so that she wouldn't have to talk to Han Seojun today; she would be fine later on, she just needed time to push her new revelation to the depths of her mind. The other part of her was genuinely worried about Suho.
Lee Suho had missed only one day of school and it wasn't his choice to skip. His father had needed him for a public appearance to make him look like a good father. Other than that, Suho always had perfect attendance. He was the child that every parent wanted, hardworking, always number one in school, and was invested in his studies. Him missing a day of school would be the equivalent of a girl who is number one at ballet missing a recital.
To summarize? Not good. Not good at all.
She walked up to his front door and rang the bell a couple of times, waiting two minutes before she decided to break in and trespass into her one of her best friend's home.
She punched in the code that she knew all too well and entered, slipping off her shoes by the door before walking down the hallway. She looked around his living room and walked over to his bedroom door, lightly knocking, "Suho?" She asked in a soft voice, "Suho?" When she didn't get a response, she cracked the door open and peeked inside, spotting Suho who was curled up under his covers fast asleep.
She sighed in relief before scrunching her eyebrows, walking into the room further to examine Suho's current state. She reached her hand out, placing it onto his forehead and gasped lightly to herself.
"Suho... what the hell..." She mumbled to herself, feeling a sense of sadness wash over her for him. She walked into the bathroom and rummaged around, being successful in finding a small washcloth. She dampened it and walked back into his room.
She lightly lifted his head off of his pillow and flipped it over, gently laying it back down and placing the washcloth onto his forehead. She straightened up his sheets and gathered the things that were littered around his room, taking them into the kitchen.
After disposing of the trash and cleaning some dishes, she laid down on his couch, staring up at the ceiling whilst being lost in thought. She couldn't help but let her brain process what she had seen this morning, replaying in her mind over and over on a loop. She didn't want to think about it but as her mind wouldn't push it away, instead it constantly taunted her with the scene that she so desperately wanted to bury in the back of her mind.
She huffed and turned so that she was facing the back of the couch and closed her eyes, trying her best to get rid of the memory. Her phone started buzzing from where it laid on the coffee table next to her, causing her to groan as she flipped over to grab it, seeing that it was an incoming call from Sooah.
She answered, the fact that she was supposed to be in class at that very moment slipping her mind, "Hey Sooah, what's up?"
"Yeona! You're coming to the study group tonight, right? It's at..." Sooah hummed in thought, as if looking at her phone before she spoke again, "Six-ish tonight!"
"Oh, yeah I can do that." Yeona responded, "You'll see me there."
"Okay cool!" She cheered before lowering her voice, "By the way, why aren't you here-?"
Yeona's eyes widened in realization, panicking as she exclaimed, "Bye Sooah, see you there!" She quickly hung up and set her phone back down on the coffee table, "Oops..." She mumbled before shrugging and flipping back to her original position.
It was around five o'clock when Suho had completely woken up, feeling much better after having got a few hours more sleep. He moved to sit up and furrowed his brow when a small washcloth fell onto his lap, the towelette being cold as if it had once been wet. He turned it over in his hands to try and figure out when he had gotten up to get one before shrugging and placing it onto his nightstand.
He got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen as he was in need of a glass of water. What he didn't expect to find on his route to the kitchen was a bag that very much looked like Kim Yeona's sitting in one of his stools at the kitchen island. He stared at it in confusion before shaking his head and walking to the cabinet with his cups, becoming even more confused when he realised that all of his dishes had been cleaned. He took a glance around the room and noticed how spotless it was and let the little facts that he observed go through his mind a couple of times.
Kim Yeona must be here...
He grabbed a cup and filled it with water, downing it all in one gulp before filling it again and taking a sip, setting it back down on the counter. He looked out into his living room from his kitchen and noticed a stray phone on the coffee table that was very much not his, that being evident from the teal back. He walked over and soon the figure of Kim Yeona was revealed, sleeping soundly on his couch.
He sighed, staring at her with a fond look, a small grateful smile gracing his face. He watched as she shifted around on the couch and slowly woke herself up, grabbing her phone and sitting straight up when she had seen the time. She got up and turned to make her way to the kitchen and let out a yelp at the sight of Suho, "Yah!" She exclaimed, placing a hand to her heart, "Why are you just standing there?"
Suho let out a small laugh before sobering up, "Why are you here?"
She let out a breath before walking up to him and slapping his arm, "Why didn't you tell me you were sick? When I got here you were fast asleep and burning up!"
Suho let out a sigh, "I'm sorry. Did you break in here?"
"No, I teleported into your room." She joked, looking away sheepishly.
Suho shook his head, "Thank you for being worried about me. When did you get here?"
Yeona pursed her lips, continuing to look sheepish as she spoke, "Around ten..." She mumbled, moving her gaze to anything but him.
"What was that?" He asked, looking mildly confused at her behavior.
"Around ten..." She repeated, finally meeting his eyes.
"Yeona!" Suho scolded, "You shouldn't have skipped for me!"
"It's just school! I'll be fine, besides you were on your deathbed when I got here and I've nursed you back to health!" She walked around him and grabbed her bag from the stool, "Anyways, I'm about to head out to meet with the study group so see ya!" She made her way to the front door, slipping her shoes on and quickly exiting.
Yeona was close to the designated study spot after just barely managing to make it to the bus stop in time and was going to be the slightest bit early if she kept up her brisk pace. She turned the corner at one of the cut-down alleyways and slowed down when she felt her phone buzz. She whipped her phone out and checked the notification that was from Suho stating that he would also be attending the study session but would be late since he had just come to that decision.
She let out a quiet laugh as she replied with a thumbs up and pocketed her phone as she started walking once more.
"What's so funny, Kim Yeona?" A voice asked as two boys stepped out in front of her.
She stopped in her tracks, staring at the two boys who had smirks on their faces. She glanced behind her and saw two more blocking the way that she had just come from, causing her to panic internally about how she would get out of this one. She duped the two in front of her by pulling a side-step trick, darting to the opposite side that she had intended and quickly rushed forward only to be blocked by three more guys.
They all started to form a circle around her just as clapping was heard, "You thought you could get out of this one?" A voice unfamiliar to her spoke, "Sungyong will be happy to know that we not only got one - but two girls tonight."
Yeona shuddered at the implication behind his words before furrowing her brow. Did he know that I was coming here tonight?
She tried to rush by two of the boys who she had deemed the weakest links and felt herself being yanked backwards by the bag on her shoulders to which she quickly discarded the bag and tried a second time but was grabbed by her arms, being restrained from being able to escape. Her bag strap was thrown over her head and she was pulled away by the group of guys. She tried thrashing and yelling but a hand was thrown over her mouth.
It was ten minutes later that she was dragged to a karaoke place where the old man at the front desk didn't do so much as bat an eye at the group of teenage boys dragging a singular girl into - what Yeona presumed - was an empty room.
She was proved wrong when the door was thrown open and she was tossed inside, falling onto her hands and knees in front of the asshole himself, Lee Sungyong. Her gaze slid over when she heard a gasp, landing on the face of her best friend, Im Jugyeong, causing her eyes to widen as they made eye contact, both having the same shock and fear flitting through their eyes. She quickly stood up, not wanting to be in that position in front of the devil himself.
"Oh wow, what do we have here?" Sungyong's taunting tone carried through the silent karaoke room, "Boys caught two in one night?" He smirked.
"I guess staying at that alley really paid off," One of the boys replied, laughing, "She was an easy catch too."
Yeona scoffed, "Say that to that one guy's nose." She muttered under her breath, her gaze sliding back to Sungyong as she mustered up the harshest glare that she could.
"You hurt one of my boys?" He asked as he stood up, walking over to her. He didn't give her time to respond as he grabbed her at the back of her head by her hair and yanked her forward so he could whisper in her ear, causing her to let out a yelp in pain and Jugyeong to let out a cry in protest, "That's okay," He whispered, "You and your little girl friend are gonna regret doing anything when I'm done with you." He then proceeded to drag her over to the couch and pushed her onto it so that she had almost hit Jugyeong as she landed on her side, her lower half hanging off from the edge. She quickly pulled herself further onto the couch and sat close to her best friend, grabbing her hand in comfort.
"Ah, one more thing..." He leaned forward and took the bag that had been haphazardly hanging from her neck, digging through it causing her to yell out in protest to which he glared at her, effectively shutting her up. He pulled out her phone and smirked, "This will be useful for later..."
Both girls looked at each other before surveying the scene in front of them, simultaneously letting out sighs of worry.
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Suho had grabbed his phone and was heading out, having decided that he would spend the majority of the study group time helping Jugyeong, he opted out of bringing his bag with the homework that he had already completed.
He walked out of his home and was making his way down the long driveway when he spotted the boy that still filled him with a sense of anger and guilt sitting down on a bench. He sucked in a breath of air before letting it out, mustering up the energy and courage to approach him.
He walked up, keeping a straight face as he spoke, "Why are you here?"
Han Seojun's gaze was glued to the space in front of him, "Is it true that you know Dr. Kang?"
Suho felt a pang in his chest, "Who told you that?" Dr. Kang was an excellent surgeon who specialised in general surgery. Suho had approached him when he had heard about Seojun's mother, wanting to help in any way that he could. His father was friends with the man so he assumed that his connections could be beneficial towards Seojun's financial state as well as beneficial to his moms condition, which was deemed true the moment that he had a conversation with Dr. Kang. Not even two weeks later Seojun's mother was scheduled for pro bono kidney transplant surgery.
Seojun's gaze slid up to meet Suho's, something unreadable passing through his eyes, "Why did you do it?" He stood up and walked the small distance between them, "Did you think that I'd come here and thank you in tears? Is that why you did that behind my back?!" His voice raised with every word, truly showing how bothered he was.
Suho's gaze remained blank as he spoke, "Wouldn't you have done the same thing?"
"What?" Seojun asked, the clenched fist by his side shaking slightly.
Suho continued, "If you were me, wouldn't you have done the same thing to save my mom? You were my friend, that's why I did it." Suho took in a breath, "If that makes you angry... then forget that it happened. That's what you should do." He turned and started to walk away, not bothering with the conversation anymore.
Seojun wasn't having it, "Yah Lee Suho!" Suho stopped and turned around just as Seojun cursed under his breath, pulling his phone out of his blazer pocket, "Why is Jugyeong calling me?"
Suho felt a pang of jealousy just as the phone in his pocket start vibrating as well, Kang Soojin glaring at him in the dark night. He sighed and answered, "What?"
"Yah, is Kim Yeona or Im Jugyeong with you? Sooah won't stop rambling about being worried about them even though I'm sure they're fine." Soojin asked, seeming not worried at all.
"No, neither are with me." He replied, "Is that all?"
"They were supposed to come to the study group and haven't shown up yet so Sooah was starting to freak out. I'm sure they'll show up any moment. Are you coming?" Soojin asked.
"Mhm. Bye." He hung up without waiting for a response, his gaze landing on an even angrier Seojun, "What is it?"
Seojun cursed under his breath causing Suho to think the worst, "What's going on?!"
Seojun's eyes met Suho's, "Come on." He simply said, his voice carrying a tone of urgency that had Suho following without any more questions.
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The karaoke room was loud now that the boys had started playing music and singing horribly at the top of their lungs which was annoying Yeona beyond belief. She preferred it when there was an awkward silence.
Sungyong had just finished calling Han Seojun from Jugyeong's phone which Jugyeong had managed to sneak back and had notified Sooah and the others of their location with a video chat call.
She could sit there a little easier knowing that their friends were on their way to potentially help them. But what she couldn't stand was the fact that Sungyong had whipped out a lighter and was continuously lighting it and pushing it in front of their faces as if he would burn them, only to take it back and laugh once they flinched. She had to bite her tongue from saying anything that would cause him to hurt her or Jugyeong.
"What do you wanna do until your little boyfriend gets here?" Sungyong asked, the question aimed at Jugyeong who shifted uncomfortably, "Huh?"
Jugyeong swallowed nervously, "I don't have a boyfriend."
Sungyong scoffed out a laugh, "Oh, you don't?"
One of his little boys started pulling Sungyong away, getting him to join in on their choice of song - which they were butchering - giving Yeona time to try and plan something. She and Jugyeong had a poor chance of running out of the room together, but if one of them goes to get help... it might just work.
"Jugyeong," Yeona spoke, capturing the girl's attention, "One of us will have a chance to run out of the room. It's gotta be you, you're closest to the door. When you get the chance-"
"Yah!" One of the boys yelled, causing Yeona to straighten up from being leaned over, looking at the boy who had yelled. She sighed in relief when he wasn't looking at her, but at another boy who was jumping up and down.
She leaned back over, "When you get the chance, run out of here and find help."
Jugyeong shot her a worried look, "What about you? What if they do something to you while I'm gone, or worse, because I left?"
Yeona shook her head with a slight smile, "Don't worry about that, one of us needs to get out of here and I'm electing you."
Jugyeong pursed her lips, clearly going over it in her head, "Are you sure this will work?"
"What are we talking about over here ladies!" Sungyong exclaimed, cutting off Yeona who had just opened her mouth to respond. Her mouth proceeded to make words, just not nice ones as she shot back a remark, "I'm just telling her about how much I hate you."
Sungyong's playful smirk dropped, "What did you just say?"
Yeona stood up, "You heard me. You're an overconfident prick who needs to learn his lesson and I can't wait for the day that you're taught it," She waved her hand in front of Jugyeong in a way that told her that her chance was now, "Someone must've been ignored by his parents to be this much of an asshole." As the last word escaped her mouth, Jugyeong was to her feet, taking the chance to escape.
Sungyong was quicker, "Yah, get her!"
Three guys turned and grabbed the girl who had opened the door, pulling her away. She fought against their hold, "No! No, no!" She exclaimed as another guy came to aide them, her thrashing being too much for the three to handle. The fifth guy closed the door as the others dragged Jugyeong back to her original spot, making her sit back down.
Sungyong's gaze met Yeona's who was starting to regret the plan altogether, especially when Sungyong raised his hand and slapped her. He pushed her down on the couch after, clearly angry, "You thought you could pull a fast one on me, Kim Yeona? Really?" Jugyeong's eyes were wide as she watched the scene play out in front of her.
Sungyong grabbed Yeona by the collar of her shirt, yanking her forward causing Jugyeong to reach out to help the girl but the look on Sungyong's face told her to stay put.
Sungyong positioned his head to where his lips met her ear, speaking, "When Seojun gets here, he's only gonna have time to get to one of you. Who do you think he's going to choose, hm? There's about eight of us and one of him, one of you isn't gonna escape us."
The door was slammed open, causing everyone in the room to look at the commotion. Standing in all of his glory was Lee Suho, panting as if he had scoured the whole place but that little fact did nothing to the pure anger that was taking place on his face, "Im Juygeong."
Jugyeong let out a sigh of relief, but a surprised expression was still on her face, "Lee Suho?"
Sungyong pushed Yeona back into the couch, causing her to cough as she took in air that had been cut off. Sungyong smirked, "What are you doing here? You're not the guy I called. I bet he followed us again, huh?"
"Maybe he's a stalker." One of the boys joked.
Suho took in a deep breath before he took off, clearing past the boys as he jumped on the table and grabbed Sungyong by the collar of his blazer, throwing him into the corner of the couch, "What are you doing?" Sungyong got out before Suho started throwing punch after punch, being unrelenting in the force of each hit, wanting to make it hurt.
The gang of boys tried their best to get Suho off of their leader but to their dismay, Suho also seemed good at swatting away flies when needed.
Jugyeong was to her feet, hands over her mouth in shock, her eyes as wide as saucers. Yeona was leaned away from what was happening, her gaze blank as she took in breaths to steady herself.
Han Seojun walked in a second later, "Yah!"
"It's Han Seojun!" One boy exclaimed, "Get him!" Two boys made a run at Seojun, which he gracefully dodged, punching another guy as he made it to Suho. He wrapped his arms around his waist as he pulled him off, turning around and tossing him at the group of guys, the punch that Suho had wound up for Sungyong hitting one of his goons instead. Seojun's eyes found Jugyeong, taking in her expression before hardening into anger.
As his gaze went to Sungyong, he saw Yeona who was still sitting on the couch watching the whole thing in front of her. She had been taking in everything, to how poorly Sungyong's gang was fighting, to how violent Suho's punches had been.
Seojun grabbed Sungyong by the collar just as he was recovering from Suho's hits and started throwing his own punches.
One of the boys made a move to grab Jugyeong and Yeona quickly moved to block them but Suho was quicker, throwing a kick to the boy and landing in front of Jugyeong protectively. He grabbed the guy who seemed to recover fast and shoved him into the table before throwing him back to the group of boys. He stayed there, swatting off anyone who tried to reach for the girl.
Yeona grabbed something from the table, a metal water bottle, and held it by the neck in a threatening manner. One of the boys reached over for her and she swung the bottle, effectively hitting him in the head hard enough that he crumbled to the floor, clutching his head whilst groaning. She tried doing it again to another boy but he grabbed the bottle from her, throwing it to the ground as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, "Yah!" She exclaimed, looking back to see that Suho and Seojun were preoccupied so she turned back and threw her own punch at the guy with her free fist which was ineffective as he grabbed her other wrist after groaning with the hit. He pulled her to the door and was about to drag her out but stumbled back when the door was thrown open and in came Choi Sooah, Kang Soojin, and Yoo Taehoon, Sooah yelling, "We're here!"
The room became quiet and Yeona took that chance to rip her arms from the guys grasp, backing away. Suho looked back at Jugyeong, "Are you okay?" Seojun looked over expectantly at Jugyeong, seeming to want to know the answer as well.
A feeling that was between unwanted and uncared, a feeling that she couldn't quite put the name to, took over as she watched the two boys worry over Jugyeong, not even sparing her a glance.
She wasn't jealous of Jugyeong, she would never be jealous of her. She was just hurt that she wasn't cared for by the two boys who were supposed to care about her at least a little bit. She put lots of love into her friendships and for her to be ignored even as she went through what she had just went through... It hurt...
Her thoughts slowed when a guy rushed at Sooah, an ear piercing battle cry leaving his lips. As he reached for her, Sooah slammed her bag into him, catching him off guard before Soojin threw a kick at him, knocking him to the ground.
After that, all hell broke loose again.
It was when most of the boys had been knocked out by the group that the situation died down. The last man standing was miraculously Sungyong, who was reaching for Jugyeong which proved to be the dumbest thing he could've tried in his situation since Suho grabbed Sungyong by the collar of his jacket and threw him up into the air before slamming him into the table, causing Jugyeong to cover her mouth in shock, staring at the boy with wide eyes.
Seojun was staring at the two, a look of jealousy taking over as he watched Suho stand over Sungyong threateningly and Jugyeong stare at him as if he was a knight in shining armour.
Yeona was in the opposite corner by herself, watching them with a hurt look on her face. She knew she should be grateful that they even came, but she couldn't help but wonder if they had even glanced in her direction once to see if she was okay. She couldn't help but wonder if either of them knew that she had been there, or if they had thought that she came in with the girls and Taehoon.
She could feel tears stinging her eyes, trying to blink them away but failing. She felt selfish for even thinking these thoughts. She almost felt dirty for even thinking things like this, but her mind wouldn't stop. She let out a shaky breath and took opportunity of the fact that no one was fighting anymore and reached for her bag that was on the floor by the wall, rushing out of the karaoke room as fast as her legs would carry her.
"Yah, Yeona!" Sooah called after her, "We need to check on her."
Seojun had watched her leave, noticing the way she had her lips pursed to keep herself from crying. As much as he wanted to chase after her, he couldn't get his feet to move.
"Yeona?" Suho asked, "Yeona was here too?"
Sooah frowned, "You didn't know? You didn't see her when you came in here?"
Suho mirrored her frown, looking at Jugyeong who nodded, "They brought her here too." At her words, Suho looked visibly upset.
"How did you not see her?" Seojun asked, slightly ticked that Suho didn't even spare the girl a glance. Seojun felt a sense of guilt flooding his mind, "She's probably freaked out too."
Sooah's frown deepened as she walked over to the table, "This is her phone too, isn't it?" She asked, holding it up.
The familiar teal phone that had a clear case with stickers on it filled Suho's vision, "Yeah, that's her phone."
The guilt that Seojun was feeling worsened once he spotted her phone, "Let me see it." He took it from Sooah's outstretched hand and walked to the door, not saying anything as he left the room.
Soojin sighed, "Come on, let's get out of here as well." She said, grabbing the bag that she recognised at Jugyeong's from the floor, "Get all of your things."
After doing a room sweep, the group of teens left. They continued walking until they were outside and on their way to the nearest bus stop so that they could all get home safely.
After a few moments of silence, Jugyeong nudged Suho, "I'm worried about Yeona." Suho looked at her with a questioning gaze, which encouraged her to continue, "She... She took the brunt of what he did to us, I think she did it so that he wouldn't target me... Anytime Sungyong would reach out to me she would purposely do something that distracted him. She had even thought of this plan-" Jugyeong let out a sigh as tears filled her eyes, "She tried to think of a plan and she ended up getting slapped by him-"
"What?" Suho questioned, his voice causing the others to falter in their own quiet conversations.
"She had distracted him and I was to run out of the room to get help but he was too fast and I couldn't get out quick enough and he slapped her for the things she had said to him while distracting him and then he had practically choked her-" Jugyeong let out a quiet sob, Sooah, who had migrated over to the them, placed a hand on her back and rubbed it soothingly.
Jugyeong wiped her tears, "I feel bad, it was my fault that she got hit!"
"No, Jugyeong, it wasn't." Soojin told her, shaking her head, "God this is all Han Seojun's fault. Plus Yeona should've stayed put instead of trying anything, you could've gotten hurt too!"
Suho furrowed his brow, "Are you saying it was Yeona's fault that she got hit? She was trying to find a way to get Jugyeong out to get help and when the plan failed it was Sungyong who slapped her. Yeona was trying to help Jugyeong." Suho had an annoyed expression on his face, clearly not happy with the Kang girl.
Sooah was frowning once more, "Why would you even say that?" Taehoon nodded in agreement with his girlfriend, his head titled with a furrowed brow.
"You're right, I'm sorry. This whole situation is frustrating. We don't know what happened and I shouldn't have said anything without knowing." Soojin replied, an apologetic look on her face, "Just know, Jugyeong, that this wasn't your fault. It wasn't Yeona's either. They thought that you were Han Seojun's girlfriend," Suho's jaw clenched at that, "And I have no clue why they dragged Yeona."
Jugyeong shrugged, "I know they have history. That's all." She didn't want to tell anyone what information that she knew about the Kim girl, not wanting to share things that weren't hers to share.
"Let's just go home." Taehoon replied, yawning, "Everyone is okay. Let's just leave it at that for tonight and check up tomorrow."
Sooah smiled, "Perfect idea, Hoonie. Let's go."
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Yeona had practically run out of the karaoke establishment, deciding to walk without any idea of where she would be heading. She just needed to get away so she could take a moment to collect her thoughts and feelings.
She thought maybe she had been reading into the situation too much and that she wasn't giving anyone enough credit for the sole fact of not wanting anyone to be upset at her for feeling this way. The people-pleaser characteristic took hold of her thoughts constantly and the mere thought of inconveniencing anyone would upset her more than her own feelings.
Regardless of the doormat quality that she seemed to have, she also couldn't get rid of the unwanted feeling. It filled her with a sense of anxiety that she didn't like, feeling as though the people around her didn't like her as much as she had thought.
Which was fine if that were the case, but she would be immensely embarrassed if that were true and they didn't care.
She needed a comfort place. Normally she would go to Prince's Comics or to the swings that she would occasionally go to but she was in an unfamiliar area since Sungyong's gaggle of boys had practically dragged her ten minutes from the study room and that made her at least twenty-five minutes away from home.
She was stressed.
Yeona kept walking, unsure of where her feet were carrying her but she was hoping she'd find somewhere to settle soon, maybe a bus stop or a playground...
Her prayers were heard about a minute of speed walking later when she came across a convenience store that had outdoor seating. She could wait until she was ready to hail a cab or she could call one herself... She paused in the middle of the sidewalk, getting bumped by a woman who apologised as she passed by.
She could call... Phone... Did she even have her phone...? She felt panic build up as she quickly shrugged her bag off of her shoulders and started to dig through it, not caring about the people that she was blocking, her only thoughts being her phone.
She had left it. That was the only explanation. It wasn't in her blazer pockets, it wasn't in her backpack... It had to be at the karaoke place.
Yeona cursed to herself, the feeling of tears burning her eyes once again. Her day just kept getting worse and worse by the minute. What's next? She thought bitterly, Someone snatches my bag? I get hit by a car? Sungyong finds me again? She shook her head and started walking again, spotting a bus stop up ahead that she could wait at until a bus or a cab came.
She threw herself into the seat and leaned over, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands as she tried to calm her whirlwind of feelings.
Calm down... You're overreacting... What happened tonight is probably making you more emotional than you would've been normally... You can always get a new phone so stop stressing about that... Calm down...
She stayed like that for a few moments as she kept herself from crying, just taking deep breaths and letting those words repeat multiple times in order to comfort her. She could cry when she got home but she wouldn't cry in public.
"Yah, why did you run off like that!" An all too familiar voice called out, sounding as if they were a couple feet away, "Aish..."
She felt a tap on her shoulder and as she looked up from her hands, Han Seojun was kneeling in front of her with her phone in his hand. He looked up at her once he had settled into a squat of sorts and began speaking again, "You had us worried when you ran off," Yeona looked down at her hands, feeling a sense of guilt start to eat at her once she heard those words, "You left this behind as well..." Her phone was in her sights again as he placed it onto her lap, leaving his hand on her knee as he spoke again, "Are you okay?"
Yeona pursed her lips before looking back up at him with a nod, "Yeah."
He gave her a look that told her he didn't quite believe her, "I saw you when you left... It's okay to cry, you know..."
Yeona tried for a smile, "I'm okay, Seojun."
Seojun shook his head, "No you're not. Come on, Yeona. Don't be like me and bottle it in."
Yeona sighed, "I'll be okay. Stop worrying." The more she spoke, the more she felt the ball of feelings climb her throat, burning as she kept trying to swallow it down. She wished Seojun would stop asking questions before she bursted into tears right in front of him.
"What happened back there?" She watched his eyes take in her appearance, scanning for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. He raised his hand and gently turned her head as he examined her cheek, "What happened here? Did he hit you?"
Yeona's eyes began to burn again, "I'm fine."
Seojun shook his head much like he had anytime she said those words, "Stop saying that. You're not fine. He hit you..." He clenched his jaw, "That bastard. He got what he deserved for hitting you. Did he hit Im Jugyeong too?"
She shook her head, biting her bottom lip to keep from making any noise.
He looked down at her school uniform and straightened her collar before looking back at her, "I'm gonna walk you home. I'm not letting you go alone."
Yeona felt tears slip from her eyes, trailing down her cheeks as she shook her head, "You don't..." She cut herself off, swallowing, "You don't have to."
He wiped her tears, "Yes I do and you don't have a say in the matter."
More tears spilled as she shook her head, looking away from him, "Seojun, please stop." She felt her chest tighten, "Stop."
Seojun raised his hand and lightly put his finger to her chin, making her look at him and proceeded to wipe her tears away once more, "You're in no condition to go home by yourself."
She let out a shaky breath, "What about ImJu?"
"She's okay. She has Suho with her." She could see the visible distaste in his expression when Suho's name left his lips, clearly still having his qualms about the boy, "Don't worry about anyone else but yourself right now. All you need to think about is you."
At those words, her walls started to crumble as she started shaking with quiet sobs, covering her face with her hands. Seojun sighed and moved to sit next to her on the bench, turning her so that she was facing him and embraced her, rubbing her back comfortingly.
"It's okay..." He mumbled, "Everything is gonna be okay..."
Part of her knew that he didn't know the full extent of why she was upset, and she wasn't going to tell him, but she appreciated him being there in that moment, regardless of the reason why he chose to come to her, which was still unclear to her but she chose not to think about it.
She continued to cry, struggling to find her breath as she did so, "I'm sorry." She got out in between breaths, causing his ministrations on her back to slow to a stop.
"Why are you sorry?" He asked, his hand started to move slowly again, "There's nothing to be sorry about."
She cried for a few more minutes before her quiet sobs were reduced to the occasional sniffle. She found Seojun's embrace to be comforting and she didn't want to pull away and Seojun didn't seem as if he would pull away unless it was on her terms so she stayed where she was.
"I'm sorry for making you sit here and listen to me cry for ten minutes..." She mumbled, her voice barely audible since her face was against his chest, causing any sound from her to be slightly muffled.
"You didn't make me," Seojun replied, sounding upset at her words, "I would do it again."
She let out an accidental laugh, "That almost sounds like you want this to happen again."
Seojun's lips quirked at her laugh, "I don't like seeing you sad, so no, I don't want this to happen again. But if it were to happen again, I'd rather be here so you're not alone."
She frowned again, "Stop being nice or I'll cry again."
Seojun's chest shook with a slight laugh, "Whatever..." The sound of a bus coming their way caught Seojun's attention, tapping her shoulder, "The bus is coming, let's go."
Yeona pulled away from his embrace and wiped her face, "Thank you for sitting with me."
Seojun nodded, "You heard what I said just a second ago."
Yeona grabbed her phone that had fallen from her legs into the space between them and let a small playful smile grace her face, "Yeah... You said you want me to cry again."
Seojun gave her a flat look before he shook his head and stood up, offering her a hand to pull her up, which she accepted, "Come on, let's get you home."
The bus stopped in front of them and they loaded up, Seojun swiping his pass twice even at the protest of Yeona, who grumbled when he pushed her hand away. They walked to the back and took a seat, Yeona by the window and Seojun by the aisle.
"I really hope Jugyeong is okay..." Yeona spoke, glancing at Seojun before looking out of the window.
"I told you, she's fine. She's probably worrying about you like you are her." He spoke, gauging her reaction. She didn't have much of one, just continued to gnaw at her lower lip in worry, "Stop doing that."
Yeona looked over at him, confusion on her face, "Doing what?"
"Your lip will bleed if you keep that up." He responded causing Yeona to quickly stop what she had been doing, pursing her lips instead.
"I didn't realise I was doing it..." She looked down at her lap, her eyes catching sight of her phone and out of curiosity, she lifted it up, frowning when she realised that it was dead, "Stupid phone." She muttered.
Seojun clicked his tongue, grabbing it from her and pressing the power button, "It was just turned off, stupid." He handed the phone with the dull lit Apple logo back to her, ignoring her shoulder bump at his insult.
"Whatever..." She grumbled, eyes widening at the number of texts that were coming in, the majority being from Jugyeong, "I think you were right..."
Seojun scoffed, "Of course I was."
She elbowed him lightly, "Shut up." She locked her phone back, "I'll answer when I get home." She spoke more to herself, tucking the device into her blazer pocket.
She sighed and laid her head on Seojun's shoulder, closing her eyes, "I'm exhausted."
Seojun let a soft smile take over his face, "You can sleep. I'll wake you up when we get to the right stop."
She nodded, "Thanks..." She mumbled, already losing consciousness.
"Just sleep..." He mumbled back, adjusting his body so he was slightly slouched in the seat so her head could rest more comfortably on his shoulder. He felt her readjust before stilling once more.
He smiled again, the reason why not even crossing his mind.
｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡
11:32 pm
ImJu: I'm so sorry about tonight :-( Are you okay?
+ 4 more messages
6:57 am
Y: Why are you sorry? Don't be sorry, nothing was your fault. I'm completely fine and I'll see you in about thirty mins, okay? I've been worried about you too.
7:20 am
ImJu: Hurry to class right now, I wanna make sure you're okay.
ImJu: Scratch that... come to the office...
Y: Office? :( well fuck...
｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈•ﾟ｡
not proof read </3
hi! i'm updating again so soon! unheard of as of recently... sorry hehe.
this chapter i feel is also a little messy but that's ok, its fiction and it's fun to write and some of you like to read it, which i am immensely grateful for, so thank you. also i hope you like the fluff between seojun and yeona - i wanna make them have a good and cute friendship dynamic for the time being >:)
college update: crying bc i'm gonna be so broke after paying for the required things... >:( but other than that, it's pretty fun.
i hope you're all doing well! HAS ANYONE ELSE STARTED HOMETOWN CHA CHA CHA? i was super excited bc it has one of my favs - kim seon-ho - in it and i didn't know much about the female lead but she's absolutely gorgeous so... adding her to my simp list... :-D anyways it's super good so far! i'm loving it and it has so many familiar faces in it! super excited for the new eps this weekend!
we have officially made it to ep 7! woo! super proud of myself for making it this far!
thank you for reading! as always, comment and vote to boost my ego :-) very much appreciated hehe.
i hope you enjoyed the chapter!
again thank you for reading and also, thank you for 2k+ reads! holy crap?? insane and i'm super grateful <3
ilysm! - haley