Still closing his eyes, Kris stretched on his bed. He hummed in content feeling like he could just roll over on the bed.
Wait. Roll over? Bed?!
His eyes flew open and for a moment he was disoriented and couldn't remember how he ended up sleeping on the bed when he was supposed to be on the couch. Then he remembered what happened last night. He quickly sat up and look to Yeojin's side of the bed only to find it empty. Somehow, he felt this tiny hole inside of him for waking up alone.
__________
Sehun put his bag in and took his books out from the locker. The hall was still pretty quiet. Only a few students who came early were lingering around and passing him by. He was walking past a class when he came to a halt at the second look of the person inside the room.
He didn't need to wreck his brain, to know who the sleeping girl was. He knew right away that it was Yeojin. She sat at the back and was sleeping with her head on her folded arms. He raised a brow looking at her and briefly glanced at his watch.
Well, this is something new. He let out a short chuckle under his breath.
The girl never came to school so early in the morning. She was always either on time or very late. But coming early? Never. Sehun knew this fact because he always came early, and he never saw her around at this hour.
He decided to scare her just to annoy her, but before he could come inside the class, the other door to the class, the one at the front, slid open. Sehun scowled when he saw the guy with the cat-like smile, who - he noticed - had a crush on Yeojin, came in with two cans of coffee, approaching the sleeping Yeojin.
Seriously. Is that guy a vending machine? Sehun mentally scoffed.
He was going to just walk away, but he felt his senses awake at full alert when he saw the guy gently tapped Yeojin's shoulder.
Yeojin stirred awake and sleepily rubbed her eyes before letting out a small yawn, making the guy chuckle. He offered her a can of coffee and she gave him a smile. They then exchanged a look. The guy said something Sehun couldn't hear and he saw how Yeojin's eyes grew wide. She gave him an awkward smile before she finally let out a giggle and nodded to him. Sehun unconsciously balled his hands to fists. He felt like he wanted to just jump in the middle of them and punch the daylight out of the guy.
But why was he feeling that way? He shook his head to clear his mind. He wasn't supposed to feel this way. Could he possible already falling too deep for her?
Nonsense! He scolded himself. But the way they smiled at each other boiled him.
Sehun put his hand on the door, but before he could slid open the door, some girls walked inside the class through the other door. He recognized one of them to be Yeojin's best friend. He watched how the guy abruptly stood up and bobbed his head to Yeojin before scurrying away and bumping him on the way out.
"Oh! Sorry, President," the guy apologized and quickly walked away. The broad grin on his face didn't go unnoticed by Sehun.
Sehun glanced inside the class and saw Yeojin's friend asking her something. Yeojin lowered her gaze and bit down her lip trying to contain her grin. He then saw how her cheeks were blushing.
Is she actually blushing over a can of coffee? Sehun scoffed before walking away with the boiling feeling still lingering inside of him.
"Yeojin?!" Sunhee blinked twice at the sight of her best friend in the classroom. She saw the guy Yeojin was talking too abruptly stood up and bobbed his head before walking away.
She then approached her friend who was still smiling. "Wow! This must be a miracle! You're here early!" She giggled.
"Yeah," Yeojin rubbed the nape of her neck. "Guess I am."
"What happened? Did some fairy finally knock some senses into you?" Sunhee laughed before she instantly stopped at a thought. "Oh wait! Or did something happen between you and...," she glanced around before leaning closer to Yeojin and whispered, "Kris? Did you guys fight again?"
Yeojin was evidently taken aback. "Ye? Uhmm...," she lowered her gaze and bit her lower lip. She could feel heat rising on her cheeks as she remembered what happened last night.
"Wait a minute," Sunhee tilted her head to get a better look at her friend who was avoiding her gaze. "You're blushing," she pointed out. "Why?"
"Huh?" Yeojin met her gaze, but soon look down again. Ugh! Why am I even feeling this way? She mentally slapped herself. And is it just me or is the room getting hotter by every second?
Sunhee suddenly bursted into fits of giggles.
"What?" Yeojin asked raising her brows.
"You're feeling hot, huh?" Sunhee chuckled.
Wait, did I just say that out loud?
"You know what? On second thought, I think I better not listen to what happened between the two of you. I assume something happened last night?" Sunhee giggled again, giving Yeojin a knowing look which Yeojin did not appreciate at all.
"Whatever you're thinking," Yeojin rolled her eyes, "it's not that, okay?!"
"Fine. Whatever. I don't need enlightenment on your marriage life," Sunhee said in a whisper and grinned. "By the way, wasn't that your friend from the running club awhile ago? What's his name again? Jong... Jong... Ah! Jongdae?" Yeojin nodded. "What was he doing here?"
"You'll know." Yeojin answered with a smile.
"Oh! And Jin, I think you need to tell Lin about you and Sehun. She seemed dejected when she knew about it the other day, you know."
"Right." Yeojin suddenly felt guilty. It wasn't that she disregarded Lin as her best friend. She just didn't think that whatever she had with Sehun actually mattered. "I'll tell her about it later. Right now, I need to sleep and you're disturbing me," she leaned on her folded arms again.
"Ooh~ A night of lack of sleep, huh?" Sunhee teased her.
"Shut up!"
Sunhee giggled and walked to her seat.
It was finally time for lunch. The classes went by in a blur (most likely because his mind was in that exact state: blur). And the fact that he had a joint class with the guy with cat-like smile didn't help at all. Sehun had been boring a hole on the guy's head with his stare while the guy was laughing at his friend's joke, oblivious to the death glare he was receiving.
Some time between the classes, Sehun had concluded that his unexplainable boiling rage was not because of jealousy, but because he was annoyed by the fact that the guy was deliberately ignoring his words. He was sure he told the guy to stay away from Yeojin before. So that must be the reason right?
Sehun looked to the left and right and finally spotted Yeojin and Sunhee queuing for their lunch. They were just casually talking and laughing when from the corner of his eyes, he caught the sight of the same cat guy approaching Yeojin. He was hiding something behind his back, and Sehun caught sight of a chocolate bar.
That guy must seriously be a vending machine. He thought as he walked toward Yeojin too and blocked the cat guy's way.
"Oh! Hi, President!" Jongdae beamed making Sehun rolled his eyes. "Excuse me, but I need to-" he tried to walk around Sehun, but was prevented every time. "Err," he glanced at the President and raise an eyebrow, "do you have anything to say to me, President?"
"Tsk. Didn't I tell you to stay away from Yeojin?" Sehun crossed his arms.
"Huh?" Jongdae blinked in confusion. "Stay away from Yeojin? But-"
"She's my girlfriend," he cut off.
"Sehun, what are you doing?" Yeojin was suddenly standing beside him, along with Sunhee, and glaring at him. "Some people are looking," she whispered through gritted teeth.
Sehun scoffed and turned to look at her. "Don't tell me you're going to defend him."
"What? What are you even talking about?" Yeojin asked in confusion.
"Wait, what?! Yeojin is your girlfriend?" Jongdae asked with a little gasp, raising both of his eyebrows in shock. He turned to look at Yeojin. "Wow!" Then to Sehun. "Wow! I did not expect that."
"Jongdae, it's not like that- and Sehun, Jongdae is not-" Yeojin tried to explain but was cut off by Sehun.
"Yeah. So now that you know, shoo away!" Sehun gestured with his hand for Jongdae to leave, but the guy just bursted out laughing. That got Sehun to raise his brows.
"I think you're misunderstanding the situation here, President."
"I don't think I misunderstand. I saw how you're trying to get close to Yeojin these past few weeks, and I saw you this morning. And that choclate," he pointed at his hand that was holding the now-unconcealed choclate, "you're giving it to her, right?"
Yeojin sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "That chocolate is for Sunhee."
"What?" Sehun was taken aback.
"ME?" Sunhee who had been staying silent asked with rounded eyes while pointing to herself.
"Yes. This is for you." Jongdae extended his hand to give her the chocolate.
"O-o-oh. T-thanks," Sunhee shyly took it and lowered her gaze trying to hide the pink dust she felt on her cheeks.
"Let's talk later after school," Jongdae chirped and patted her shoulder before walking away.
Soon after, Sunhee excused herself too. She said she would pass lunch because her stomach was suddenly not feeling well. Yeojin snickered knowing that she must be feeling that way because of the butterflies in her stomach.
"You're embarrassed, aren't you?" Yeojin held back a chuckle and nudged Sehun on his arm when Sunhee had walked away.
"Aish!" He clicked his tongue feeling irritated.
"I don't appreciate you telling Jongdae that we're dating, but," she bursted out laughing, "were you actually jealous?" She laughed again. "Whoa! I didn't know you like me that much, Mr. President!" She teased him.
Sehun suddenly clenched his jaws and his gaze turned serious looking at the still laughing Yeojin. She must had felt his gaze on her because her laughter gradually stopped.
"Yeah. I'm jealous. Happy?" Sehun said, monotone as ever.
For a few seconds they just stared at each other - Yeojin with a confused look while Sehun with a serious one. He then looked away before it turned into a staring competition and just walked away leaving her blinking.
__________
Yeojin was relieved when she got home and found Kris was not home yet. She didn't know how to face him later without feeling awkward. And as she had predicted, the atmosphere over dinner was undeniably awkward between them. They didn't even try to make small talks or even look at each other.
The week passed by quickly with them still not talking. It was like going back to square one where Kris was being cold to her, and Yeojin didn't like it. She was sure that they were starting to patch up their friendship. So, did they really have to go back to square one again? But there was something different this time. It didn't feel like Kris was being cold to her because he hated her. Instead, it felt like he was purposely trying to be cold and not talk to her because he was holding back something. Yeojin kept on wondering what it was. But besides that, she worried over Kris doing chores. She was glad he finally came to his senses, but she could sense there was something wrong.
And then there was Sehun. While Kris looked like he tried to avoid her, Sehun looked like he was trying to get close to her, especially after that straightforward admittance of him being jealous. He didn't say much, but he would offer her a ride home (like usual), drop by her class in the morning just to give her sandwich at times, or buy her drinks some other time. Basically, he was like those tsundere character from the mangas Yeojin used to read. Yet, what made her feel unease about him was the fact that he was chuckling or smiling a lot more because of her or what she clumsily did.
It worried her because she was scared that her fear would come true. That Oh Sehun would fall for her for real.
The passing week just left her with a number of questions about Kris and Sehun. She tried to answer them herself but was left feeling more confused every time. So she decided to just let go of her worries for now. Over thinking does not help anyway.
At least, she was grateful that during the week, it didn't rain cats and dogs. Otherwise, she would have been forced into another awkward moment with Kris. She was also relieved that she finally got to tell Lin what really happened between her and Sehun. Lin apologized when she realized that she was kind of the reason Sehun became more suspicious because she told him she and Kris wasn't living in the same house. However, Yeojin assured her that it wasn't her fault. It was mainly Yeojin's.
__________
Kris tapped his finger on the steering wheel. He bit down his lip, having second thought.
"No, Kris!" He scolded himself. "No more running! The hurt will just multiply if I didn't talk it out with her."
He finally unbuckled his seatbelt and alighted his car. He walked to the coffee shop, and stopped in front of the door. He took a deep breath to collect himself.
Just face it, Kris!
He finally opened the door and scanned the area, looking for her. He spotted Areum at one of the tables and walked toward her after heaving out a breath.
Areum never called or texted him again over the week, but yesterday Kris decided that he had enough time being heartbroken. Not talking to her didn't really help ease the pain either. He figured that maybe he was feeling hurt because they both never really had a closure. They never actually called it off. He just suddenly got married, she suddenly disappeared, and when they met again, she was suddenly engaged. Yep. Everything was sudden.
"Hey," Kris greeted above a whisper, making Areum looked up.
"Oh, hey!" She smiled the smile that used to make his heart skip a beat.
Kris cleared his throat as he took a seat in front of her. "Sorry I was late. Traffic."
"Ah. Yeah. It's okay," she nodded and they tried not to look at each other. Awkwardness was threatening to befall over them if Areum didn't decide to speak up, "Don't you wanna order something?"
"Oh right!" He walked up to the counter to order his drink.
When Kris went back to his seat, the awkwardness just thickened. They would glance at each other one second, but averted their gazed the next. Areum had been sipping her drink from time to time trying to formulate a sentence in her mind. A waitress came by with Kris drink and when she left, they felt the tension again.
"Yifan," Areum finally breathed out, her gaze was zeroed in on her hands cupping her cup of coffee. "I'm sorry," she said before bitting down her lip. "I didn't know you had a plan to divorce her. And even if I knew-"
"It's okay," Kris cut her off, not wanting to hear the 'what if' if even the 'what if' would hurt him.
They both just lowered their gazes and stayed silent. Kris gotta admit that even if it was hard, saying that it was okay had lifted a part of the burden in his chest.
"Are you...happy?" He asked breaking the growing silence as he slowly raised his gaze to her.
Areum lifted her head and gave him a small smile and a nod. "I am."
Kris took in a deep breath and let it out as he nodded understanding. "That's good then." He smiled back. "It's good to at least know that you're happy," he added.
They just smiled at each other and took a sip of their drinks. Though they didn't say anything else regarding her engagement, they both finally felt relieved.
"I never regretted being your girlfriend, but I guess we had always meant to be just friends," Areum shrugged and chuckled. "So?" She looked at Kris now with a burden-free smile and extended a hand. "Shall we be friends, Mr. Lake Monster?"
Kris scoffed to the side before letting out a chuckle. "Sure." He took her hand for a handshake, but when she was going to pull away her hand, he tightened his grip. "On one condition," he lifted his left index finger, "no more bringing up Mr. Lake Monster."
Areum giggled as they both pulled their hands away. "Yeah, whatever."
It's finally the end, huh? Kris thought as they conversed like friends who had not met each other for a long time. As much as it was still hard for him to admit this closure, he did feel relieved.
"Hey, babe," a voice suddenly interrupted their conversation and they looked up to find a man beaming down at Areum.
Areum widened her eyes in surprise while Kris just glanced back and forth between the two.
"What are you doing here? How do you know I'm here?" She asked, standing up with a grin.
"Your employees told me you went out to meet a friend here." The guy wrapped his arm around Areum's waist pulling her closer to him.
Kris felt a little pinch in his heart at the sight.
"Oh right!" Areum turned to look back at Kris. "Yifan, this is my fiancé, Luhan. Luhan, this is my college friend, Yifan."
Kris stood up and shook Luhan's hand. As they both exchanged greetings, Kris gave a smile, but his heart is thundering against his chest. Turned out, letting go was not as easy as it was said or thought. Feeling relieved? Forget it. He felt like dying now.
Kris (stupidly or smartly) decided to let Luhan joined them. Luhan sat beside Areum, his hand never letting go of hers. Their small talks turned into an exchange of college stories which made them grimaced at some and laughed at another. Kris' laughter was honest. He was genuinely laughing along, but he felt his heart crumbling down every time he laid his eyes on their intertwined hands and every time Luhan would randomly ruffled her hair and kiss the top of her head.
In the end, when he excused himself to go back to the office, he left the shop feeling even more shattered than he was before he met Areum. The closure he had with her did bandaged his wounded heart, but the look of happiness she had when she was with someone else squeezed his heart.
When he got back to the office, work suddenly interested him more than it had ever done to him. He drowned himself in work. When he was done with the tasks at hand, he asked Mr. Lee to bring in other paper and documents that he needed to look over for the next day. Mr. Lee had reminded him to go home instead, but one glare from the young man was enough to made him obey. Kris dismissed Mr. Lee after that and told him to go home. Out of worry of Kris' physical and emotional health in overworking himself, Mr. Lee secretly called Yeojin to inform of Kris' plan to work until late at night.
Upon receiving the news, Yeojin waited for him to come home while she did her homework. She already had suspicion that something was wrong with him ever since he started doing chores, and Mr. Lee's call just confirmed her thought. But she still didn't know why he was behaving that way.
Yeojin eventually grew sleepy of waiting for Kris and decided to sleep. It was already 11 o'clock, and unless she wanted to come to school looking like a zombie, she knew she better sleep.
It wasn't until 12.30 did Kris came home. He tossed his bag on the coffee table and shuffled his way to the bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the bed loosening the tie around his neck and heaved out a sigh.
Was I wrong in talking it out with her? Kris ruffled his hair. No! It was the right thing to do. But why? Why is it so hard not to feel this way? He sighed again.
"Kris?" Still lying down, Yeojin rubbed her eyes and turned to lie facing him. "You're finally home?" She marked sleepily, her eyes were barely open.
"O-oh! Y-yeah. Sorry. Did I wake you up?" Kris apologized and she nodded to the pillow with closed eyes. "I'm gonna take a shower. You should go back to sleep."
Kris spent a long time in the shower. He tried to let the cold water cool his head and heart, but it didn't work. Nothing was working. He felt this giant hole slowly forming in his heart.
Coming out from the bathroom, he sat on the edge of the bed again while drying his hair with the towel.
"Are you okay?" came Yeojin's sleepy voice.
Kris turned his head and caught the girl looking back at him with half-lidded eyes.
"None of your concern," he snapped. He didn't mean it to come out rude, but it did and he sighed for that.
But Yeojin seemed too sleepy to even take it to heart. Instead, she offered, "Do you want me to make you a drink?" She was going to sit up, but was stopped by Kris.
"Just go back to sleep." He stood up from the bed to sleep outside as usual.
"Are you sure you don't need anything?"
Kris pondered over her question for awhile. No. "Yes," he gulped a lump in his throat.
Yeojin hummed in response and started closing her eyes again. Kris turned his back on the sleeping girl to walk for the door, but he felt it hard to even move. His feet were firmly planted on the ground.
I must be crazy! Kris squeezed his eyes shut before taking a deep breath.
"Actually," he said as he let out his breath and turned to look at Yeojin again, "can...," he gulped, "can you...do me a favor?"
"Hm?" Yeojin hummed in question. Her eyes were still closed. She was clearly half-asleep and half-awake.
She felt the bed dipped and heard rustles of the duvet before she was suddenly pulled into a familiar embrace. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up to see his face. She wasn't sure if it was because she was still too sleepy, but she thought she saw a drop of tear escaped his closed eyes.
"K-kris?"
"Can you please let us stay like this just for tonight?"
Yeojin lowered her head and nodded to his chest. Somehow this hug felt familiar. It wasn't like the hug they shared the other night. This one felt like the hug they used to share years ago when either one of them was upset over candies or toys or bullies.
She instinctively patted his back as her eyes fluttered close. "Are you...okay?"
She couldn't see it, but she felt him slowly shaking his head.
"It hurts...," he mumbled under his breath and hug her tighter. Was this how she felt when he was gone? Was it this painful for her? He suddenly felt guilt washing over him for constantly adding salt to her wound with his cold behavior. "I'm sorry."