❝Sooner or later we've all got to let go of our past.❞
— Dan Brown.
⊱Chapter 8⊰
AN ODD FEELING
• — ••• — •
Flashback.
"Soyeon-ah! Hyejin-ah!"
Chaeyoung screamed on top of her lungs as she sprinted towards her two friends with an exhausted Jimin chasing after her.
"Oh, God. What is it this time?" Hyejin exhaled in amusement.
"Who knows." Soyeon chuckled.
"Tell him I didn't cheat during this Math exam we had last week!"
"She didn't cheat during this Math exam we had last week." Hyejin and Soyeon both stated with an unbothered expression on their faces.
"Of course they'll have your back!" Jimin exclaimed before turning his attention to the girls, "She had an A+! How is that possible!"
"I'm smarter than you, you'll have to get use to it Jimin!"
"Hyejinie!" Jimin placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, "We've been friends for how long now? How can you lie to me?"
"You guys don't put me in your couple fights."
"W-we aren't a c-couple."
"W-what c-couple?!" exclaimed Chaeyoung.
"R-Right ! What couple?!"
"Ya! Why?! Are you ashamed to be assimilated with me?!" Chaeyoung hit Jimin's shoulders.
Hyejin and Soyeon bursted out in laughter upon seeing the two stumble on their words. Hyejin rolled her eyes and turned around, locking her arm with Soyeon's,
"Let's just leave them deal with this."
End of the flashback.
Looking up from her magazine, Hyejin was taken aback by the sight. As she watched the two familiar figures walking towards the counter hand-in-hand, her breath got stuck in her throat.
All of a sudden, the cozy and warm atmosphere now turned awkward and uneasy. While she wanted to act like she didn't see them, her head couldn't turn away.
"Hyejin?"
Soyeon's soft voice called out her name. It took her a couple of seconds to gain her senses back and respond, "Hey Soyeon"
Soyeon used to be Hyejin's bestfriend back in High School. She completed the ultime 3 musketeers trio composed of Hyejin, Chaeyoung and herself. The entire school knew about them, not for being mean or something, but just for being the friendship goal everyone looked up to.
However, in their very last year of High School, their trio divided. Soyeon started going her own way and taking sides against Hyejin which lead their friendship to vanish into ashes.
Jungkook followed his girlfriend's eyes after hearing the name and his expression fell instantly. In a blink of an eye, he let go of Soyeon's hand and simply stared straight forward.
The girl looked down at their separated hands and tried to meet her boyfriend's gaze in vain.
As she was also shaken up by the presence of her long lost bestfriend, she ignored it and went back to Hyejin, walking towards the counter slowly, "Since how long have you been back?"
'I'm fine, thanks for asking.' She thought with a smile before saying, "It's only been a couple days."
"I—I see." Soyeon mumbled.
"What can I do for you today Soyeon-ssi?" Lisa took over the conversation.
Hyejin tried her best to hide her embarrassment with a smile until her eyes met Jungkook's. His expression was hard to read.
While Hyejin was the one who knew him more than anyone else, she also remembered the amount of time they've spent apart.
Every single person changes in the course of life and she wasn't sure of what Jungkook was feeling at this moment.
"There you go Jinie!" Hoseok came into the scene, placing a porcelain cup in front of the girl carefully, "With tons of whipped cream right?"
Hyejin's eyes grew wider as she watched Hoseok putting on a thin layer of caramel sprinkles on top of her drink.
The satisfaction of getting to drink her favourite hot beverage took away her worries, "Oh my Lord, I'm in heaven!"
"Yaa~ Jungkook-ah! You're here again?" Hoseok exclaimed with his hands on both hips.
"Hi oppa," Soyeon greeted with a cute and shy smile only to cause Hoseok's to fall down into a frown.
"Oh, hi Soyeon-ssi." He responded coldly before heading to the other side of the counter, walking to Hyejin's position.
"Ya, hyung! Aren't you the one making my coffee too?!" Jungkook cried out.
"Lisa will do it!" He waved his hand to his friend, ignoring him completely and sat next to Hyejin.
"So, how was your first day?"
"Not too bad. I got to meet some of the staff then had an emergency surgery. Jin oppa told— No, forced me to go on break so here I am."
"And he was right. It's 3:00 pm and you started pretty early since you were already there when the guys came over." He frowned.
As expected of one of her older brothers, Hoseok was worried. She let out a chuckle at the sight of his frowning face, "I'm not a kid anymore oppa. That's my job."
"Right. But you won't do your job properly if you don't take a break and have an empty stomach— Oh" His facial expression changed abruptly, "Did you eat?!"
Hyejin shook her head, "No, I'm not really hung—"
Without letting her finish her sentence, Hoseok jumped off his stool and ran to the counter. "I'll make you a sandwich."
"Ohh, it's ok! Don't—"
"Still turkey instead of ham, right?"
Just like for Jin, Hyejin knew it'll be a waste of time going against his words. Instead, she sighed and gave in, "Yes"
"So.. um.." Soyeon hesitated.
Hyejin completely forgot she was present. She looked to her side and waited for her to continue,
"How long are you staying in Seoul for?"
"I'm back for good, I work here now." 'And I'm doing perfectly fine after all those years, thanks for asking again.' Hyejin had a full conversation going on in her head.
"Oh. I see." Soyeon's expression fell down to the floor as if it wasn't low enough. She looked up at her boyfriend but the latter had eyes for Hyejin only.
Her hands turned into fists before turning to the cash, "After thinking about it, we'll have it to go Lisa."
"We are?" Jungkook raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. You told me you had something to show me. Don't you remember babe?"
"Oh. I can show you later."
"Let's just do it now."
Hyejin watched the scene from the side. For some reasons, it hit her right in the chest and she didn't know why.
It's been years since they broke up— and it wasn't the best break up. She moved on a long time ago.
She was amused at first but the butterflies soon invaded her stomach. A mix of emotions caught her breath and she felt uneasy.
*bip bip bip*
As if a force above heard her thoughts, Hyejin's pager rang off releasing her from the awkwardness. She immediately stood up and took the small device off her belt.
"Ah, I have to go Hobi—"
"DONE !" Hoseok shouted, running to the girl with a paper bag, "Take this before you go!"
"Thank you! I'll eat it well!" Hyejin grabbed her sandwich and finished her drink in one go, "It was nice meeting you Lisa and seeing you two. Bye!"
"Bye Dr. Kim! Good luck !" Lisa waved happily.