"I'm not yours,"
It came out of Jisoo's mouth flat, emotionless as her disappointed eyes crossed his shocked ones. She swayed her hand off his tight grip harshly before pushing his phone to his solid chest, but he was quick to place his hand over hers.
For a moment, time stopped, the music faded, and the crowd disappeared except the man she was staring at. His doe eyes reflected his feelings like a deer caught in the headlights, speechless as if a cat caught his tongue, and after days of worry and anxiety, Jisoo neither tolerated nor had the energy to dig for excuses, nor to understand what was behind his actions. So, she let her small hand slip off his hold for the second time, breaking the eye contact as everything revived back to motion.
"Why are you here, Jisoo? It is dangerous. You need to stay behind--"
"I was a fool to think you changed. Mark was right, I should stay away,"
"Jisoo, let's talk---"
She could not let him finish; she was too far gone to hear his voice without punching his face. She passed him as the exit door was no longer in sight, blocked by the stubborn pervert to show off another failed flirting attempt.
The man leaned closer, licking his lips. "Trouble in paradise? Why don't I help you forget all about him?"
In Jisoo's defense, he asked for it. She smiled innocently, wrapping her slender arms around his neck as her hand went up to his hair. "You never listen to warnings, don't you?"
The smirk glued to the stranger's cocky face turned into confusion that quickly was replaced by pain as she pulled his her harshly, his neck arched in a painful twist and before he could register the turn of events, she kicked his knee brutally as her punch in his nose knocked him to the ground.
The man's loud groan silenced the crowd, all triggered by the unusual scene. Giving the man one last disgusted glare before turning to her partner one last time.
"You forgot who I am. I never did or will need you, Park Jinyoung."
"The lecture is over. Please do not forget to submit your projects before the deadline, no excuses will be accepted."
The professor's announcement brought Jisoo back to the university hall from her long deep stare at the blank notebook page. The pen dropped on the wooden bench; her fingers were numb from the uncomfortable position she had them on. She watched the pen dancing to her phone's vibration with her screen flashing with every message sent by Jinyoung.
'Stop ignoring me and avoiding my texts, Kim Jisoo' - Jinyoung
'Why are you so dramatic?' - Jinyoung
'I can see you, we need to talk anyway' – Jinyoung.
She cursed him under her breath, shoving her abandoned stuff back into her backpack.
"Jisoo-ah." Yugyeom and BamBam cooed, both flashing their sweetest smile that contrasted with the scowl on Jinyoung's face behind them.
"What's the new trouble you got yourself into?" Jisoo asked suspiciously.
"It isn't much trouble yet!" They defended, taking a seat next to her. "We are failing Math and you are our only hope to pass this cursed subject."
Yugyeom pleaded with his puppy eyes that he she had a soft spot for. "Fine, but with free drinks until you pass."
"What do you think of my business, freebies? I will go bankrupt before the opening at this pace!" BamBam whined.
"Study next time then." She teased. "What are you doing after this?"
"I have practice then will go back to the café, you?"
"Why do you accompany us instead of going to the library? We can go to the café after Gyeom's practice, it is boring to attend alone."
"It's called supporting my best friend, Bam!"
"Don't think of fighting, Let's go."
"We need to talk," Jinyoung intervened, blocking her from leaving. Jisoo looked down, her lips pressed into a thin line, arms crossed.
"Why are you even mad?"
A sarcastic laugh came from Jisoo as she brought her face up to a clueless annoyed face.
There is nothing to talk about. You were right with the stranger's deal after I took off my cast, I should not have been surprised with your bad boy troublesome acts."
"No, why are you acting like you are jealous of that girl as if we are a thing?" Jinyoung's loud frustrated voice rang through the empty hall with surprised gasps from the duo stuck in the situation.
Jisoo blinked, words hard to process, her heart throbbing in unease. For unclear reasons, it was challenging more than her physics midterm to form a sentence. 'Is it true that the burn in her lung was because of jealousy?' she pondered, unsure of the answer.
"Is it true, Jisoo?"
'It's more than that,' a part of her startled her with the revelation she never expected. She swallowed, turning the switch of her brain on again with the main reason behind her anger.
"I do not know what is true. I only know about the fact while we were worried sick about you, while we were backing you up at college and work, you were playing around. Your ghosting was what I saw, and I cannot understand the reason behind that unless you are ready to share your thoughts."
"I never asked anyone of you to care, you don't need to." It was defensive, low as a hesitant whisper, yet powerful enough to pierce her heart as a flicker of pain spread through. It was not worth it to respond, she saw the dead end with or without reasons with different unexpected outcomes. So, she left again.
The lump in her throat and the brimming tears were because she was overwhelmed, stressed, tired, anything but Jinyoung. She promised herself to never cry for a boy ever again and she would hold into it.
Her feet took her to the cafeteria, clumsily stepping into someone's white sneakers. "What the hell is wrong with---oh."
"Oh."
It was the first time meeting him on campus and their second after the movie night, Jinyoung's old friend. An awkward coincidence right after fighting with the now-official stranger, what to do?
"That hurt," The boy broke their silence. Jisoo's cheeks turned pinkish from the embarrassment, flustered. "S-sorry, I did not mean to. Should we go to the infirmary?" she rambled nervously.
The boy's brownish intense eyes softened, a small laugh escaping his perfectly shaped yet chapped lips. "That hurt mentally, you just stained my favorite white sneakers."
"I'm so sorry, I really---"
"It's okay, I was teasing you." He snickered, combing the bangs of his board forehead as he watched her faking a glare. "You are too cute for this, Let Us stop. Consider it breaking the ice."
"Believe me when I say, I am not cute. At least let me buy you a drink for my silly mistake." Jisoo offered with a kind smile that he mirrored with a nod.
Their order took ten minutes, an iced caramel macchiato and an unexpected Spanish latte. "My first impression never took you for a sweet tooth type of guy." She said, handing him the drink as they walked side by side.
He chuckled, amused by the teasing comeback. "Which drink did your first impression think of me?"
"Hot double-shot espresso."
"That's too bitter."
"You looked too sad and troubled for a movie night." Jisoo reasoned, taking a sip of her cold drink. She regretted it when she turned to look at him, witnessing sadness mixed with the smile he had. "I'm sorry, I—"
"It is okay, you are right. Sehyuk actually forced me to join him that day."
"Oh, the boy in the wheelchair, right? How is he?"
"He is walking again, still annoying, and stubborn. He is a good person though."
"Happy to know that. Me and Gyeom had a fun talk with him while you bonded with Jinyoung."
"It was a nice surprise to see him there after his disappearance." Kihyun's words made Jisoo stop to face him with arched eyebrows.
"He disappeared?"
"I cannot blame him though. It took me a while to accept the changes after his parent's death. It hurt when he vanished without a goodbye while his brother functioned as if he never had a brother even when I begged him to tell me about my best friend's whereabouts. I thought I would punch Jinyoung to death myself for the years I spent searching for him, but when I saw him, the thoughts threw themselves out of the window. We hugged the longing, the sadness, and the happiness out in a big tight hug."
Jisoo's eyes widened, trying to process the train of revelations Kihyun said. "Jinyoung's parents are d-dead?"
"He didn't tell you, aren't you close?"
"Y-yes. N-no, I do not know. He never shared that though." Jisoo drawled out, overwhelmed with added information.
"Oh my god. I did not mean to spill. Please, do not tell him like you just heard nothing. He is going to hate me for it. You looked cozy and so close that night that I even thought you were a thing."
"We aren't!"
"He had the same quick defensive answer,"
"Because we are nothing to each other!" Jisoo's defensive response earned a suspicious look from the boy. "I'm serious, we are even back to strangers." Her voice turned to a low huff as her eyes cast on her coffee with sadness.
"W-what does that even mean?"
"Long story, but can I ask you for a favor?"
"Depends?"
"Can you take care of Jinyoung or be there for him? Something is going on with him masked with his stupid playboy agenda, but he doesn't trust me enough, maybe if you talked to him, he would open up?"
"Are you sure?"
"No, there is more chance of him being a complete asshole bastard who is a bad boy?"
"Hey! That is my bestie, and he is a true good friend."
"Doesn't deny the fact he is annoying brick."
"Wow, Jisoo. You are really mad at him, aren't you?"
"Yes, Kihyun. I hate your friend more than Gyeom hates you."
"Ouch, you keep hurting me on our first date."
"If this is a date, you failed miserably."
"Knockdown."