edited 25aug21
• chapter 42: why do you care...?
After three days of not attending school, Hyemi finally came. Her parents already informed the office her absence beforehand and she though that was the first time in awhile they truly cared about herself, not about her academy in general.
But that didn't change the fact that her father slapped her. She couldn't forget that.
It was still early when she arrived. The classes were empty. To say she was not afraid was a lie. She's terrified.
Instead of sitting on her place she sat at Jeongin's. Surely after the fight with Seungmin none of them want to see each other if possible.
And she was right.
During the whole lesson, she did not just ignore Seungmin, but the younger guy as well.
Jeongin noticed something was off between them, especially after seeing Seungmin being his old self back. He barely talk and only eat a little, that's it, if needed. He'd leave the dining hall earlier than usual and disappeared nowhere. A minute after the bell rang he'd return. For the three days he had been acting like that, no one knows why until Hyemi appeared at school.
Clearly they had a fight.
It was recess again and Seungmin already left. Jeongin decided to follow the guy while Hyemi stayed still. She heaved a small sigh.
how do i talk to him?
It was stupid, she did not care about his feelings at that moment. Before this she promised not to say anything about parents but then look at what she did.
Even though it was subtle, it was still there.
As much as she wanted to hold in, she felt her cheeks was wet.
i can't cry, she thought before leaving the class. She knew she couldn't meet Seungmin at the moment. So she searched for anyone else. Stopping in front of a particular class, she opened the door but someone else inside had done it earlier.
Seeing Hyunjin, she finally dropped in his arms, crying silently.
"Hey.." the guy stroke her back, knowing why she cried. "It's fine. This won't last long."
"I don't know how to talk to him. It was pretty bad."
"Did you mean it?" she shook her head. "Then tell him that. I'm sure he'll understand."
"He did something that I told him not to but he looked so hurt." she muttered between sniffles. "But I didn't mean it."
Hyunjin smiled softly and pat her head. "Hyemi, misunderstanding is normal in any kind of relationship. Friends, couples, married couples, they all will go through this. The only way is to talk. Explain it to him. After all you wanted to be alone at that moment."
When there was no reply, he continues, "I'm not siding to anyone of you because you're both my close friends. And I don't know what really happened between both of you so I can't talk much. Neither do I want you guys to fight but things happen and the only way to solve it is communication. But I'm not urging you to tell him soon, it's gonna take a plenty of time."
The girl just nodded. Hyunjin took her hand in his. "Hungry?" she nodded again. "I bought some bread earlier. Let's eat somewhere outside."
‹›‹›‹›
It hurts.
Seeing Hyunjin hugging the girl hurts.
Watching them walking away with smiles and hand in hand hurts.
Not being able to comfort her..
hurts.
When they vanished from his eyes, Seungmin finally got out from behind the wall. He didn't mean to spy on them, he was just thinking of giving Hyemi some food that she might be starving in the class. But instead, he saw them talking in front of Hyunjin's class.
He couldn't hear the conversation, he didn't want to hear it. But he's disappointed in himself.
Clutching the small caramel pudding container in his hand, he walked back to the cafeteria, not bothering to know where the two friends going.
‹›‹›‹›
The weekend passed by like a flash. It was Monday again. Seungmin finally made up his mind to clear the misunderstanding. He missed her. They haven't talked in five days and he wondered how the girl was doing. That morning he walked to her house, nervously clutching on the strap of his bag.
As he was about to press the bell, the gate opened and her mother walked out. The woman was surprised seeing him there and Seungmin's hand froze. "G-good morning, Ms Jung." he bowed.
The woman smiled and greeted him back. "Are you here for Hyemi?" he nodded. "Oh, I think she already went to school with a friend. Hyunjin maybe? They just left ten minutes ago."
Hyunjin again.
He gritted his teeth before nodding slowly, thanking the woman. He walked away, the clutch turned into a fist.
The pain stroke his heart when he thought of losing the girl. Why am I always late?
He haven't gotten too much sleep since the day they last talked. He was afraid if he is going to lose another important person in his life. He didn't want that to happen.
Arriving school, he went straight to the infirmary, reasoning that he needed some rest before the class starts. The nurse let him and as he closed his eyes, he drifted into sleep, not realising he missed a few classes.
"Seungmin hyung didn't say anything to me." Jeongin muttered, scribbling random words on his exercise book before erasing them. Then he did it all over again.
Hyemi glanced towards Seungmin's empty seat. Even the teachers didn't know where he was. She felt sorry for Jeongin. "Maybe he has something urgent."
The younger guy looked at her with sad eyes. "Are you guys okay?"
Honestly, no.
She looked down to her book, "I thought it's obvious."
"I'm sorry." he suddenly apologised. "I'm the one who wants you to-"
"It's fine, this is not your fault." she quickly cut him off. "This is far from your fault. Don't feel sorry, okay?"
Jeongin wasn't sure at first. He pouted, giving sad eyes to the girl. Hyemi chuckled, "I'm going out for awhile." She walked out and looked to the left and right.
"I thought I saw him this morning.." she said to herself. Her legs brought her to a specific hallway which she recognised it immediately- the infirmary. The door suddenly opened and Seungmin walked out with his bag slung over his shoulder. "Seungmin!"
The guy glanced towards her with a blank look. He just woke up and when seeing the girl, his expression changed. Instead of going her way he turned around, heading to the opposite.
Weirded out, she catch up to him. "Are you not going to class?" she asked while trying to match her pace with him. "Are you sick?"
Why does she care?
"Seungmin-"
"Why do you care." he asked back, sounding like a plain statement.
"If this is about the other day, I'm not going to talk it like this." she pulled his arm and stood in front of him, blocking his way. "Where are you going?"
"Don't mind me, will you?"
"Why are you like this?" she groaned, frustrated at the stubborn boy. "I'm just asking a question! Just- don't think about that night right now, please. We won't talk about that when you're like this."
"I'm like this?" a sarcastic tone evident in his voice. "You know why I'm like this?"
"Seungmin-"
"Then why won't you answer mine first? Why do you care?"
"What's wrong with you?!"
"Stop, Hyemi." he hissed, clearly annoyed. "Just stop whatever you're doing, I already don't like you."
w..what?
"Stop pretending that you care."
"I'm.." she was speechless. "Seungmin, about the other day, can we talk it later? I just want to check up on you if you're doing good or not because—"
"Do I look like I am?" he stifled a laugh. The girl examined his face features. No, he was not doing well. His face was awfully pale and it looked like he haven't gotten enough sleep. "Why do you even care?"
She gulped and said quietly. "Because you're my friend."
There was silence between them. Hyemi looked at him with hope but he returned it with a cold gaze. "Why do you care about someone who doesn't even care about you?"
The question stroke her before she felt a pain in her chest. Her expression slightly changed, surprised at the sudden question and statement. It hurts more when the guy didn't show any signs of sorry.
"Your parents already know about Jeonghoon so I don't have to worry anymore," he gripped the strap of his bag tighter as he said that. "After all that's the reason why I'm befriending with you."
stop...
"Go to Hyunjin. He's better than me." He walked past her, heading to the entrance. There's no use of attending class when he had missed three classes in the morning. His attendance is zero anyway.
Meanwhile Hyemi, she just stood in the hallway, shocked at his words as she felt a few knives stabbing her heart.
did he really?
🥀
don't question a person why he/she often cries. there are some things that might triggers the person and the only way to let it out is cry.
don't make decision or say anything when you are angry or upset. this will only lead to a bigger argument.
don't avoid if someone wants to clear a misunderstanding. without communication, you won't get the happy moments you spent with the person back.
:)