ch. 10

"why, why am i afraid?"

-mist

"siyeon, wait for me!"

eunbi rushes to her friend, waving her hand around as if she is catching a taxi, while her breathing becomes faster. the said girl keeps her head forward as a sign of ignoring her as she spots her boyfriend from afar.

and within seconds, she is out of the brunette's sight. the girl puts her hands on her thighs and takes a minute to catch her breath after running toward her roommate.

ever since the conversation at the cafe, siyeon has been distancing herself from her lately. she does not initiate any conversations between the two of them, whether they are eating together, preparing for bed, or walking to school. it continues to escalate where sometimes she leaves early for school and returns to the apartment late when the vocalist is asleep.

at school, she is starting to spend more time with her classmates than with her roommate: walking to class, eating lunch together, and hanging out outside of school hours.

not only that, but yunho has been visiting their apartment more often. and whenever they are together, it is as if they are in their little world. they eat dinner together, they cuddle together, they watch movies together...

they do everything together,

knowing that she is around.

to them,

she's just an insignificant piece of dust in the air

she is so close yet so far from moving on.

it hurts, you know?

the pain won't go away.

the heart is bleeding red.

the eyes are pouring sadness.

the mind is going crazy.

why is it so hard to move on?

what is she doing wrong?

she wants to know.

"princess!"

the girl jolts out of her thoughts when she hears a familiar voice call out to her. she turns her head to the side to see the raven-haired boy run up to her with a bright smile. with his arms open wide, he leaves his group of friends to embrace the girl with a big hug until he notices something.

his arms drop to his side.

"what's with the small frown?" wooyoung questions as his lips falter a little at the sight. "my princess should always be smiling."

she breaks eye contact with him, now staring at the ground. "i..."

she takes a moment to debate whether to trust him or not, ending up choosing the latter. i can't tell him.

"i'm just stressed for the upcoming showcase," she lies, and luckily he does not catch on.

with that statement, the male wiggles his eyebrows with a sneaky smirk pulling on his lips. "oh? is the screaming princess going to take on the stage again?"

"no," she scoffs, a small grin creeping on her face. "let's just say that we're not doing well."

"class f never does well; they're the clowns of the school."

the brunette gives him an offended look, gasping at his comment. "are you calling me a clown?"

"yes," he states nonchalantly, his silly smirk still on display.

the female is about to push him away from him until he brings his face closer to hers, lifting her chin with his hand. "a clown on the outside, but a princess on the inside."

"you and your fucking cheesy lines."

she proceeds with the push and immediately flees from the fallen boy.

his bottom blooms in pain from the fall, grunting as he gets back on his feet. he dusts his pants before chasing after the girl with his arms ready to catch her. "yah! you're going to pay for that."

he earns a response of laughter from her as they follow one another to school. passing through the crowd, eunbi loses the male since her grey sweater helps her blend in with her surroundings. she politely pushes the people away, saying 'excuse me', and squeezes through the small spaces of the human sea while wooyoung struggles from behind. she never had so much energy surging through her body, and she smiles.

she is experiencing that feeling again,

that feeling of dropping weights,

that feeling of relief,

that feeling of happiness,

that feeling of moving on.

before eunbi can zoom through the school gates, an arm grabs onto her wrist and forces her to turn around. expecting the black-haired boy, she lets out a sigh of disappointment.

"man, i was so close-"

when she makes eye contact with the person, however, someone unexpected is standing in front of her.

"san?"

the said boy places a finger on her lips, telling her to be quiet. "let's go hide before wooyoung finds you."

hearing that, a smirk pulls on her lips. "i like your thinking, mr. choi san."

the both of them enter the campus and spot a large bush to hide behind, taking cover in an instant. they position themselves in a crouch while they observe the entrance of the school through the holes of the plant.

as they waited for their group of friends to barge into the campus, silence overcomes them. no one dares to breathe or move, scared they will be caught any second now.

but then, their ears perk when a familiar voice begins speaking.

"baby, what do you think of eunbi?"

eunbi and san glance at each other before facing their attention to the owner of the voice.

a few inches away from the bush, siyeon and yunho are sitting on a bench as they wait for the passing bell to ring throughout the school. the both of them are holding hands, watching the students enter the campus. when she asked him, he adverts his attention on the flow of students to his girlfriend.

"why the sudden question?"

avoiding eye contact, she shrugs as she swings her legs up and down. "no particular reason."

nonetheless, he answers the question.

"she's my best friend," he starts off, tapping his head with his finger. "she's someone who is willing to listen to me, someone who supports my every decision, someone who watches out for me, someone who is taking care of me..."

"in general, someone who is always there for me." he smiles as he remembers all those times with his best friend. "she's like..."

"a little sister."

siyeon then leans her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. "would you ever date her?"

when that question was thrown out, his body stiffens.

would he date her?

he has never thought of it.

he looks over to the girl beside her and flashes her a loving smile. "why would i ever date her when i have you?"

siyeon can hear a hint of doubt in his answer, and that makes her blood boil.

but she can't get mad when yunho has served his purpose of answering those questions.

nearby, the girl behind the bush feels her heart of glass shattering into smaller pieces. the pain concentrates in her chest as the sharpness of every word yunho unintentionally lets out stabs her. tears begin to build in her eyes, blurring her eyesight.

all those positive feelings disperse within seconds, leaving her vulnerable to her negative thoughts.

san takes a glimpse of his friend and his eyes widen when he sees her crying, immediately embracing her as a way to comfort her. he reassuringly pats the brunette's back while she silently weeps into his shoulder, his red sweater slowly absorbing her tears.

he looks at the girl in his arms and then at the boy with his girlfriend, connecting the dots of his words and her reaction to them.

aren't their feelings mutual? he ponders, eunbi still in his arms. they're best friends; his words shouldn't affect her-

and that's when realization hits him.

the guy eunbi is in love with is yunho.

san does not know why, but his heart aches a little.

ignoring the feeling, he adverts his attention from the vocalist to the couple...

and he catches siyeon looking at them with a sinister smile.