ch. 41

"i wish somebody would have told me."

-good old days

"so we know what we are doing before the dance, right?"

everyone is leaning toward the center of the table, listening to each others' ideas on how they will prepare for the dance.

"dress up, pictures, and then food." mingi answers hongjoong's question, and everyone nods their head in agreement.

yunho claps his hands together, dispersing the huddle. "now that we finished planning, i'm going to enjoy lunch with siyeon."

"oi, yunho! wait for san and i!" wooyoung pulls his best friend up from his seat and the two of them follow the tall male to the table where yunho's girlfriend and her friends were eating at.

the remaining boys slump into their seats, a sigh leaving their lips, while the girl opens her lunch box. she feels her friends eyeing her, already knowing the reason behind, and reaches into her backpack to pull out another container.

when she settles her other set of food in the middle, everyone takes a piece from the box and enjoys the deliciousness of her cooking. yeosang smiles at the taste of the flavor exploding in his mouth, humming with content.

"we heard that you and wooyoung got into an argument," hongjoong brings up as he grabs a sausage from the lunch box.

recalling her morning, she pinches the bridge of her nose with annoyance. "yeah, it was bad."

seonghwa, who is sitting next to her, places a hand on her shoulder with a worried expression on his face. "did he hurt you? when he gets emotional, he tends to lash out."

she shakes her head, taking in a deep breath. "i'm fine, seonghwa-ssi. nothing physical happened between us."

as the conversation continues, yeosang glances to the table where his other friends are hanging out at. his gaze instinctively lock onto wooyoung and siyeon whispering to one another before exchanging phone numbers behind yunho's back.

for a second, a malicious glint appears in the eyes of his black-haired companion once he returns to san's side.

the blond male scrunches his eyebrows together, not liking the scene he witnessed, before returning his attention to his other friends. his ears pick up a few words from mingi's slightly loud statement, and his heart drops when he processes them.

"you rejected wooyoung?!?"

eunbi flinches a little at the volume of his voice, but confirms the truth behind the sentence with a nod. "i didn't want to lead him on, thinking that my feelings are mutual, so i told him. we're still going to the dance, but just as friends."

"i'm going to be honest here," hongjoong begins. "but it is a good thing that you told him."

hearing that causes the brunette to raise an eyebrow. "why is that?"

"you have to be kidding." mingi slaps his face and slowly drags it downward, dumbfounded at her clueless self. "you don't know anything about wooyoung?"

she shakes her head, blinking with confusion.

with the two of his friends eyeing him, seonghwa decides to lean closer to her ears and prepares himself to tell her what he knows about the male until she is yanked away from him.

"yeosang, what are you doing-"

before he could finish, the male leads eunbi away from the table and they exit the cafeteria within a flash. he drags her to an empty practice room and quickly shuts the door, his heart pounding against his chest. eunbi looks around the room, slightly panicking due to the quiet boy's sudden change in demeanor.

she grabs the sleeve of his red sweater, tugging it a little to grab his attention. "yeosang-ah, what's wrong-"

"you rejected wooyoung?!?"

she did not expect him to shout at her like that, especially since he does not talk much whenever she is around. but nonetheless, she answers him truthfully.

"for the last time, yes i did. is there a problem with that?"

with her confirmation, he worriedly brushes his hand through his hair, biting his bottom lip, as he paces around the area. he curses under his breath as memories play through his mind, and he looks directly at the girl.

images begin flashing before his eyes at the possibilities of the future outcomes of this girl's decision. his body shivers in fear at the thought of those scenes happening in their reality.

"yes, it's a huge problem."

he sighs again while he builds the confidence to address the reason behind his answer. he walks over to the wall and starts banging his head against it.

taken back by the abrupt action, eunbi rushes to his side and pulls him away from the surface. she forces him to sit next to her on the piano bench and waits for the blonde to calm down.

"hey," she calls out as she runs circles on his back. "take deep breaths for me."

obliging to her request, he takes his time breathing in and out, which relaxes him a little. although his heart is still racing, he decides to tell her the truth.

the truth behind wooyoung.

"the reason why hongjoong said that it was a good thing you reject wooyoung because he is known for flirting, having multiple flings at once, and holding relationships that lasted for only a few months. he's doesn't take anyone's feelings into consideration."

the girl simply stays quiet as he explains everything, her face scrunching in a disgusted expression.

"however..."

he lets out a shaky breath.

"he takes his feelings seriously."

she was hesitate at first, but her curiosity continues to urge her to ask him about her involvement in this.

"so what does this have to do with me?"

lifting his gaze from his shoes, he subconsciously grabs her hand out of the need of comfort. she returns the gesture, intertwining their fingers together, as he trembles within her grasp.

"wooyoung and i have known each other since junior high," the male begins. "we were really close to one another, like how he is with san now."

he tightens his grip on her hand.

"and during junior high, wooyoung was notorious for dating girls like how he is now; all the girls love him. but among the female population, he had his eye on only one person: jeon aerum."

eunbi notices the soft smile tugging on his lips when he mentions the name, recalling nostalgic memories he had before.

"she was a friend of ours during the time: the top student of our class and a member of the dance club. we met through dancing and have stuck together ever since. we were best friends..."

"until wooyoung confessed to her," eunbi finishes.

he sadly nods, his teeth gritting against each other. "one day, he had the courage to tell her. i brought her to the roof of the school, where wooyoung was waiting with roses in his hand. he told her about his feelings, but they were unfortunately declined by the girl herself."

anticipation begins to build within the brunette's body as he continues the story.

"as she left the roof, wooyoung literally broke down with those red roses withering in his grasp. i was there to comfort him, but it wasn't enough for him. he brushed me aside and left me alone on the roof."

"a few days have passed since the rejection, and i noticed how aerum began wearing leggings under her skirt. sometimes, she came in either bandages or a scarf around her neck. her eyes were always red and her grades were dropping. everywhere she goes, she was limping. eventually, she never came back to school because she moved schools."

a tear falls down his face.

"unlike aerum, wooyoung was happier than before. he was smiling once again and began dating other girls as if his feelings for aerum never existed. with that, the three of us began drifting from one another."

the both of them immerse into silence as eunbi takes in the whole story. with the information she received, she tries connecting the pieces together before giving up and sparing a small glance to the shivering blond male.

she has never seen yeosang so frightened.

but why is he though?

what happened that was so traumatic to him?

wooyoung was probably just moving on and the aerum girl was probably going through-

bandages or scarf around her neck.

wearing leggings under her skirt.

red eyes.

limping.

then, it clicks.

"oh my god." her eyes widen at the thought of her answer. "are you implying that-"

"i'm not sure," he replies quickly, not wanting to hear the finished statement. "but i think that is what happened."

hearing his confirmation, she suddenly stands up from the piano bench and rolls up her sleeves. her right eye starts twitching out of anger as her body temperature gradually increases.

"what the actual fuck?!?" she spats. "just because she didn't like him?!? this motherfucker-"

she is immediately yanked down into the seat when she took her first step, glaring at the person with anger. however, her emotions slowly die down once she meets the soft eyes of the male.

she sighs, the negative sensation escaping her lips. "so you're telling me all of this because i'm might will be going through what aerum experienced."

"yes. earlier, i saw wooyoung and siyeon together for a few seconds, so i'm pretty sure he has already started planning."

now she's the one trembling, wondering what will happen later on.

will it be the same as aerum's or different?

will it be better or worse than before?

what will wooyoung be pulling off?

she flinches when the grip on her hand tightens once more.

"i-i don't want to lose anymore friends," yeosang mumbles, fighting back the tears in his eyes. "i lost one already, and i-i'm not ready to lose another one."

her heart softens at the fragile state of her friend, bringing her free hand to wipe the stray tears that have escaped. she can tell that he cherishes his loved ones dearly despite his rude remarks and quiet personality.

"everything will be alright," eunbi promises as she ruffles his hair. "nothing is going to happen to me, yeo. i will be ready when the time comes-"

suddenly, the door opens and the pair avert their attention from one another to figure standing in front of the entrance of the room.

choi san.