The next couple of weeks feel like deja vu. Donghyuck avoids Dahee as best as he can, not even sparing a glance in her direction. She understands that he needs space, and she is giving him that, but it still hurts. Everything she felt the first time this happened resurface. It is a taunting feeling, and the familiar dread that comes along with it makes everything harder.
"Is Hyuck avoiding you?" Renjun questions her curiously as he watches Donghyuck abruptly turn the other way when he sees them and gets engulfed in the sea of students that fill the hallway.
"He... he confessed to me a few weeks ago." She tells him, nibbling on the skin of her bottom lip.
"Finally, it was about time," he says nonchalantly. "His confession was so long overdue."
"Wait," she pauses, "you knew?"
"He was good at hiding it from you," he says and leans against the wall behind them. "But, to everyone else, he didn't even bother. He'd be so obvious to us and always talked about you nonstop whenever you weren't around. There were so many times I wanted to tell you, 'cause he was just so slow, and I wanted to help him out before it was too late... and too late it was."
Renjun doesn't have a problem with Donghyuck liking his sister; he knows the latter will never do anything to hurt her. He even offered to help, he tells her, but Donghyuck declined and said he can win her over on his own. Renjun just watched from a distance as he tried to make her fall for him. But he didn't really try, or at least he didn't try harder. Donghyuck was only being cautious though, afraid to make any bold advances.
As much as he wanted to help him, Renjun didn't want to pry and let Donghyuck do whatever he thought would work. It was painful to watch. He felt like a referee watching an awful game of basketball and he just wanted to step in and help the players, but he didn't─couldn't. So, he just watched by the sidelines as one of his closest friends slowly got his heart broken. It is a little too late to step in now, the game is already over and Donghyuck had lost.
"It's happening all over again," she forces out a chuckle that turns into a shaky sigh and Renjun's eyes soften. "I'm gonna lose him like I lost Mingxia, aren't I?"
But Donghyuck is having it worse. All the pining and loving Dahee in secret took a toll on his heart where she had─still has─a special place in. He knew that one day all the feelings he had been bottling up would explode like a bomb, so sudden but expected. He regrets not telling her sooner, but then he thinks he would still probably get rejected.
"Should I talk to her?" He ponders aloud, asking mostly himself but also to Mingxia who is laying flat on her stomach on his bed as she messily paints her nails a vibrant green.
"If you're ready," she takes a quick glance at him before resuming her previous actions. "Doesn't look like you are though. Just take your time, Hyuck, I'm sure she'll understand."
He leans against the headboard and heaves a sigh, remembering how filled with guilt Dahee's eyes were when they had made eye contact in the hallways for a split second before he turned on his heel and walked the other way. Guilt is sometimes accompanied by pity, and he assumes she probably pities him. He pities himself, too.
"Xia," he pauses, "how did you do it?"
She looks at him and raises an eyebrow, "Do what?"
"Get over someone," he clarifies, his voice shaky. "You told me you were in the same situation as me before, right? How did you get over her?"
"I don't know, I just did," she says as she twists the nail polish cap close and lets her freshly painted nails dry. "Each day I wasn't near her, my feelings lessened and lessened... until it wasn't even there anymore. It was a long and slow process, but I got over her eventually. And I know you can, too."
"What if I don't?" He swallows the lump in his throat, his fears gnawing at his nerves. "I don't want to be in love with her for the rest of my life."
"Dahee ain't shit, you'll move on before you know it." She says and immediately drops her joking expression when he doesn't laugh. She scoots closer with the help of her elbows, giving him an assuring smile that brings him somewhat of a comfort. "You'll get over her, Hyuck, and I will be with you throughout the whole process."
"How do you know that?" His voice almost breaks as the words tumble down his tongue. "How do you know I'll be able to get over her?"
"I loved her once, too, and I was able to move on."
