𝗨𝗣 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘, ᴅᴏɴɢ sɪᴄʜᴇɴɢ

thirty

"What happened to giving her up?" Yena asked as she threw an ice pack towards Sicheng, who caught it with a wince.

He sat on her bedroom floor, his back resting against her bed as his head fell back, tiredly. It's been exact 2 hours since Hyewon left and in that 2 hours, Sicheng had a rage attack in his room where he ended up punching a wall. Which did not end well as he now sat here with only Yena to nurse him.

The shorter girl stared at him from her doorframe, tilting her head as she watched him try to ice his bruised knuckles. "I've said this many times before, but wow, your idiocy never fails to amaze me." She sighed as she pushed off the frame and walked toward him.

"Not now, please." He pleaded, yet annoyed too. He didn't want to hear any "I told you so's". This was already a messy situation as it was, no need to rub anymore salt into his wounds.

She sat at the edge of her bed, her legs right beside Sicheng's slouched figure. "I'm sorry, bud." She softly patted his dark mop of hair. Sicheng was too tired to even react, instead letting his head rest against her legs.

"It all happened so fast... One moment she's crying then she was pissed at me and crying again and we were yelling at each other and... I just kissed her?"

Yena listened to him speak. She allowed him to pour out all his emotions to her. She needed him to. It was the only way she knew she could help. That was if she even could in the first place.

"How come she was mad?" She asked.

"Yuta broke up with her... She said it was because of me, but I just don't get it." Yena hummed along. "Yena, do you think it's my fault?" He tilted his head toward the girl.

She stared down at him, her gaze softening as she continued playing with his hair. "Of course not. It's clear Hyewon doesn't know her feelings."

His brows furrowed. "What does that mean?"

"It means," She released a long breath of air. "It means she has a lot of things to resolve on her own right now. So much has happened in just one day. Maybe she's just overwhelmed."

Yena made sense. She made a lot of sense actually. And because of that Sicheng felt even worse. He groaned and usually Yena would laugh or make fun of his frustrations but this time she sympathized with him. "I'm so stupid." Yena tried to protest but Sicheng beat her to it. "I shouldn't have done that. I was wrong for doing that. I just heard Yuta was out of the picture and jumped at the opportunity. I wasn't thinking!"

Yena sighed. "You love her, Sicheng. You knew you wouldn't be able to hide that for much longer."

"But she said she hated me. Whether it was true or not then, she definitely does hate me now. I ruined everything. I hurt her so bad-"

"Sicheng." Yena stood up. "You're hurting too. Why won't you ever allow yourself to care about your own feelings?" Sicheng stared at her in confusion and disbelief. It was a contrasting sight to the pain that swirled around in his dark eyes.

"You don't get it."

"I don't," She gave him a lopsided smile. "But you're both allowed to be upset. You're only human."

Sicheng was quiet after that. Yena now sat in silence as she waited for the boy to say something. He seemed to be deep in thought and she understood that. He did have a lot to think about. She just wanted to be there for him in any way he needed even if it meant sitting like this on a Sunday afternoon.

And just as it looked like he finally had something to say, Yena darted her eyes back to him. "I'm hurt." He said. Yena nodded.

"I know."

But Sicheng shook his head. "I'm hurt but not in a sad way. I'm hurt in an angry way." He inhaled deeply. "I'm angry because I love her. I'm angry because I told her. I'm angry because I kissed her. And most of all, I'm angry for thinking she would love me back."

"Who said she doesn't love you?"

"You didn't see her face, Yen." He sighed. "She looked horrified. Horrified that I love her."

"I'm sure that's not what she was thinking." Yena tried to reason. "I may not have been there, but remember, I see everything from an outsiders perspective and trust me, you do not see what I see."

"And what would that be?"

Yena laughed. "She cares for you. Differently from how she cares for everyone else in your friend group. I just don't think she realizes it yet."

Sicheng didn't catch what she meant. It confused him trying to make sense of what Yena was implying and even when his brain started entertaining the thought of Hyewon possibly... No, it would never happen.

"Too bad it's all ruined now."

"She just needs time to process, Sicheng. Trust me, she'll come around. I know she will."

"How sure can you be of that?" He asked. "For all we know I could've lost my best friend forever. The one person I never wanted to lose."

"You won't lose her. I'm sure of it."

"I hope you're right but I just don't see us moving past this. We'll never be normal after this."

At that moment Yena started laughing which startled Sicheng. He was perplexed and she noticed it. "Nothing about your friendship was ever normal. If anything you finally confessing could help Hyewon open her heart up a bit more."

"You think so?"

Yena shrugged. She had always had an irking feeling in her chest about the two of them. She just never spoke about any of it.

"I can't speak for Hyewon, but I think there's a lot you don't realize and even more that Hyewon isn't being quite honest about either."

Sicheng stared at her and as she stared back, she couldn't help but feel sorry for her friend. She knew the truth. Deep down, so did Sicheng and Hyewon. Yet no one ever spoke of it and Yena was starting to wonder how she will be able to help the two oblivious friends.