Querencia

17

Downing the drink, the coldness hit right on the spot before it spread all over the body, creating a comfortable chill whilst being in the heat. However, not the heat from the sun was what interrupting Freya but what she heard from Hana was.

When she caught her friend's presence in her faculty, the latter was blankly staring at the wall whilst leaning against her locker. From that moment she saw Hana looked nothing but miserable, she knew, something did happen without her having witnessed it herself.

"Back in the days, when you and Juyeon joined the forum team, you couldn't even look at him in the eyes on the stage because you were so in love with him", Freya reminisced, a smirk outstretched on her face. "But now you're telling me that you want to give up on him. Nonsense."

As a Juyeon-Hana's stan, she was frustrated by the decision made. A decade's fight was about to go downhill, how could she bear the pain?

On top of that, she knew, Hana might have felt worse.

"Truthfully, I don't want to stop, but day by day, it seems worthless", scoffing, it was then Hana's turn to chug her drink, hoping that nothing but the coldness could calm her a bit.

"I thought you said you took Chanhee's advice into account?"

That was when the girls' eyes met, Hana slightly nodded, "I did but then, what is the point if Juyeon never sees me?"

"Trust the process", Freya assured, slightly glaring as she looked at her. "You already have been waiting for him for a decade, Hana. A little bit more won't hurt, right?"

Somehow, talking to Freya was a little bit helping but the bad side was, it would keep living in her head all the time. Whatever she did, wherever she went, her voice could be heard in her head like a music play on repetition.

Nonetheless, she could not tell if it was a good or a bad thing.

As she was noting some additional information in her notebook during class, a small piece of paper came into her sight as it was pushed by the person next to her.

The neat handwriting was easy to read, and the content somehow dragged her back to square one but still owned by an ego.

'Are you mad?'

It was as simple as that, but the moment she read it, she felt like flying - only Juyeon had that power.

With a slight ego tinting her, she slowly turned her head towards the demeanor beside her just to lose herself in his act. Juyeon was pouting but when he met her eyes, he pulled his lips into a smile and his eyes seemed bigger than the usual size, staring at her like a cat.

Hana rolled her eyes, getting mad at that boy who had never failed to make her fall into his charm. But still, she held her pride high, breaking the stare from the cat boy and started doodling on the paper before returning it to the owner.

'Iced mocha with cream on top and you're forgiven.'

Juyeon was ecstatic when he read it. He jumped in his seat, to the extent he groaned because his long legs hit the desk, gaining everyone's attention in the class including the professor.

"I'm sorry", he apologized for causing a ruckus, bowing in every direction before he glanced over at the girl next to him who could only click her tongue.

Hana was questioning in her head, how could she have fallen for this boy who was clumsy in everything he did?

However, it seemed like her story of falling in love with her own best friend would always be a subject of life when it was once again being used to test her patience. Who knew she would run into Heiji in the restroom after the class was over and the girl kept staring at her like she was a criminal?

Hana thought it was just a coincidence to run into people she did not favor in a public place like this. But after she was done with her business in one of the cubicles, Heiji was still there, leaning against the sink, she just knew that it was not a coincidence anymore.

Their eyes met for a mere 5 seconds, almost turning Hana into a monster no one had ever seen before.

"You are Hana right?" and finally Heiji spoke up, the said girl chuckled as she looked up at her.

"Take you so long to talk to me", sarcasm laced in her tone but Hana ain't never care. People she disliked never deserve her respect.

"I need your help."

Confusion was roaming widely inside Hana's head, she swore if Heiji asked to help her get closer to Juyeon, she wouldn't care if she would be spending her night in jail today for hurting the goddess of the campus.

But lucky that it won't be happening, at least for now.

Heiji took her to a locker that seemed to be hers, pulled out a bag from inside and pushed it forward towards Hana. Not to be rude, the latter took it, slightly invested in knowing the content.

"Juyeon left his hoodie during the discussion the other day. I remember he said, he has a class with you today but I can't make it to drop by your faculty", she explained, not even a bit fazed Hana.

Instead, the latter sighed for what seemed too deep, staring blankly at her pretty face.

"You even know his schedule now? Interesting", an evil grin plastered on Hana's face which startled Heiji for a bit. Indeed, she never knew Hana, she was not sure how was her personality but she never expected this one. "Anyway, I'll give it back to him."

And so, Hana turned on her heels, clenching tight onto the bag in her grasp, accidentally blurting something to herself,

"What term you two are on right now?"