Querencia

20

Every so often, Juyeon glanced over the door of the hall during lectures, low-key hoping to see his best friend appear, bowing to everyone for being late. But, he knew, he was just hypnotizing himself for something that probably never happened.

It had been two days since the last time he saw Hana and after that, the girl had gone missing into the thin air. Called, texted and even went to her house to check on her, but every effort he made was only wasted, he still could not get a hold of the girl.

"What about Eric? Have you asked him?" Kevin questioned during lunch as Juyeon kept ranting about Hana ghosting him.

"I did", he confirmed, sighing for what seemed too deep. "But, that day I went to their house, even Eric was not home. I texted him and he said something came up."

"And did he promise to call you back?" Changmin interrupted, trying to solve the mystery which Juyeon nodded, disappointment was evident in his eyes.

"Maybe Hana is upset because you didn't tell her about your relationship with Heiji", Chanhee smirked, catching every eye around the table who did not expect to hear that. The boy might have seemed like joking but deep down, he was genuine.

Ever since the rumor about Juyeon and Heiji erupted on the campus, Chanhee somehow could have sensed that it would be affecting Hana greatly. For it was normal for a girl who had a crush on the same boy for a decade. It was understandable.

"I don't even realize that your taste is quite..." Changmin elaborated on the topic, twirling his hand in the air to find the real word to describe. "Expensive? Heiji huh?"

Everyone could notice how Juyeon's cheeks were slightly red at the remark, even his ears were. But still, he denied it, saying that it was only a rumor and not everything was real.

The denial could not stop Kevin from scoffing under his breath. Up until now, he did not tell anyone about his encounter with Hana on the day the rumor erupted and about them ditching classes afterward just because she was too torn apart by the news.

Of course, Kevin did give her some encouragement, asking her to ignore the rumor spread, nonetheless, the boy was defeated when Hana highlighted that she saw everything with her own eyes.

"Kevin", when his name was called, the said boy realized he was spacing out too long that his friends had almost finished their food. He turned his head to the demeanor who was calling him, humming as a response. "I asked whether you did contact Hana. You two are on the same team, you must have talked to her."

Kevin did not know about others, but he was offended.

Juyeon got himself the title of Hana's best friend whilst he was only a boy who got rejected by the girl he liked. Was it not rude to assume he was someone who must have talked to her? What did they expect him to say to the girl in the middle of her heartbreaking moment?

"I've been meaning to ask you this", he spoke up, putting down his spoon. "How did you and Hana start being best friends? I mean, everything that happened must have had a starting point. How is yours?"

"That happened when she-"

Juyeon could not finish it. It was as if he just got his memories which were missing for a decade and just came back because something was triggering him.

"How?" Changmin pondered, really interested to know. "You never told us in detail before."

"She...."

Juyeon was not stalling time, he did not know how to deliver the story. Being friends with Hana for 10 years somehow made him forget about the starting point of their relationship.

The confession.

"Is not that Eric?" it was then, that Chanhee broke the silence, noticing the glimpse of the energetic boy walking into the cafeteria with a girl who was none other than his sister's best friend, Freya.

The two were on their way to the counter when their names were called and Juyeon waved his long arm in the air to get their attention.

So, the two ditched the food first and directly went to the occupied table to greet their friends. Eric specifically was ecstatic because his favorite brother was there, welcoming him. However, when he got there, he was scolded.

"Why never you return my call?"

Flinching, Eric's jaw dropped as he exchanged glances with Freya next to him, before covering his opened mouth with his palm.

"I thought you already know".

"Know what?" in unison, all four boys said, eyes darted on the poor younger.

"Wait", he turned his head towards Freya who had her arms crossed against her chest, shrugging as she met Eric's flustered eyes. "You guys are serious that you didn't know? I thought Hana had called you because she completely had called Freya."

"Can you please just tell me what happened?" Juyeon was getting frustrated, his anger was at the maximum level. Waiting a little bit more might have been dangerous for the younger. "Ditching classes was not her at all. Did something happen?"

Feeling dumb, Eric huffed. He had told his sister numerous times to let her friends know so that they could help her with taking notes or maybe distributing partners for assignments during her absence. On top of that, he did ask whether she wanted his help to convey the message but she's turned the offer down.

"Hana is sick", Eric announced. "After so long, she was attacked with her gastritis again."

"That girl", Juyeon frustrated, messing with his hair. "Did she skip meals again? I remind her thousands of times not to let her stomach empty no matter how busy her schedule is."

It was then, that Freya chuckled, obviously never expecting to be so loud till it caught everyone's attention.

"Sorry", she apologized but did not seem too genuine. She then slammed both her hands onto the table softly, eyeing Juyeon down sharply. "You do know that gastritis can be triggered in many ways, don't you? Maybe stress?"

When she pulled her hands up again to have them crossed as earlier, Kevin somehow could have sensed something from it.

Freya was attacking Juyeon.