Querencia

24

"You and her, what is the status?"

It caught Juyeon off guard that he accidentally poked his finger with the needle but barely felt the pain, the furious thump inside his chest had distracted him from feeling so.

He blinked as he looked into Hana's orbs, hoping to see a glint of playfulness because truth be told, he did not like her tone when she asked. It was too serious and intimidating to believe that it was her who was asking.

Hana had never been serious around him.

"Are you talking about Heiji?" Juyeon gulped upon seeing Hana scoffing.

"Then, are we talking about Freya?" she sassily backfired, tossing the newly finished bracelet she just made aside. "The rumor is getting bigger, so I'm curious about it."

At that, Juyeon rubbed his nape, chewing his bottom lip in the process. He obviously could not see Hana in the eyes, like he was shy and it made the girl's stomach turn.

"We are close", he admitted, his lips curled upwards, remembering all the encounters he had with Heiji.

"Do you like her?" the seriousness in Hana's tone was evident, any other person could tell that she was dealing with her emotion but Juyeon ain't notice. He won't be able to tell. Even if she was clenching tight onto the scissor she used to cut the thread, or holding his gaze without blinking, he still thought that it was normal.

If he ever noticed the difference in the way she communicated, Juyeon surely wouldn't ever say what he had said.

"Who doesn't like her?"

He tried his best to contain his smile, not being too obvious with his best friend about his feelings, as this was the first crush he ever told Hana about. However, had only he known that the latter never liked his crush, would he keep bragging about her?

Hana could feel her eyes stung with heat, her vision started to be blurry but she never planned to cry here, not in front of Juyeon. To stop the urge, she took a sip from her bottle, hoping that when she swallowed down the liquid, she would be able to swallow the sadness as well.

The light slam as she put down the bottle was already a cue that she was having a hard time but Juyeon still got his smile on, feeling giddy in his chest as he finally shared about his crush with his best friend.

"I think we are still in the phase of knowing each other", he suddenly said, noticing Hana's water bottle.

His hand traveled to where the bottle was, not even hesitating to open the lid and bring it closer to his lips.

"Lee Juyeon", Hana stopped him from taking a sip. "I'm having a cold."

For a moment, the boy flickered his gaze from the bottle to her, lightly scoffing under his breath.

"It's okay, it's you. If other people, I would be mad", he shrugged with a sly smirk before proceeding down the water. He was so certain that his antibody was strong, nonetheless if he ended up getting sick, he would never blame Hana for it.

But, being a sweet talker with her after voicing out his feelings for another girl already sounded so wrong for Hana to deal with.

She was still trying to swallow down the anger built inside her chest but she could not hold it anymore.

"Why it can't be me?"

"Pardon?" he looked so confused, blinking every so often as he looked into her eyes that already got misty. "Wh-"

"10 years", she started lowly, her tears strangely had vanished and disappointment was all she got. "Back in the days, when I confessed, you said you wanted to focus on studying first and you said we were too young to be in a relationship, so I waited. I waited for 10 years!"

Juyeon was seen flinching like he was hearing this thing for the first time in a decade.

"Are you that oblivious to my feelings?" she added, hating to see him avoiding her eyes. It was as if he was telling her that she would never get the chance. "Tell me honestly Juyeon, you only see me as a friend right? That's why you're glad to send me off to be with Kevin."

"Hana, I-"

"You've never remembered my confession to you, correct?"

Their eyes met, and Juyeon swallowed even harder though his mouth had dried up. His chest felt so heavy to see Hana explode - specifically to him, something she had never done before. But, he also knew, she deserved to be mad at him.

He had broken her.

In the middle of their seriousness, the door swung open, revealing the girl they fought about standing so elegantly, smiling ever so slightly toward the pair.

"Hey Juyeon, what are we going to do?"

Hana felt her heart breaking even more. Her gaze switched from Heiji by the door towards the boy across her.

"You two promised to meet here?" she scoffed when Juyeon was only lowering his head, apparently not able to look her in the eyes for real. Hana was in disbelief. "What a betrayal I feel."

Running her hand through her silky hair, she rose from the chair, the screeching sound from it grazing the floor alerted Juyeon that she was about to leave. As he looked up, Hana was already walking past him, not even sparing him any last glance.

"Hana", his long arm did a good job grasping her wrist, turning her back and facing him. "Let's talk about it."

"I'll stop here, Juyeon", a loner tear escaping her eye as she announced, leaving Juyeon confused even more. "I'll stop waiting for you."

With that, she used her free hand to push Juyeon's big hand from grasping hers away, letting herself free in a swift move.

She forced herself for the first step to leave. To leave the class, to leave the feeling she had kept for a decade, to leave the memories they shared, to leave him.

The graze of her shoulder against the girl's by the door was like congratulating her rival for finally succeeding in getting the boy. The first step she took in the hallway of the class dropped all the feelings she stored deep inside her heart for the boy, leaving a very big spot for her to adapt. The tears she shed were the reality she had to face - she had lost.

"Hey, I have your juice", Kevin announced as they crossed paths but Hana never stopped for him, she just walked past the boy who noticed her wet cheeks.

"Hana", Juyeon tried his best to clarify things but failed when Kevin yanked his arm. "Let go, Kevin, I have to go to her."

"Don't", Kevin insisted, tightening the grasp. "She's broken and needs time to be fixed."