Querencia

27

Juyeon hated it.

He hated it when he was sitting next to his best friend during class, and she refused to talk to him. Let alone spare him a glance.

It was suffocating to start a new routine after a decade of getting used to the old one. And he preferred the old routine they had together before all of these messes happened.

A mountain of chocolates he put next to her pencil case was proof of his effort to make Hana talk to him, but to no avail, she was not interested anymore in chocolates. Or she just hated it because they were from him.

"So, I'm expecting to see your assignment by the end of this week", Mr.Kim, the professor announced and he did earn some groans from the student of how short the period was. "No exception!"

It was the last remark before Mr.Kim disappeared behind the door, deafening his ears from the pleas from the students to extend the dateline. Nobody had ever seen him go easy with pleadings. Perhaps he would never.

Juyeon slowly turned his body facing the girl next to him after the class concluded. He was grateful that he submitted her name along with his as partners for this task, he definitely could use this time as a chance to fix things between them.

However, Hana was quick with her reflex - as usual.

"Send me your findings once it's done. I'll compile it and send it to Mr.Kim", she said, shoving her stuff into her bag like she was rushing to go somewhere.

"Shouldn't we do it together?" Juyeon blinked, watching the girl jolted up from her seat, scoffing next.

"No. Who says we're going to do it together?" her face scrunched, and the tote bag's strap landed on her shoulder.

Juyeon was not gonna lie, he was disappointed. They always did their assignments together, day or night, it was always them together. This was not the picture he imagined, personal things should not have affected their friendship.

"Hana, is this because-"

"I'm being professional here, Juyeon", she crossed her arms against her chest. "This is for the grading, so we shouldn't talk about a personal thing."

She pursed her lips, making her way towards the door next. She planted it in her mind, that she was not supposed to be around him too much anymore.

But, Juyeon was not in the same boat as her. She had been ignoring his calls, his texts and now even his presence. How could he amend things when the girl herself refused to be here to discuss?

"Wait", his long arm quickly yanked hers, making her turn on her heels to face him in the hallway outside their class. But, her eyes were not the same as the ones he used to see. They were dim now, no happiness nor excitement could be seen. Once again he hated it. "This is not what I want, Hana."

"What do you want?" retreating her hand, Hana crossed it again over her chest.

"I'm sorry for what had happened between us, but-"

"Straight to the point, Juyeon."

"Okay", he raised both his hands in the air - defeated, before they fell again beside his frame. "I don't want anything to change between us. I don't see any problems for us to be like usual if I make it official with Heiji. She knows we are close and we are best friends, she understands it, and I know she will."

Scoffing.

That was the only thing Hana could do as she eyed Juyeon suspiciously. She knew he was oblivious but she never expected that he could be this much oblivious.

"Do you know that, it's not about us?" she questioned in which Juyeon blinked in confusion. He looked down at the girl he towered over who suddenly took a step forward, closing the gap between them.

Her features were so clear in his view right now, specifically her eyes that he always thought, her charm. Her hazel orbs were glistening with some emotion that he could not decipher just yet.

"As I expected", she said lowly, breaking the stare they shared as she looked at his wide shoulders which were at the same level as her eyes. She breathed out calmly, slowly lifting her head to look at his face again.

She knew this would happen. She had expected that he wouldn't be taking a step back when she stepped forward, she knew Juyeon wouldn't be avoiding her no matter how close she tried to be. On top of everything, he won't complain, nor push her away even when their skins grazed together though it was an accident.

"What do you mean?" he seemed not to understand, holding her gaze with worry. For a second, Hana swayed, almost falling back into her old self.

"It's about you", she sternly said. "If you are going to treat me this way, why never reciprocate my feelings? If you treat me this sweet whilst you are in a relationship with another girl, what good will I get?"

Now, the boy finally understood. He finally realized that he needed to choose only one - his best friend or his crush.

But, he could not afford to lose any one of them.

"The tension is scary..."

It was then they were interrupted by another soul or more so souls in the hallway who seemed surprised to watch the sweet best friends they used to see were now falling apart.

"Hana, are you okay?" Freya chimed in among the group, worrying about the female more than the male.

"Yes", Hana confirmed, averting her gaze to Kevin who slightly smiled, hoping that he could cheer her up even from a distance. "Why are you guys here?"

"To go for lunch with you two", Chanhee shrugged, flickering his gaze between the two. "Or is the timing wrong?"

Juyeon seemed distressed, he wanted to talk more with Hana but knowing the girl, she wouldn't when they were too many onlookers.

"Juyeon."

Little did he know, he had messed up everything. Hana won't be talking to him anymore after this, especially when Heiji made such an effort to come to the building to meet him.

"I'm going to the restroom first. You guys can wait at the cafe", Hana looked at the group of friends ever so sweet and eventually her gaze became sharper when she looked at Juyeon. It was then filled in with hatred when she spared Heiji a glance before she walked away, Freya was trailing behind.

Juyeon accidentally met Kevin's eyes, the latter seemed to signal him not to go after Hana as if he had read Juyeon's mind. Juyeon did not know why, but he obeyed, excusing himself from the group instead and left with Heiji.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Chanhee was judging the whole thing. He disagreed with Juyeon's decision to leave with Heiji despite knowing that Hana was having a hard time because of him.

"I know I've said that I'm rooting for Hana to be with Kevin, but I never expected that her feelings for Juyeon were that big", Changmin shook his head, amazed. "But, why do I see Hana look even more stunning now? Or do I see it wrongly?"

"She does", Chanhee smirked, crossing his arms as he looked at Kevin who was going to add,

"Never underestimate a broken girl's revenge."