Querencia

33

The beep sound from the machine at the counter always made Chanhee excited, his smile was the brightest as the cashier packed his stuff into the paper bag with the brand logo on its body.

For him, successfully purchasing something was a satisfaction.

However, the girls seemed not as interested as he was. Freya kept scrolling her phone whilst Hana was judging the price tags of the products Chanhee had his eyes on.

And the boy has had enough of such attitudes.

"It has been the 3rd shop already girls", he crossed his arms against his chest, his lazy eyes scanning the girls from head to toe, portraying his hatred. "We're here to go shopping, don't we? And why none of you two have grabbed anything yet?"

"Nothing fits my style", Freya shrugged, eyes bulging out.

"You took us to the wrong shop", Hana added, bending her body closer to the boy. "It's too expensive."

"So?" Chanhee was dissatisfied, he really could not relate everything the girls had said. What he knew was, that they should go shopping for the party, so that he would look super pretty that night. "Girls, you won't know when this opportunity will come again later. And we must enjoy it to the fullest!"

"And which outfit have you bought?" Freya peeked inside the paper bag in the boy's hand, in which she gasped almost instantly. "Are you serious about wearing pink that night?"

"Pink?" Hana gasped, slightly in disbelief. She almost thought that Freya was joking but then she remembered the small conversation she had with Juyeon when this boy first introduced her to Chanhee - he always loved pink. "One of a kind, Choi Chanhee."

"No discrimination please!" he took his free palm high in the air, and his eyes were closed. He looked so done that the reality was too far from his expectation, his sigh afterward sounded so deep yet so hurt. "Come on girls, Changmin and Kevin have been waiting at the food court."

Chanhee could have sworn, he saw the two girls' eyes lit with excitement by the mere mention of the food court. Or maybe they were relieved that they need not worry about shopping anymore?

But unbeknownst to him, the girls' choice was to fill their empty stomachs.

Hana walked in the middle, being sandwiched by Chanhee on the left and Freya on the right like bodyguards. The two slung their arms around hers as they walked towards the destination.

Indeed, no one would believe that Hana and Chanhee used to hate each other before.

"You didn't tell Juyeon about Heiji, didn't you?" the boy sparked up a conversation Hana was not interested in discussing.

"He didn't ask", the girl in the middle shrugged, not saying much. "You think he will believe me? He is head over heels for that swindler."

"Maybe I should go talk to him", Freya suggested, halting everyone's feet on the track. "I know Heiji the most, we are in the same class, remember?"

It did sound reasonable to make Freya talk to Juyeon but there was something so hard to decipher like how coding of numbers and alphabets appeared on the laptop screen.

Hana was mad after that one certain encounter she had with Heiji. She was furious but talking it out to Juyeon did not seem okay for some kind of reason.

"I don't know", she shrugged at last, dragging them with her. "Juyeon never once fell in love. What if it hurts him?"

"And what about you?" Chanhee was getting flustered, so he turned the girl to face him. "You've been hurt not only by Juyeon but also by Heiji."

Chanhee's look somehow softened, his eyes were droopy as he looked into Hana's orbs. It almost seemed like he was pitying her. Because he knew, deep down this girl was still hoping that Juyeon could have come back to her.

She could not afford to lose him, specifically when they were about to take different paths after graduating. She did not want anything to change between them.

Freya was the same, she remembered how cheerful Hana was when the latter first told her about Juyeon. Freya had witnessed how their relationship bloomed for 10 years and it broke her too when Hana wanted to quit it.

They had potential.

The subject herself was having a hard time. She still cried herself to sleep sometimes and Eric was being her comfort zone every time the days came.

Nonetheless, she knew, the key to all this nonsense was laid somewhere in Juyeon's heart.

"Why is she here?" Hana emphasized that sounded too bitter as soon as they arrived in the food court, a glimpse of the tall boy with Changmin and Kevin not catch her eye but the girl next to him.

"You go order something whilst I discover what's going on", Chanhee patted her shoulder, Freya nodded in agreement, trailing behind the boy after muttering 'I'll make sure she doesn't talk much'.

As she turned her heels towards one of the courts, her eyes briefly met with Heiji's from a distance, Hana saw how a smirk formed on her face as she held Juyeon's hand.

But, Hana could care less.

She paid 100% attention to the menu on the counter, although she was not sure what to order either. She was bad at choosing menus because Juyeon always did it for her. She has always trusted him.

"That one is too spicy for you. Don't take it", as if it was being chanted, the mentioned boy appeared right behind her, skimming the menu.

The gap between them was so small that Hana could feel her shoulder grazed against his chest as he took a better view of the menu - his poor eyesight took the blame.

"Why are you here?" she asked as she looked up whilst the boy looked down.

"Choosing the menu for us", he smiled with that beautiful smile Hana had always missed. "Let me do the job."

He slightly pulled her behind him whilst he did the ordering for a few kinds of food for both of them. The girl was stunned.

Unbeknownst to them, the group was eyeing them both with different emotions.

Heiji was annoyed till the point she messed with her hair and was caught by Freya. Kevin strangely had a questionable expression not because he was jealous but because he was questioning whether it was the right thing for Juyeon to do with Hana.

But Changmin, was still on a ship sailing with Kevin and Hana, so he just wanted to see them together.

It was then, that Chanhee leaned closer to Freya, whispering, "We need to plan something for them."