Querencia

35

"I'm so sorry that we have to part ways here, girl", Freya held her best friend's hand, slightly shaking it, hoping that the latter could forgive her for not walking with her home.

"No worries, your parent are around the area anyways, it's better to go home with them", Hana assured though deep down, she did hope that Freya could walk with her. It was a bit scary to go home alone when the sun was about to set.

"Why Kevin must leave first, he could have walked you home", Freya sighed, disappointment tinting her tone. Had only she been aware of Kevin's plan regarding Heiji, she must have supported him fully. "If only Chanhee and Changmin didn't plan to watch the movie, they also could have kept you accompanied."

"I'd be refused", Hana rejected in a great manner, portraying how sincere she was. "They live quite far from my neighborhood. It'll be troublesome."

At the realization, Freya snapped her fingers. However, both of them knew, whether they liked it or not, Hana needed to go home alone and she needed to go to her parents.

"Make sure you call Eric if anything happens", the girl emphasized as she walked backward, waving her hand toward Hana in the process. "And call me when you're home."

"Yes ma'am", Hana waved back. Her face lit up as she purposely did so, not to worry the protective friend of her in the opposite direction.

She watched Freya leave until she could not see her back anymore. Then only, she turned on her heels towards the other side, dragging her feet. She tried to get her mind wandering everywhere, even if it meant for her to think about absurd things to avoid loneliness along the way.

However, every effort she made eventually halted when the vacant seat next to her on the bus she took was filled with no one other than Juyeon.

No words were spoken between them. Only a sharp glare from her was shooting at him but he never wavered. Instead, he returned it with his sweet smile.

"Why are you here?" she pulled her arms up to have them crossed over her chest, raising a brow intimidatingly. "Aren't you supposed to go home with Heiji?"

"She's left first", he simply answered, shrugging in the process. "I have nowhere to go, so I'm heading home too."

The girl slightly doubted her ears but she was sure that she heard some excitement lacing in his tone.

Unbeknownst to her, Juyeon did. He was very excited to go home with her, like how they had been together for 10 years before everything was ruined by his selfishness. He missed that moment when they shared stories as the bus trailed the driveway towards their neighborhood.

Though today was different, still he enjoyed the time and space they shared. Though Hana pushed him away after they got off the bus, it did not stop him from trailing behind her.

"I have a friendly match this weekend", he announced as he jogged to her side, matching their paces. "You will come, right? You've never missed any of my games."

Without warnings, Hana halted in her tracks, turning on her heels - furiously, "Why must I come? You have Heiji, ask her instead."

Sighing, Juyeon was disappointed with the answer given but he hid it deep down in his chest.

"It's different Hana", he clarified. "It won't be the same."

"Whatever", the girl scoffed, resuming her track again along the pavement. It was getting darker as she stopped to interact with Juyeon and it somehow was upsetting - she hated walking in the dark.

But then, she felt a touch around her wrist. The impact from its owner slightly pulled her back and their eyes met.

"I miss the old us, I miss seeing your bubbly side and I miss seeing your smile", Juyeon sounded so sad as he said those, his voice was shaky and it did not go unnoticed by the girl. "Tell me what should I do to have us back to normal?"

Hana's heart dropped, she could feel the sincerity in his voice. It made her so certain that this was the same Juyeon when they first met, the original version of the boy she first fell in love with.

Hana was swayed.

"Which part don't you understand? I can't stand the sight of your girl", she declared at last, her tone was steady not to show him her anger though her fist clenched beside her frame. "She's everywhere I can find you. And so, there is nothing you can do to fix us."

Juyeon faced the ground, squeezing his eyes. He knew he would break down soon in this heated conversation, but he didn't care if she saw him in his lowest state.

He just wanted her to know about his real feelings and he just wanted his best friend back.

"What has she done that makes you so upset about it? Hana that I know won't harm anyone like what you did to her", Juyeon locked their eyes together, his orbs were full of hopes like he wanted to fix Hana, not their relationship.

Nonetheless, everything he said did nothing but make Hana startled even more. Her heart skipped a few beats and she wanted to rip all the hair on Heiji's head if they would get the chance to run into each other later.

She now understood the game.

Heiji has never planned to make Hana seen as a bad person in the eyes of every student on their campus. She just wanted her to be the bad one only in Juyeon's view.

"What a nice game", she bit her lower lip rather hard to the extent she could taste metal in her mouth. She felt so sad not because of the slander Heiji had spread to Juyeon but because he had chosen to believe every word Heiji said.

But, she knew, she could not blame Juyeon fully for this. He was gullible after all and Heiji was using him.

"I'll trust everything you say. So please tell me what has triggered you to be this mean?" Juyeon asked, ripping her heart even more - she was in disbelief.

Hearing the word 'mean' coming out of his mouth was unbelievably hurtful.

"Why must you make it harder for me?" tears started brimming in her eyes as she looked into his. The disappointment she felt has now turned into hatred. "Losing you is already dreadful but you, believe every word she said is killing me."

"What do you mean?"

"Go home, Juyeon. I don't want to talk to you."

At that, she turned on her heels, swiftly walking into her apartment complex without glancing back. Though Juyeon kept calling for her name, she had no desire to stop like how she used to, she felt so betrayed.