lonely hearts club; 엔하이픈

chapter five

୨⎯ "if all it is is eight letters, why is it so hard to say?" ⎯୧

~##~

"YOU MET JAKE?!"

The girl's dorm was quacking in its boots. Lee Ari, the popular yet introverted girl, had bumped into her ex. As much as non-intriguing it sounded, it was big news to the rest of the three girls.

"Are you sure it was him?" Sarang questioned the now tired Ari. "Are you sure it wasn't some rando dude who you mistook for Jake and cried your eyes out for?"

"I'm sure, Sarang," Ari responded, exhausted and sleepy from their party night. It was more of fighting men and crying over men than a fun night out. "Now leave me alone, please"

"Are you going to text him, Eonnie?" Hyejin asked, curious and unforgiving of Ari's tiredness.

"No," Ari said at once. "Now get lost"

Right when Ari was about to shut the girls out by pulling the blanket over her head, her phone beeped, indicating a notification.

"WHO IS IT?" the girls instantly broke out. "IS IT HIM?"

"Seriously kids," Chaewon, the oldest, put in. "Leave the girl alone. You shameless asses should be comforting her instead of begging for tea"

"Found guilty~," Sarang said in a sing-song voice.

Ari ignored the lot of kids and checked her phone. It was from an unknown number, though she didn't know why she recognized it.

Unknown:

heyy.

it was nice meeting you tonight. i didn't see you leave though.

did you reach safely?

Ari didn't know she was being spied upon, when the three girls shrieked like three-year-olds in an amusement park.

"It is him, isn't it?" Chaewon asked, dry on gossip.

"I think," Ari responded casually, calculating her response to the text.

Ari:

yeah i reached home safe and sound. thanks for checking.

jake right?

Unknown:

yep.

wanna hang out sometime?

Another shriek from the girls. "SAY YES! SAY YES!" They yelled at Ari.

Ari:

i'm busy.

Ari's phone was snatched from her hands by Hyejin.

SURE I'D LOVE TO! WHEN? WHERE?

"HYEJIN! Why did you do that!" Ari shouted, her heart beating a million miles per second because of the thought of what he might think of the double response.

Unknown:

lmao why that double response?

Ari:

sorry that was my friend.

Unknown:

oh okaayy.

so we hanging out?

Ari:

i'll let you know.

Unknown:

take your time.

i'll be waiting <3

"WHAT THE ABSOLUTE- DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT HEART?!" Sarang jumped up and down on Ari's neatly made bed. Her phone was once again snatched from her hands as they examined the entire conversation, from inside out and top to bottom.

Tired of their drama, Ari pulled the blanket over her head and let out a long sigh of exhaustion. It had been a long day for someone as introverted and anti-social as Ari. All her socializing power had drained out, and she really needed solitude, which was not possible in the exuberant room of extroverted girls.

She decided to slip outside their dorm room. It was as seamless as she expected because the rest of them were still too excited about her's and Jake's meetup. It was true she still hadn't gotten over him. But she would've been more excited about their serendipitous meeting if it wasn't for her loud friends making everything complicated and obvious.

It was the cold breeze that told Ari her feet had taken her to the rooftop. She decided to explore it nevertheless, since she came here the least often. The view was, in fact, breathtaking as always. Except, the boy's dorm blocked the view from the mountains and half of the sky.

"Curse men and their existence," Ari muttered under her breath. At this point, everything irritated her by its existence.

Just when she was about to turn around and leave, someone shouted her name.

"LEE ARI!" Lee Heeseung shouted. Ari found the boy's presence in the boy's dorm in front of her and scowled.

"How did you know my surname?!" She shouted back.

"I have my sources!" the response came back.

Ari showed him a middle finger and turned around to leave, right when he asked something that left her stunned.

"Jake is gay!" 

lmao i didn't know what to write for the last line