Querencia

50

Juyeon bit his lower lip, hoping that it could distract him from getting too worried about Hana. Her condition was not that bad, nonetheless, the doctor advised her to get some rest before leaving the hospital.

And here he was, patiently waiting next to her bed. She was sleeping peacefully despite the pain in her stomach and on the hand where the drip was injected into her vein.

Her face was pale, more paler than the normal skin tone she had. Even the makeup she had put on today was not able to cover it.

Juyeon heaved a sigh, getting mad at himself. Had only he been with her all night, she might've not been downing too many sodas. He probably would have dragged her out from the hall, finding themselves foods that were more intriguing than the menus the party had.

The guilt inside him seemed won't be able to go easily yet upon seeing her face - though it was pale, has somehow brought a smile. The hair clip specifically - his gift which he hoped she would wear to the party, was still there hanging on the left side of her head.

Ironic how it was still there despite the chaos they just went through. It was almost as if it was fated to be there like it had found its true owner.

The slight shift alerted Juyeon to pull the chair he was seated on closer to the bed, waiting for a further reaction from the girl who was batting her eyes open slowly. She tried to adjust herself to the brightness of the room which seemingly blinded her after some time sleeping.

"Are you feeling fine now?" he questioned when the girl met his eyes, strangely not moving at all. "Hana?"

She was then sighing, slowly getting up. She winced when the pain struck, and then only she noticed that a wire was connected to her vein.

"Is this not done yet?" she weakly asked, not looking at him but her hand.

"Wait, I'll find the nurse."

Juyeon bolted out of the ward, furiously requesting for a nurse like Hana was on the verge of death. It has brought a small laughter on the girl's lips, she palmed herself at the clumsiness of the boy.

"How could I fall for someone like you?"

She kept asking herself that though she had been through quite several heartbreaks. Especially tonight when he abandoned her for another girl.

However, when he never left her side since the moment they walked out from the ward - his thick sweater was wrapped around her body, Hana found herself back to square one. How many times she told herself that he broke her, it just did not go through her head.

She kept wanting him more.

"What do you mean Mom and Dad are not home?" Hana almost yelled to the boy she made a call to. "Who's gonna pick me up?"

"Ask Juyeon to send you home!" instead, Eric yelled at the top of his lungs. By reflex, Hana pulled the phone far from her ear, for the sake of her hearing ability.

"Eric!" she yell-whispered but soon realized that the line had been cut off. "This boy."

"I'll send you home", Juyeon calmly announced, his heart was fluttering at the thought of having her sit with him in the car.

But, his heart slightly cracked when she refused and eventually started trailing the pavement towards the main gate of the hospital.

"I'm going home by myself. I'll return your sweater by tomorrow."

Every step she made on the concrete pavement was nothing but a determination - to accept the fact that she had lost.

But unbeknownst to her, Juyeon won't let her slip again. He jogged towards her until his long arm was able to reach for hers, he wanted nothing but to clarify.

"Hana-"

"Is it fun playing with my heart?" unknowingly to him, Hana had been waiting for this moment where she could confront him. "I don't know what are you planning, but it's not fun Juyeon. You hurt me, deeply."

"What you've seen tonight wasn't supposed to happen", his voice was shaky as if he was desperate to clear something she did not know. But, Hana has had enough of this nonsense - the betrayal, the lie, and the fake hope.

"Wasn't supposed to happen?" she scoffed, running her hand through her now short hair. "What I expected was us to be something more than friends tonight. After all the dramas we went through, I thought we would be one but what I got was you hooking up with her."

Her eyes started glistening under the dim light of the lamppost, her hands were clenched tight beside her frame to stop the threatening tears from coming out.

"That was the plan", Juyeon calmly replied, watching the girl's brows furrowed - she surely was doubting everything she heard.

"The plan?" another scoff escaped her lips when she looked up at the dark sky, giggling with a shattered heart. "Your action didn't portray your plan, Juyeon!"

"What am I supposed to do?" Juyeon stepped closer to her in by reflex Hana took a step backward. She did fear he would be broken by her action - distancing him, but he was far more hurtful.

"I don't know Juyeon. If you want me, you probably pushed her away, you won't be near her, you-" she bit her lip at the threatening lump in her throat whilst the boy attentively listened. "You should have been honest with her, that you don't want her!"

"I did."

It was then, that Hana felt her heart skip some beats, everything around her once again seemed spinning. "What did you say?"

"I did tell her", Juyeon's met her sorrowful eyes - he was no different either. Both were portraying the same feeling - sadness and hope, at the same time. "I told her that my feelings for her are over. I'm disappointed that she's using me, I'm angry for what she'd done to you. I'd told her that I love you!"

Lee Juyeon admitted his feeling had brought a strange feeling, Hana could have sworn she felt butterflies roaming in her stomach. But, knowing Heiji's personality, she did not think the girl would let Juyeon off that easily.

"How did she react?" she spoke up her mind, getting flustered when she did not mean to ask it aloud.

"She slapped me", Juyeon pointed to his left cheek which was still red by the impact. That explained why Hana viewed his face asymmetrically earlier - it was.

Without her realizing herself, her hand slowly reached for his bruised cheek, the fingertips under the long sleeves of his sweater trailing on the slightly swollen flesh.

He bore the pain to be with her.

"It must be hurt", once again she spoke up her mind.

"It's not anymore when you're here", the boy surely has made her flustered. "Your hair is pretty. It suits you."

At that, Hana retreated her hand, letting it fall beside her frame. Her cheeks getting hotter by the compliment, immediately she turned on her heels and walked away.

The smile on Juyeon's face broadened. He was screaming internally knowing that she had granted him another chance.

And it was proven when Hana turned back to face the goofy boy, her eyes wandered everywhere.

"What are we then?"

"I don't know about you", Juyeon teased, pocketing his hands as he scooted closer to her. "But you are the owner of my heart."

The comfortable silence of the night took over the two with sweet smiles plastered on each face. Once in a while, a soft giggle escaped their lips, not seen this would come to them.

After 10 years of fighting, they finally could call themselves a pair.

Much to their obliviousness, the onlookers under the tree were covering their mouths to escape an unexpected noise, hitting each other by the outcome they just witnessed.

Sunwoo screamed under the covered mouth, cringing but proud of the elders who finally found themselves after losing each other in the process.

Meanwhile, Eric wasted no time, excitedly dialing on his phone, announcing,

"Mission accomplished."