forced to be ' zhang hao au

035

"oh, you guys are back!" daiyu noticed, reaching her hand out to help hyejin walk. she awkwardly looks at her, giving a little smile to ease the tension. "are you okay, hyejin?" daiyu softly asked, placing her hand on hyejins shoulder in a worried manner. hyejin nods, signalling her hand to the bench that was a couple steps away. hanbin walks over to her, gently grabbing onto her hand and leading her towards the bench as he sat her down.

hyejin looked around, noticing matthew and rei not in sight. she worriedly looks over at hanbin, about to ask him where they had gone. before she could speak, he smiled. hanbin placed his pointer finger over his mouth, smirking. hyejin immediately got it, those two had gone for a walk together.

hanbin looked over at hao, suddenly signaling him to walk with him. hyejin and daiyu awkwardly made eye contact, realizing they'd be left together alone. the two walked off, leaving hyejin wondering what hanbin would be discussing with hao.

daiyu stared at the floor, thinking of what to say to inject some humor into the gloomy atmosphere. she swallowed the knot in her throat, building up the courage to speak. "hyejin, do you dislike me?" her voice shakes as she tries to force a smile. hyejin stared at her in disbelief, not knowing what to say. she immediately backs herself up, "of course i don't! were friends, aren't we?"

daiyu sighed, avoiding eye contact. "trust me, i don't have feelings for hao." hyejins eyes widened, has she been giving off a jealous impression this whole time? god this was so embarrassing. "no, i-" hyejin gets cut off.

"the truth is, i'm not into boys at all actually." daiyu quietly says as she lets out a little laugh. "it feels so good to get this off my chest, you're actually the first person im ever telling." she added, nervously staring at hyejin as she waited for her response, fidgeting with her fingers.

hyejin just sat there, feeling totally defeated. she has been stressing over nothing this whole time. she snapped back into reality, realizing this was the time for her to support her friend before daiyu gets the wrong idea. hyejin places her hand on daiyus shoulder. "im honored to be the first person you tell, daiyu. and im really sorry i had been really annoying towards you and haos friendship. you're a good person and im just.. frustrated i guess?." hyejin muttered.

"hyejin, you're great too. i've heard some things about you. even though haohao doesn't like to bring you up as much, he said its "complicated" i think? im not sure what he means by that but, im sure you're amazing." daiyu comforted hyejin, patting her on the shoulder. daiyu felt a lot of pressure lift off her chest once she told hyejin the truth. she didn't have to hide it anymore, and it felt refreshing. they exchanged relieved expressions, smiling at each other.

the moment was disrupted by the dramatic entrance of matthew and rei. "can you believe it? my 3 year friendship with liz just got ended over text! this is the third time this week we argue about dumb things." rei scoffs in disbelief, holding her phone out as she showed hyejin. the messages read. "sorry, i choose chocolate over vanilla. -liz."

hyejin quietly stared at rei, expecting this to be some kind of joke but surprisingly it wasn't. matthew has been laughing for the past 5 minutes, constantly getting elbowed by the frustrated rei. he found her annoyed reaction cute, so he couldn't help but feel his heart melting in his chest. hyejin made eye contact with daiyu, who was gently smiling at the whole situation. hyejin stared at her as she thought to herself, "whoever's going to be with her is lucky as shit, man."

"we're back! i grabbed a couple snacks on the way, who's hungry? don't tell me the boba filled you up!" hanbin grinned, holding out a plastic bag that was filled to the top. everyones eyes widened, they all thought the same thing. "must've used haos black card.." hyejin whispered to herself.

"dibs on anything strawberry flavored!" rei yelled, rushing over to hanbin and snatching the bag out of his hands. he chuckled, seeing her reaction. the rest decided to make themselves comfortable and look through the snacks hanbin and hao had gotten, on the other hand hyejin was avoiding it. hao worriedly looked over at hyejin, who was staring at the floor. he walked up to her, arm around her shoulder as he looked down. "why aren't you eating? i got you your favorite chips and chocolate." he gently smiled. her heart fluttered a little bit but she was denying it.

"oh, im not hungry." a forced chuckle escaped her lips. he looked back at her with a worried look, shoving the bag of chips into her hands. she was surprised, smiling a bit. "ah okay~ ill eat." hyejin gulped as she opened the bag of chips slowly. hao was staring right into her soul.

"are you okay..?" she exchanged an uncomfortable glance. hao nodded, not breaking eye contact. "eat." he said. hyejin awkwardly smiled as she bit on the corn chip.

as she continued snacking, she suddenly felt an arm slowly wrap around her waist. hyejin would've been scared if she hadn't recognized his warm embrace. hao was holding her close, staring at the ground. he looked upset, was it something hanbin said to him earlier? no, hanbin is the kindest soul to have stepped on this earth.

hao gently rested his head on her shoulder. hyejin smiled to herself, this feeling was familiar. the thought of why he was upset was being overshadowed by her little crush towards him. well, i wouldn't consider it little.

he stared at her with puppy eyes, "i'll tell you why im upset if you give me a chip-"

"no."