When Hyerim signed up for her school's newsletter club and was placed in charge of sport photography, she didn't expect to form an unlikely friendship with the captain of the ice hockey team, Lee Haechan.
❆ High School Sport AU
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They stood just outside the doors of the arena. Haechan had his hands tucked into the pockets of his ice hockey uniform, while Hyerim fiddled with the hem of her top. She eventually opened her mouth to speak, but Haechan beat her to it.
"Look, I'm sorry you had to witness that." Hyerim looked up at his words, meeting his gaze. She waved her hand, hastily laughing and dismissing it.
"Don't worry about it. She's your girlfriend, you don't have to apologise." Looking down at her feet again, she chewed on her bottom lip, the confidence that she had with Mark earlier vanishing as soon as she saw the two of them.
"She's not my girlfriend."
"Huh?" Hyerim's head shot back up at his words. "But she was, like, all over you, and guys were, like, kissing, and like-"
The sound of Haechan's laugh made her stop. He shook his head, blonde strands of hair falling over his eyes.
"It's complicated, man. But we aren't dating. We aren't friends either," Haechan added after seeing Hyerim's quizzical stare. "She's just someone I go to when I need to relieve stress."
"Right." Hyerim nodded, understanding the innuendo behind his words.
She paused, before speaking. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that Mark isn't my boyfriend either. I don't have a boyfriend, to answer your earlier question."
Quirking an eyebrow, he tilted his head, staring at her more. "And why are you suddenly telling me this?"
"I don't know, you just started to ignore me after you saw me with Mark. I didn't wanna make things weird 'cuz I thought we were friends. So yeah," she finished lamely, feeling a bit embarrassed at his reaction. Maybe he thought she was hitting on him?
But he laughed, nodding. "You're a smart one." Lifting a hand, he ruffled her hair.
"Gotta get back to practice. But see you at lunch on Monday!" He winked, giving her a funny salute while walking backwards, then opened the double doors and jogged back into the rink.
❆
"I'm telling you, he likes you dude," Mark told her over FaceTime while stuffing crisps into his mouth. Scoffing, Hyerim looked away from the phone and turned back to her homework.
"Stop with this bullshit. He does not. Did you even hear what I said? He was eating some bitch's face off when I went to talk to him." Rolling her eyes at the thought, the girl picked up her pen, aggressively starting on a new math equation.
"He does that shit with no feelings involved, like it's not even a romantic thing. Trust me, I know Haechan."
"And how do you know Haechan?" Hyerim mocked, glaring at the boy through the phone.
"'Cuz we used to be friends."
Hyerim's mouth dropped open, and she scooted her elbows closer to the phone so she was staring into Mark's pixelated eyes.
