Confused | Hwang Hyunjin

chapter 20

Nori's POV:

I quickly jolted my hand over my mouth as I tried not to make a scene by almost calling his name out so loud. "I'm sorry ma'am, what would you like to order?" I questioned with a fake smile. As I was taking the lady's order, I can see Hyunjin walking over to the back room with the corner of my eye. After the lady pays and leaves, I let out a huge sigh.

But what was that all about? I hadn't seen Chaerin and Hyunjin together in months and I thought they finally grew tired of being forced to be together just because of family business, but I guess it's the opposite.

"Nori? Nori?" Hyunjin hollered while waving his hand in front of my face. I snapped back into reality and look up at him. "Hey." "Hi." We greet each other. I turn my head back around to the cash register and continue standing there. I had just forgotten that I'm supposed to be ignoring him right now. I have to find an excuse to stay away from him.

Hyunjin's leaning on the counter with his arms and I clear my throat as I walk up to Minji. I stand beside her as she's making a matcha, waiting for her to notice me so I don't annoy her by calling her out. She turns around and smiles at me, "Hey, Nori! What's up?" I lean back and forth, "So, uh... I'm like getting kind of bored with the cashier job and I really wanna start making some drinks and stuff... If that's okay with you? You and Hyunjin are good friends, right? He was talking to me about how he likes your communication skills and stuff so uh I figured that he would like you around since I don't talk to him much."

Minji gets flustered, "Oh really?" I falsely chuckle, "Yeah! Let's switch?" "Yeah, let's do it!" A bright smile appears on my face knowing that my plan worked. I know it's bad to lie, especially to a friend, but it was the only good reason to get her to switch.  I just hope she doesn't tell Hyunjin it came from me.

Minji walks off to hand over her matcha drink before she makes her way to the cash register. I speedily tie my hair into a messy low bun and grab the printed stickers to see what people ordered. I took a cup and wandered off into my own world as I started making drinks.

Hyunjin's POV:

Nori's been ignoring me lately. I've been trying to get her attention every now and then, but she just finds excuses to leave. I made my way into the shop and stood beside her while she takes orders. She's oddly quieter than she usually is when she's talking to people. I lean my arms onto the counter as I listen to her calming voice speak. A moment after, I hear her clearing her throat and once I take a glance at her, she's walking over to Minji.

I watch her as she strikes up a conversation with her. She looks so cute when she rocks back and forth while she talks to someone, but I can't have those feelings for her.

Her and Minji stopped talking and I see Minji walking to me. "Hey!" She exclaims. "Oh, hi." I bluntly say. "Why's Nori over there?" "She asked if we can switch areas." "Really?" A frown appears on my face. "Everything alright?" "Yeah, all good."

Does she think I'm annoying? What's bothering her? A few weeks ago, we were walking to school together every morning, and now she's completely ignoring me and avoiding me when she sees me sitting on her front porch.

Is it something I said or did? I just want to make it up to her.

Nori's POV:

Unfocused about anything going on around me, I continue making drinks and putting them on the counter for people to claim. My shift ends in a few minutes, so I'll be going home just about soon.

I make my final drink and I say bye to my workmates before walking to the back room. After taking off my uniform, I hang it in my locker and grab my bag. I lock the door and head out of the café.

While I was walking on the sidewalk, I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I turn around to see no other than Hyunjin. I sigh as I see his presence standing in front of me. "What do you want, Hyunjin?" I mumbled, obviously annoyed. "Why are you all of a sudden mad at me? Did I do something?" Hyunjin pleaded. "Come, someone might see us."

I grab his hand and pull him into an empty alleyway. "Nori, am I a bother to you?" "What? No. You're far from that, I guess." "Then what am I really to you?" "Hyunjin, you're just a boy in my math class, nothing else."

I could see his face drop. He looks down at me, worried. "I'm sorry Hyunjin, but this conversation is over."

I take a few steps away from him but like no surprise, he catches up to me and pulls me back to look at him. "Please, Nori. Don't leave me. We can go back to hating each other if that makes things better. Just please don't leave me." He lets go of my wrist.

"Hyunjin, I'm sorry but I can't make any promises. Have a good night." I walk away from him and head home. He shouldn't be playing with me like this. One moment, letting Chaerin kiss him and the other, asking me to not leave him.

All he's doing is not just confusing me, but also confusing himself.