𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 | Haechan

Chapter Twelve: Rivals Born

The feeling in my chest didn't stop.

"What is this feeling I'm feeling?"

I was sitting at the kitchen table, zoned out. I couldn't get over what happened a few days ago. Then I felt someone bump my shoulder. Renjun was munching on something. "Why are you so zoned out?" Renjun seemed concerned like a normal little brother would. "It's nothing." I looked down and played with my food. But, my thoughts kept going back to Haechan's face, staring at me. Then, him wrapping up my hands. Then I found Renjun waving his hands in front of my face. "Are you okay?" Renjun chuckled nervously. "Y-yeah." I quickly nodded and took a bite of my food. I was really nervous for some reason.
My mom walked into the room: "how's your hands feeling?" She looked at me. I nodded. "They're doing better." I looked down at my hands. The cuts were slowly healing. "I just can't believe you hurt your hands that bad at work." She sighed. "Yeah... it was crazy." I scratched my head. Renjun glared at me. Today I was meeting up with Yuna and Soojin which I haven't hung out with for a while.

I was finally going out to explore. I grabbed ahold of my bag. I was walking on the busy road. My thoughts ran around again: "why does my mind keep going to him? It's been a few days." I blushed at myself. I arrived at the cafe I was meeting Yuna and Soojin at. I walked in the see them at the table. They looked up at me with a big smile on their face. Yuna came up and hugged me. "It's been wayyyyyy too long!" She seemed excited to see me. I looked over to see Soojin, playing on her phone. She had a lot of rings, bracelets, and fancy apparel on. I smiled. "Yeah, it's been a while." I sat down at the table. Soojin put down her phone. "Yeah.. no joke!" Soojin slammed her hands on the table. "You've been so busy with school and work we barely see each other anymore." She pouted. Soojin leaned her face up against her hand. "You're right.. I'm sorry about that." I scratched my head. "I've just been distracted by other things." I took a sip of the coffee they gave me. "Yeah. Other things like boys." Soojin rolled her eyes. "All the two of you do is hang around your boyfriends." Soojin sounded disappointed and low key jealous. "Well.." I tilted my head. "I don't have a boyfriend." I chuckled and scratched my head. "That's right... you have two!" Soojin chuckled. "What! No!" I waved my hands. Yuna then made a glare at me. "So how's that going?" She covered her face with a big giggle. "Umm.. what do you mean?" I pretended not to know what she was saying. I looked away. "What is it that I feel?.." I shook my head. "About your feelings for Haechan, silly." Yuna made a side smirk. "What feelings?!" I blushed. My heart started beating. "Wait... I thought you were going for WinWin?" Soojin seemed confused. "Sis... if you don't go for him I will." Soojin took a sip out of her straw. "No don't!" I suddenly reacted. Then, scratched my head nervously. "What am I saying?" I ruffled my hair. "Okay, so. Can you at least introduce me to your handsome friend... I really want to know him!" Soojin clapped. "Which... friend?" I immediately thought she was talking about Haechan. But, I didn't want her to meet him for some reason. My mind then went back to the flashback to where Hani was with Haechan, and they were smiling at each other. A feeling sparked in me and I wasn't sure what it was. "Uh... he has back hair.. Uh, really cute... uh." Soojin scratched her head. "That narrows it down." Yuna chuckled. "His name.." Soojin started to blush. "GASP!" Yuna pointed at her. "Do you actually have a crush?!"
"No!! I'm just interested that's all." Soojin crossed her arms. Then, something captured Soojin attention outside. "That's him!" She pointed. I looked behind me to see WinWin and Mark approaching in. I then immediately turned back around. "WinWin?!" I panicked. "No. Not him. His friend." Soojin mistook me, with a smile on her face as she followed her eyes on them as they walked into the counter. I kept sneaking glares at WinWin. My heart started to feel flustered. "Wait.. does she mean Mark?" I whispered to Yuna. Yuna shrugged. Then, before I knew it Soojin got up and walked up to them. They faced her. They noticed who we were and WinWin looked down at me. I looked away nervously. "Hello!" Soojin waved with a bit of shyness. "Uh.. hey." Mark scratched his head. WinWin kept looking back and forth, to Soojin, and to me. But I didn't look up at him because I was too embarrassed. "Why am I so embarrassed? Why am I so nervous?" I thought. "It's been a while since I've seen you guys! What are you doing here?" Soojin said with a smile. "Well." Mark looked at WinWin then back at Soojin with a chuckle. "Getting coffee. He needed it to concentrate." Mark pointed to WinWin. "I'm glad to see you in the city!" Soojin crossed her arms. Then, I saw WinWin walk away from them and approach the table we were sitting at. He pulled up a chair next to me and sat down. He crossed his legs and took a sip of his coffee. Mark and Soojin just continued to talk and laugh. I kept taking small glances at WinWin. "N-nice to see you again." I smiled, then fixed myself. "Yeah. It's funny how we ran into each other here." WinWin chuckled. "Are you guys free today?" Yuna suddenly said and got all our attention. She looked around at all of us. "Yeah.. why?" WinWin shrugged. "We should all go out together! I'll invite Yuta and we can have a triple date!!" Yuna made a bright smile. "D-Date?!?" Soojin, Mark, WinWin, and I all said at the same time. I think we all felt a shade of embarrassment. "Sure I-I guess." Mark shrugged with his hands in his pockets. Soojin seemed embarrassed. But when I looked over at WinWin, he was looking down with a small smile. "Do you all agree?" Yuna clapped her hands. Everyone nodded then looked at me. I slowly nodded with a nervous smile, then I looked at WinWin, and both our faces were lit up with smiles. My cheeks felt red. "Why did I agree to it?" I felt a nervousness in my stomach.
We walked outside the cafe and waited for Yuta. Yuta came up behind Yuna and surprised her with a smile. "Peek-a-boo!" He teased her. "Ah! Don't scare me." Yuna acted scared but then her smile grew wide. We all just stood there, mesmerized by their adorable relationship. "Okay.. so where are we gonna go?" Mark broke the awkward silence. I shuffled my feet around and kept taking glances at WinWin. Who seemed focused up ahead. He had a serious look on his face like he was thinking about something. I nudged his arm. "Are you sure you can do this?" I whispered to him. He looked at me. "Yeah. I don't have my meeting until later anyway." He made a quick smile and placed his hands in his pockets. He always dressed so fancily and high classed it kind of made me feel like a hobo because he looked so good. I looked down and smiled. "Okay!" Yuna jumped up while turning around to us. "How about we go to a fancy restaurant!" Yuna had a bright smile. "You don't have the money for that," Yuta whispered to her. She gave him a glare. "I knowwwww... but.. if we all could pitch in somehow?" Yuna then smirked at all of us, then landed on WinWin. "Alright fine. Just this once." WinWin shrugged with a small smile. "Yay!!" Yuna jumped. "Let's take cabs there. It's a bit far from here." Yuna started calling a cab. Yuna and Yuta got in a cab. Then Mark called out for one. Mark turned back and looked at WinWin and gave him a wink and a smirk. WinWin smiled and rolled his eyes. "What's that about?" I chuckled to myself. WinWin and I had gotten into the car. I was on the left and he was on the right. We went off. "Thank you for coming out today." I smiled while taking small glances. It was hard to look at him because I was so embarrassed. "Yeah. It's no problem. I really enjoy going out with y.. I mean, with friends." He chuckled nervously. His smile reassured me. I thought he was in a grumpy mood for some reason, but I could tell something was on his mind. We arrived at the restaurant, got out of the car, and headed inside. WinWin walked up to the reception desk. "I have your table here, sir." A girl bowed and lead us to a table. "Woah... we didn't even have to make a reservation.. WinWin is THAT good looking?!" Yuna gasped. Both WinWin and I chuckled. "No. I just know the owner so I always have a table just for me and my friends." WinWin shrugged with a smirk. We all sat at the table. I put a napkin on my lap. We all ordered fancy drinks. The waitress put the drinks on the table, and they gave WinWin a wine glass and a bottle. "I thought you didn't drink?" I gasped. WinWin started pouring the wine into the glass. "I don't drink beer, and I don't get drunk," WinWin smirked. "So, technically." He bobbled his head and took a sip of the wine. I shivered and drank my water. "Y/N... you're too pure." Mark giggled. WinWin almost spit out his drink. Then he started coughing. "What was that about?" Mark raised an eyebrow. I started to pat WinWin's back. He continued to cough. "I'm.. okay." He put his finger up. I back up a bit. "Sigh.. you're right though." Yuna chuckled. "Y/N has always been Innocent and oblivious."
"Well, that isn't a bad thing!" I pouted. "And I'm not THAT innocent..." I said quietly as they brought out the fancy food. I looked down and ate it. "Are you okay?" WinWin chuckled nervously while trying to look at my face. "Yeah." I pouted, trying to avoid looking at him. "Are you mad at me?" WinWin chuckled. "No..." I crossed my arms. WinWin then stood up and walked over to face me. I took a glance up at him and he had a serious look on his face. A face of the defense. I then realized, he was trying to block my vision of something. "What's going on?" I tried to look out the window, but WinWin kept walking in front of me. I stood up and tried to look over his y'all shoulders. But, he grabbed my shoulders and held me still. He was really close to me, and my face went red. I was embarrassed. But, he was hiding something from me. "It'll be better if you don't see it. Trust me." WinWin looked down at me, with a genuine look in his eyes. The others looked outside to see what WinWin was trying to hide from me. "Oh." Yuna had a nervous frown. She never frowns. "What is he hiding from me." I stood still. I really wanted to trust him, but, I didn't know what else to do. Everyone seemed awkward. "Let me look." I looked down at my feet. "I don't know if you can handle it." WinWin sighed deeply. "Do you know your best friend?" He suddenly asked. "What do you mean?" My thoughts went to Haechan. What was outside had to do with Haechan. "So why doesn't he want me to see?" I shook my head. "If you want to look, you can. But, I really just want to protect you from any conflict or bitterness." WinWin let go of my shoulders. I took a small glimpse outside to see Haechan, walking across the street, with Hani. "She looked." Soojin whispered. My heart sunk. I shook my head. I turned around. "Why would you hide that from me? It's no big deal." I sat down at the table. I didn't want WinWin to be mistaken. "So, it doesn't bother you?" WinWin was concerned for my feelings. He knew that I was close to Haechan but he didn't know how I felt about him. I made a small nod. I kept taking glances outside, but they already walked off. "But the thing is... I'm NOT comfortable with them walking together.. why am I not comfortable with Haechan hanging out with another girl?" I looked down at my food and ate a little bit. The time passed and we finished our food. We got up and were about to leave. "Are you sure you're okay? You were silent almost the whole time." Yuna had a concerned look. "Mhm." I nodded. "Take her home, okay?" Yuna glared at WinWin and nudged at him. Yuna, Yuta, Soojin, and Mark departed from us. "Do you want to walk?" WinWin put his hands in his pockets and we started walking down the street. It was a bit silent. "Are you sure you're okay?" WinWin said with a serious tone. "Yes. I am." I popped up. "I mean. I don't see Haechan as more than a friend so.." when I said that I felt a tugging feeling on my heart. "What am I saying? Why does that hurt so much when I say it?" I thought. "Oh." WinWin's mood changed. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. At least." He nodded with a slight smile. He then started to skip ahead. "What's up with the drastic mood change?" I laughed to myself. The thing is, Haechan and Hani were still bothering me. I just didn't want to act like it because I didn't want to bother anyone. I kept it to myself. I skipped ahead to catch up with WinWin. "Why are you in such a good mood?" I chuckled. "No reason." He quickly looked at me and smiled, then looked away. Skipping, with his hands in his pockets. Seeing this side of WinWin really reassured me. It made me happy, and the moment Him and I spend together meant a lot to me. I arrived at home, with WinWin at my doorstep. I opened the door. "Come In." I invited WinWin in. WinWin slowly walked in behind me, with a cautious smile on his face. I arrived in and placed my things on the counter. "You're back! How was your time?" My mom approached me and then saw WinWin behind me. "Who's this?" She raised her eyebrow. WinWin bowed. "I'm WinWin. Y/N's friend." He had a polite smile. "Welll... you sure are handsome." My mom teased, and I blushed. My mom playfully hit me on the shoulder. "Geez." I rubbed my arm, then looked over at WinWin with a chuckle. Renjun then came up to us. "Hey! I haven't seen you before." He smiled. "Nice to meet you." WinWin smiled. WinWin looked at his phone. "I have to get going." He started to walk towards the door. "Hey!" My mom screamed out. "Are you available for dinner?" She suddenly asked. "Uhh.." WinWin thought there for a while, then nodded yes. "I'll try to be here. Thank you." He bowed then left with a smile. I immediately turned over and looked at my mom. "Why do you have to suddenly invite him over like that?" I whined. "Why, do you not want me to?" My mom shrugged. "Oh." My mom remembered something and turned around to me. "Haechan is coming too." As she said that, my heart dropped, my heart started beating, and I was starting to get nervous. "H-he is?!" "Yeah, why? Is that a problem?" She seemed confused. I immediately headed straight for my room and closed the door. "What am I going to do?" I shook my head. "Why am I so nervous for him to come over?" I bit my lip. "Why does it bother me so much?..." my heart started to ache. I grabbed my chest. "He couldn't be dating... right? I mean.. what happened to us, was that just.." I flustered. "WHAT AM I SAYING?" I snapped out of it, then hit my face up against the wall. "If he dates anyone, that isn't any of my business. We're just friends... right?" The swing of doubt overtook me. I wasn't sure what I was thinking, or what I was feeling.