Changes - lee donghyuck, haechan

03

After the strangest conversation, Aera had had with Haechan she had forgotten the fact that she hated him for a while and mentally thanked him as she walked back into the room to apologize to her brother. To her bad luck, his manager had called him and Taeyong for yet another urgent meeting regarding SuperM. She hid her disappointment from everyone and decided to use the excuse that she had a lot of work to catch up on since she had missed the last couple of days of class. She understood that SuperM was preparing for their second comeback. She just wished she got to apologize and that she would leave with clearing things up.

On the bus ride back to the dorm, she decided to send him a quick text message.

Markie:

I'm sorry Markie. I really didn't mean it. Hope to see you again soon <3

Upon sending the message Aera was left with her thoughts. She expected the day to have gone differently yet there she was sitting in the bus feeling as if her spirit had been sucked dry. She often experienced the feeling where there truly was nothing to look forward to. She continuously worked hard in her study and her music but where was she to end up after she was satisfied with her work? She hadn't put much thought into her life after college.

She had been so lenient on rejecting every entertainment company that tried to recruit her because she didn't want to regret having her childhood taken away. Mark had always told her he was happily pursuing his dreams yet there were times where he wished he was still back in Canada where he could have lived his childhood out for a bit longer.

The girl stood up and walked towards the exit of the bus. She lazily hopped off the bus and made her way towards the entrance of the school. She had been so entranced in her own mind that she failed to hear her friend calling out to her.

"Is something wrong?" Her classmate and closest guy friend, HyunTae asked once he had reached the girl.

She stared up at his tall figure confused at his sudden appearance.

"What? No just thinking." She briefly said as they walked together. He didn't ask why she hadn't been to class. He had previously run into Yeejin and she gave him a brief explanation of what happened.

"Want to go out for some drinks?" He suggested. He bent down slightly to be at eye level with her and presented his brightest smile. He was often the mood maker of their little friend group.

"I'm kind of tired." She tried to make up an excuse as she denied his offer. His smile instantly dropped making her feel slightly guilty. She felt like she was killing everyone's mood around here lately. She was so drained of energy that she couldn't really care much.

"Then how about snacks and a movie?" He continued to suggest. By now it only seemed like he was talking to a zombie as she aimlessly dragged her feet.

"You know boys aren't allowed in girl dorms." She corrected to which he only scoffed.

"Like that has stopped me before." He fired back causing her to lightly laugh remembering the times she and Yeejin had sneaked him in. The only problem was sneaking him back out at 3 in the morning. His only solution was to climb out the window and climb down a makeshift rope they had made out of blankets. He ended up scrapping both of his palms when landing.

"I have homework to finish HyunTae." Once again he rolled his eyes at her boringness. He mimicked her silently to which she didn't hesitate to hit him. One thing about Aera was her quick resort to violence as a defense mechanism.

"Fine. I'll just grab a drink by myself, and watch a movie with myself. Lonely because my friends don't want to hang out with me," he dramatically said still rubbing his injured arm.

"I bet you someone will hang out with you," she went to pat his head to which he flinched expecting yet another slap. She couldn't help but laugh before waving goodbye and taking the stairs that led to the female dormitory.

"Pft, that's a 5 feet 3-inch walking hazard," he mumbled as he stared at her almost trip and sheepishly smile. Once he had seen her figure disappear he spun around in search of who would actually hang out with him.

Once in the comfort of her room. Aera replayed the harsh words she had said earlier today. While thinking about the incident, her mind wandered back towards her conversation with Haechan. She had known the boy for more than 6 years. Compared to now, back then they actually got along. Mark was the sibling that actually didn't like Haechan. She would often pull pranks on the Dreamies with him as her sidekick. Along the way they had a dispute so big, things had suddenly shifted. The girl couldn't remember what it was, she only remembered feeling so angry she cried. She had gone back to Canada since her trip to Korea had reached its end and the next time she returned nothing could mend their broken friendship.

Speaking to him now was not only strange because of the lack of friendliness between the two but also eye-opening. During all those years she had missed to realized that he had matured. That behind the childish insults he threw at her was already a grown-up man. He took in how his members felt and what the reasons behind their torments were. The Haechan she had known back then was different than the Haechan she always bickered with now. And as she sat in her room evaluating her new perception of her nemesis she couldn't help but wonder if whatever grudge she carried against him was worth keeping.

She thought about how would things be if they went back to being the great friends they were once before.

"Why do you look so conflicted," Aera had failed to hear her roommate enter the room.

"Still thinking about that asswhole?" A scowl immediately presents in the face of the older girl (Yeejin).

"Surprisingly no. I'm thinking about someone else," she said while putting on the cap to the pen she had forgotten she was using.

"Who?" Yeejin couldn't hide her curiosity as she slipped off her jacket and hung it in the closet. The girl couldn't recall anyone else being on Aeras radar beside JooWon, ever.

"Just another asswhole," this only added to her roommate's confusion. Aera didn't have anyone she truly disliked.

"Huh?" She said while raising her eyebrow. She carelessly slipped off her jeans and jumper and threw on an oversized Mario t-shirt.

"who might not actually be such an asswhole," Aera continued just before getting up and shutting off the lights. She had already changed out of her clothes.

"You can't leave me in a cliffhanger," Yeejin whines loudly as they both laid in the dark. The only sound was the diffuser humming in the background.

"Who is it?" She called out a little louder to which she didn't receive any reply. Aera had been so tired she was quickly dozing off.

"Are you asleep?" The older girl sat up confused and half shocked at the predicament she was currently in. The curiosity was eating at her and she was on the verge of walking over and waking the other girl up. However, she remembered the countless of nights Aera had suffered where she cried herself asleep.

Still wondering about who could possibly Aera be talking about. Yeejin too was quick to fall asleep while making a list of the guys in their school that Aera knew. Only she was too far off and wrong in her analysis. This certain asswhole was unknown to her and Aera had just realized to her as well.