she stood so abruptly, the chair she was sitting on almost fell backwards. the two boys looked at her, surprise and worry coloring every line of their faces.   surprise because she's taking this so calmly; hasn't cried, hasn't screamed, hasn't said a single word. yet.   worried because they couldn't read her which meant she must have had an influx of emotions churning inside of her system right then and there, on the spot.   "excuse me," her voice is raspy, cracking by the syllables. hurt, tired, entirely broken.    before any of the two could protest, hayi turns her back to them and quickly walks away. one foot in front of the other, never looking back.    "oh god, she's going to drown herself in her own tears -"   just then, the nurse walks in and catches jaewon in the act of trying to get out of the bed and hanbin looking like he might really allow it and maybe even help him. "what do you think you're doing?! no, you can't go out. lie back, lie back!"   "i'll go after her," hanbin whispers to jaewon's ear before he gets up from his chair and leaves. he makes sure to side-step the nurse on his way out.    he doesn't hear jaewon mumbling under his breathe, "yeah and leave me with her."   hanbin couldn't find her. for the rest of the day, he keeps wishing she'd be okay.             "hayi slapped him." jinhwan says when their heads are down and their fingers hold on tightly to a pen, writing answers and trying to look like they're not going to fail this quiz. jinhwan's so hopeless, he results to bugging hanbin. "i was there. i didn't see but i saw how she burst out of the clinic looking like a strawberry. someone saw it though, when they were inside. hayi slapped jiwon."   hanbin represses a smile. "she's been slapping a lot of guys lately."    "this one deserved it though, right?"    he thinks of hayi, and jaewon - how the two of them had another thing in common; kim jiwon hurting them. jiwon had played hayi, made her seem like he was the prince in all of her fantasies. jaewon threw the first punch but jiwon retaliated, and jaewon did it for a good cause. for hayi. their hayi.    "of course." hanbin breathes out when the professor turns to look the other way.                hanbin thought he knew what to expect when he knocked on her front door. puffy eyes, pale face, paler lips, a heart so broken the pain seeped through every other part of her body. he was ready to hold back his pity because she hates it, loathes it, would slap him hard if he showed even a glimpse of it to her.   but when hayi opens the door, she looks like herself.   soft brown curls, bright pink cheeks, wide eyes and a subtle smile he knows all too well. "hey," her voice is the same too. not cracking, not tearing apart by the seams like a few hours ago in the clinic when they told her about jiwon and his friends stupid game.    "h - hi," he stutters. he didn't expect her to be so fine and okay. he expected a wreck and instead, here comes a girl who clearly has her wits together. hanbin clears his throat. he underestimated her. "i was just checking up on you. i saw your bedroom light was on so i figured you were home."   "i am," she gestures to herself.    hanbin nods. "yeah, you are. are you okay?"   hayi closes the door behind her, not inviting him in. she leans her back against it and tilts her head. she's not looking at him, she's looking at something past him with this faraway expression on her face. "honestly? not really. i've had better days."    "i heard you slapped jiwon, after we told you." he says. she snickers before nodding. "i'm here to treat you because you deserve it."    she looks at him, eyes narrowed and an eyebrow raised. "you want to take me out?"    "only if you want ice cream." but hanbin already knows the answer to that.   hayi beams, seeming like all the events today didn't occur at all. "of course, hanbin!"    they spend the rest of their evening indulged in italian gelato ("hayi, i don't want that kind of -" "you should get over the world cup. seriously."), secrets ("i didn't even like him. we just happened and i tried to go with the flow." "you deserve better." "i know now."), late evening walks ("walk faster." "why?" "your parents are going to kill me if i don't get you home on time.") and everything in between.   hanbin knew he missed hayi, but he didn't realize until this night, until she hugged him goodbye and caught a scent of her hair, exactly how much he did.              the weather forecast said there would be a sixty percent chance of rain tonight, but jaewon's right outside, his head titled up as he looks at all the stars shining brightly. not a single cloud in sight, not a single drop of rain has landed.    "i told you not to trust those forecasts on the radio, mom," jaewon had chided her a while ago. then he regretted it because he almost got smacked as she reminded him she believed him to when he said he'd stay out of trouble while in school. it's been two days ever since and his mother has already forgiven him though. barely.    jaewon tries to locate constellations. there are lots of them, he doesn't remember everything his grandfather said but he does remember a few. leo, gemini, orion - there are only a few he knows of tonight because it's winter. they used to go stargazing every summer.   but that was until his grandfather passed away, now jaewon tries to remember him through looking up at night whenever the stars are out and shining. it's so quiet tonight, he can hear the crickets creak and the leaves rustle.