jaehyun never listens. chaeyeon should know.

it's four in the afternoon, chaeyeon no longer has class to attend and she's studying in the library with her best friends, yuju and dokyeom, when dokyeom - an overgrown puppy with thick brown hair who's easily distracted and probably only here because of yuju - who has been playing with his phone instead of studying mumbles to himself, "what the hell...?" 

"sshh," yuju's reprimand comes as automatic as the girl doesn't even look up from her book. her long hair is tied loosely to the back, she sits next to dokyeom and is busy highlighting lines on her text book. 

chaeyeon sits in front of them and she looks up, because it seems dokyeom is looking at her. and he does. he glances at his phone, then back to chaeyeon, and he's biting his lips in worry. "... what happened?" she asks in a quiet whisper. 

her question takes yuju's attention as she glances up too, and realizing the strange expression dokyeom has, she frowns, taking dokyeom's phone closer. "what is it now--" she shuts up immediately when she looks at his phone, her expression darkens. "is this just now?" 

dokyeom nods, and as both of them turn to chaeyeon, she feels worried all of the sudden. "what? what is it?" 

after exchanging glances, the two reach an unspoken agreement as it's yuju who speaks, softly as if she doesn't want to scare chaeyeon, "someone saw jaehyun in the minimarket across the road." 

it takes a second for things to click inside chaeyeon's head. there's a minimarket across the road in front of their college, one where they usually go to buy snacks and instant food, and from the store, one can see the college's gate, anyone who goes in, anyone who goes out. surely it's not a coincidence that jung jaehyun decides to stop by in front of their school after 8 months of disappearing. 

chaeyeon feels heat rising inside of her - jaehyun really makes her blood pressure goes higher - and she closes her books, packing them up without a word. 

probably noting how chaeyeon doesn't seem surprised hearing this information, yuju reaches out her hand, trying to take chaeyeon's attention so she will stop packing. "... chae, do you know? is he here because of you?" 

chaeyeon can only stare at yuju, lost at words. where do she even begin? she hasn't told them about the first incident yet, moreover last night - her scar hidden under her sleeve. it's not that she doesn't trust them, chaeyeon just doesn't know what to say. 

"do you want me to accompany you?" yuju offers, sincere and earnest, and chaeyeon stops in her track. yuju has always been by her side, her shoulder to cry on, she's the only one who truly knows what happened between chaeyeon and jaehyun, and chaeyeon is sure that yuju will ready to throw hands with jaehyun if she finds out about last night. but she doesn't want to burden yuju anymore, she wants to solve this by herself. 

she squeezes yuju's hand to tell her she's grateful with her offer. "it's okay. ... i'll call you later."

chaeyeon feels yuju's and dokyeom's stare lingers at her, but she pretends she doesn't notice, hoisting her bag over her shoulder and waves them goodbye with a forced smile. her heart thumps faster as she walks across the field to the college entrance. she's almost out of breath when she reaches the gate, her eyes immediately land on a figure with dark hair across the street, sitting on the plastic chair with a cup of ramen and a bottle water on the table in front of the minimarket. 

when chaeyeon crosses the street, jaehyun notices her and he straightens his back.

"why are you here?" chaeyeon hisses, sounds more upset than she intends to show. 

"are you done?" jaehyun asks back. "you don't have any shift today, right? i'll take you home." 

chaeyeon closes her eyes and tries to calm herself, knowing that anything she says will be ignored. jaehyun calls her stubborn multiple times, but when jaehyun already sets his mind on something, nothing can change his mind. "you're still the same, aren't you? you do everything as you please. you're unbelievable, jung jaehyun." 

just like this morning, suddenly chaeyeon can see emotions flashes on jaehyun's face. he blinks hard and looks away, trying to school his expression. 

"sorry," he says then. he looks back to chaeyeon, but quickly averts his gaze again, abruptly standing up. "it's been a while since i hear you... call my name." he cleans up the table, picking up the ramen cup and the bottled water. "wait here."

he leaves chaeyeon to throw away the trash while she just stands there, trying not to feel anything. 

(trying not to think about what it means, trying not to remember her own feelings when jaehyun says her name, trying not to feels melancholic, trying--)

when jaehyun returns to her, he holds out a helmet. it's white and open-face, unlike jaehyun's full-face helmet. "wears this." 

chaeyeon accepts it without a word, because just last night jaehyun didn't have a spare helmet for her, but now she's holding a brand new one. trying not to think about it is useless, but, what does it mean?

their ride to chaeyeon's place is quiet, she focuses her mind and lists the things she wants to say instead. jaehyun, too, doesn't try to make any small talks, perhaps deep in his own thoughts. they reach her housing in no time, chaeyeon climbs down and takes off her helmet. when she turns around, jaehyun already stands by his motorcycle, his helmet on the rear-view mirror.

the way jaehyun stares almost fluster her, but chaeyeon refuses to back down.

she hands her helmet to jaehyun. "this is the last time. i mean what i said this morning, jae--" chaeyeon catches herself and closes .

jaehyun doesn't take the h