32.
sorry(?) this is a filler/sad/boring/interaction-less/break-up/LONG AND DARN BORING chapter
크리스, 우리는 당신이 너무보고 싶어요. T_T

The tall senior, whose name happened to be Choi Sooyoung, swallowed hard when Hana passed by her.

The former stopped talking on the phone until the latter was out of view.

After five seconds or so, Sooyoung sighed in relief. Glad that Hana did not notice her spying or did not notice her at all, she went back to her business on the phone.

"Neh, unnie... it was all just a bet. Neh, majayo. (Yes, you're right.) I can't believe it too! Oh... they broke up even though they weren't even for real. I know, it's unbelievable, right? Ye... I heard it all, jinjja!" Sooyoung cautiously spoke to Taeyeon who was on the other line.

"Good job, Sooyoung-ah." Taeyeon smirked on the other end. "Ahhh~ I can't wait to drop this bomb all over campus on Wednesday!"

Miyoung, confused, shook her head. "Huh? Wednesday? Why not tomorrow immediately if you can't wait?"

Taeyeon snorted. "So the students will have a day to wonder why they're not together anymore, duh? And test results are going to be posted all over the campus so of course, everyone will be looking out here and there!"

"Oh...majayo." (You're right.) Miyoung and Seohyun chorused and asked no more.

Sooyoung agreed. "Also, unnie... best part is, Lee Hana cried."

"Jeongmallyo?" (For real?) Taeyeon's mouth fell open. The other two followed right after her.

Sooyoung laughed. "For real. Looks like she was faking her so-called 'ew-Kris-don't-be-so-sweet-to-me and ugh-Kris-get-off-me-stop-these-acts... because she's fallen into him as well."

The three giggled. Finally finally finally, they have waited so long for the odds to be in their favor without fussing their beautiful bodies.

"Daebak." (Jackpot.) Taeyeon whispered before hanging up. "This is going to be hot."

+++

Hana went home straight after what she did. Although her mind was elsewhere, thank God she arrived at their doorstep safe and sound.

It was a quarter to seven.

She held onto the doorknob, ready to enter her house but immediately paused when she heard her mother and grandmother talk about preparing additional food for... well, Kris.

"Ohh! Here, here, here! I bought this too. Kris likes this kind of ice cream, right?" Mrs. Gong asked Mrs. Lee.

"I think so too, ma." That was Hana's mother. The two elders giggled then Hana heard the arranging of utensils on the dining table.

Of course. She sighed and took a few steps back. They are like this whenever he sends me home. She sat down and refused to come inside yet. But I have to tell them...

Hana suddenly recalled last night, when Kris took her out from work, kind-of-carried her home, tutored her and ate chicken with her. And just this morning, when he literally saved her school life and she hugged him. Then came late afternoon after his basketball practice when she introduced the word "break" but things got wild and he kissed her, they argued, and he kissed her again, and then... she broke up with him.

No. She shook all those memories off. No. Everything would become completely different now.

She did not wait for him to finish changing in the sports locker room. She did not pick up some things she needed from her locker with him. She did not wait at the carpark for him. She did not ride his car. She did not stop by any convenience stores with him. She did not arrive home with him.

There was no more Kris from now on. (A/N: I'm sorry. I do want him back in Exo BUT I would rather see him healthy than abused. And no, I do not want to force my opinion on anyone~ This one just gets me sensitive every single time.)

She felt accomplished that she was able to sort this mess out. That even though it would leave him hurt, she felt as if she was freed from something she was illegally hooked.

Illegal, right.

The issue was not about his hatred for the male population anymore. No, all of this was because she thought dating him was completely wrong.

She knew she couldn't keep hating men forever. Of course not.

She was always exaggerating when she said or showed despise towards them. But all this softening was because of that one narcissistic man, Kris Wu.

Of all people... someone illegal to be with. She thought.

"Of all people, really... I liked him, of all people." Hana sighed and buried her face in her hands. She took uneven breaths to calm her down.

She didn't want to cry again.

She promised herself that she would never cry for a man again. But she guessed what happened earlier was beyond her control. "Yeah right..." she muttered as she slowly got up to fix her hair. "That one's excused."

She snorted and prepared to enter.

+++

"Oh, you're home!"Mrs. Lee went to her daughter to kiss her cheek. She smiled at her before shouting. "Ma, come down and let's eat now! Our Hana is home!" She called.

"Annyeong, eomma." She weakly greeted the woman next to her.

Mrs. Lee looked behind her. "Hmmmm." Hana knew what her mother was going to say next. "Where's... where is Kris...? Is he outside? Aiya!" The older gently slapped Hana's arm. "Did you not let him in again?"

Hana didn't flinch and continued taking her shoes and socks off.

Mrs. Gong descended the stairs eagerly but frowned when she heard Hana's mother's queries and did not find a tall, handsome and lovely Kris with her. "Aigoo!" She blew a raspberry. "Tawagin mo na siya para sa sa hapunan- (Call him in for dinner-")

"He's not with me. I went home by myself." Hana said in monotone.

Her grandmother stared back at her. "But he called this afternoon and said he'll eat here tonight because he has a surprise for you?"

Hana blinked. He did? She shook her head coolly and removed her bag from her back.

But she couldn't help but feel more uneasy with the supposed surprise...

"Ohh... we thought... well, he must be busy today. Kris is a busy guy, after all." Mrs. Lee nodded understandingly and walked to the dining area. "Sige na, (Come on,) Ma and Hana, let's-"

Hana took a deep breath and stood up.

"Kris and I... our relationship was just a bet, a joke, even. W-we agreed that after a month or so, we'd break up. A-and today was that day. Kris... he's no longer my... my boyfriend." She told them quickly with her head hung low. "I'm so sorry for being dishonest with you... please don't get angry with me."

The two elders shook their heads at Hana.

"We knew." Mrs. Gong whispered almost inaudibly. "I can't believe you broke up with him just because you still think this is all just a bet. Teenagers think really predictably."

Hana's head shot up. She was desperately trying to process what she just heard. "Mwo? (What?) Halmeoni...? Mworagoyo!?" (What did you say?)

Mrs. Gong shook her head, disappointed that her granddaughter actually did something she knew she would do. "Sorry, Hana. I just really liked Kris for you." She sat on an empty chair and motioned her to come and eat already.

Hana stood there, her eyes enlarged and slightly ajar. She waited for an explanation, perhaps. Or maybe she was still trying to intake the fact that they knew... they knew all along.

"Kris is an honest kid." Mrs. Lee sadly commented after a long pause. "He tells us everything."

"E-everything? What everything, eomma? W-what-"

"The only reason we're not saying anything about your weekend jobs is because we trusted that he'll keep you safe." Her mother cut her off.

Kris told them? Kris... Hana suddenly felt thrice uneasy as before. They knew... Kris what did you do!?

"I can't blame you though..." Her mother smiled at her, and Hana knows that smile all too well. That smile was to convince her that everything was fine and that she doesn't want to continue any drama regarding men anymore.  "Okay, enough of that. Let's talk after we eat..."

But Hana didn't obey. She couldn't believe that someone like Kris could actually do things beyond her thoughts.

"Mianhae. I'll eat later." Hana wiped the moistness around her eyes and ran up her room.

They sighed as they watched her.

"I thought she'd realize that he was serious all along." Mrs. Gong mumbled as her daughter joined her. "Do you think we should talk to Kris as well? Oh! I was hoping he'd be her first and last-"

"Ma." Hana's mother chided. "I thought he was perfect for him too. Let's allow our big girl to work this out on her own. We'll be with her all along whatever happens but didn't we promise that if she'd find a guy who'll finally end her kind of hatred, we'll not meddle so much?"

She paused. "If they will be, they will."

"Right. Let's not make her feel any more bad."

+++

Her cellphone's alarm went off.

Hana twisted, turned and stretched before she sat up and slowly opened her eyes. She woke up to the most painful headache in her entire lifetime. She had eaten dinner last night before the clock struck midnight nor did she cry to sleep. So why was her head hurting?

"Urgh." She grunted and held onto her head. "Appeo." (It hurts.)

Her hand reached out to her bedside table so she could silence the alarm coming off from her mobile.

After turning off the device, she blinked at it for a couple of seconds. No usual early-morning texts from him. Of course. She nodded, glad that he understood her.

Or was she really glad?

She yawned before looking around. The room appeared lifeless. Almost no objects were lying around because she had cleared eveything last night that relates to Kris.

The photo frame which would always make her smile out of the blue, school supplies that had been her nonliving bestfriends (including the scientific calculator he gave her just yesterday), her watch which she owned yet which Kris paid attention to too much, his scarf and other things that he placed wherever in her bedroom... it was neatly hidden in a big box under her bed.

She stood up and walked to her closet. Except for my school uniform... and his shirts. They were still visible to her.

She couldn't care less anymore. She needed those school uniforms, okay?

But those shirts... Molla. (I don't know.)

She grabbed a towel and prepared to bathe.

+++

His cellphone's alarm went off.

Kris grabbed the poor thing and stopped it from sounding any longer. He stared at his homescreen wallpaper who happened to be no other than Lee Hana before he decided not to get up early for now.

There's no more reason to be early, anyways. He thought glumly as yesterday's events began replaying on his mind. He closed his eyes again as he imagined the feeling of her grateful hug and her soft lips on his once more.

He thought he'd finally be able to make her his... officially. He even told both Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Gong about his plans but everything just went downhill. The worst thing was that he thought he couldn't do anything about it. He just turned frail as a sickly person all of a sudden.

"And so is my life." Kris pursed his lips, preventing himself from crying again.

Hana... He dozed off again, not even thinking about school.

+++

After a breakfast and a debate regarding her quitting those weekend jobs without Kris looking out for her, Hana bid goodbye to her mother and grandmother. They waved at her before she stepped out, then they sighed when she was finally out on her own.

"Will she be fine?" Mrs. Gong spoke, obviously worried. "I mean-"

"She will be. This is what she chose so it must be what she wanted." Mrs. Lee stood up and started to gather the dirty dishes. She turned to her mother who only stared straight at her, as if what she said was completely wrong. "...wae?"

The older woman shook her head. "Not everything that we think we want actually makes us happy in the end."

Mrs. Lee sighed.

+++

"Unnie?" Dohwi waved a hand in front of Hana who was spacing in and out during the entire duration of morning classes. Hana blinked at her and muttered a low 'yes?'. Dohwi smiled. "Aren't you going out?" 

Going out? Those words which were similar to dating suddenly made her tense for no reason. She wasn't even thinking clearly when she just snapped back, "We're not going out!"

Dohwi winced at her rash tone, to which Hana quickly apologized. "A-ahh... arasso. No, it's fine, Unnie. I just thought... because it's lunch time you know." She muttered quickly.

Hana rapped the side of her head with her fists. Oh, that is what she meant. Darn.

After missing out two homeworks because of what had transpired yesterday and being scolded twice in front of the class, she had just been out of her mind. She tried to concentrate but the fact that she felt this feeling of being bothered by a certain absence just made things worse.

"Ahh!" Dohwi beamed. "You're waiting for your oversized fish, right? Kris oppa?" She giggled while Hana cringed.

"No, I'm not waiting for him." Not anymore... wait, I never did. When did I? Oh my goodness, stop thinking about him for the millionth time! Hana stood up after tossing all her things inside her bag. "Let's not mention him anymore, please?" She whispered to the shorter girl. Yet some nearby classmates caught some of it and started to gossip all around.

"Why not?" Dohwi whispered back. "Did you get into a fight? Oh, oh, ohh! You didn't come with him this morning-"
 

Hana sighed and dragged Dohwi outside. "Let's just... not talk about him... right now- or ever and let's eat together from now on." She offered the confused one a tight smile. "And just don't ask, hmm?"

Dohwi pursed her lips and nodded at the same time.

+++

The two girls have spotted an empty table and have made themselves quite "comfortable" (yes with the quotation marks in the air) with easy-come-easy-go conversations. You know those slightly-akward-questions type?

But it was all fine with Cha Dohwi. She silently empathized with her unnie. They were a perfect couple though. Cold hands, warm hearts. They complimented each other. The younger frowned.

It wasn't that hard to figure out that the two were having some form of rift now. Although Dohwi wasn't sure if they really broke up or just had a big argument, she wasn't that curious so she didn't dare confirm. She was just happy that she finally ate with her unnie. "Ah, so you forgot to stop by the locker yesterday?"

Dohwi opened her lunchbox quietly when Lee Hana finally stopped answering her.

Yeah... Hana wasn't really in the mood to be in a lengthy and cheery talk because of all the inquisitive eyes that had been on her  ever since she entered the cafeteria. Stopping wasn't even on my mind yesterday.

There was one specific table of very gossip-y girls that Hana laid her eyes on. She recognized two of the five girls who were all attractive, Yoona and Yuri, who were very pretty and were popular athletes. (Remember? They bullied her back when the other trio picked on her and her shoes.)

She didn't exactly hear what they were talking about but judging from the glances, hand movements and grimaces of these girls, it was about her and Kris. Of course, this would happen. 

It wasn't hard to make out that half of the school's population were already starting to wonder... (Yes, the entire SNSD is here. Here goes Yoona, Yuri, Sunny, Hyoyeon and Jessica's cameo.)

"Unnies, look! Look! Lee Hana isn't with Kris oppa!"

"Where is he? Did she arrived first?"

"No, I didn't even see him today!"

"Yeah, he didn't arrive with any of his friends either. Plus the other kids from the neighboring exclusive classrooms didn't also see him in his room."

"Maybe he's sick?"

Hana balked and shifted her attention back to her lunch buddy because the latter opened her lunchbox for her. "Oh, ha-ha. I'm fine." Hana smiled a bit. "Sorry."

"Ani, unnie." Dohwi grinned. "It's just that Appa said that food shouldn't be kept waiting." She scratched her head, trying to remember things on her head. "Or maybe it was grace...? Ah, I forgot."

Hana's brows creased. Hey, that sounds strangely familiar. "You're... father said that?" She doesn't know why until know, she still cringes at that word.

Dohwi nodded eagerly. She can't respond verbally now because was pretty full.

"You're...fa- he sounds like he is a good man." Hana mumbled before she started eating as well. Unlike mine. She knew she was a bit jealous of Cha Dohwi for having a complete family.

The younger shrugged. "I tell that to him too! But he always insists that he is a bad guy and that he's hurt a lot of people before." She then scrunches her nose in a very cute manner. "You know, unnie... I really, really, reallyyyyyyy hate story analysis or whatever that tackles a lot of inquisitions so I don't ask anymore."

Why can't all the girls here be cute and harmless as her? Hana laughed a little for the first time today. "You're doing that as a favor for me too."

Dohwi just grinned back at her because was stuffed again.

+++

The cafeteria was already full after ten minutes or so and Hana didn't want to stay in there any longer after all the excessive stares she's been getting.

She sighed when she spotted Taeyeon, Miyoung and Seohyun and a taller one who joined the group of five girls from earlier. She looked away when the tall girl from yesterday, Sooyoung smirked arrogantly at her.

"Are you done?" Hana closed her lunchbox and opened a bottle of water. The area suddenly got noisier but she didn't care.

Obviously, the younger one wasn't done eating yet. (That's a common Filipino habit. Asking if one is done when it's clear that one isn't. Haha!)

Just when Dohwi was about to answer her, Hana felt a strong hand on her arm. She looked up at Luhan who wasn't smiling like usual at her. He looked so serious it was intimidating. That was strange because it had been a long time since Hana was last constrained by a male. "Can I drag you out for a sec?" He asked.

Hana's brows furrowed as he stared at his gentle grip on her arm. "Why should I?"

"It's about-"

"Hyung!" Chen appeared out of nowhere and pulled Luhan to him. "He's here now."

Omo! Omo! Omo! Dohwi turned pink and looked down all of a sudden whilst Hana glared at the two.

 
"Oh." Luhan mouthed and turned to look at their table where the old-looking Kris (cold and lifeless) just sat.

Kris turned stoic at all the questions of Xiumin, Lay and Tao who were sitting with him. He answered none of them and instead, searched all over the place. Almost all the females were looking his way and trying to get his attention but he was searching for one who wasn't. When he finally spotted who he was looking for, he gulped a hard lump down and continued to stare at... her. 

Come back here... Order food with me... Kris wanted to wail those pitiful words to her. Please...

"Your hand." Hana chided, obviously annoyed.

"Yeah, sorry." Luhan removed it off her arm and walked back to their table with Chen.

The latter stopped short and turned back to Hana. "If you ever feel like eating again with us though... you are always welcome." Chen, who was always kind albeit playful, smiled at her.

Dohwi watched Hana who only shook her head and continued to drink her bottled water.

+++

"Unnie." Dohwi called for the fourth time already. The cafeteria was really loud and given her small voice, it was hard. She pouted when the older didn't hear her again and poked Hana's hand.

Hana looked up. "Oh. Are you done?"

Dohwi nodded but pointed somewhere with her chin. "Turn around, unnie." She urged.

"Wae?" Hana blinked at her but obliged anyway.

Hana's heart stopped for a moment when she found herself locking eyes with no other than Kris. She had planned to turn back immediately but she just couldn't.

Food was in front of Kris but he didn't even touch it. He was just staring at her back figure since he came. He straightened when he met her eyes. Almost immediately, his lips curved into the tiniest smile. But that smile was different...

It was sad.

Hana swallowed and turned away when she realized two things.

One, he was still wearing his couple ring. Two, he was wearing that gray shirt identical to the one he gave her back then. The odd feeling of their earlier days came back to her again and she just felt shaky.

She quickly packed her things, got up and headed out. Why is he making this hard?

Dohwi scrambled and caught up with her.

Kris wanted to get up as well. He wanted to run to her, embrace her and just never let go. But something was holding him back... and that was his respect for her decision. He knew he has completely fallen for her because he tried to understand everything. But it was still hard to not have her by his side.

"Hyung..." He turned to Xiumin whose ears perked up. Hyung?  "...help me. I want her back. I want her back more than anything else and I'm so serious it's not even funny!" He spoke shakily and covered his almost-crying face with both trembling hands.

"Please... help me."

Xiumin turned to the others with a smile. They  nodded in understanding and placated their duizhang from turning even more emotional in front of many other students.

Finally, the icy Kris Wu we slightly-hated has completely melted because of one girl.

"Of course, Yifan." He placed a hand on his broad shoulders. Kris looked up at him. The older had this toothy smile which made him glad. "What are friends for?"

*will edit this later sorry for mistakes i'm in a hurry :)