Chapter 31

What Hurts More, Friendship or Love?

3rd Person POV~

After school, Hanbyul was heading to see Daehyun at the hospital when Youngjae stood in her way. He looked at her and softly smiled.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked as he shook his head, coming closer to her.

"I just wanted to talk to you," he said and grabbed her wrist. "Let's go out."

"E-eh?!" she asked with wide eyes to have him chuckle.

"Not like that, I meant let's go out and talk. There's something I have to tell you," he smiled and lead her out of the school to a cafe since the past few days have been getting colder. They both sat down on the second level by the windows across from each other in silence. Hanbyul tapped her fingers on her lap while Youngjae stared out the window at the streets that were barely covered with some snow.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" she asked after their warm drinks were served to them. Youngjae leaned back in his seat and sighed.

"How's Daehyun doing?" he asked as Hanbyul softly smiled.

"If you're that curious about him then why don't you go see him yourself?" she asked as he shook his head.

"I can't show myself in front of him," he softly said, taking a sip of his drink. "He wouldn't want to see me anyways after all that I've done to him."

Hanbyul furrowed her eyebrows and sighed, reaching for Youngjae's hand. She cupped his hands in hers and gently squeezed them.

"Why wouldn't he want to see you, you are his friend after all, aren't you?" she asked. At the word "friend", Youngjae's chest tightened. "Have you not seen him since you brought him to the hospital?"

Youngjae slowly nodded and swallowed hard. He looked up at Hanbyul and freed himself from her hands.

"I...," he trailed off, planning to tell her everything, but he held himself back. "I need to use the restroom. Excuse me."

Hanbyul nodded and watched him leave. Sitting alone, she tapped her fingers on the table and waited when she recieved a text from Luhan.

Luhan: Where are you? I thought we were going to see Daehyun together after school?

Hanbyul: I'm sorry. Youngjae wanted to talk, so I left with him.

Luhan: Youngjae? Why didn't you tell me?! Where are you guys?!

Hanbyul: I didn't think I needed to tell you oppa and right now we're at a cafe by school.

Luhan: Stay right there! I'm coming right now! Does Daehyun know about this?!

Hanbyul: Alright, I'll stay put and no, Daehyun doesn't know about this.

Luhan: Okay then, I'm on my way right now. Don't you dare leave that place!

Hanbyul giggled at the last next when Youngjae came up to her. He sat down and drunk his drink silently, staring out the window.

"Was this all you wanted to talk about? How Daehyun was doing?" she asked as he shook his head. "Oh? There's more you wanted to talk about?"

"I want to tell you everything, but I can't do it right now," he softly said, taking another sip of his drink. Hanbyul warmly smiled and said, "It's fine, I can wait until you're ready to tell me."

He looked at her shocked and traveled his eyes down to his hands that laid on his lap.

"I can see why Daehyun likes you," he softly said, not wanting to say anything like that to her. "A person like you knows how to sway a guy's heart."

"I don't think I'm good at swaying guy's hearts," she giggled as he softly chuckled. He looked at her and smiled.

"Let's go, there's no point of staying here any longer," he said and stood up as she did too. "I'll take you home."

She nodded and walked out when she remembered that she was supposed to stay put until Luhan came, so she stopped walking and stood there. Youngjae looked back and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Are you not coming?" he asked, walking towards her.

"Uh, no, Luhan oppa told me to stay where I am and not to go anywhere," she said as Youngjae tilted his head.

"Luhan?" he asked as she nodded. He bit his bottom lip and grabbed her hand, dragging her with him. He didn't want be caught by Luhan and so he walked out of the cafe with Hanbyul in his hands.

"Y-Youngjae, what are you doing?" Hanbyul asked, trying to pull free, but he refused to let her go. "Yah, let me go!"

"I can't," he said, not paying much attention to him.

"Why?!" she asked as he stopped and abruptly turned to face her.

"My business with you is not over yet and I'm not gonna let Luhan take you away from me," he firmly said, frightening Hanbyul.

"Youngjae...," she softly trailed off as he dragged her with him again. As she was being pulled, she grabbed her phone and texted Luhan.

Hanbyul: Oppa, Youngjae's being really weird right now. I'm scared.

There was no reply from Luhan at all and so she clenched onto her phone, following behind.

Luhan had just got to the cafe and searched around for Hanbyul. He didn't see her or Youngjae and began to worry. Where is she? I told her to stay put.

He placed his hands on his hips and looked around, then headed to the front counter.

"How may I hel-"

"Did you see a girl and guy here earlier?!" Luhan asked before the cashier could finish her sentence.

"Girl and guy?" she asked as Luhan nodded. "There are a lot of girls and guys that come here sir, you have to be more specific."

Luhan bit his bottom lip and widened his eyes.

"Ahh, this uniform," he said pointing to his school uniform. "Did you see anyone with this uniform on?"

"Oh those two," the cashier said. "They left about 6 minutes ago, maybe you passed them on your way here."

Luhan furrowed his eyes and thanked the cashier for the help. He walked out of the cafe and bit his bottom lip while scratching his head. He pulled his phone out and saw the text from Hanbyul, widening his eyes. He didn't know where Youngjae could have taken her, so he headed off to her house first just in case.

Daehyun laid in bed reading a magazine wondering why Hanbyul hadn't come to see him yet. He looked at the door countless times to see if she'd pop out of nowhere or something, but he was starting to feel uneasy. She would have texted me if she was coming late or not coming at all.

Daehyun grabbed his phone and turned it on to see a text from Luhan. He pressed on the text and read it.

Luhan: I wasn't planning on telling you because of your physical condition, but I had to tell you. Hanbyul's with Youngjae and I don't know where they are. I can't get a hold of her either. 

Daehyun widened his eyes at the text as it continued on.

The last text she sent was, "Oppa, Youngjae's being really weird right now. I'm scared." Daehyun-ah, tell me. Where would Youngjae go with Hanbyul?

He clenched onto his phone and was getting off the bed, but because of his condition, he wasn't able to support his weight. Youngjae, that bastard.

Daehyun was going to pull his IV out when his father walked in, stopping him. 
 
"What do you think you're doing?!" his father asked as Daehyun pushed his father away. 
 
"I have to go-"
 
"Go where?!" he asked, pushing Daehyun down onto the bed. "You're in no good condition to even stand up."
 
"Appa, I have to go and find Hanbyul. Youngjae's going to do something to her," he firmly said, struggling to break free from his father's grip. 
 
"You are not going anywhere and Youngjae..what exactly is he going to do with this Hanbyul? That kid can't even hurt a fly!" his father shouted as Daehyun calmed down a bit. 
 
"He's not the same anymore, so don't act like you know what he's not capable of doing," Daehyun calmly said through clenched teethes. "Please, let me go appa."
 
"I can't with your health," he said and called for a nurse to play the IV back on Daehyun. He laid in his bed, biting his bottom lip in frustration. He then pulled out his phone and texted Luhan. 
 
Daehyun: There are only two places Youngjae would be at, the school or his house. I'll send you his address in a bit.
 
Daehyun set his phone aside and tightly shut his eyes. Please don't do anything to Hanbyul, Youngjae-ah.
 
Youngjae had dragged Hanbyul all the way to his house. She was hesitant to go in and stopped walking to have him turn around to look at her. 
 
"Youngjae, what are we doing here?" Hanbyul softly asked. He swallowed hard not knowing why himself, but he continued to drag her into his house and straight up to his bedroom. He threw her inside and locked the door behind him. Hanbyul's heart was beating so loud that she could even hear; she was afraid he'd hear it. 
 
Youngjae turned around to look at her as she backed away from him, hitting the corner of his desk. He stepped closer to her and reached for her hand when she pulled away. 
 
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Hanbyul shouted, hoping someone was at least home to hear her. He scoffed and grabbed her wrist, pulling her onto the bed while he held her arms right above her head with his hands. 
 
"No one's home Hanbyul," he smirked. She struggled to break free, but Youngjae straddled on top of her, she was no match for his weight. 
 
"Struggle all you want, you're only weakening yourself," Youngjae said as she glared up at him when she remembered hearing something similar to that. 
 
"...don't resist or use your fist to show that you're strong, that'll only make you weaker." 
 
She heavily breathed and stopped struggling to have Youngjae feel her body loosen up. He sensed it and smirked proudly, leaning towards her face. 
 
"You listen quite well," he whispered ghostly. "But aren't you afraid of what I'm going to do?"
 
She swallowed hard and shook her head. "No."
 
He was taken aback and lifted his head up to look in her eyes; they showed no sign of fear. 
 
"W-what?"
 
"I'm not afraid at all," she confidently said. "Now I know why Daehyun said those things to me last night. He was preparing me ahead of time because he knew this would happen."
 
"And what exactly did he tell you?" Youngjae snarled, tightening his grip on her wrist. 
 
"He told me not to show any sign of fear," she said as Youngjae widened his eyes, loosening his grip. "He told me to stay strong without resisting you, so I'm only doing what he told me to do."
 
"You really think you can stay strong in this situation?" he asked as Hanbyul nodded with a gentle smile. "You even have the guts to smile like that?"
 
"Youngjae-ah," she softly called his name. "Let me ask you instead, can you stay strong in this situation?"
 
"Who are you to ask me-"
 
"You aren't, are you?" she asked as he was starting to get irritated. "I'll be honest with you, I'm scared to death. I'm scared of what you're capable of doing to me, I really am, but I know that deep inside you're also scared."
 
Youngjae furrowed his eyebrows and scoffed in disbelief, barely holding onto her wrist. 
 
"You're scared of taking advantage of me right now, but you're more scared of what Daehyun will do to you," she continued on. "Because you know what the outcome will be-"
 
"Stop it," Youngjae firmly said glaring down at her. 
 
"You know that if you take advantage of me right now-"
 
"I said stop it," he said a bit more aggressive. 
 
"You know he'll leave you-"
 
"Shut the hell up!" he shouted, hitting the bed beside her head. She tensed up and looked at his clenched fist when she felt something wet plop onto her cheek. "Stop talking, please."
 
She looked up to his tears slowly spilling out. His body remained above hers as he silently cried, clenching onto the bed sheets. 
 
"Youngjae-"
 
"I planned it all," he mumbled in his cry. "That night...that night I had paid those guys to 'beat' me and as planned, Daehyun came to the rescue, but I only wanted the attention, not for him to get hurt."
 
Hanbyul was still having a hard time grasping the situation as his tears continued to spill on her face. 
 
"Youngjae, why would you do that though? He's your friend-"
 
"Because you walked into his life," he interrupted her. "Because of you, Daehyun started caring more and more about you. It was all about you. He started loving you more and more, leaving me alone, jealous."
 
"Jealous? Of our friendship?" she asked as he got off of her, now sitting beside her. He shook his head, letting the tears drop. "Then what is it?"
 
"Love," he softly said, glancing at Hanbyul who widened her eyes with a quiet gasp.
 
"Youngjae, don't tell me..."
 
"That's right, I like Daehyun."

 

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junghafie #1
Chapter 59: I love thisssss i love this story so much <33
Chocoholic_Exo-L #2
Chapter 59: Sighhhh. This story is too lovable.
hoodiee #3
Nice!!!!!!
boknim #4
seems like a good story!
Baekna #5
Chapter 57: Zelo is so cute ><
bangsters #6
Chapter 52: I think this is the first time I comment here XD omg this story is so good omg omg omg!! The last line got me like "HANBYUL,I KNOW YOU LOVE DAEHYUN.DON'T SAY YOU LIKE LUHAN.DON'T" lmao XD I love your fic <333
lilyrae567 #7
Chapter 52: Ahh the feels story is amazing
savoki48
#8
This story is so cool!
deemee96 #9
Chapter 43: love it!! fighting~