Chapter 13

Upside down

“What’s wrong Jihyun?”  Gayoon asked Jihyun as she sat down beside her on the edge of the chair in her hospital room.

Jihyun didn’t say anything but Gayoon let her organize her thoughts.  And she finally looked towards Gayoon and asked, “Do you think I should confess?”

Gayoon had seen how Jihyun had suffocated silently as she watched Doojoon like Jiyoon by the sidelines.  She knew that Doojoon always treated Jihyun like a younger sister and nothing more.  Yet, she didn’t have the heart to tell Jihyun that Doojoon would probably never like her back.

“You haven’t told him yet?”  She asked back.  In their previous phone call, Gayoon had advised Jihyun to sort her feelings out by telling Doojoon.  But she knew, putting your heart out, bare and vulnerable, was not an easy thing to do.

“But then again maybe there’s no point in telling him. I know that he likes Jiyoon.  Me telling him won’t make a difference.”  Jihyun leant back on the chair and heaved a sigh.

“But when Hyunseung told him he liked you, did you feel exactly the same as before he said that?”  Gayoon didn’t want Jihyun to feel discouraged.  She didn’t want her to regret not saying something until it really was too late.  Like her and Junhyung.

No, but Jihyun had felt more aware of Hyunseung after that.  But that was because she could herself consciously putting a wall between her and Hyunseung.  It was because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

Seeing Jihyun’s thoughtful expression, Gayoon smiled and answered for her, “So you do feel differently.”  And before Jihyun could in, Gayoon put her hand out and said, “It’s not that you like him after he said that, but you do see him differently, yes?”

Jihyun nodded.  But it also meant his friendship with Hyunseung would never be the same.

“Then there is a reason to tell Doojoon.”  Gayoon said those words out of comfort, but really didn’t know if encouraging Jihyun was the right thing to do.  “It might be better if he’s aware.”

Hyuna had spent her whole Sunday thinking about what kind of people Junhyung’s family was like and what kind of person Junhyung was in general.  To Hyuna, Junhyung was an extremely confusing and mysterious person.  He had gone from minding his own business to continually butting into her business.

But sometimes a short moment can completely change your impression of someone.  And sometimes, that changes everything.  Even if you don’t realize it at the moment, the smallest actions can cause the biggest changes afterwards.

Before getting stuck with Junhyung in the classroom the first time, Hyuna always thought Junhyung was a cold, quiet and somewhat distant person.  When their group of friends gathered, he always kept to himself and never smiled.  But after her continual interactions with Junhyung, Hyuna found that he wasn’t actually as indifferent as she initially thought.  He was surprisingly playful, not to mention haughty.  It was a side of him, Hyuna never expected to see from him. 

But that wasn’t it.  It was something even simpler than that.  That made Hyuna see him differently.

When Junhyung was at her house and met her grandma, despite her grandma continually pestering him, he helped her grandma out and answered all her questions humbly as they ate dinner together.  Just seeing the way he smiled genuinely at her grandma and interacting with her grandma, she began seeing him in a different light. 

That’s when she thought.  Ah.  Wouldn’t be nice if I had someone like him. 

But that’s also when she shook her head in denial, thinking to herself. What the hell was I thinking?

And on Monday morning, as Hyuna walked down the school corrider, she couldn’t meet Junhyung in the eye.  Junhyung was standing down the corridor talking with Doojoon and had seen Hyuna walking towards from the other end.  But as soon as Junhyung waved his hand to greet Hyuna, she quickly nodded and turned in the opposite direction, all while keeping her head facing the ground. 

It was not until she bumped into Sohyun, Hyuna realized how absentminded she was acting. 

“What are you doing Hyuna?”  Sohyun asked, not having a clue why Hyuna looked so distressed.  Hyuna didn’t tell anyone that she had met up with Junhyung on the weekend, so except for Doojoon who had seen them, no one else knew.  And she really wished it stayed that way, else who knows what people would sa