The Second Chapter

He didn’t know she was there. He was wallowing too much on his misery that he failed to notice somebody else’s presence. She lifted up her head when she heard his footsteps against the grass. He wished he never went there. He wished she were never there. He wished he didn’t look into her eyes. Because the moment he did, he wasn’t able to look away anymore.

Sehun winced because of the stinging on his lower lip. He momentarily forgot that his coffee was still too hot. He cursed himself for getting distracted. It had been like that ever since he got home last night. He quickly made his way past the other students and found his classroom.

For the past years, seventy percent of his mind was occupied by dance. The rest was about the trivial things on his dull life, ways on how to deal with Jongin and Chanyeol and an even smaller percent about his stupid past. But right now, one percent is seemingly being occupied by something, or rather, someone else.

Jung Daesom.

He frowned when he remembered the said girl. She was a real pain on the neck, he was sure. If only he didn’t make that mistake, his life would remain unmoved like how it was. He gulped his coffee in one go, somehow attempting to wash away his thoughts of Jung Daesom with it.

“You seem rather annoyed.”

Sehun almost choked when Jongin suddenly spoke beside him. He craned his neck to the side to give his friend a glare before turning his attention to the window.

“Did something happen, Sehun-ah? It’s not your usual I-hate-the-world-and-the-world-hates-me kind of face. What’s bothering you?” Jongin asked.

“None of your business.” He answered coldly.

“I’m always making you my business so just spill it out.”

“Nothing’s wrong. You’re just imagining stuff.”

His friend looked closely at him while tapping his chin with his forefinger. “Girl problem?”

He froze for a millisecond because of the question. Jongin was good at reading people but there was no way he could deduce that since Sehun had become a closed book ever since what happened.

A smirk slowly crept on Jongin’s face. “It is a girl, huh? You started liking somebody?”

“No.” Like? More like despised.

“You can’t deny it to me, Sehun-ah. It’s been a long time but I know that face. You always make that face when you and –“ Jongin halted on his words when Sehun gave him a piercing glare. It was a warning to tell him to shut up. Jongin almost mentioned that person and he just realized it. He cleared his throat to drop the issue. Sehun might kill him if he dares to talk about it again.

The atmosphere became awkward after that and Sehun was thankful for it because he won’t have to deal with Jongin’s chatter for the rest of the period.

Lunch came and Sehun found himself on the usual table with the usual people around him. Things were relatively normal as everyone go on with their mindless chatter. But as he finished his food, he couldn’t help but glance at the cafeteria doors, half-expecting a certain person to barge inside again like how she did the day before.

-

“What do you want?” Sehun suppressed an exasperated sigh from coming out because he was within earshot of his manager at the moment. Standing before him were Chanyeol and Jongin and he wondered what brought these two at his workplace.

“Bubble tea, of course. I’ll have watermelon. Jongin will have chocolate, like his skin.” Chanyeol snickered.

The latter scowled at the taller guy. “Shut up, Godzilla.”

Chanyeol just continued to sport his stupid grin. “Come sit with us, Sehunnie.”

“I’m working.” Sehun replied as he prepared his friends’ orders.

“Well, you could use some break.” Jongin said.

“I don’t want to.”

“Oh, you are Sehun’s friends, right?” His manager was suddenly at the counter.

“Yes, sir. Could Sehun have a break for just a few minutes? You know, just to hang out with us for awhile.” Chanyeol asked of his manager.

Sehun hoped the old man won’t agree to it because work was precious and slacking off is not an option. But the manager just had to be so kind and understanding, acting like he was Sehun’s father at times, making him sick to the core. “Oh, of course, he could. Sehun rarely takes a break, anyway. Sehun.” The old man called his attention. “Make yourself some bubble tea, too, and sit with your friends. I could handle things over here for awhile.”

Sehun knew that if he refused, the three people would just try to push and persuade him some more which would be annoying so he just followed what his manager said. Soon after, he was seated across his two friends at the farthest table of the shop.

“So, are you two now preparing for the dance recital?” Chanyeol asked.

Jongin nodded as he sipped is drink. “Yeah. We’re just polishing some steps. How about you? How’s the song going?”

Chanyeol’s face turned grim. “Not good. I need inspiration.” He was majoring in music.

Sehun’s attention drifted away again as the two continued with their conversation. He busied himself with his bubble tea while he watched the people go about on their business outside the glass windows of the shop.

Jongin and Chanyeol would occasionally come to his workplace to check up on him. He knew what they were trying to do. All these years, his friends were trying to save him. They hope that they still can. The only problem was, Sehun didn’t want to be saved.

Well, at least, that’s what he thought.

“.. when Jung Daesom stopped coming for a week, too.” Sehun’s attention was suddenly pulled back when he heard the mention of a particular name.

“Yeah, I heard she wasn’t even seen at the usual club for some days now.” Chanyeol added. “Where do you think she is right now?”

Jongin shrugged. “Probably getting wild across the country. No one really knows what she’s up to most of the time.”

Sehun quietly listened in to their conversation. It was true that Jung Daesom hasn’t been around for a week now. The last time he saw her was that night, here at the tea shop. He felt relieved that she had been missing because it made him stop giving her a space inside his mind. She was nothing more than an annoying girl anyway.

“She’s such a loss though. She wasn’t really like that before.” Chanyeol continued to talk about her. His friend was always open about his fascination and attraction towards Jung Daesom.

“It’s not really a loss. She’s still one of the best artists on our batch. She just.. changed.” Jongin said.

“I really think Kris is the one to blame. She just became like that after they broke up.”

“Don’t you two ha