Huffing, Hana stomped her way through the corridor. “So done so done so done,” she kept chanting as she bumped into a few bodies on her way to her locker. Yuri had been an especially annoying presence that day. Normally, both girls left each other alone. Despite the urge Hana always felt to talk to her ex-best friend whenever she saw her, she maintained her distance. All in good time, she kept telling herself. Today however, Yuri and her little group had been appearing in front of Hana a lot more than she’d like. They kept throwing paper balls, made it evident they were talking about her as they giggled, made Hana feel overly conscious with various embarrassing announcements, and now, the most humiliating of all, ‘accidentally’ spilling three entire bottles of red VitaWater on her.  Scarlet blotches stuck out like a sore thumb on her white uniform shirt. Sehun couldn’t make it to school today, apparently he overslept and Hana didn’t have enough time to wait for him. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo however, were furious. She hadn’t told them about the girls’ in class shenanigans yet, she didn’t have the time. The moment she sat down with her tray next to Kyungsoo, three bottles fell on her lap. According to the girls, they had ‘bumped’ into Baekhyun as he was on his way to sit next to Hana, and the bottles (all three, mind you) fell coincidently on Hana. Note: only on Hana.

The moment they realized what happened, Baekhyun’s jaw clenched and he turned to the culprits with raging eyes. Kyungsoo’s veins popped and Hana immediately grabbed both their wrists to prevent the ruckus she was sure they’d cause. They weren’t idiots; they knew who the girls were. Besides, they’re shameless giggles made it evident that what they did was on purpose. Forcing Baekhyun into his seat, Hana shook her head at the two boys and excused herself. She was dabbing tissues on her shirt in the bathroom when the door opened and Yuri entered. Hana sighed; she didn’t want to talk to her. The corridors and classes were deserted. Students were all in the cafeteria having lunch. Just thinking about food made Hana’s stomach growl. 

Annoyed by Yuri’s prolonged silence, Hana spoke.

“What do you want?”

Yuri didn’t say anything. Instead she crossed her arms and bit her lip. Hana glanced at her reflection. She recognized that stance. She stood like that when she had to say something she didn’t want to say.

“Are you alright?”, she spoke and Hana arched a brow. Was she concerned? After all the things they made her put up with today, she was audacious enough to ask that question? Hana moved from Yuri’s reflection to the girl herself and stared. Yuri shifted uncomfortably.

“Look,” Yuri inhaled,” I’m sorry about what happened. I didn’t think they’d go that far with this.”

Hana stood and stared. Hana thought she saw something pass Yuri, like a shadow of anger. It was gone a moment later, and Hana heard her clear .

“Say something”, Yuri said but Hana remained silent. She didn’t know what to say. It’s okay? I understand? Make sure it doesn’t happen again? she couldn’t say all that. No. It wasn’t okay, she didn’t understand, and she was sure this would happen again. It hurt, it hurt deeply to see that someone she held so close to her heart would do something like this to her. Even with their silent cold war, Hana didn’t expect Yuri would display her agitation towards her this way.

Yuri exhaled impatiently, “You’re not gonna talk?” Hana continued staring, Yuri tapped her foot.

“Really? I came all the way here to apologize and you’re gonna act like this?”, she asked and Hana couldn’t help but scoff. Yuri looked taken aback with the reaction but regained her composure.

“What?”

Hana shook her head, “Nothing.” Hana returned to dabbing her shirt.

“Well…”, Yuri trailed, “I just came here to tell you that whatever they did wasn’t my idea.”

“What made you think I thought it was your idea?” Hana asked as she bragged more tissues.

“I…because I know you. And that look on your face says it all.”

Hana bit her lip, “I didn’t think you’d go this far. And you didn’t. It’s alright.”

“Okay…” Yuri said and Hana glanced at her reflection again. She looked surprised, Hana couldn’t blame her.

“Well…that makes one of us.”

Hana turned, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Yuri said crossing her arms.

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t expect something like that from you either. I guess I’m the only one with a conscience here.”

Hana heard something snap, “You-really? Is that ALL you think about whenever you see me?!”

Yuri opened to say something but Hana cut her short, “We haven’t spoken in two years! TWO YEARS! And when we DO talk, it’s always you telling me to back off from my friends or bringing up that stupid incident! Can’t we hold a normal conversation for once?”

“Stupid?” the other girl scoffed,” you think that was a stupid incident?! You betrayed me! You broke my trust! You sabotaged everything we ever had! That’s all a STUPID INCIDENT for you?!”

“Yuri-“ Hana started but Yuri held up a hand.

“No,” she shook her head, “I didn’t come here for this. I came here because I had the decency to apologize. But don’t for a second think that I did this out of the love I had for you. No. No lingering feelings. I said it out of compassion, just like any normal person with good intentions would. But you wouldn’t know that, would you?”

Hana’s mouth hung open. Words wouldn’t form, thoughts wouldn’t follow. She knew well how much Yuri despised her now, yet still, hearing anything cruel from her made Hana’s heart shatter all over again.

“Again, no answer.” Yuri shook her head, her smile sad. “I’m leaving. They won’t do anything like this again so tell your friends not to ambush any of my girls.”

And Yuri left, leaving Hana alone in the bathroom with her now pink blotched shirt and tear streaked cheeks.

“Whoa, you okay?” Jongdae asked once Hana entered the classroom. Her shirt was still damp with water and tinted pink where the liquid had fell but Hana couldn’t care less. She nodded, a not so convincing answer to her friend’s question, and Jongdae retorted asking another potential replier.

“What happened to Hana? She looks-“, Jongdae jumped when Baekhyun slammed his books on the space next to his,”-awful…what’s up with you? What happened?”

Baekhyun took his seat and flipped the pen between his fingers. His breathing was heavy and he wouldn’t answer or even look at Jongdae.

“You’re pissed, Hana’s pissed, tell me what happened?” Jongdae tried again, gone was the flare from his voice. This was serious and he knew it.

“You know what I hate Jongdae?” Baekhyun asked, his gaze glued on Hana.

“….boiled vegetables?”

“No! I mean yes, but you know what else I hate? Cliques.”

“Cliques?” Jongdae repeated a little unsure.

“That little group of friends who think they can do whatever the hell they want with someone just because they don’t like her. And you know what I hate even more?”

“I’m guessing it’s not the stinky cheese fondue?”

“It’s that the victim doesn’t do or say anything.”

Jongdae’s brows jumped. So that was it.

“Who did what to her?” he asked. He didn’t try concealing his agitation. Jongdae glanced back at Hana who was busy rubbing her arms. Why would you want to hurt a girl like that? He returned his gaze to Baekhyun who was rubbing his temples.

“You know that Yuri person?”

“The one who hangs out with Minah and her posse?”

“Yes, her.”

“What about her?”

“She was Hana’s friend,” Baekhyun leaned back, “stuff happened and they’re not friends anymore.”

Jongdae blinked, “So what? This is some sort of a vengeance plan?”

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun sighed, “but whatever it is-“

“-WE don’t like it,” Jongdae enunciated, “and we should do something about it.”

Baekhyun smiled faintly, “Yeah but, she doesn’t want us to. She says we should let it go. Apparently Yuri already went to her and apologized.”

“Well, this IS her battle. I think she can handle herself.”

“Yeah, I hope so.” Baekhyun mumbled. It wasn’t like his day was pleasant already and it soured tremendously the second he saw Jaekyung sit beside Hana.

“But that guy, HIM we have to do something about.” Jongdae glared and Baekhyun grunted.

“Pray he doesn’t go overboard or I swear I’ll punch him today.”

“Why in the Heaven would I pray that?” Jongdae scoffed, “the guy deserves one.”

“From each of us.”

“That makes what,” Jongdae counted on his fingers, “seven punches, easy.”

Sitting, they both stared at the backs of their concerned individuals. Baekhyun’s fingers clasped and unclasped and Jongdae bore his gaze into Jaekyung’s back. God, how they hated this guy.

-

“Another round around the field and then fifty push-ups!”

Coach’s whistle blared and Lay flinched involuntarily. To think he’d be use to it after so long. His legs ached, lungs burned, and swallowing became hard but hey, no one said being vice captain was easy. Since they announced that players could go home early, training had been kicked up notches. He blinked away the drops of sweat and his eyes burned. Sometimes he wondered, why did he do this to himself? Oh right, because he loves soccer. Sometimes that fact was hard to remember. Lay saw a shadow catching up to him. He didn’t even look back, he knew who it was already.

“This is fun huh?”

And then sometimes Lay wondered how Jimin was always so preppy and optimistic.

“This-this is your definition of fun?” Lay asked despite the trouble.

“Well, not really. But hey!” he huffed, “at least we’ll get to go home soon!”

Home. Yes. The word brought a smile to his face. He missed his mom and her food, Kris and his nagging, he missed his occasional conversations with his father, and his friends were missed more than he thought they’d be. And then of course there was Hana. He never realized how hard living without them would be.

“Why are you smiling?” Jimin asked and Lay snapped out of his reverie.

“I got reminded of things.”

“What things-“

Lay met the hard ground with great displeasure. His back banged into the grassy ground and amplified the pain he felt in his already sore muscles. He felt his elbows and knee burn. He was sure he scraped them. Just how bad was it? He didn’t have the energy to check. He heard someone groan next to him. Jimin was lying on his side. There were visible scratches on his palms and he scraped his cheek but other than that he looked fine. Rest of the team sped to their side and their coach made his way toward them.

“What happened?!” he demanded. Lay propped himself up on his fore arms, putting minimum pressure on his burning elbows, and glanced at his condition. He underestimated his injury. His gaze fell on Jimin’s untied laces and he sighed inwardly. He glanced back at Jimin who still looked a little disoriented and frankly, scared. This time, Lay sighed outwardly.

“I tripped.”

Jimin whipped his head towards Lay but he didn’t spare a glance in the other’s direction.

“You tripped?” His coach asked with a raised brow. Frowning, Lay nodded.

“I got distracted and…yeah.”

“Coach-“

“And!” Lay interrupted before Jimin could continue, “I accidentally grabbed onto Jimin and ended up dragging him with me.”

Their coach shook his head disapprovingly before examining their injuries.

“Jimin looks about alright but you need to apply ointment on your hands,” and then he moved to Lay who was trying hard not to cringe in pain or flinch, “and you,” he yanked his leg and Lay suppressed a groan,” your knee’s bleeding. You’re going to have to bandage it. And also, your elbows need ointment.”

Coach rose and dusted his hands, “Both of you, go back to your rooms-“

“We’re roommates, actually.” Jimin provided.

“Even better. Go to your room and Jimin, help Yixing fix up.” Coach then announced the rest of the team to return to their training.

“You didn’t have to do that.” Jimin said as he pulled Lay up. The older boy shrugged.

“I knew he wouldn’t say anything to me. It’s okay. But still, next time, tie your shoes.”

“Done deal bro.”

-

Hana kept her gaze set on the board and ignored Jaekyung with so much passion she didn’t think was possible. She was already sitting at the edge of their table yet still he somehow managed to poke her side with his pen. A pile of notes littered the area between their seats. Every paper he tossed in her direction, discarded. Hana felt triumph course through her veins the moment she heard the bell ring. She was already on the brink of explosion with all that happened that day, and Jaekyung wasn’t making it any better. The teacher was still in class; busy gathering her things and Hana was already out of her seat. She saw Baekhyun come toward her and she planned to meet him half way when she suddenly felt a yank. She felt a hand slide down her back and out of pure shock and utter disgust, she flung her hand. It hit the culprit’s face with a satisfactory smack. Tears brimmed her eyes and she saw Jaekyung holding his cheek with wide eyes. She didn’t even know what was happening. Baekhyun pulled her behind him and grabbed Jaekyung by the collar.

Hana’s head was a mess. Everything seemed out of order. Why was she here? Why was Baekhyun so angry? Nothing made sense. Her arms moved and grabbed Baekhyun’s shirt and tried pulling him away.

“Hana, let me go!”

“Baekhyun…” she called weakly and he turned. His rage was a blur in her eyes. She didn’t know what was going on. What was she preventing Baekhyun from doing again? Somewhere in the blur she saw Jongdae appear and grab Baekhyun’s arm. He, unlike Hana, was able to successfully pull him away from Jaekyung’s collar.

“Do this again, and you’ll regret it. Mark my words.” Baekhyun threatened and turned. He made a point to grab Hana’s bag on his way out. Jongdae glared at Jaekyung who still looked baffled at what just happened. Finally, things started making sense to Hana. The moment they did, she felt it again, the same disgust. Jongdae’s knuckles were white as he clutched the table. Hana heard the teacher shout something. She didn’t know what she said but she remembered nodding and before she knew it Jongdae had pulled her out the class by her arm.

“Baekhyun’s furious.” Jongdae stated and Hana finally blinked. She looked at her friend.

“Where is he?”

“Roof probably. He took your bag too.”

Hana nodded again.

“Are you okay with it though?”

“Yeah, I mean it’s just my bag… I’ll get it eventually.”

“No I meant detention.  A week…didn’t you hear?” Jongdae tilted his head and Hana stared at him looking lost.

“The teacher just sentenced you to a week of detention.”

“Oh.” Was all she could say.

“Don’t worry. We’ll think about that later. For now, let’s calm down Baekhyun. You go talk to him and I’ll go and find the others. This has to stop.”

She nodded and was about to make her way to the staircase when he called her. Jongdae stopped right in front of her and gave her a cheerful smile which she knew was forced.

“Don’t worry okay? I’m sure it’ll be fine once you talk to him.”

Hana nodded without a word and turned towards the staircase and prayed, prayed that Baekhyun would listen.

-

The roof was empty, just how Baekhyun wanted it. He gripped the handle bar and released a heavy breath. That was the last straw, Jaekyung crossed the line and Baekhyun couldn’t help it. He wasn’t the calm and collected type like Kyungsoo or Chanyeol. Heck, even Jongdae showed better self control than him. But Baekhyun knew he couldn’t help himself. The moment he saw how violated Hana felt, he wanted to ram his fist in Jaekyung’s face. But then it was the same Hana who requested in her small voice for him to pull away. He could tell just by looking at her how lost she was. Her eyes were glossy but unfocused and she looked like a kid who just lost their parent in a hypermarket. If it wasn’t for her, Baekhyun would’ve been sentenced to detention too. Hana’s bag rested next to his leg. He didn’t even know why he grabbed it in the first place to be honest. It was the first thing he saw and he grabbed it. Though he originally intended to fling it at Jaekyung’s face, he didn’t.

His phone notified him of a text. He wasn’t in the mood to hold any conversations but then it buzzed again, and again, and again, until he couldn’t take it anymore. They were group messages. Baekhyun smirked despite his current mood. Lay had injured himself and hence had a day off from training. Also, he was making deliberate attempts to gain Hana’s sympathies who Baekhyun was sure, still hadn’t seen the messages. While Baekhyun smiled over how Chanyeol was hilariously roasting their friend, he heard the click of a door. He turned and saw Hana appear. She looked more composed than she had when he stormed off, an action he now regrets since he wasn’t there to comfort her. He didn’t know if her composure was a good thing though, because if she looked lost before, she looked worse now, almost…afraid.

“Baek…” she started, “Baekhyun…”

“Yes, I know you know my name Hana.” he tried joking but Hana didn’t take it as a joke.

“I’m sorry…” she said and Baekhyun stood straighter, ready to clear his intention.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen. Baekhyun you have to believe me. I don’t know what happened and I had nothing to do with it. It was him! I didn’t even-“

“Whoa! Hanster slow down,” he cut her mid-way.

Hanster, he called her Hanster. Hana grew confused, weren’t nicknames restricted if you were angry at the other person?

“Huh?” she asked flummoxed and Baekhyun chuckled despite the tension.

“What are you going on about? It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes but-,” her eyes widened, “what?”

“What?” he asked back with a shrug.

“You… aren’t angry at me?”

At this Baekhyun cracked a smile, “No, dummy. Why would I be?”

Hana gaped, “Because of what happened in class… I thought you guys might think I had-“

“Something to do with it?” he finished and Hana reluctantly nodded.

“Damn girl, you ARE an idiot.” He chuckled.

“But I have to explain myself!” she defended.

“For what? For hitting that guy? Yes well, you have to defend that because it’s unfair. I wanted to hit him too.”

“I…”

“And Jongdae too.”

“What?” she held up a hand, “No no no. I need to tell you that it was HIM not me!”

Baekhyun raised a brow, “Okay? Hurray for telling me a fact I already know.”

Hana scrunched her brows and Baekhyun grew confused. Why was she apologizing again?

“Dude…why are you apologizing though?” he asked and Hana took a step back. Baekhyun narrowed his eyes.

“Hana.” he called in an authoritative tone and she looked at her shoes.

“I wanted to tell you what happened. My side of the story.”

He pursed his lips in an unsure manner, “If you want to. It’s not necessary though.”

“No,” she shook her head, “it is. You have to know. It wasn’t my fault.”

“I know, Hana.”

She raised her head, “You know?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, “I mean it’s pretty obvious.”

“You don’t think I made any advances?”

Baekhyun snorted, “Hana you practically hate the guy. Of course I know you didn’t make any advances.”

“Well… glad that’s clear then.” She mumbled more to herself than to him.

When Baekhyun stormed out, Hana thought he got the wrong idea. It reminded her of Yuri walking out. She wanted to make sure that this time, this time history wouldn’t repeat itself. She wasn’t going to lose a friend without explaining herself first.

“I’m not a girl Hana,” Baekhyun smirked and Hana’s eye widened.

“I don’t need stupid justifications.” He winked and Hana felt tears again. Happy tears. There was a brief pause before Hana spoke again.

“Do I tell Lay about this…?”

Baekhyun scrunched his face, “Do you want to?”

“I need time…”

Baekhyun walked over and patted her head, “Take all the time you need ok?”

He smiled and she mirrored.

“Oh and also,” he added,” try not to worry too much about Jaekyung. We’ll find a way, a non violent way, to settle this. Okay?”

They sat on the roof for a while before Baekhyun sent Hana down with her bag. He stood on the roof alone for a little longer. His phone had been incessantly buzzing and he groaned. However, the texts weren’t from their usual groups, it was another entirely new one with Lay as the admin.

‘Lay: GUYS. I’M COMING BACK HOME!’

-

A/N:

i give you guys full authority to hate me.