Practice Love
The Practice

#Practice 012
Confrontations are always needed before one jumps into conclusions.

"I'm actually surprised that you'll ask to speak to me." JB said as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was, in fact, shaking inside seeing the rumored ice princess calling him by his name out in public. He was on the way to meeting Jisoo in her classroom when Mia spotted him, she had to call him out, he wanted to decline her invitation, but judging from how serious she looked, he found himself agreeing to it instead. It has been 5 minutes since they entered the empty music room, and Mia did not take the intiative to speak to him, which made him even more nervous than ever. Exactly what does she want from him? He sighed. 

Not a confession, that's for sure. 

Mia, however, had other thoughts in mind. She cursed her impulse to stop JB before he enters the cafeteria. It was as if she couldn't find a better timing to get him to talk. She mentally facepalmed herself and tried to contruct a proper conversation. She is definitely not used to this, that's for sure. Talking to someone like JB is way different from Mark who hardly ever needs to speak for them to understand each other.

She sighed and turned around, her cold eyes met JB's nervous, intimidated gaze.

"I'd like to keep this short." She exclaimed, eyes darting towards the door then back to JB. "Why did you do that?"

JB blinked, confused. "I'm sorry...?"

"Don't play dumb." She furrowed her eyes dangerously at the blond man. She was never the type to be patient, especially not with someone she had established signs of dislike for. She hasn't hate him, not yet.

JB bit his lips and looked away. He understood what Mia meant by now. From the looks of it, it seems like Rian had told Mia about their past. Why though? He didn't know. But one thing's for sure. Rian never speaks about it unless she was asked to. The thought of that reminded him of when they broke up. How did it ended? Was it painful for her? Did she cry that night? He didn't dare to ask, simply keeping himself in the state of oblivion.

"I..." He couldn't find the right word to explain himself. He didn't know what to say.

He's lost. Mia knows, as she carefully watched his confused expression surface. Up till now, it had been going according to her expectations, soon enough, and he'll finally spill what he had in mind. She clenched her fist, suppressing the burning fury behind her cold mask. Should he be disposed or kept by Rian's side? Mia will decide later. But first, she had to get him to explain his side of the story. 

Because one can never only listen to one side of the story and not know the other.

"Rian and I... We were an item back in middle school." It took JB a whole lot of courage to say it. His lips trembled slightly as if he was holding back from the memories that were slowly arising from the pandora box he kept hidden deep within his heart. "Just like any other couple, we were happy, naive even..." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the tension building up.

Mia remained silent, and her face was kept still, dead stoic.

"I... Honestly didn't know when did it end..." Mia furrowed her eyes. Excuse me? She questioned, but did not bother to voice it out. 

JB sighed. "I... My father... He was a proud father, you know. He always encouraged me to work hard and... Even at his last breath... He told me to focus on chasing my dreams..." JB bit back a frown and faked a smile. A smile that Mia finds pitiful, at some point.

She shifted her gaze away as she continued to listen to his story. It was like a puzzle she'd like to fix, and she is more than determined to fix it. Two solutions. She thought, her fingers tapped against the desk she was sitting on. Patch it, or break it. 

"... I told Rian about it. I didn't know what was I thinking back then... I..." JB took a deep breath. "I told her that we're better off as friends... because I wanted to focus on dancing, I can't afford to keep this relationship..." He bit his lips. "She must have hate me so much for getting together with Jisoo right?" He chuckled, though the sound of his laughter sounded rather depressing.

So he knows. She crossed her arms. "You knew." She stated. It wasn't a question. JB knew, and he found himself wincing upon her blunt statement. Saying that he's still aware of Rian's feelings would be an understatement, but saying that he was sure of her remaining feelings didn't sound right either. 

Selfishly, he acted.  

"I have heard enough from you." She skipped of the desk and took slow, steady steps towards JB. Her cold gaze stayed, as well as her stoic face. She had heard enough from this side. From the looks of it, there wasn't two, but only one solution. 

"Let's keep it simple." She suggested, the corner of her eyes caught Rian's panic look as she and Junior were looking around all the empty classrooms. Rian saw her, that, she can conclude. "I'd like you to stay away from Rian." 

JB's eyes widened. Mia's words were sharp. Her voice stern and serious as her brows furrowed slightly. "But we're-" 

"You're hurting her." She said truthfully, recalling Rian's broken self just yesterday. She'd never admit it, nor did she realize that but, she is unintentionally protecting Rian from breaking again. "By being friends, you're hurting her." 

Then, she walked pass JB's stoned figure, before she close the door, however...

"Let her go, Im Jaebum."

And the door slided close, leaving JB with his fist cl