Chapter 22

With and Without Oh Sehun

[September 18]

If only Areum knew how things were going to turn out one month later, then she wouldn't have drowned herself with worry so much. It wasn't only a one in a blue moon chance when Areum walked with her crush to their lockers that one time, but rather a god given gift when it turned into a daily routine. 

Since everyone's favorite time of the day was here, they were both heading to their lockers together while holding a friendly and casual conversation- something that Areum has always wanted to do with Sehun. And this time, he was listening and responding.

However, there was also something new and different to take note of in Areum that we were seeing for the first time. Instead of her usual excited, nervous, and jittery self whenever she was around Sehun, she was rather calm... As if she was used to all this. But of course it was obvious that her growing crush for him still remained with the way she was conscious about everything she said, along with her cute little chuckles here and there that girls like to do around boys. She just didn't feel the need to constantly freak out and act like an idiot anymore whenever he was around. 

Anyways, this whole walking to their lockers together during break and lunch while carrying on their conversation just shows it all of how much closer they got. However, there was still one thing that never really changed yet, and it was Sehun who seemed to always be in a rush to put his things away and go somewhere. Everytime they arrived at their locker, Areum knew that it was impossible to hold a conversation with him for more than 2 minutes where she would have his full attention. However, Areum didn't seem to mind as much as before after finding out the reason. About a week after this daily routine became accustomed, Sehun explained to Areum that he and his friends always play a competitive game of volleyball during lunch, and he didn't want to be late or else they'll start without him which leaves him wind up on the y team. Fair enough. 

"I'll see you in class," said Sehun before he threw his backpack over his shoulder and jogged away. 

Areum hummed an "okay" before watching him set off. But instead of moving on to do her own things now that she was alone, her eyes remained on the direction that Sehun ran off to. It was clear through the look on her solemn eyes and smile that something was bothering her, but she wasn't sure if she had any right to be bothered by such a thing. Was she asking for too much by this point? She couldn't help but feel this way though. Deep inside she had a dying wish that Sehun would invite her to one of his volleyball games, but she eventually scolded herself that Sehun had every right not to. Even so, she was hit with the thought that an invitation wasn't really needed since she could just go by herself, and it wasn't like Sehun was going to have a problem with it. 

After thinking it over for a moment and eventually pulling through to convince her doubtful self, she shut her locker and walked towards the same direction that Sehun went to. After all, her and Sehun were buddies . . . or perhaps acquaintances was a more accurate term, and there was nothing wrong with watching one of his games. She's always been curious about volleyball and how good he was at it since that was what he always talked about. 

As she was making her way to the volleyball court, she could hear yelling from afar and right away she somehow knew that it was the voices of those playing volleyball. Call her crazy or not, but she thought that she might have even picked out Sehun's voice too. Regardless, she finally arrived after taking her sweet time. She could have been there a lot earlier if she didn't constantly stop every now and then to think if she really wanted to do this or not. 

She found an empty seat on a bench in the shade that wasn't particularly too close or far from where the game was taking place. It was the perfect distance that would allow her blind eyes to see the game, and also where Sehun or his friends wouldn't be able to easily spot her out (not like they would anyways). 

She was sitting at the edge of her seat as she watched the game with her hands clasped together and mouth agaped. Her eyes concentrating hard, particularly at Sehun who was good like she had expected him to be. However, truth be told that she had no idea what the heck was going on. This was her first time watching a game of volleyball, and she had no background knowledge of how the sport even works or run. It brings us back to the embarrassing moments when she would nod her clueless head as if she understood what Sehun was talking about whenever he brought up volleyball; yet again, that's Han Areum for you. 

Just then, there was a rise in her eyebrows when she spotted something that she knew didn't need any background knowledge to know that something wasn't right. She barely caught the image of Sehun falling onto the ground before getting back up on his feet. However, she was confused at the next sight of Sehun standing still as if he was just turned into stone. She was confused even more when she saw his tall friend asking him multiple times if he was okay, but his stone-like body remained. And as if that wasn't enough to puzzle Areum, she was nearly at the very edge of her seat when she saw one of Sehun's leg give up on him before the other one followed. Now, he was sitting on the ground with no movement found in his body. 

Realizing that she can't sit still any longer, she got up on her feet and stormed to the volleyball court even though in the back of her head she was asking what someone like her could do. Regardless, she wasted no time to get to Sehun.

She squeezed through Sehun's crowd of friends somehow and managed to land right next to him. In her mind, she had to get close to him since it didn't seem like he was receiving the proper aid yet, even though again, she doesn't know how someone like her would be of help. However, the very moment she laid eyes on this closer image of him she found herself unable to move or even blink. 

He was still sitting on the ground without moving, but the look in his petrified eyes and ice cold body only caused Areum to be baffled. His face was pale white with cold forms of sweat developing on this forehead. He was staring in front of him without a blink of an eye in sight. Areum took a moment to really focus on his chest area, but the fact that she saw no movement meant that he wasn't breathing. She then moved her eyes to look at his dry and cracked lips that looked as if he hasn't taken a sip of water in ages, and the way it was quivering didn't make things seem any better. 

After observing every little detail about him, Areum came to a late notice of something dripping beside her. It was a faint sound, yet it seemed as if it was echoing through her ears. She brought her eyes down to Sehun's knee and was startled when she saw a stream of blood running down his left leg that was even leaving small drops onto the ground. But before she could ask herself any questions, she was reminded that she wasn't alone.

"Do you know what to do?"

She turned around and saw Sehun's tall friend staring at her. What does he mean if Areum knows what to do? 

"... His knee. It's- bleeding."

Well... Yes... 

"We know about his fear of blood, but nobody really knows what to do."

Fear... Of blood? 

Areum quickly turned around to look back at Sehun who was still in the same petrified state. That makes sense. That's why he's unable to move or even breathe properly, but even if does Areum know this, what good does that do? She was in the same shoes as Sehun's friends. She had no idea about what to do. This was her first time facing such a thing or coming across anyone who had this fear. However, it quickly occurred to Areum that staring at Sehun wasn't going to do any good. Even if she has no idea about what to do, anything would pretty much do by this point. 

She dropped to her knees and managed to somehow withstand the pain from the blacktop, and proceeded to take off her blazer. She wrapped it around Sehun's left bleeding knee in order to get it out of his sight, hoping this would somehow calm him down. She then allowed herself to get closer to Sehun and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"Sehun. Are you okay?" She knew that was stupid to ask, but she just needed to get his attention back. It was clear that he was out of it, and if Areum didn't do anything to have him come back to his senses again then he was going to really be out of it. "Sehun. Look at me. Are you okay?"

Areum's heart was now beating faster than ever when she received no response from him. Her body began to slightly tremble when Sehun's paralyzed body and horrified eyes had no sign of changing. Never has she witnessed Sehun, or anyone, in such a terror-stricken state before. 

She began to slightly shake him since it seemed like words alone wasn't going to be enough. "Sehun. Look at me. Everything's gonna be fine."

After what seemed like ages that had gone by, she nearly choked in relief when she saw a movement in his eyes. Following shortly after was a small movement in his shoulder that told her his breathing was normal again. She then stood up and turned around to his friends. 

"Take him to the nurse for now."

Without a delay, they did as they were told and carefully picked Sehun up to his feet. Whatever happened after that Areum couldn't exactly remember. She was just glad that it was over. She didn't care about the rest of the day at school, or more like she couldn't since she was dead worried about Sehun.

When the final bell rang and school was finally over, Areum sprinted to the nurse's office to see if Sehun was still there, and if he was, if he okay. Her heavy backpack filled with books was preventing her from going at the fast pace she wanted to go, but that didn't stop her from moving how ever fast she could. 

When she finally made it to the hallway that connected to the nurse's office, she stopped in her track and nearly tripped when she saw an older woman stepping out from the room. Following closely behind her was Sehun who was limping and struggling to properly walk before he was given support by the woman who Areum assume was his mom. Areum could see his flat hair bouncing every time he took a step that was causing himself to bounce also. It was obvious to her that with every step came pain. 

As they were gradually making their way towards the exit of the school, Areum felt torn by the way Sehun was keeping his head down. His face remained serious, but Areum knew that he was chagrined. Her eyes continued to follow them down the hallway until she could no longer see them. 

 

For the next few days, Areum spent her breaks and lunch walking alone to her locker. By the way she was keeping her head down while holding onto the straps of her backpack, it was obvious that she felt weird and rather even lonely without Sehun there to do their usual locker routine. She had adjusted to it a lot quicker than she thought.

Her feet was now dragging on the floor with her shoulders hanging. Her somber face as a result of Sehun's absence. Her brain constantly being reminded about how petrified Sehun looked that day. She never knew nor thought that Sehun had that phobia. She just hope that she was at least the slightest help and didn't make things worst, but she couldn't help feeling regretful that she could have done more. Like what? She doesn't know. She just wished that she had.

When she arrived at her locker she took her time doing whatever she needed to do. She wasn't in a rush to grab her lunch, but as she thought about it she wasn't really hungry at all. Maybe she could just spend her time outside reading a book or something and munch on an apple so she wouldn't regret skipping lunch later. Just as she was about done grabbing her books, her ears was able to pick up a faint sound of something clinking. As she spent a few more seconds listening to it longer, the sound got louder and louder.

For whatever reason, she turned to see what was causing this noise and immediately the somber look on her face disappeared. Walking towards her with crutches clinking onto the floor was none other than Sehun. It took a few more seconds until he finally arrived at where she was. 

"Hey," Sehun said with a small smirk while awkwardly scratching the back of his tilted head. He must have felt a little embarrassed about what happened. 

However, to Areum she didn't care about any of that. She was just happy to that he was okay and now back. 

 

~End of Chapter 22~

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CSanWS
#1
Chapter 47: I love both yoongi and sehun. But damn can you just let her ended up with yoongi? After she had been dumped by Sehun, eventho i love him. I can’t.
Iheartren
#2
Chapter 47: I’m finally caught up I recent stumble your story the story so far it’s interesting and I can’t wait for the next update i wonder what is going to happened next, keep up the good work 😊
Sey-ra
38 streak #3
Chapter 47: Omo ,you came back.And for Aereum don't go to the same part again.
fishaelee
#4
Chapter 46: it’s quarter to 4am now and im finally catch up with the chapters! i must say that reading this fic is such having a ride on a roller coaster. at first with the break up of sehun and areum, the pain she felt and how badly everyone treated her... also yoongi’s side story too... im pretty sure there will be a triangle love happening in the future too xD
fishaelee
#5
Chapter 29: yesss areum did it. i hope there will be justice for yoongi soon
fishaelee
#6
Chapter 28: AREUM !!!! :((((
fishaelee
#7
Chapter 27: areum don’t u dare let him slip away like that-
fishaelee
#8
Chapter 16: and how sehun started dating irene, the girl who had been the anti of his previous relationship since day one? oh man i fking hate it here, tf did u just do sehun ah
fishaelee
#9
Chapter 16: okay i’ve suffered enough with the first 9 chapters and i am just so frustrated and my heart hurts so bad for what happened to areum. I CAN FEEL THE PAIN thru the words u wrote...
Sey-ra
38 streak #10
Chapter 42: Sorry but I am still frustrated with Aerum.