Chapter 43: The Yellow Scarf Confrontation

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Walking into the cafeteria, Jinhwan lines up for dinner. While minding his own business, his attention is pulled away upon catching the familiar color yellow out the corner of his eye. With his sights trailing after the back of the female student, he leaves the line and approaches her.

“Hey, I left the tank out in the common area–,”

His words are stopped short when the person who turns around doesn’t resemble Yiseul in the least. And, maybe it’s his fault for purely focusing on the scarf rather than the person wearing it. 

“Do I know you?” she asks.

Taking her by surprise, his hand darts out to take a closer look of the scarf.

“Are you one of Yiseul’s residents?” Mina asks, cautious of his actions. 

Ignoring her question and with his eyes still on the scarf, he asks, “Where did you get this from?”

Mina places her attention back on the scarf and answers, “Yiseul lent it to me.”

Without another word, he pulls it from her neck and turns away with it now in his possession.

“Hey!” Mina calls out.

Jinhwan grips the yellow scarf and leaves the cafeteria completely, forgetting about dinner. 

***

“Where is she?”

Hayi jumps from the abrupt voice and nearly spills hot water on herself. After jumping away to avoid being splattered, she looks over her shoulder from the counter and she finds Jinhwan peering into the kitchen. Despite the reputation Jinhwan has created for himself, Hayi is relieved to see he isn’t exactly angry. 

“I checked her room and she isn’t there,” Jinhwan continues, appearing to be in a haste.

“Who are you looking for?” 

Her question goes unanswered with Jinhwan not particularly paying attention, but instead, looking up and down the hall. Used to people not hearing her, Hayi isn’t bothered by Jinhwan’s lack of response. Though, she does take notice of the yellow scarf in his hand. 

Doesn’t that belong to Yiseul? She has been noticing how the dorm head has been without it. Maybe she had lost it and Jinhwan happened upon it. 

“Hey, isn’t that Yiseul’s scarf?”

A voice appears and it does manage to capture Jinhwan’s attention. Hanbin peeks into the kitchen, sending a wave towards Hayi before facing Jinhwan again. His appearance does make it an odd meeting between the three of them. 

From where she stands, she weirdly suspects Jinhwan is now fuming. All Hanbin did was mention the scarf. 

“If it’s hers, then why did I find someone else wearing it?” Jinhwan questions.

Then, Hanbin remembers.

“Are you talking about Mina?” he asks. “Isn’t that who you got it from?”

Hayi stiffens at the name. 

“Who’s Mina?” Jinhwan remarks. 

“Ah,” Hanbin lets out a sound of understanding. “Yiseul’s friend; haven’t you noticed? What Mina wants, she usually gets.”

***

Her entire first morning class was characterized with the bombardment of messages and phone calls.

Two faces come to mind; Junhoe and Seunghoon. 

Except, the screen tells her she’s wrong. Yet, reality isn’t far-fetched. 

Mina is the one to leave her phone filled and she should have known since Mina’s usually responsible. Opening the first message at the top, she decides to respond to that one by telling the girl her location.

Ten minutes later and she hears the familiar voice calling out her name.

“Yiseul!”

Slowing in her steps in the hall, Yiseul’s eyes immediately land on Mina heading in her direction. Somehow, she looks to be in distraught– which is consistent to the tone in her messages.

“What’s wrong?”

“Some weird jerk came up to me today and stole your yellow scarf from me.”

Trying to follow along to what Mina is saying, it takes a while for Yiseul to respond. “Huh?”

“I think he’s one of your residents.”

Once the information registers, Yiseul comforts her, “I’ll take care of it.”

This isn’t how she thought she would be getting her scarf back, but it’s one way.

***

By the time Yiseul arrived back at the dorms, she has already assumed the resident in question to be Jinhwan. So, she heads to his room to talk to him. Just as she is about to knock on his door, her attention turns to Junhoe’s voice coming from the common area. 

Then, Jinhwan’s follow. 

“Are you an idiot? The recommended portion is written right here.”

“Bobby always overeats and he’s fine,” Junhoe responds. “Besides, those swollen balls are old food. I was just trying to give Darwin some fresher stuff.”

Yiseul walks closer and peers inside. Both Jinhwan and Junhoe hovering above the tank. She wants to inquire what they’re investigating, but they both soon become mindful of her appearance with a look over their shoulders and straighten up. 

“Is something wrong with Darwin?” she wonders.

Junhoe shrugs. “He looks fine– that reminds me, Rosé said she picked up some things to add to the tank. I’ll go get them.”

Silently, the two allow Junhoe to pass by Yiseul through the doorway. 

Once it’s just the two of them, Yiseul looks towards Jinhwan. “Do you have my scarf?”

He nods towards the table behind him. On its surface, the yellow scarf is folded neatly. Yiseul walks over and picks it up. 

“You surprised Mina today.”

“I thought she stole it,” he replies. 

“I already figured you didn’t mean any harm,” she answers. 

“Don’t lend things like this. It’s cold outside.”

Though it sounds l

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Sriracha31
Hi everyone! Just trying to get the message out as efficiently as possible- if you would like to connect outside of fanfics, follow me on instagram at staceface_art.

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Comments

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Wanderer_bj
#1
Chapter 62: Ohh how I miss reading something not so heavy like this. I just love this and the end was just perfect. 😍
peachyjoonie_
#2
God, I miss you. Thank you for writing.
WholesomeRain
#3
Chapter 62: I miss these characters so much I’m going to puke.
WholesomeRain
#4
Chapter 60: It makes me sick that they aren’t all real people 😔 (even tho they are, but you get what I mean haha)
WholesomeRain
#5
Chapter 35: Oh, I’m also referring to Jinhwan, of course✊💯
WholesomeRain
#6
Chapter 30: That post that says “girls don’t want real men, they want fictional men written by women’ but I’m solely referring to the versions of Hanbin that you write. (Rereading chapters, yet again)
Amsohappy
#7
Chapter 62: Wow! I finally get to finish reading this breath of fresh air. I love your style.
All through the earlier chapters, I was chanting girl stand up for yourself like a mantra. I knew it wasn't easy to just up and switch. It took time, but I'm glad she achieved it in the end. Thank you, for this refreshing read.
Amsohappy
#8
Chapter 52: Girl, that's the spirit.
I don't want to.
maysui
#9
Chapter 57: The way Hanbin gives Yiseul a space and choice for her to decide shows how much he respects her.

All this time, she can't say no and I can't blame her for that. I hope they can leave safely and live how they want to.
maysui
#10
Chapter 55: Manipulating? Brainwashed? seems to be talking about herself hahaha I'm so proud Yiseul is speaking up for herself!