3rd Year (Mentioned in Chapter 4 of Part 4: On Their Way To The Royal Ball)

Hayeon tried to hide her eyeroll when she looked at the entrance of the clubroom when one of the club members told her that there was someone asking for her. She rubbed her face with her hand, trying to contain herself from showing any obvious sign of displeasure. That girl can be a real headache. 

Her club members gave her worried glances because the girl at the door wasn't hiding the hostility in the way she looked at Hayeon. She tried to reassure them with a smile, but then the next look they gave her made her smile a little. It appears that they were more worried about what she will do, rather than what will happen to her. Well, she can't blame them. They interact with her almost everyday after all. They know how much of a little she can be when triggered.

"Yes? Jung Eunbi?" she said, doing her best to keep the sass out of her voice. It was hard but she managed.

The little terror turned her face away from Hayeon. Thank god she managed to stop herself from grabbing her hair. "Let's talk outside." she said, already marching away without even listening if Hayeon agreed.

She breathed a deep sigh before following. It was easy even if the midget had walked ahead of her, because well... she's a midget. Such a little thing full of anger in her little body.

They walked until they were next to the school garden, not very hidden but not very open to the public either.

"Get straight to the point, please. I still have practice" Hayeon said. She almost crossed her arms, too but she stopped herself. She'll look intimidating that way.

"Okay. I'll keep this simple." Eunbi said, actually crossing her arms as she looked up at Hayeon. Hayeon internally laughed. She was obviously trying to intimidate her but that's a really hard feat to achieve when she has to literally crane her head to look up at her. "Stay away from my boyfriend."

Ah. Yes. Of course. It's about this. She had expected this, with all the sharp glances towards her direction whenever Eunbi saw her. She wasn't even trying to hide how she hated Hayeon's mere presence.

"Sure." she replied. shrugging her shoulders a little.

"What?!"

"I was never interested with your boyfriend anyway." Before Eunbi can even breathe with what Hayeon said, the rest of her words followed her earlier statement. "I'm only concerned about my best friend."

Eunbi actually made an irritated stomp, uncrossing her arms in favor of trying to rise a little to try to meet Hayeon's eyes. "I said, stay away from Taekwoon!" Her voice starting to get loud. She was so riled up.

Hayeon tried not to match her energy. This may be amusing in a sense, but she was also a tad bit pissed at this situation. She wass missing time for practice over this stupid jealous girlfriend talk and she was so tired of all this hate directed towards her. They obviously wouldn't get anywhere if they're both so high up each other's asses.

"Why should I?" she asked. Her carefully controlled sass slipping back into her words and to be honest, she doesn't care anymore if she sounded sarcastic.

"Because he has a girlfriend. Me."

She did roll her eyes this time. It was hard not to, okay.

"Yeah. I know. So?" she tilted her head for emphasis because this talk is really stupid. She also let her hand rest on her hips. This talk was going nowhere and again, this was stupid. "So, if that's all, I'm going back to practice."

Hayeon tried to walk past her but she exclaimed "We're not yet done!" and actually tried to pull her hair when her back was to her. It was an expected move so Hayeon managed to catch her hand, easily handling her and holding her wrist firmly but not to the point that it will hurt. It was just to keep her in place.

She doesn't have great restraint or even much patience, but the routine they were practicing now was important and she couldn't afford any type of suspension that might affect their perormance. She was the main person for this after all, and this petty fight was so not worth over their stage. So Hayeon held her hand and said, "I don't want a fight so do me a favor and talk to Taekwoon, not me."

She gave a frustrated little grunt as she snatched her hand away from Hayeon, which she let go easily enough. Thinking that she won't pull anything anymore, Hayeon proceeded to leave. She was barely three steps away when she felt a push from behind her and then she was falling, her arms shooting in front of her to catch her fall.

~*~

Taekwoon saw it all in slow motion. From how Eunbi turned around, glared at Hayeon's retreating figure, then to her charging at her and finally to Hayeon falling.

He looked for the two of them as soon as he received a message from one of his friends from the Dance Club, telling him that his girlfriend had sought out Hayeon and that they both left the building, going to who knows where. He was aware of the growing jealousy Eunbi had towards Hayeon. They had argued over it on more than one ocassion, always with a promise that she'll try not to be too jealous of Taekwoon's best friend and to Taekwoon treating Hayeon as just a normal friend, which he had been doing from the start.

He was planning to talk to both of them, clear things up and hopefully come to an agreement, again. But that thought flew out of the window when he saw Hayeon fall on her hands and knees. His body moved faster than his mind. He was next to Hayeon in a moment, checking the extent of how hurt she was. The sight of her bloodied knee made him scoop her up, taking her away from there quickly.

Taekwoon had never admitted it, even to Hayeon, how much it affected him seeing her hurt either physically or emotionally. After all, the first time he ever saw her cry was over a foot injury and a broken heart over not being able to participate in the performance. She had looked so small, weak and powerless at that time that he felt the need to protect her from anything that can hurt her. That feeling hadn't changed even after her foot had fully healed and she was back on the dance floor without any lasting effects on her performances.

"Taekwoon, put me down! I can walk on my own!" she protested, but not really struggling as that can lead them both into an unwanted accident, especially with the way Taekwoon was carrying her, princess-style.

He promptly ignored her, focused on his way to the infirmary. Hayeon hasn't said another word. She had really learned how to understand him without needing any sort of verbal response.

"What happened?" the nurse asked, approaching them quickly once they entered the infirmary. Honestly, Taekwoon didn't know what to answer. He knew Hayeon was hurt but he still doesn't know how much.

"I just got a scraped knee, ma'am." Hayeon answered, still in Taekwoon's arm. She looked at him in a silent message to be let down and Taekwoon did so, on one of the beds in the infirmary room.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked the nurse, while  she tended to his friend. The nurse inspected Hayeon's bloodied knee, then moved to her ankles, pressing and twisting them, asking Hayeon if she felt any sort of pain.

After examining her a bit more, the nurse smiled at Taekwoon. "She'll be fine. It's just a small scrape on her knee and hands."

"Are you sure? She doesn't have to miss practice or performances, right?" he asked, clearly still unconvinced. He also chanced a look at Hayeon who was telling him that she was okay through their wordless way of conversing.

"Yes. I'll patch up her knee and she can go back to practice in a few minutes." the nurse reassured. 

Taekwoon breathed a sigh of relief, then approached Hayeon on the bed, kneeling in front of her, while the nurse left to grab some antiseptic and bandages. "You're really okay?"

"If you ask me one more time, I'll kick you with this foot just so you'll believe me." she challenged but the softness in her expression betrayed her. So maybe even if Taekwoon hadn't told her directly, Hayeon had still managed to find out about his concern over her well being. It wasn't impossible, she could read him so well these days.

"Okay. I believe you." he said, standing upright again. "I'll leave you to the nurse for a moment."

"Where are you going?" she asked.

Taekwoon gave her a small smile and Hayeon slumped her shoulders a little, reading the reply through Taekwoon's eyes. "Don't be too harsh on her, okay?"

~*~

"You tended to her first! Don't try to tell me there is nothing going on between you two." she exclaimed.

Taekwoon had found her waiting somewhere outside the infirmary and he had gently escorted her away, finding an empty classroom where they could talk privately. But then those were her first words right after Taekwoon had closed the door behind him.

"You aren't hurt and she is. Which, may I remind you, is your fault." he replied, trying to be as calm as possible, trying not to let the image of Hayeon falling over replay in his mind as he talked with Eunbi.

"But she was --"

"Eunbi, we've talked about this. Hayeon is my friend."

"A friend that is always all over you!" she spat.

"If you can't take her presence as my friend, then I guess it's time for us to call this off." he replied, the warmth in his eyes quickly fading away.

He had liked her enough to date her, but with her constant jealous streak towards Hayeon, it had started to wear Taekwoon down. It made him so tired of arguing over the same issue time and time again. But those are things he could still handle. Hayeon getting involved and hurt because of this stupid jealousy though was a whole different issue. 

~*~

She let her eyes linger on the closed door of the infirmary, knowing that Taekwoon would return after his talk with his girlfriend. She was worried for him, but then again, she knew he can handle himself. He was good at controlling his emotions and even if he had looked angry earlier, Taekwoon was still someone who treats girls with care. It was a conditioned type of trait because of his family consisting of mostly females.

The door finally opened a moment later. Taekwoon's head hung low as he slowly approached where Hayeon sat, a clean gauze placed over her scraped knee.

Looking at him now, she knew that the adrenaline had worn off. His worry over her small injury and his irritation over the situation had passed and all that was left was this guilty looking best friend of hers.

"It's just a little scrape, Taekwoon." she said, even swinging her legs to show that she was okay.

He didn't reply, merely gave a little sigh, sitting in front of her then finally directing soft eyes towards her.

"This won't even scar." she added, tilting her head and giving him a small smile.

"I'm still sorry." he murmured.

Ah. Taekwoon was always so stubborn about certain things. Looking at how he was right now, he wouldn't believe that Hayeon was really okay, that it was just a small scrape, just a little tear of skin, something that won't bother her so much with dancing, not even with everyday things. 

"I'll forgive you if you will cook for me.” she said then. He wouldn't believe her anyway so might as well give him something to do to be "forgiven". The small smile Taekwoon finally gave her was answer enough that he would do his best to redeem himself, even if there was no need to in the first place.

He gave a little laugh then, lighter and more relaxed, "Any specific requests, Your Highness?"

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Note: Jung Eunbi is GFriend's Eunha. So yes, Taekwoon's girlfriends are all in the tiny spectrum ^^

To new readers: His first and his third girlfriends will be mentioned in Part 4: On Their Way To The Royal Ball ^^