~*~

 

Why do I care so much about a person that I just knew for a couple of days?

Since knowing that something was somehow wrong with Hendery, and Jaehyun blaming me for what happened to him, I felt something else more than just guilt.

I was so worried, that I couldn't stop thinking about it. 

I should be in the Dinning Hall, with my friends, eat dinner, and heck maybe dance afterwards. But I couldn't do it. All I wanted to do was to find Hendery, and nothing could stop me at the moment.

Of course, I didn't know know where to look, nor do I have any idea where I was going.

I luckily remember the familiar hallway that Hendery and I was using to go to the hedge maze at the back of the institute. The hallway was lit better than the rest as it was way brighter. There was a familiar looking giant door that literally was screaming I am the backdoor.

Could Hendery be in Lotus City? 

When he described the Lotus City, he sounded like it was his favourite place in the entire world. 

I pushed open the door and it made a loud creaking sound. 

I was immediately greeted by the strong, howling wind. As it hit my skin I shivered, but I continued to walk nonetheless.

I walked down the stairs, leading to the hedge maze. 

But something caught my attention. There was a rustling sound of someone stepping on the dry grass somewhere on my right. 

I stopped on my track and took a right turn, following the noise.

I spotted a figure, looking over at the Lotus City from the balcony. 

I had to stop myself and stared at the breathtaking view before I approach the figure closer. I was hoping that it was Hendery.

The silhouette of the figure looked more like him as I got closer. 

I reached out my hand to tap his shoulder.

He turned all of a sudden just when I was a few inches away from tapping his shoulder. He grabbed my hand, a very tight, strong grip. Then he pulled me closer.

I flinched in pain and tried to take back my hand.

From glaring, Hendery's eyes softened as he realised who I was.

He let go of my hand and stepped back.

"I'm sorry— I thought you were— Are you okay?" His voice turned from being surprised to sounding like he was worried.

He stepped forward closer to me and nudged my shoulder.

"What are you doing here alone?" I asked, ignoring his question.

His expression turned dark all of a sudden. "You shouldn't be here, you should be in the Dinning Hall." 

"Well, I was actually. But I needed to get out of there. I'm not used to be around so many people at the same time." I lied and I smiled at him. "You know, it's kinda overwhelming."

"Don't worry. I'm still not used to it either. I don't think I'll ever be." Hendery chuckled. 

I leaned on the railing and took in the view of the Lotus City from the institute. "I don't think I will get use to this either." I said, referring to the view.

"So, how's everything going?" Hendery said as he leaned beside me.

"I was just with the Black Velvet." I said.

"Did they tell you how much we ?" Hendery said.

I turned to face him. "You never told me about your own group, the 127."

Hendery lightly chuckled to himself. "There's not much to tell, really. You met them before you passed out at Lotus. You certainly have met Jaehyun, Yuta, and Xiaojun."

I snickered hearing Jaehyun's name.

"And the other two guys were Mark and Ten. Maybe next time I'll officially introduce you to them."

I frowned at the thought that I would be seeing Jaehyun again.

"Jaehyun hates me." I mumbled.

"Why do you think so?" Hendery knitted his eyebrows together like what I just said didn't make sense to him.

"Hendery," I said, softly, which caught his attention. "They told me you..."

Hendery frowned.

"You haven't been yourself lately." I continued. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Who are they?" Hendery asked back, ignoring my question.

"Hendery... If I did something to you, I'm sorry...I wish I can do something to—"

"Don't apologise, Juli. You did nothing wrong. I'm the one who should be sorry if my teammates were bothering you with this." Hendery said.

"Then why are you here? Alone?"

"You don't know me, Juli." Hendery said, quietly.

"That doesn't mean that I don't care about—" I stopped myself. "Your teammates are worried, you know."

Hendery chuckled sarcastically. "Wow, if you're here on behalf of Jaehyun, you don't have to waste your evening on something you don't even give a damn about."

I frowned at his answer. "I am not here because of that ." I refused, in a calm manner.

"Then why are you here?" 

Because I wanted to. I wanted to make sure that everything is okay. I wanted to make sure that you are not ing up, somehow.

Jaehyun was pretty upset about what's going on with him. That's enough for me to know that it's a serious thing. Even Yuta has confirmed that he is not acting like his usual self.

"Just say it, Juli." Hendery said. "Just tell me why you're here." 

Hendery stared at me, looking at me in the eye, waiting for an answer.

There's something off about him. His eyes were softer than usual, like he was tired, or sad.

"I