Just Out of Reach

"Hey" Hoya waved slightly as he made his way down the hill to where Hana was. Now that he was under the cool shade he realized just how hot it was. He wondered how Hana was planning on running laps in this heat.

"Hey you" she said flashing him a bright smile. She was always happy to see Hoya who she considered one of her closest friends outside of her usual group. They had complimenting personalities; the same with only slight differences in opinion or reaction. Similar to her and Meilin.

"I heard about what happened with the notes" after hearing Hoya say that her gaze immediately shot towards L who sat in the distance with Dongwoo, Sungyeol, and Sungjong.

She hadn't spoken to the new one, Sungjong, yet since that day at the tables. From those few short moments she could already tell there was sweetness to him. She wondered how he holds up with all that testosterone around: do they bully him? Treat him bad? Or were his looks misleading? He probably could hold his own.

"It wasn't him" Hoya insisted as he kept a straight face. Technically, Hoya didn't lie. After Sunggyu and L had their spat they heard people around the halls beginning to talk about the notes being left in Hana's locker. 

Hana gave a frustrated sigh, "Does Sunggyu know?"

Did he ever. Hoya thought.

He had remembered what had happened the day before when they heard a group of random guys standing to the side talking about it on their way back to the lockers: Hoya, Dongwoo and Woohyun had to hold Sunggyu back from starting an all-out battle with them. 

"He's beyond pissed" Hoya spared her the details.

"Great that's exactly what I didn't need right now especially with that one" she nodded over in L's direction, " already breathing down my neck about it." she thought about something for a moment, "Speaking off which, I never asked, what's the deal with the both of them anyway? Theres so much hostility."

Hoya sighed as he placed his hands in his pockets, "Yeah people say it has to do with baseball but... I'm not buying it. The animosity... it's intense. Theres history there so I don't doubt it being something bigger."

"What do you guys think?" she asked referring to the baseball team.

"We have an ongoing debate where we think L may have stolen a girl from Sunggyu at one point. Ironic though considering..." he trailed off as he looked over suspiciously at Hana.

"Considering what?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." he bit he lip and smiled. He enjoyed keeping Hana in the dark. 

"I hate when you do that" her eyes narrowed. 

Hoya laughed hardily, "So are we hanging today or what?"

He realized early on after they met that they were kindred spirits with similar interests and hobbies, sports and dance, just to name a few. He could always confide in her and talk to her whenever he needed to. Even hanging with her felt as natural as breathing. Obviously there were things he felt more comfortable talking to Dongwoo and Woohyun with but it was good having a close female friend to talk to as well. Especially when he needed a female’s perspective although... Hana was unique and usually had the same opinions as Dongwoo. She usually says that it's because she has a male mentality when it came to certain things. Hoya could understand in some ways seeing as he was a little bit more sentimental than most guys he knew but he didn't mind.

"I guess so, but Mei will probably tag along."

At the sound of Meilin's name Hana noticed Hoya slightly wince. She knew it was hard for him, the wound was still fresh, but she also knew this way was best for both of them. He had to get used to being around her again if he wanted to continue to hang around Hana and she already knew Meilin was already over it but she also knew how Hoya was. He was just like her: he took things harder than most, the only difference being that Hana was better at ignoring it. Hoya on the other hand wore his heart on his sleeve.

"Mei?" he said his tone becoming troubled.

"Yeah... is that okay with you?" she thought all those things but she knew she couldn't force him into it either. She felt a wave of guilt crash over her. Maybe she should just tell Meilin she was going out on her own.

"Sure," he finally said to her surprised, his mood changing all together, "I don't see why not."

What was he thinking?

The day only continued to get hotter so by the time Hoya and Hana met up after school they had decided to go to a Patbingsu shop over in Hongdae. Meilin had to pick up some things after class and insisted that Hana should go ahead without her to the shop. 

The owners of the Patbingsu shop were always on good terms with Hoya and Hana because of the fact that they were regular customers like how Hana, Mei, Nina and the rest of the girls were regulars at the cupcake/coffee shop. Because Patbingsu was regularly eaten during Spring/Summer the shop didn't solely rely on selling them. This place was also a cafe that sold plenty of other homemade foods like dumplings, croquettes, sandwiches, coffee, soups, kimbap and more.

Upon reaching the shop Hana and Hoya noticed all of the seats inside were taken so after grabbing their treats went back outside to sit under the shade of the deck. Under the deck was a fan that shot a nice breeze over to them as they ate their cold creation. Eventually Meilin showed up and sat next to Hana who sat in between the both of them.

"That looks delicious," Meilin said eyeing the Patbingsu Hana was eating as she sat down.

"You have no idea just how delicious it actually is." Hana said as she took in a spoon full.

"What is that one of?" she opened so that Hana could let her try a spoonful.

"It's Coconut." Hana said as she went back to focusing on her ice cream.

"And yours?" she asked looking over at Hoya.

He spoke casually, "mine's Coconut too."

Hana was impressed. This was one of the reasons why she admired him so much.

"Are there an