“Don’t panic. Just be comfortable.” Minseok chanted to himself as he rested his back on the concrete wall and quietly waited for Eunsol’s class to end. He was waiting outside W410, it was Eunsol’s classroom. Even though he knew that she’s not present today, he’s still there. Waiting.

So what was he doing there when he knew that she’s not around?

He had noticed her absence for the past four days. And he realized that she started skipping school after he confessed to her. And he could only think of two reasons why she’s been absent for a couple of days now.

The first one is she’s avoiding him. And the second one is she’s trying to stay away from him. And those two are just the same. So, Eunsol is definitely avoiding him.

So, today he wanted to talk to someone who’s acquainted with her. Someone who might be able to answer the questions running inside his mind. And that someone is her best friend.

Jieun.

“Jieun-ssi.” He called her the moment she stepped out of the room. Jieun looked at him and she immediately recognized his face. “You—“

“I’m Minseok.”

“You’re the one who likes Eunsol right?” she asked not realizing that her voice was slightly going up for she was a bit excited to see the guy who was secretly in love with her best friend for so long.

His cheeks turned pink as he nodded. Yes. I’m that guy. Minseok thought as he tried to avoid the stares of other students passing by.

Jieun frowned. “Sadly, Eunsol is absent. If you want, I’ll just tell her—”

“Why is she absent?” he asked her wanting to hear her answer as soon as possible.

Jieun eyed him as she bit the insides of her inner cheek. She couldn’t possibly tell this guy that Eunsol and Jongdae have something going on because he will definitely be hurt. And also because she’s not in any place to tell him anything about it. Eunsol should be the one to tell those to him. Or his great bestfriend Jerkdae.

“Is it because of me? Is she… avoiding me?” Minseok asked her with uncertainty. And he was praying in his head that she would say ‘No.’ What kind of guy would want the girl he likes to avoid him right?

Jieun saw the pained expression on Minseok’s face and felt guilty. Aish. It’s all Jerkdae’s fault. It’d be a lot better if Eunsol would just choose Minseok.

“Eunsol’s sick that’s why she’s absent. It’s not because of you. So, stop worrying about it.”

“She’s sick?” his eyes rounded as his expression softened.

“Yes…” Jieun lied. Her lips curled into an awkward smile. “She’s absent because of flu.” She told him. “Her head hurts and her stomach hurts too. She can’t get up from her bed. She’s really sick.” She started making up things so that he would believe her.

“Should I visit her?”

“What are you doing here?” was the first thing which came out of when she saw him. She was expecting to see the highschool students, Mark and Bambam but she was wrong.

It was him.

The guy who doesn’t like her back.

Eunsol instinctively gripped on her tray as she remembered those. Seeing his face just pains him. Just why is he here?

Jongdae on the other hand was too busy staring at her and her every feature. The shape of her eyes, the bridge of her nose, her lips. Everything. Right now, looking at her like this makes him wonder if something in her face had changed or was it just him and his imagination. He hadn’t seen her for a couple of days and it felt like a hundred of years to him.

Seeing her like this makes him want to hold her and never let go. I missed you Eunsollie.

As much as he wanted to tell those words to her, he couldn’t. After everything that happened,

How could he.. right?

 Eunsol diverted her gaze off him, she knew looking at him for too long is just not a good decision. It’s not good for her heart. She looked around the shop, trying to find the two high school boys. But she couldn’t find any traces of them.

Where did they go? She frowned as she turned to Jongdae. He immediately flashed her his famous cheesy smile. And Eunsol tried her best to stay unaffected. To look as if she didn’t care and it was one of the hardest things to do. Seriously. Who could resist this guy with this kind of smile? Damn you and your sunny smiles. She thought.

“Where are they? Did you scare them away?”

Jongdae’s smile slightly faltered, his lips were slightly forming a pout. “No. Why would I?” his denial just made him sound even more guilty.

“Why would they go?” she mumbled to herself. Those two were her regular customers. Why would they go without even taking their orders?

Jongdae simply shrugged at her. “Maybe they don’t have money. They’re high school students anyways.” He mumbled with a judging look.

“Aish. The manager will scold me for this.” Eunsol mumbled to herself as she eyed the tray. Their order will be wasted. But she can’t do anything about it so she just decided to go back to the counter and be ready for some scoldings from their manager. She was about to walk away but then, she suddenly halted into a stop when Jongdae spoke.

“I’ll pay for it.” he said. Eunsol turned back to him and waited for him to continue what he was saying. “I will… just eat their order so that your manager won’t scold you.” Jongdae proudly told her.

He eyed her and waited for her to respond to him. You’re touched right? Because I’m so cool? he thought as he waited for her to say ‘thank you’ and smile sweetly at him. But what she did was the exact opposite of what he has pictured in his mind.

Eunsol took out her hand in front of him. “Payment.” She told him with a straight face, There wasn’t even a hint of the slightest smile in her lips.

He slightly frowned as he took out his wallet. Disappointed of how she responded to him. “Do I really have to pay to see your face again?” he asked as he grumpily pulled out a few bills from his wallet.

“Should I report you to our store supervisor then?”

Jongdae immediately smiled cheekily at her as he gave her the payment. “Here. Keep the change.”

“Whatever.” Eunsol rolled her eyes at him while she grabbed his payment, there was this frown plastered in her face.

“Look at that! Why are you smiling at others from ear to ear but now that you’re with me you’re frowning and all? That’s so unfair Eunsol-ah.” He told her.

He felt bad about being ‘mistreated’ by her. She’s smiling to other customers but to him, she not. She’s treating them politely but to him, she doesn’t care at all. It’s just… unfair. And he kind of gets jealous.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“Must I really answer?”

Jongdae fell silent hearing those words from her. He knew that he couldn’t argue with her about this.

“You said you hate me didn’t you? Then why are you here?”

“Hey! I never said that!” was his quick reply. It was true though. He never said that he hates her. Never.

“If you don’t like me, then that means you hate me. Right? Isn’t that it? Tell me. I’d really like to know.” she copied him.

Jongdae felt guilt. Remembering how harsh he has treated her last time was definitely something he would just like to erase if it was as easy as that. And right now that he’s talking to her, he didn’t know what to say anymore. He didn’t know what to tell her. His words will never be enough. “Eunsol-ah…”

“I’ll go now. Eat your food and just leave.” she said as she turned her back on him and prepared to leave.

“I’ll wait until your shift ends. Let’s talk. Okay?”

Eunsol didn’t even look back and answer him. She left just like that. And to Jongdae that meant as a ‘yes’ because he believes in the saying that silence means yes. And so he stayed there and just watched Eunsol the whole time.

Two. Five. Six hours has passed and still, Jongdae was there, silenty sitting on the same  spot. He was waiting for her shift to end so that they could finally talk and somehow fix things. And without him noticing it, while he was there, silently watching her, he was already fast asleep.

A/N:

Hello everyone!

Finally updated after 245676878 years! Sorry it took so long. I was busy with school and stuff. But I'm back. :> 

I missed you all. <3

Have you guys heard f(x)'s Paper Heart? It's my fave song from their recent album~ What's yours?

Hearteu.