Hayi.
"I didn't answer, but, please - nothing is obvious with boys. For such simple creatures, they are quite baffling." - Rick Riordan, Throne of Fire 

She was worried, to say the least, but maybe that was an understatement as she runs through the hallways not a second later after the bell rings, signaling for the end of classes. Hayi has never felt so much adrenaline pumping inside her veins as she runs.

She's been waiting for class to end three hours ago, and those long, gruelling hours that ticked by sluggishly made her even more agitated and nervous and worried than she already was when she saw with her own eyes how Kim Hanbin collapsed and fainted on the cafeteria floors. 

She turns the corner, and finds herself stumbling inside the clinic. She doesn't need to scan the room because at the far side, the one out of three beds is occupied with a sleeping figure.

Jinhwan is beside him and when he hears Hayi come in, panting and muttering words similar to "oh my goodness" and "damn it, damn it," he cracks a smile but flinches, as if it hurts. 

Hayi walks over to him and can now clearly see the bruise just beside the corner of his lips. She frowns at him when she remembers him yelling a while ago during lunch. He must've have been dragged in the fight too.  

"Hey," he says.

"Are you okay?" she moves towards him, but her eyes are on the bruise and she doesn't look at Hanbin, not just yet.

He nods. "Better than he is," he says, gesturing to Hanbin.

Hayi sighs. She looks at Hanbin who is sleeping and frowns at him too. 

He doesn't look all that bad, but somehow she knows he endured more pain than Jinhwan did in that big fight. She yelled for him to stop, for all of them to stop, but they didn't listen. Nobody did. Boys were stupid this way, and now Hanbin flaunts a bruise on his forehead and a wound on his left cheek. His lip is busted and the side of his nose is turning purple and is a little bloated.

She bites her lower lip and sighs at the sight of him. "Why -?" she looks at Jinhwan and sees how his nose is turning purple too, yet he still smiles despite the pain. Hayi sits down on the bed before Hanbin's and drops her bag to the floor. "What was it about?" she whispers, afraid Hanbin might wake up. 

Jinhwan looks at her, then glances over at Hanbin as if contemplating. Hayi tells him to tell her, and with one threatening look, he easily gives in. "It was just a bet, you know us boys, we get carried away with things." he just says, but when Hayi shows off an expression telling him she is most certainly not pleased with this, he adds. "Okay fine, Choi challenged him in basketball and made a bet. Hanbin lost and got his totally whooped which by the way, because his side of the bet consisted of confessing to you."

She leans back and feels her own eyes widen. She is clearly baffled and perhaps Jinhwan finds it amusing or funny because he snickers then smirks right at her. "Huh? Bu - but, why?"

"Boys will be boys," Jinhwan says as he looks up at her. Hayi does not even realize she stood up due to his words. She sits back down on the bed and listens further as Jinhwan explains.

Still, as he is finished, she cannot comprehend or much less, understand why Hanbin even wanted to step up to the challenge anyway.

"Boy pride is much more precious than girl pride for us, you know." Jinhwan said but still, she felt like she needed to beat Hanbin in the head because that was just plain stupid of him. Or if not, immature would cut it.

He made a fool out of himself today in front of everyone  and Hayi thinks boys are much more simpler than girls, heck everyone thinks that way! But really, boys are just as complex. Hanbin shattered that age old fact for her, and now she looks at him, a new kind of feeling rising inside of her.  

You just don't know what runs in their minds, what thoughts that occur to them randomly and it makes her feel livid of how childish this whole thing was. Now look, he got hurt! 

Hanbin stirs a little later when silence falls over Hayi and Jinhwan. Her breathing hitches when he flutters his eyelids open and tries to sit up with the help of his friend as she stays there with her hands firmly on her knees. 

"Ouch, back hurts, need to stretch." he groans, complaining already upon the first time he opened his eyes ever since lunch period. He sits upright and stretches his arms up, up, up into the air as he yawns. He's still wearing his uniform and now it's crumpled and stained with something red that Hayi doesn't want to think about. 

He puts his hands back down and Jinhwan excuses himself, muttering something about getting the nurse. He leaves the room because Hayi hears a soft click of the door and like that, she is alone with him.

He looks at her, a sheepish and at the same time hopeful smile on his battered up face. "Hey, I -"

"You idiot," she says, getting up on her feet once again. She grabs the pillow from the unoccupied bed she is sitting on and faces him with a scowl. "You childish, brain-dead idiot!" 

"Hayi, no! Don't even -"

"What."

A smack to the stomach.

"Were."

One on his right leg.

"You."

Another on his left.

"Thinking!"

And she finishes it off with a smack directly on top of his pride. Hanbin lets out a yelp as he covers that area with his hands, groaning and complaining and cursing and leaning forward all at the same time. He looks at her, the shyness is all gone now and he's even glaring right at her. "That hurt!"

"Shut up." she says and thros the pillow back towards the bed. She turns to him again, and he's still glaring. "Answer me,"

"You had no question."

"Do you want me to hit you again?"

"No," he says, the glare disappears when he widens his eyes and shaking his head rapidly from side to side. "That won't be necessary." 

"Then answer me,"

Hanbin sighs, his features softens and for a moment, Hayi feels guilty because he's really, really tired and really, really hurt by those wounds. She looks at him in a less menacing way, and bites her lip as she tells herself not to worry. "I wasn't thinking anything. I just went with it, okay?" he says, looking at her with a frown. He touches the purple spot on his nose and before she can stop him, he flinches. "I guess I should have been smarter, and I shouldn't of have overestimated my basketball skills."

"I agree." 

"That bastard cheated though, the ball was clearly tampered with because it kept on jumping in his hands and not mine and -"

"Hanbin, seriously." Hayi clucks her tongue and narrows her eyes at him, he only shrugs in response, his lips showing signs of smiling. "What were you thinking?"

"I told you, I wasn't -"

She waves her hand dismissively. "Not that," she says. "About that stupid bet, what made you agree to it in the first place?"

His face drains of color as he looks at her, mortified. But then he looks down and she can see his ears turn pink. "O - oh, th - that. I, umm," he rubs his neck nervously. 

Hayi sits back down on the bed and leans forward, her elbows propped against her knees as she talks to him. "You could've just done it, you know. I wouldn't of have minded."

He snaps his head to look at her, an eyebrow raised. "Really? I find that hard to believe. Knowing you, you'd go cold and icy again on me." he points out. 

She shrugs. "Maybe, perhaps, but if you'd explain later on, I'd understand." 

"Hayi," he shakes her head at him. "You don't understand, I didn't want to do it because -"

The door opens and Hanbin is cut off when Jinhwan comes in, announcing that the nurse is here. Hayi looks at Hanbin, and he's looking back despite the nurse fussing over him. 

"Let's go home later together, okay?" 

> ; <

Carter walks out of the building with a frown, his khopesh in his right hand and the talisman in the other. I walk out after him, still a bit bothered about how that lady looked at us. "You alright?" 

He looks back and only nods. 

I eye the talisman he's holding and wonder why on Earth Uncle Amos wanted us to risk our lives for the puny little thing.

It wasn't even that pretty, and it didn't scream Egyptian magic to me. 

Hayi glances up and the first person she sees is Jinhwan, she turns her head to the side just a bit and sees Hanbin, walking beside him as they talk. 

She sighs, closes the book and kicks herself off the brick wall. "About time!" she says loudly as she walks towards them, making the two boys snap their heads up at her.

Jinhwan laughs, finding something funny in the way she looked at them while Hanbin frowns. "Were you still waiting all this time? I thought you went, I had a few books to grab." 

"Oh, so you care about assignments?" 

"More than bets, Hayi."

He glares and she snorts, and Jinhwan is in between them, feeling a little uneasy but amused at the same time. Somehow, they've learned how to be playful around each other. In a meaner manner, that is. 

"You know," he pips up, making the two look back at him. "I'm kind of skeptical leaving you two alone. Are you sure you guys want me to leave you both? I can walk with you -"

"That's okay, Jinhwan." the words come out from Hayi's mouth and Hanbin grumbles, obviously liking that idea instead because Hayi, for the past thirty minutes, has now been snapping at his head in every chance she gets. "If you'll be the one explaining, his mother would automatically think you two got into a rough fight."

"Which is true, you know."

"Yes, but with me, she'll take it in a more nicer way." she says, smiling. She looks at Hanbin, and hesitates for a while. She's never done this to anyone for a long time, but this was Hanbin and they were friends, surely she can... "We're off, see you next week!"

She hooks her arm with his and drags him along the cobbled street. Hayi drags his weight, and their clothes rub against each other. Hanbin matches his steps with hers and that's when she unhooks her arm. 

"You know, I kind of change my mind." he says, when they stop in front of a pedestrian lane. Several cars pass by before the light turns red and Hayi gives him a look as they cross. 

"I didn't exactly jump at the opportunity to walk you home, you big baby." she states, adjusting her bag behind her. "You asked me, and you still have something to tell me, Hanbin." 

She turns her head the other way and they don't talk at all after that. Silence falls over them, and it's not all that awkward. But it still is.. awkward.

"Hanbin, what do -" her words are stuck in when he surprises her with his piercing stare and narrowed eyes. He's looking at her again. She recovers in a second or so, and she looks back at him with an eyebrow raised. "What?" 

"Why do I get the feeling that you think you're responsible for me?" 

"Ugh," she throws her hands in the air in exasperation and makes a U-turn towards her house. "You know what, you can walk yourself home. Your legs are far more better than your face right now." 

"You want to see Hanbyul, don't you?" 

Hayi doesn't stop, but something tugs her from behind to do so. It's Hanbin's words and the thought of his to-die-for little sister. Still, she keeps walking. 

"She's gotten bigger now! She likes the flowers!" 

She groans and stops in her tracks. "Oh gosh," she mutters, closing her eyes for a moment as she decides. But there isn't much of a desicion anyways because she hears Hanbin running towards her and she knows she gave herself in just now. 

"Wow, you love my sister that much?" 

She opens her eyes and looks at him. His bruise is now a mix of grey and purple, there's a band-aid on his left cheek, his nose is more bloated than before, and his bottom lip must be aching but he smiles at her nonetheless. 

"I guess I do." she says, holding back the feeling of pity towards his once decent face.

> ; <

There are two kinds of hugs for Hayi. One is the hug that mothers give to you. Not just your mother, but your friend's and other people's mothers. Their hugs are warm, and soothing, and it makes you feel safe and a little out of oxygen, but it's okay because somehow they smell nice and they make you feel special. 

That was the hug Hanbin's mother gave her when she stepped foot in the Kim's household for the first time in a long time. 

The second kind is the hug little kids give you, where they jump on you and try to pull you down to the ground of their weight but they don't know they're heavy, that's why they jump on you and wrap their legs around your wiast, and their arms around your neck, and cling onto you like a sloth. 

That was Hanbyul's hug and Hanbin had to pry her off Hayi. She was laughing by the time Hanbyul got back on her own feet and started hugging her waist instead. 

"Hayi-unnie!" she says and Hayi laughs even more. The girl buries her nose in Hayi's uniform, muttering something.

"What was that, Hanbyul?" asked her mother, who was smiling sweetly at the scene in front of her.

"You smell so nice, unnie!" 

Hayi smiles, and then breaks into a grin when she kneels down and hugs Hanbyul back. "You've gotten so big it's unbelievable." she says when she pulls back and examines the now nine-year-old girl she used to make funny faces at when this girl was just two. Hanbyul looked like a child actress, or perhaps even better, she looked like a flower in the midst of autumn. She was like the summer sun, smiling at her so brightly she felt like she was going to melt any moment. "You have your mother's eyes," she caresses Hanbyul's cheek, and the younger one shows her a more subtle smile. 

"That's touching and all," says Hanbin as he drops his and Hayi's bag on their couch, his back turned to them. "But, mom, I have something to say, but first, is dinner ready because I -"

"Kim Hanbin, what happened to your face?!"

Hayi and Hanbyul laugh and cover their eyes, exchanging secret glances as Mrs. Kim scolds her only son in front of them. Hanbin runs towards his room, screaming how it wasn't his fault but his mother catches him by the collar of his uniform, and then later, holds him by the ear. Hayi bites back her laughter but Hanbyul doesn't hold her's back. 

"Mrs. Kim, I can explain, please." she says, threatening to smile at such a serious situation. Hanbin throws her a look that says "really?" but his mother pinches his side with her other hand and the look is gone. Hayi refrains to act so childish by sticking her tongue out to him. "Hanbin got into a fight, and it wasn't his fault. He got dragged into it, I swear he didn't do anything wrong to start the fight. He just got dragged in."

"Well, I hope he's smart enough next time to stay away." she says firmly, looking at him with narrowed eyes as she lets go of her grip on his ear. She's stern when it comes to Hanbin but when she looks back at Hayi, her features soften and a smile automatically appears on her pretty face. "Oh, Hayi thank you for accompanying him here and for dropping by. I insist, you must stay for dinner." 

Hanbin interrupts before Hayi can even open for a reply. "Really, mom?" he says, clutching onto his ear as he steps in between her and his mother. "You believe her and not me? Your own son!? I feel so betrayed, really, I do."

"Stop being overdramatic, Hanbin." Hayi says, flicking his ear before turning back to his mother. "I'd love to stay for dinner, Mrs. Kim -

"We agreed on 'Jungah' a long time ago, Hayi."

She smiles. "But, really, Jungah, I need to go home because my grandmother is waiting for me back home. I can't let her eat alone, but thank you for the offer." she bows ninety degrees and when she stands back up, Hanbyul is beside her, frowning.

"You'll visit soon though, right unnie?" she asks, a frown in her voice as well. At that moment, she looked like a sad, little puppy wanting to play and Hayi is like the owner who can't resist. But she must resist, she needs to get home before it gets dark. 

"Of course I will, Byul." she places a hand on her head and ruffles her hair, making Hanbyul giggle. "By then, I'll bring you more flowers, how does that sound?" 

"It sounds great!" 

"And by great," Hanbin says, butting in. Hayi throws him a look but he ignores it. "She means amazing, and by soon, she means tomorrow morning." he says to Hayi. 

"Hanbin," he turns to face his mother and is flustered when she throws a set of keys towards him. He catches it clumsily, making Hayi smile in amusement and Hanbyul giggle again. He's smiling despite their taunting, and he's looking at the keys with big, wide eyes. "Go and drive Hayi home, alright?"

"Really? You're going to let me drive the chevy? Your car, mom?!" 

She nods and in Hayi's eyes, it looks solemn, like she's still second-guessing her choice. "Yes, only for now because you need to drive her home, and take your time, okay? Don't rush and be careful, please. I don't want a single scratch on the car and no fire hydrents should be broken by the time you come back home, clear?"

Despite the harsh tone, he's still standing there, looking at his mother with a grin now. "Okay, okay, okay, okay." he nods vigorously at every word she utters. When she nods back, he turns to Hayi and jerks his head to the door. "Come on, come on, let's go!" 

Hayi laughs at his expression because his face is bright and beaming like that of a child. Hanbyul brings her bag to her and again, promises are made and goodbyes are said and Hanbin pulls her hand and leads her outside of his house to the cold autumn evening. 

> ; <

Looking at Hanbin drive made Hayi realize, once again, that Hanbin has matured in ways she didn't know. Like now, as he grips on the steering wheel of the pine-scented car, his eyes on the road the whole time and he doesn't even look at her that much as he drives. He's too concentrated, and Hayi has never seen him like this. She has never seen him so still and serious. 

"Quit staring, I'm going to lose my focus here." he says from the corner of his lips and spares her a sideway glance that makes her tilt her head instead of looking away like he wanted. He was serious now, not excited and beaming like a while ago when his mother threw him the keys. 

"Let me guess," she says, turning her head the other way now. Her eyes are on the road and the street lights are and the people walk the streets in groups. Cars pass by them but Hanbin remains to drive under the speed limit. "It's your first time driving without adult supervision?"

He laughs. "Yep," he says, glancing at her again. He turns the corner and the shops and houses and even the cracks of the sidewalks are all so familiar to her now. The walk would've took thirteen minutes or so but the drive barely lasted three, or maybe even two. "It's my first time. Do you know how to drive? Your mom owns an audi, right?"

"Yeah, but," Hayi spots her house and sighs. "She only taught my brother, and he was supposed to teach me too, but, you know, we never finished and my driving is a little rusty now, I guess, I don't know." 

He pulls the brake right in front of her house and Hayi regrets saying those words now. She opens the door because she doesn't want Hanbin to open it for her again like when she got in. "Anyways, thanks for the ride, Hanbin." she says, not meeting his face or his eyes. She adjusts the straps of her backpack before climbing out.

"I can teach you, you know." he says and it makes her look back. He's crouching down, just so that she could see him. He's smiling, a small, subtle smile that he doesn't often wear. "Driving, I can teach you if you want. Or mom can, which ever." 

Hayi looks at him for a little while longer, and her eyes are focused on his wounds, particularly the one on his left cheek.

I didn't want to do it because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable with all the attention. I did it with you in mind, just so you know. 

"I'd like that," she forces a smile on and his own widens. She closes the doors and the smile doesn't get realer, it turns into a frown because there's a feeling she gets in the pit of her stomach as she thinks of his answer to her question. 

> ; <