let's take a break from JeYiYang

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Chapter 19

Yejin raised a brow upon seeing Daewon frowning while reading a book.

"Everything okay? You're frowning, Daewon," she said as she sat beside him.

The boy sighed as he looked at her. "I'm fine."

"You're worried about them, too, right?" She asked.

"Is it that easy to tell?"

She nodded. "I've been with you for several years already. Of course, you're also easy to read," she shrugged. "Don't worry. I'm sure Yangyang was able to tell her how she feels. I'm just a bit worried about Yiyeon's oblivion, though—"

"Yiyeon's not stupid," Daewon said, closing his book. "I strongly believe that she's not oblivious to Yangyang's feelings. It's just that... she doesn't want to believe it," he sighed.

The two looked at the untouched food in front of them. It was just the two of them at their usual table during lunch. Sungchan was called by his soccer team, while Jeongmin was held up because of Geometry classes.

Yangyang was nowhere to be found, and Yiyeon's probably in their clubroom, probably working hard to distract herself from what happened this morning.

"Yiyeon's not as oblivious as you think," Daewon said. "I know that she already knew about Yangyang's feelings, but she just chose not to talk about it. But, of course, she had her suspicion." He sighed, "But you know Yiyeon. A suspicion will remain as a suspicion unless confirmed."

"You're right..." Yejin sighed as she picked up her pair of chopsticks. "I don't know how they'll be together—"

"It's not for us to decide that Yejin," Daewon said, cutting her off. "I know that they're both your friends, but we can't decide for them. We can't just push them towards each other all the time. You know that."

Yejin threw him a look, "You know a lot about Yiyeon more than me. Be honest. You like her too, don't you?" She nudged her jokingly, even if her insides were already burning with pain.

Daewon didn't respond and just sighed.

And Yejin didn't need words to confirm.

"Idiot," Daewon said and faced her. "I know Yiyeon because she's my friend. I'm sure you know that."

Yejin looked at him and saw that he was smiling. "Why the hell are you smiling? Stop smiling. It's creeping me out," she said and looked away.

"Yejin-ah," Daewon placed his hand on top of hers.

The girl looked at him, but it was a mistake as his face was dangerously close to hers.

"Ehem..."

Daewon and Yejin immediately pulled away from each other the moment they heard Sungchan's voice.

"Did I... interrupt something?" He asked, trying to stifle his laugh.

Yejin rolled her eyes, "Whatever, Sungchan. Just sit."

****

"Jeno's here!"

The other varsity players stood up and began stretching the moment Jeno entered the court. Mark threw the ball in his direction, and Jeno was able to catch it with ease.

"Is something up? You didn't attend practice yesterday, and today, you're late." He said, swinging his arm around the younger's neck.

Jeno shook his head and headed towards their locker room to place his gym bag and to change his clothes. "I'll be out in a couple of minutes, hyung," he said as he entered the room.

He stopped in his tracks the moment he saw his friend seated on one of the benches inside.

"Fine, I like you, okay?!"

Jeno tried to shrug the thoughts off as he placed his bag inside his locker. He grabbed his basketball shoes and put them on.

"Jeno."

The mentioned boy didn't reply. He just turned his head to look at Yangyang, whose back was facing him. He decided to continue tying his shoelaces when Yangyang didn't talk.

"Yiyeon needs your help."

"What?" He raised a brow.

"Hyunjin told us that there are people after Yiyeon," Yangyang stood up and sat beside Jeno. "She told Hyunjin that she had an idea about who they were, but she just didn't want to point fingers."

Jeno closed his eyes and the thought of the strange letters in his lockers suddenly came into his mind. "Contrary to Yiyeon, I know who these people are." He stood up and went outside.

"Wait, Jeno." Yangyang followed him.

The other boy just raised a brow.

"If you know who these people are, then why won't you report them?" The Chinese asked.

"It's not that easy," Jeno sighed. "I need to catch them red-handed. I also need a couple of witnesses."

"Then I'll be a witness!"

"Yangyang, it doesn't make any sense," Jeno crossed his arms. "I know you want to protect Yiyeon, and trust me, I do, too. More than anyone. I want to protect her. But I can't do all of that alone. Not anymore." He said and turned around. "And as much as I want to run to her and give her a hug, that's just... impossible. Because I don't want her to suffer."

"But we can't just leave her like that and pretend that nothing happened!"

"I'm not pretending like nothing happened, okay?!" Jeno yelled back. "I'm thinking about what to do! As much as I want to give her the best, I can't do everything recklessly!"

Yangyang grew quiet and looked down.

"I can't do it, either..."

"Do what?"

"Get near her."

Jeno raised a brow, "What the fuck do you mean, you guys are the best of fri—"

"That's the reason why, Jeno." He chuckled bitterly. "Don't worry. I'll pass the word to Sungchan and the others."

Yangyang bowed lightly and walked away.

Jeno could only watch him, unamused. He sighed and walked the other way—to where Mark and Hyunjin were.

"What was that? Did you and Yangyang fight?" Hyunjin raised a brow.

Jeno shook his head. "No. It's nothing like that."

****

Daewon and Yejin threw glances at each other before glancing back towards Yiyeon, who was staring at her food as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Don't look at me like that," Yiyeon sighed. She picked up her pair of chopsticks and began eating. "Don't look at me with pity. I don't deserve it."

"Then what are we supposed to do? It's not like we can force you to talk or anything..." The other girl frowned. "I know you don't want our presence as of the moment but you can't do anything. Sungchan and Jeongmin both demanded the two of us to do this."

"So you are doing this out of pity," Yiyeon snickered.

Daewon could only roll his eyes and flick Yejin's forehead. "Don't talk unless I say so. You only make things worse."

Yejin crossed her arms and frowned at the guy.

"But seriously, Yiyeon-ah. I know that we're all dumbasses but that's why we're also inseparable," Daewon chuckled. "So if you need someone to talk to—"

"Yangyang confessed." Yiyeon said and continued eating. "Not that I didn't know, though."

"Eh?" Daewon raised a brow. "What did you say, then?"

"I wasn't able to say anything," she sighed. "As much as I want to tell him that it's okay, and I understand what he means... he just... didn't let me."

"I've known him for the longest time, but every time something shitty happens, he transforms into a person I barely know." Yiyeon placed her chopsticks down.

Yejin placed her hand on top of hers, "I know that you're worried about him. But he's probably getting over it, you know—"

"Yejin, didn't I tell you to shut your—"

"But it's true," Yejin said, looking at Daewon in the eye. "I mean no harm. But that's how Yangyang is. He would probably get over the thing that's bothering him before he face us again."

"But this time... I guess he won't be facing us for a while."

- tbc.

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short update, i'm sorry ;-;