Chapter 13

"Noona, it's lunchtime. Are you not going to eat?"

Yiyeon looked at Jisung and shook her head. "I'll be editing the photos first. I'll be fine, don't worry," she pressed her lips into a thin line.

Jaemin raised a brow, "Not even going to visit your booth?" He asked.

"I know that they can manage without me," she sighed. "Besides, I don't wanna be a burden to anyone. Especially when all of us are not on good terms."

Their leader nodded, "Alright, then. Renjun will be back here anytime soon since he ate lunch early. Besides, Shotaro is here to keep you company."

The only girl among the team nods, "Okay, then. Enjoy your lunch!" She said as she waved goodbye.

Yiyeon noticed that she has been spacing out quite a lot of times ever since the mini-concert ended. She was certain that it was Jeno. Otherwise, who would it be?

"Yiyeon, is everything alright?" She looked at the person working on the computer in front of her.

She nodded, "I just remembered something out of the blue. Don't worry about me," she smiled.

The door to the clubroom opened, and Renjun entered. He was still wearing his clothes from the performance earlier.

"Are you not planning to change clothes? It's scorching hot outside," Yiyeon raised a brow.

The guy frowned and sat beside Yiyeon, "This, my friend, is what you call style."

"Style, my ass," she snorted and diverted her attention towards the photos she was editing. "Nice performance earlier. Who was the girl?" She asked.

Renjun hummed, "Thanks, uh... she's someone from Jisung and Chenle's class. Her name's Yizhuo," he said as he started drawing on his iPad. "By the way, Jeno says thank you."

Yiyeon stops typing and releases the mouse from her grip. So he was here. "For what?"

The other male shrugged, "I don't know. He said that you would know it," he replied, eyes fixated on his drawing.

She adjusted her body so that she would be facing the monitor once again. She blinked a couple of times before resuming what she was doing earlier, "Tell him that he's an idiot."

***

"So you are here!" Jaemin laughed upon seeing his best friend seated on a chair with his crutches beside him. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Yah, is it bad to watch the opening program?" The other snorted. "I saw how Jaemin and Shotaro were running from one place to another."

"That's how photographers are," Jaemin shrugged and crossed his arms.

"How's your foot?" Mark asked Jeno who was eating his pasta.

The younger boy shrugged, "I can walk without the crutches already, but Taeyong-hyung said that I should still take it with me just in case," he said.

"Hyung," Jisung said. "Did you know that what you did on the court was the talk of the town? Now that you're back, they probably won't leave you and Yiyeon-noona alone."

"I'm used to it," Jeno sighed. "But they should not be pestering her since I was the one who did it."

The five other boys who were seated threw glances at each other.

"Enough with what you're thinking because it's not happening," Jeno said frustratedly. "Not you guys, too. I had enough hearing shits from Renjun earlier.

"Okay, but like, you need to answer us honestly," his tanned friend said. "Do you still like her, perhaps?"

Jeno slowly nodded. "Who would not?" He chuckled a little. "What we had was something magical. But I guess magic doesn't really exist at all," he shrugged. "But every day, I have these words that I've been longing to tell her..."

"Which are?" Chenle asked.

"Why would I say it to you guys? Are you Yiyeon?" He laughed.

"Have you talked about that night?" Mark asked.

Jeno stopped eating and looked away, "Not quite, but yeah, we talked about that night." He sighed and continued, "Not that I would force her to listen, though. I know she also has her reasons, and I'm sure we'll talk about it one way or another."

"I heard from Taeyong-hyung, though," Mark started, and Jeno raised a brow. "That Yiyeon was in the hospital when he and Jaehyun-hyung visited you."

"Wait, really?!" His friends exclaimed.

Jeno rolled his eyes, "We were paired for a history project together because we were both sleeping in class." He explained. "Which reminds me that I still need to see her because tomorrow's the deadline of the darn project."

"She's still helping us layout, so no, you can't go to her now," Jaemin chuckled.

"Idiot, I know."

***

"Where is Yiyeon-unnie when we need her the most?" Jeongmin frowned while calculating the money they were able to earn on their booth's first day. "My head is sore from doing all the math."

"Yiyeon-noona is in the clubroom of the newspaper team," Sungchan replied. "I knew it because of Shotaro-hyung and Jaemin-hyung."

"Do you need help, Jeongminnie?" Yangyang asked, and the younger nodded while handing him the notebook with the list of everything they sold today.

"The person who said that we should put up a booth is not even here," Yejin scoffed.

Yangyang and Daewon glared at her, "Yejin, we talked about this already."

"I didn't even say anything!"

"Your tone says it all," Daewon replied and sat down.

It was almost time for them to go home, but they were still fixing their booth for tomorrow.

Yiyeon was the one who told them that they should put up a booth for the school's anniversary. They have decided that they would sell some students' necessities such as sticky notes and other stationery materials.

"You better fix your relationship with Yiyeon once she comes back," Yangyang said, keeping his marker in his pocket.

Yiyeon, on the other hand, was busy finishing her layout for their school's website. She also made some drafts for the school's social media accounts.

"You should post them already," Jaemin said while looking at the draft.

Yiyeon nearly jumped from her chair as she clutched her chest while watching Jaemin laugh, "Idiot!" She said and punched his shoulder. "I shouldn't be the one to post it since I'm not a part of the newspaper team yet."

"Yet?" Jaemin asked.

She nodded, "Think of me as an intern," she chuckled.

She turned to her left to organize the folders that were on the desk. Only to see a box of pepero with a note on it.

Eat up. Let's meet at Yeouido Han river park later. You know where right?

- yy.

Yiyeon smiled unknowingly.

It was from Yangyang.

Her heart started to beat fast as she continued what she was doing.

***

"Jeno mentioned something about a project?" Jaemin asked Yiyeon while walking out of the club room. "He was, indeed, here."

Yiyeon nodded, "Yeah... history. I think our project is already finished." She shrugged and placed her hands inside the pockets of her uniform.

Jaemin was listening to her. "I'm so thankful for everything you've done for our club, Yiyeon-ah," he smiled. "I mean, it's obvious that we're understaffed, but you still helped us. I mean, originally, the plan was for you to take pictures, but you also created updates and even made the front page layout for this month's newspaper."

"I don't need to be a part of the club to be able to help. You said it yourself. You guys are understaffed. That should be enough reason," she chuckled. "Besides, you guys are also my friends. No need to mention it." Yiyeon chuckled as the two of them stopped walking.

"I think you should be doing a project with that person," Jaemin pointed at someone using his lips.

The girl raised a brow before looking at where he pointed, "Jeno!" She immediately rushed towards him when she noticed that he wasn't using his crutches, unlike earlier. "Are you hurt?! Is everything alright?" She asked and looked up, only to see him smiling down at her.

Her eyes then traveled to Jaemin, who was wearing a grin. She rolled her eyes upon realizing that it was a setup. She released her grip from Jeno and continued walking. Yiyeon shook her head while walking.

Jeno was laughing while trailing from behind, "Yiyeon-ah, you can't ignore me like that! Our project is with me," he chuckled and showed her an output that looked like a book.

Yiyeon threw them a glare, "I'm not falling for your setups once again!" She said and crossed her eyes.

Jaemin patted Jeno's shoulder as he walked ahead. The boy felt as if his job there was done, and it was time for Jeno to grab the opportunity and talk to Yiyeon.

"What setup?" The older chuckled, "It wasn't a setup. I can walk without my crutches. My mom and my brother wanted me to bring them just in case..." He said and dragged his other leg to walk towards Yiyeon.

The girl rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm and put it around her shoulder, "I'm not tall compared to you, but I do hope that I can be of any help for you to walk." With that, they continued to walk.

They walked in silence until Jeno decided to talk. "Thank you, Yiyeon-ah."

"I know, you already told me through Renjun," she sighed as he helped him go down the stairs.

"But he called me an idiot. So I assumed that you didn't understand," he frowned.

"Well, you are an idiot for not getting that," Yiyeon rolled her eyes. "What are you still doing here, anyway? It's getting late. I'm pretty sure you guys don't have training, and if you do, Mark probably won't let you play."

They walked towards Jeno's car that was parked in the parking lot. Doyoung, who was leaning on the car's hood, immediately rushed over to Yiyeon and Jeno.

"I'm okay, hyung..." Jeno chuckled and gave Doyoung his bag. Yiyeon assisted him until he was already seated at the back seat.

"Yiyeon-ah, why don't you ride with us already? I'll just drop you off your house," Doyoung said.

Yiyeon looked at the two of them before nodding, "Sure, thanks, Doyoung-oppa!" She smiled and was about to seat beside Doyoung, but he said that she should sit beside Jeno instead.

Sighing, Yiyeon did what she was told to, and sat beside Jeno.

Doyoung played some music and continued driving.

"Yiyeon-ah?" Jeno called.

The girl looked at him and raised a brow.

"Our project is almost over, and I still remember what I promised when we were paired together..." he said and looked down. "D-Don't worry! I'll stay away from you guys now on..." he managed to pull a smile, even if his world was about to collapse.

Yiyeon didn't know what to say, and just remained silent.

Doyoung wanted to ask. But he chose not to. It was their business to deal with, after all.

The rest of the drive was silent. They didn't even noticed that they were already parked in front of Yiyeon's house.

She picked her things up and thanked Doyoung and Jeno for the ride. With heavy steps, she exited the car.

"Wait, Yiyeon!" The girl looked back and noticed that Jeno was struggling to walk. She placed her bag on the ground and rushed to help him.

"What is it?" She asked. Jeno wasn't budging. "Don't force yourself in walking because your sprain might get worse...."

"Yiyeon-ah..." he called again. "Can I..."

"Can I hug you? For the last time..."

It was as if she had gone mute all of a sudden.

Meanwhile Jeno was startled when he didn't get any response from her. "I-Is it too much? Don't mind it, then—"

Without another word, Yiyeon wrapped her arms around his waist. Jeno, although startled, hugged back and placed his chin on the top of his head.

She thought that she shouldn't enjoy it.

But it kept on reminding her of the old days.

When everything was still okay.

Jeno felt like crying. It hasn't been that long since their break-up, yet it felt like an eternity.

Every moment that he sees her, he feels the urge to immediately run up to her and engulf her in a hug. But now, everytime he sees her, he keeps on reminding himsef that he shouldn't.

Yiyeon was the first one to break from the hug. Jeno felt like crying.

"So yeah, that's it..." Jeno said and managed to let out a chuckle. "I'll just submit this project tomorrow, don't worry."

Her eyes were focused on the ground. She didn't say a word, but she nodded.

"We... we'll get going now," Jeno said as he limped his way towards their car.

She wanted to follow.

But she couldn't.

"Good night, Yiyeon! Thank you for everything!" Jeno said as he rolled up the windows.

The engine started roaring and the car started moving away.

Until it was already out of her sight.

But what she didn't notice was her tears falling.

"Good night, Yiyeon! Thank you for everything!"

- tbc.
my heart broke a little.