Chapter 34

"Yiyeon-ah, time to go," Jaemin calls the attention of Yiyeon, who was busy sketching on the drawing tablet. "Hwang Yiyeon!"

Yiyeon glared at the guy as he clicked her tongue, "I told you guys not to wait for me. I still need to finish this."

"We all know that we can't leave you alone, right?" Renjun raised a brow. "Besides, the animation you're working on right now is not needed immediately. Right, Jaemin?"

The guy standing beside him nodded. "Come on. It's going to rain soon."

Yiyeon sighed, "I'll be fine, you guys." She said calmly. "I'll go home once I'm halfway through with this. Then, if by chance I get caught up with the rain, I'll just call my brother to pick me up."

Jaemin and Renjun, although worried, sighed and nodded. "Fine, but make sure to lock up, alright?"

"Of course!" Yiyeon nodded. "I'll also clean up, don't worry."

"Fine," Jaemin sighed as he threw the keys to her. "But make sure to text either Renjun or me once you're home, okay?"

"Yes, sir!" She laughed. "Seriously, though. You two are getting worse than Hyunjin and Yikyung," she scoffed. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." Yiyeon smiled.

"We'll get going, then!" Renjun said as he waved his hand. 

Jaemin closed the door behind him and began to walk with Renjun. 

The hallways on the floor they were on were barely lit up, and it somehow scares them. Not that they would admit it, though.  Jaemin noticed that Renjun was quiet, and he guesses that he must be tired, but that wasn't the case. It looked like something was bothering him.

"Tired?" Jaemin asked.

Renjun looked at him and shook his head, "Not really. I was just thinking about something," he said as he fished his phone out of his pocket. He turned the flashlight on, and Jaemin did the same. "Seriously, the lights on this floor should be replaced as soon as possible. Each day's getting worse," he grunted.

Jaemin nodded. "What were you saying earlier?"

"Ah," Renjun snapped his fingers. 

The two finally reached the floor below their clubroom. It was well lit, compared to the lights on the third floor. They kept their phones back in their pockets and continued walking. 

"I feel like I should tell you," Renjun started. "But promise me that it should stay between us."

Jaemin raised a brow, "Is it that serious?"

Renjun nodded. 

He took a deep breath as he clutched onto the straps of his backpack. "It's not really that serious, but it's something to talk about, I guess?" Renjun sighed. "Lately, Yiyeon has been meeting her friends a lot..."

"You mean Yangyang and the others?" Jaemin raised a brow.

The other shook his head, "No... I meant the guy who's always with the captain, Yunseo..." Renjun looked at Jaemin and sighed. "The other day, I heard Yiyeon talking to someone over the phone. The guy's name was Jacob, and the reason I knew that he was the one with Yunseo is that she was also mentioned in their conversation."

"Okay? What does this have to do with what you were thinking?" Jaemin asked.

They finally reached the gates of the school campus. They continued walking towards the bus stop, but on their way, Renjun was unusually quiet.

The bus that would take them to their shared apartment arrived. The two quietly boarded the bus, and Jaemin was itching to ask more questions, but he knows that Renjun wouldn't like it.

"It just feels off..." Renjun said, breaking the silence between them.

"What is?"

"Yiyeon's friend," Renjun sighed. "It feels like I should stop her from talking nor meeting with them but isn't that unfair on her side?"

Jaemin chuckled, "It's alright to feel that way, you know." He sighed. "I mean, you're also her friend. So it's normal if you feel that way." 

Tiny droplets of water started pouring onto the window pane.

"It's starting to rain... I wonder if Yiyeon already went home?" Renjun sighed.

"She'll be okay," Jaemin said. "I wonder if Donghyuck, Mark-hyung, and Chenle are already in the apartment?"

"Speaking of Donghyuck... he'll be joining the club, right?" Renjun asked.

The other boy nodded, "He'll be starting tomorrow."

***

"Shit," Yiyeon muttered under her breath when the rain started pouring. "I don't even have my umbrella with me... shit!"

She rushed towards the nearest shed and hoped that the rain would stop. She fished her phone out of her pocket and tried to call her brother.

"What the fuck, Yikyung..." She scoffed when he did not pick up. "Phones are used to communicate with people, damn it." Yiyeon noticed that her phone was nearly out of charge, and the only thing she could do was mutter all of the curse words she knew inside her head. "Screw Jacob for chatting with me during club hours."

She heard some footsteps approaching her, and she was feeling a bit anxious. It was already dark, and it was even raining. What if some thugs decided to pull tricks on me? Damn it. I even forgot my pepper spray in my locker.

"And then Jihye-sunbaenim sent the ball flying in my direction! I was surprised by I was able to hit the ball!" 

Jihye?

Yiyeon looked in the direction of the girl who was talking, and to her surprise, it was Jeno and the girl with her during their encounter at the parking lot. Does this girl play volleyball? I mean, if I'm not mistaken, Jihye is still the setter... right?

Jeno froze in his tracks when he realized that the girl under the shed was Yiyeon. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he decided to shade himself. There was a huge distance between them, but even if this was the case, he was standing next to Yiyeon. It's been a while, and he wanted to tear up.

"The try-outs earlier was fun! I hope I get accepted, though..." the girl sighed.

Jeno could see Yiyeon fidgeting. 

He himself was fighting the urge to hold her hand. He closed his eyes shut as he clenched his fist inside his pocket. 

"Is Doyoung-oppa on his way?" The girl asked, and Jeno nodded.

So she even knows Doyoung-oppa... who is she anyway?

Yiyeon's phone was about to shut down, but she couldn't get a hold of Yikyung. Sighing, she decided to leave him a message. It doesn't matter if he could see it immediately, as long as she could send it. Sighing, she decided to wait and pray that either Yikyung or Hyunjin sees her messages.

"Have you passed your missed project in History?" Yiyeon heard Jeno ask the girl standing beside him.

The girl's eyes widened as she shook her head, "N-No..."

Jeno smirked, "I'm telling your mom."

"Why are you like this?!" The girl hissed as she playfully hit Jeno's shoulder.

She noticed that Jeno has been quiet, and he's not usually the type who would stop nagging at her. She had also noticed that Jeno had been subtly looking at the girl standing at the other side of the shed.

"It seems like you know the girl. Why won't you talk to her?" She whispered.

Jeno rolled his eyes. "Don't be too loud. She could hear you," he whispered.

"But you know her, right? She wears the same uniform as us."

"Of course I know her. I know her too well." Jeno smiled sadly.

He looked at Yiyeon, who was texting someone on her phone. 

It was like yesterday when he could hold her hand without anything stopping him. He remembers how he would hug her from behind, and she wouldn't complain.

They were in love.

Where did everything go wrong?

The rain stopped, and before Jeno could pull his guts together, Yiyeon had already walked away.

Stupid, Jeno.

Another missed chance.

- tbc.

I swear, we're near there!

My classes will start on Monday! Here I go with the final year of high school!