Chapter 24

Hyunjin could feel the weight of every step that Yiyeon takes. Although he wanted to talk to her, he knows that he should give her space. She looked happy when they continued their celebration earlier, though it didn't go as planned. Now, he could only watch her as she went up to her room.

Sighing, Jeno also went to his room and changed his clothes. He stared at the ceiling as he laid on his bed. This day wasn't exactly how it was planned. Everything was almost perfect. Almost.

Minus the part wherein Yiyeon had to leave in the morning to wait for someone who didn't come. Jeno was a jerk, and Hyunjin wants to get mad at him, but knowing his reasons makes him hate himself. He hates himself for not stopping Yiyeon that morning. He could have said no firmly, but he just had to let her go.

Deciding that he would not be able to sleep with all these thoughts inside his head, he stood up and left his room until he found himself standing outside of Yiyeon's bedroom. He clenched his fist and was about to knock on the door when he heard some sniffles coming from inside.

He closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead on the wall. She looked happy when they continued their celebration earlier. She looked happy.

Was she pretending to?

Probably.

The worst part in waiting is knowing that there's no guarantee that it'll be worth it.

With heavy steps, Hyunjin decided to retreat to his room, where he messages certain people.

***

"What are these?" Yiyeon rubbed her eyes as she went down the stairs. "What are you guys doing here this early? We just saw each other last night," she said as she went towards them.

"Hey, don't disregard Hyunjin's hard work like this!" Yejin yelled, making Yiyeon look at her cousin, who was looking away nonchalantly.

"We're here to celebrate, of course!" Jaemin said excitedly. "Due to unforeseen circumstances, we weren't able to celebrate properly yesterday. So now, we must do it!"

Jaemin and Renjun stepped to the side, revealing Sungchan, carrying the cake, and Yangyang, holding a party hat.

"Who cares if September 9 is over? You can have your birthday every day if you wanted to," Yangyang smiled. "Everyone! Sing it!"

Her friends started clapping their hands as they sang the happy birthday song. She smiled as she looked at each one of them. Her heart still feels heavy with what happened the day prior, but having these people around her makes her forget.

"Happy Birthday, Yiyeon!" The people said in chorus.

Yiyeon chuckled, "I'm getting a deja vu," she said as she closed her eyes to make a wish.

She clasped her hands together.

I just want to be happy.

She opened her eyes and blew the candle.

"This will be the third time I'm celebrating my birthday," she chuckled. "Thank you, everyone." She smiled at them.

"Hyunjin-hyung messaged all of us last night," Sungchan shrugged. "Hyunjin-hyung has all the credit."

Her eyes traveled to her cousin, whose hands were crossed. She went towards him and hugged him. "I... I don't know what I would do without you, Hyunjin-ah..." she sniffed.

The guy scoffed as he hugged back, "You're crying again!" He said and wiped her tears away. "Forget Jeno! We're all here for you, okay?" He said.

Yiyeon didn't respond and just pressed her lips into a thin line. "I-I'll do my best." She then looked at her friends who were wearing their basketball jerseys. "Shouldn't you be at training today?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded. "As the captain, we'd just take thirty laps."

***

"It's weird that we're all together again," Yejin commented as she looked at everyone at their table. "It feels weird but comforting."

Yiyeon nodded, "It's weird that I'm not having lunch inside the clubroom." She said, which made her friends laugh. "What's even weirder is that I'm not avoiding Yangyang anymore."

Yangyang looked at the girl and smiled, "Yeah, no more bad vibes."

"By the way," Yejin said, which made the two look at her. "Have you guys sorted things out already?" She asked.

Yiyeon and Yangyang looked at each other and shook their heads. "We would talk about it if we're both ready," Yangyang said. "A lot has happened recently, and it's really stressful. We would have our game, and Yiyeon and her team are rushing a school paper issue. So we should focus on those first."

Daewon gasped exaggeratedly, "Are you really Liu Yangyang?!" He asked and used the empty paper plate as a shield. "Who are you, and what did you do to sheep-sheep?!"

The Chinese male scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Stop being dramatic, Daewon."

Yiyeon laughed and stood up.

"Going already, unnie?" Jeongmin asked.

The other girl nodded slowly, "As much as I want to stay here and chat with you guys, I still have to fulfill my duty." She smiled. "I'll be coming home with you guys, though."

"Is that a promise?" Sungchan asked.

Yiyeon nodded, "Fine, fine. But only if you guys tell Jaemin."

"That would be easy," Daewon chuckled.

"Go on, then, our writer Yiyeon!" Yejin cheered.

"Fighting, Yiyeon-unnie!" Jeongmin waved.

Yiyeon went to the locker room to get her planner inside her locker. To her surprise, nothing unusual was seen inside, unlike the other days. There were no strange notes, strange handwritings which she would clean later on, no stabbed dolls or anything—it was normal.

Shrugging, she grabbed her planner and was about to head outside, but then sees the person who's the reason why she was feeling all sorts of things lately. She continued talking as she brought the planner to her chest.

"Yi—"

And he was a step too late.

***

"Welcome back, noona!" Jisung greeted Yiyeon, who entered the club room.

She smiled and greeted everyone as she walked towards her table. "Rina-sunbae, are the people who will be covering the game this Thursday already decided?" She asked, Rina, her senior, who is seated at the table next to her.

Rina stopped typing and faced Yiyeon, "I don't think Jaemin had already assigned someone. Try asking him once he comes back from lunch break."

"Will do. Thanks, sunbae!" Yiyeon smiled.

She highlighted the day on Thursday and wrote 'Panthers basketball game' below the date. She then highlighted the day on which her brother would arrive from the States.

"Everyone!" They all looked at their editor-in-chief who just entered the room. "There will be an upcoming soccer practice match this Thursday, so as usual, we would be slipping into two teams with four members each since Jisung would be playing."

Yiyeon nudged the younger, "As expected from our soccer player, Jisung Park!" She laughed.

"Stop saying that, noona," Jisung hid his face in embarrassment.

"Shotaro, Yuan, Soyoon, and Taeho-hyung will be covering the soccer match," Jaemin said, while looking at the list. "Which means that Yiyeon, Renjun, Rina-noona, and I will be covering the basketball game."

Yiyeon froze as soon as she heard her name. She cursed Jaemin in her mind and hated the fact that she couldn't do anything. Unless...

"Jaemin, can I switch with someone else?" She asked and raised her hand.

Everyone looked surprised with what she said, except for the people who were with Yiyeon throughout the weekend. "I knew you would be saying that," Jaemin sighed. "But no. As much as I want to let you because I know what's happening, I can't. It was Mr. Oh's orders. I'm sorry."

Yiyeon could only nod and sigh as she went back to her table to continue what she was doing earlier.

Oh yeah? I'm fucked.

- tbc.

a short chapter !!

thank you for 2k on this book <3