Chapter 21

"You've been smiling a lot lately, Jeno. It's scary," Mark grimaced. "Don't worry, though. I won't ask any shit about what happened because I know you won't tell us anything."

Jeno chuckled. "I'll tell it to you guys soon, don't worry." He said and finished his drink.

The bell rang.

Jeno picked his books up and saluted at Mark, "I'll get going now, Captain." He said and walked away.

There was still a 10-minute leeway for those who caught up somewhere far from their classrooms. Jeno was just a floor below his classroom. He walks up to the locker room to get his things for their next subject.

He entered the combination to his locker and placed his books inside. He then got his notebook for his next subject, which was Sociology.

"Jeno."

He froze upon hearing that voice. Unconsciously, he slammed the door to his locker, much to the other person's surprise.

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?!" He raised a brow as he gripped onto his notebook tight.

The girl raised a brow, "Oh, don't give me such an expression, lovely Jeno..." she grinned as she placed her hands on his chest, much to his disgust.

"Stay away from me!" Jeno slapped her arms away. "And don't make me say it twice."

He was wearing a grim expression, and the girl noticed it, too. She was terrified of Jeno, but she wouldn't let it show.

Jeno rolled his eyes and walked past her.

"So, you're meeting Yiyeon, huh?"

He stopped on hsi tracks and looked at the girl who had her arms crossed. She had a smug on her face, and Jeno wanted to wipe her face off of the Earth's surface badly.

"Didn't we talk about this already, Jenoboo?" She pouted. "I thought that we had an agreement?"

"Agreement my foot," Jeno scoffed. "As far as I could remember, I didn't say yes to anything you said. Stay out of my sight!" He said as he pushed the girl aside.

"You wouldn't dare do this to me, Jeno," she said in a sweet tone. "As far as I know, Yiyeon will be staying late today. You don't want something bad to happen to her, don't you?" She smiled sweetly.

His eyes widened, "Stay away from Yiyeon!" He said and gripped onto her shoulders. "Lay a finger on her and you won't like it," he threatened.

The girl smiled, "Oh, I won't lay a finger on her, alright." Jeno's arms dropped. He started to walk away, but then she continued talking. "That is, if you won't meet her on Saturday. To wherever the fuck you're going."

He clenched his fists and began walking.

"I have my eyes on you, Jeno. Remember that."

Jeno could feel his nails digging onto his skin, but he couldn't care less. He hates how he can't even do something for Yiyeon. He hates how he's powerless over anything. He can't even say that he still loves her without someone else getting in the way.

He entered his classroom with a remaining three minutes to spare. He slammed his head on his table, making his seatmate, and some of his classmates, flinch.

Jaemin, who was giving instructions in front as he was the class representative, just signaled their classmates to ignore the boy who just entered.

Though he already had an idea about what happened.

He placed the handouts on the desk in front and told his classmates what they were supposed to do. Once he was done giving instructions, he sat beside Jeno.

"If you're not feeling well, you could sleep. Mr. Kim is absent, anyways, and I'll be collecting the outputs," he explains. "It's just the two of us, so you can tell me what happened."

Jeno lifted his head up, and his friend was surprised to see tears flowing from his eyes. The older boy hastily wiped the tears away with his uniform's sleeve and sighed.

"I fucking hate how she has to suffer because of me, Jaemin..." Jeno looked down and sighed. "Jaemin, I love her too much, and it hurts..."

"Did that Do Hyejin threaten you again?!" He whispered. "Why won't you report her already?!"

"Jaemin, she's related with the dean! What's the point of reporting when I know that it'll be her who'll win in the end?!" He cried.

Luckily, their classmates were noisy. Everyone had their own businesses, so Jeno was lucky because Jaemin was the only one who could see him break down.

"So are you just going to let it like that?!" Jaemin exclaimed. "Yes, you love her, but will it be enough like that?!" He said. "Jeno, can't you see? She's fighting for you! So you have to fight for her, too!!"

****

"I'll get going now!" Shotaro said and his co-club members smiled at him. "Thank you for everyone's hard work!" He bowed and left the room.

Jaemin, Renjun and Yiyeon were the only ones left inside. Jaemin and Yiyeon were proofreading the articles which will be published for the previous month's school paper. Renjun, on the other hand, was scanning the pictures which will be used for the layout.

Everyone was in a rush, and they were tired. But Jaemin remembers that he has to stick with Yiyeon during these times. Especially because of what Jeno told him. He told Renjun the situation and said that he'd be happy to help.

"Jaemin, do we need to put this article? Or will it be for this month's issue?" Yiyeon asked, pointing at the article which was written by Yuan. It was regarding the soccer club, which Yiyeon interviewed.

It was only a fraud at first. Jaemin used the soccer club as a diversion so that Yiyeon won't find it odd that her friends were missing. But noticing that she actually did a great job with the interview, he decided to put it in the paper.

"That... will be for this month," Jaemin said as he kicked the floor so that his chair would move back to his desk. "It's almost 7. Do you guys want to go home already?" He asked.

"Let's just finish the sports pages, then let's go home." Renjun said and the two nodded.

"Tomorrow's Friday. It will be composed of minir subjects and gym class. I can bail you out of your classes if you guys want," Jaemin chuckled. "We have to finish this by Wednesday next week and we aren't even close halfway."

Yiyeon nodded, "Great timing. We'll actually be playing volleyball for gym class tomorrow, and I don't want to."

Jaemin and Renjun looked at each other, "But you were a part of the volleyball varsity, right?"

"Yeah, but that was before. I don't play anymore," she shrugged.

Renjun shrugged and continued what he was doing. Jaemin also pressed his lips into a thin line so that he would shut up.

"You guys won't be asking?" She asked.

"Will it be okay?" Renjun asked.

Yiyeon nods, "It's a childish reason, anyway." She chuckled. "I was a regular player. I was one of the team's middle blockers, and was also the vice captain back in middle school." She smiled, upon recalling the memory.

"I didn't have any problems with my teammates. All of them were fun to be with." She sighed. "I remember, Jaemin told me that you guys were able to watch my last match as a volleyball player?"

"Yeah, we were kicked out of the stadium," Renjun and Jaemin laughed.

"Since you were kicked out, I guess you weren't able to see what happened to me back then?" She asked.

The two shook their heads.

"The game had five sets, and it was the third set, and the scores were both 22, if I could recall it correctly. I was rotated to the back. I was beside the libero that time," she said. "But then all of a sudden, my surroundings started to spin and I couldn't even stand properly..."

The whistle blew, giving the opponents their permission to serve the ball.

Yiyeon blinked her eyes. It was the third set, and both of the teams had won a set. Losing wasn't an option. All of them had the determination to win.

She sighed and felt her knees trembling.

"Yiyeon!" Their setter, Seo Jihye, tossed the ball for Yiyeon, and the latter was utterly surprised because the other would normally toss for Sooyoung, their wing spiker.

She ran towards where their setter signaled her to, and with all her might, she jumped for the ball and hit it with utmost power. Hearing the ball's bounce resonate throughout the court made them cheer in glee.

Except for Yiyeon.

She laid on the floor. Her head was spinning, and her eyesight was getting blurry. Her teammates helped her stand up.

"Sunbae, are you okay?" One of her teammates asked.

She smiled and was about to nod, but she fell onto her knees once again as her vision went black.

"I was traumatized with what happened," she explained. "My parents also didn't allow me to participate in any games after that. May it be a practice match or an official match."

Jaemin and Renjun listened as they started to pack up.

"It really pained me to leave the team. Especially when the nationals was coming up. But I had to," Yiyeon looked down. "I avoided my teammates at all cost. I was ashamed. I couldn't even look at them in the eye..."

She sighed and turned the computer off. "I was really down for quite a while... and that's when Jeno found me. He found me at my worst," Yiyeon smiled unconsciously.

"He was always by my side, and eventually, I was able to face my former teammates again," she said. "And they were never mad at me. Just worried because they didn't know what happened."

"I'm happy that you were able to talk to them again," Jaemin smiled.

"Jeno was able to change a lot... about me... positively," she said. "And as crazy as it sounds, when we broke up, I tried to build this smug persona. You know, the bitter ex?" She said which made all of them chuckle.

Jaemin opened the door for the two of them and locked it. They walked through the quiet corridors, and Jaemin was thankful enough that it was already a bit late. Otherwise, the people who are monitoring Jeno and Yiyeon would still be inside the campus.

"Let me guess, it didn't work?" Renjun asked which made all of them laugh.

"Yeah, it backfired. Big time," Yiyeon chuckled. "There was even this one time that I accidentally snapped at him because he insisted that I was waiting for him. Well in fact, I was waiting for Hyunjin. And that time, he didn't know that Hyunjin and I are related."

"What?" Jaemin laughed. "That's stupid! You guys were in a relationship for a long tome but he didn't know that you and Hyunjin are related?!"

"Well, we didn't interacr much. Until now, honestly." Yiyeon said. She noticed that the two are following her towards the bus stop. "Aren't you guys heading the other way? Why are you still with me?" She asked.

"You think we'd let you walk alone? Heck no." Jaemin said.

She smiled, "You guys are really doing too much for someone who hurt your bestfriend."

Renjun scoffed, "Don't act as if you're not our friend, either."

They stopped walking and the bus arrived.

"Well, there's my bus. Thank you so much for walking me until here," she waved her hands. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" She said and bid goodbye.

The two smiled and waved back. Renjun and Jaemin watched the bus move away—until it was out of their sight.

They turned on their heel and headed the opposite way.

"Hey, Jaemin, did you see that?" Renjun whispered.

Jaemin nodded lightly. "Why do you think I insisted on walking her until here?" He hid his hands in his uniform's pockets and clenched his fists. "Damn, they're taking this too far. What the fuck do they want from Yiyeon and Jeno?" He muttered under his breath.

— tbc.

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