𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘, 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔

ten.

- ͙۪۪̥˚┊❛ [CHAPTER TEN] ❜┊˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉

IN WHICH RISKS
CAN LEAD TO
HARM.

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JIEUN stares at the petal in her hand. she chews on the insides of her cheek, wondering what she should do. she sighs, sitting down on her bed. "i really shouldn't go," jieun says, eyeing the tulip petal. "it's clearly that damned hanahaki disease... if i see yeonjun and haein together, it'll probably act up again."

sighing, she lets her hand fall from the air. jieun stares at the ceiling for a few seconds before blindly feeling the area around her head, trying to grab her phone, she eventually feels her phone and grabs it, holding it up for her to check the time.

"going for a little bit won't hurt, right?"

-

"actually, maybe i shouldn't go..." jieun mumbles, looking at the directions to the café beomgyu had sent her. she finds herself staring inside the little building, immediately spotting yeonjun and the others. jieun jumps a couple times. "come on, kang jieun! if you aren't afraid of your little brother, then you shouldn't be afraid of this either!"

jieun pushes the door to the café open, the sound of bells chiming following. yeonjun snaps his head up to the door; his eyes widen when he sees jieun approaching them.

"miss kang jieun!" says beomgyu, standing up to give the girl a hug. "i was wondering if you'd ever make it!"

jieun laughs, sitting beside beomgyu. her throat suddenly feels dry and she tries avoiding looking in front of her—yeonjun was sitting in front of her and she really didn't want things to get awkward right off the bat because of them.

"i had to go home and change out of my work attire," she says, scratching the tip of her nose.

yeonjun ah's. "that's right," he says. "i forgot you have an eight-hour shift at the restaurant today."

beomgyu gasps. he turns jieun around to face him and starts shaking her. "miss jieun! you should've just stayed home to get some rest!"

"mr beomgyu, i need to make some money somehow to feed that little brother of mine." jieun laughs, shoving beomgyu's hands off her shoulders.

"oh, taehyun! how is he?" asks beomgyu. his shoulders droop as he pouts. "he hasn't talked to me ever since i told him that—"

jieun perks up. beomgyu smiles nervously at the mischievous look on her face. "oh? you told taehyun something and—"

beomgyu's thankful for haein's interruption as he grabs the collar of his turtleneck, gulping as he fans himself while haein speaks.

"who is taehyun?" she asks, looking at beomgyu and jieun.

jieun grins. "my little brother!"

yeonjun laughs. "and as you can see," he says, "ji really loves taehyun."

"oh, you know taehyun too?" haein tilts her to the side.

"of course i do!" yeonjun says, beaming at the girl. "it's impossible for me to not know him. after all, i am jieun's best friend~"

best friend.

jieun feels a knot forming in her stomach. something starts to bundle up at the bottom of her throat, slowly trying to crawl upwards. jieun's fist comes up to her mouth as she clears her throat quietly.

not right now... please. not right now.

haein asks everyone what they major in. of course, she talks about psychology and how fun she finds it. jieun notices yeonjun staring intently at the younger girl sitting beside him, nodding and smiling, the tips of his ears burning red like lava. there's a spark swimming in his eyes, something jieun's never seen. yeonjun laughs in embarrassment when haein asks him what he majors in.

dance. jieun thinks, her gaze falling to the table, taking note the of light scratches embedded in the wood. "yeonjun—"

"mr beomgyu, what do you major in?"

"oh, um, i'm sorry haein, but the miss and mr thing is a joke between jieun and i..."

jieun starts coughing. she screws her eyes shut, the petals scratching her throat as they move upwards. jieun stands up immediately, her hand covering her mouth as she rushes towards the bathroom. she ends up falling to the ground, doubling over and coughing up tulip petals. yeonjun jumps up from his seat, heading straight towards jieun. she hears haein squeal; jieun looks upwards, seeing yeonjun stop, looking conflicted before he spins around and checking up on haein.

jieun smiles painfully, looking down at the petals on the ground. did i seriously think he would come to me when something also happened to haein?

a hand lands on jieun's back, rubbing small circles in an attempt to comfort her. "are you okay?" asks beomgyu. he tries glancing at the ground, but jieun swiftly gathers up the petals and grabs them, holding them tightly in her clenched fist.

"i... i'm okay. really, i'm okay..."

beomgyu furrows his eyebrows. his gaze lingers on jieun, a frown forming on his face the longer he stares at her bent over figure. "alrighty, up on your feet miss jieun." beomgyu hoists jieun up, wrapping his arm around her waist. he throws jieun's arm around his shoulders and leads them out from the café.

"come on," he chirps, "i'm walking you back to your dorm."

the edges of jieun's lips curve upwards slightly. "thank you, beom."

although beomgyu's kind gesture made jieun happy, it wasn't enough to warm up her freezing heart.

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UNFORTUNATELY,
I LOVE YOU.