The Way It Is

twenty three

Chapter 23

Saturday, September 9.

"Yiyeon?" Hyunjin rubbed his eyes. "Why are you up early today? It's Saturday." Yiyeon looked at her cousin, Hyunjin, who was coming down the stairs.

She smiled, "Oh, you're up." Yiyeon quickly placed the plates she watched on the dish rack and covered Hyunjin's meal on the table. "I have prepared breakfast for you. Just reheat it in the microwave if you decide to eat it later."

"Wait a damn minute," Hyunjin said, holding the younger's wrist to prevent her from going somewhere else. "Where do you think you're going in that state? Where did you get those scratches, anyways," he asked, pointing at the bandages that were on Yiyeon's arms.

She just rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away, "I already know it's bad. You didn't need to make it more obvious," she scoffed. "We were organizing the club room yesterday before we went home, and some of the books in the bookshelf fell. Hence, these scratches. So if you'll excuse me, I've got somewhere to go."

"Hwang Yiyeon!"

"What again?!" She looked back, frustration written all over her face.

"Did you got into a fight while I was training?" Her older cousin raised a brow/

Hyunjin stepped closer and looked at the scars that were near her eyes.

"These are deep cuts! Don't make an excuse such as you were helping Jaemin encode some articles in the library, and then these scratches suddenly appeared," he warned. "Tell me the truth! Who did this to you?"

The girl took a deep breath before looking at her cousin in the eye, "Fine! For the sake of us not fight daily... his fangirls did this. Happy now?" She rolled her eyes.

Hyunjin's eyes widened, "W-What? Does he know? Do these people know that you and Jeno are over ages ago?" He raised a brow. "Unless—"

"No, we are not back together. Don't even think about it," she scoffed. "They don't want me near Jeno, and they don't want Jeno near me, either. I guess they hate my existence that much."

"But I thought that you were dating him again, since Yangyang..."

Yiyeon fell into a deep silence when Hyunjin mentioned his name. She suddenly remembered how he showed his affection towards her, yet she didn't even bother to consider his feelings. All she cared about was Jeno and Jeno alone.

It was always about Jeno.

She didn't even realize that her best friend was hurting, too.

It took her four mere months to notice him, only to shut him down when things were starting to get better.

"Is everything alright?" Hyunjin asked.

Yiyeon blinked, "Yeah..."

"And so, I was asking you a question?"

She took a deep breath before answering, "Liu Yangyang... he's a good guy. He's someone very dear to me—someone, who's very special. But Hyunjin, you have no idea how many times I have wished that it should have been Yangyang instead..." she looked down. "It hurts me every time he walks away, and I just want to hit myself because damn, that person is willing to leave everything behind for me, but I can't do the same for him..."