more than a crush - Lee Juyeon

3.

It had been two entire days since the project was announced, and you still hadn't bothered to show up to school. Juyeon considered asking Lee Sangyeon or Choi Chanhee if they knew of your whereabouts, but your two friends were just as intimidating as you were, so he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Luckily for Juyeon, you eventually did show up.

Nearly twenty minutes after class had started, you came into the room looking like something the cat dragged in. The collar of your shirt was torn and was exposing part of your collarbone, but even that wasn't enough to distract from your busted lip and the dried blood on your nostrils. As usual, the teacher didn't say anything as you trudged over to your seat.

Juyeon couldn't take his eyes off of you. Anyone could tell that you'd been in an altercation, but the need to know what exactly happened to you had increased a tenfold since you two were paired together. You, however, didn't seemed perturbed at all in spite of the fact that more than half the class was gawking at you.

In the next instant, your sullen eyes lifted from your desk and looked directly into his own. Juyeon's eyes widened as he hastily looked toward the front of the room. He was sure his face was bright red at that point. Out of all the times he had stared at you, this was the very first time you looked in his direction. Your unnerving stare had his heart beating erratically.

You only raised a curious eyebrow at the blushing boy who slid down his chair, completely mortified.

Once class was over, Juyeon gathered his things while thinking about how to approach you. After ten seconds of contemplation he decided to not think too much about talking to you and just do it. The only problem was that when he looked over to your seat, you were gone. His shoulders sagged on their own accord. So much for that.

Juyeon took his time walking to the cafeteria. Yeah, he was sulking, but it couldn't be helped. He'd had the perfect opportunity to talk to you about the project and he blew it because he was too in his head. What was he going to do now?

After Juyeon sat down at his usual table, he noticed his friends staring across the lunch room intently. His eyes widened and his jaw went slack when he saw that his good friend, Ju Haknyeon, was talking to you. The real intrigue came from the fact that you were laughing with him as if you had done so countless times. Instantly, Juyeon felt ten different shades of horror deep down to his bones. What the hell was Haknyeon doing talking to you?

"Are you guys seeing this?" Kevin wondered aloud in spite of knowing that he wasn't hallucinating.

"Maybe he's putting in a good word for Juyeon." Eric commented, earning a snicker from Sunwoo.

Juyeon was too out of it to throw his friends even a half-hearted glare. Instead, he focused on how you and Haknyeon were now walking toward their table. Like clockwork, the nerves in his stomach spiked in a way they never had before. The feeling plummeted instantly when he saw you separate from his friend.

"What were you doing talking to her?"

The entire group looked at Juyeon in shock. His tone had been unusually aggressive, but even that didn't faze a smirking Haknyeon. Instead of providing his nosy friends with the information they were eager to know, he shrugged innocently. "We were just catching up."

"Since when have you been friendly with Y/N?" Hyunjae blurted, unable to stifle his curiosity any longer. "You two looked pretty close."

"We have a few classes together." Haknyeon said in a noncommittal tone, though, his smirk didn't falter.

"So you were putting in a good word for Juyeonie." Sunwoo's snicker had Juyeon glaring at him.

"Of course!" Haknyeon admitted shamelessly. "How else was I going to convince her to help him with the project?"