MISSION: Love

+ fourteen +

I ran to the toilet and locked the door before leaning against it. It was pathetic of me to cry but I couldn't suppress my tears any longer. I didn't care if people outside the toilet could hear me. I sobbed and cried out loud as I squatted down. My mother's words crossed my mind all of a sudden.

"Just call me if you wanna go home. They all are not worth your time."

I wiped my tears and took out my phone before searching for her number but my fingers were hesitant to press the 'call' button. I stood back up and washed my face before staring at myself in the mirror. I touched my puffy eye bags and took a closer look at my swollen red eyes.

Why does everyone treat me like shit nowadays?

Did I do something wrong?

Do I deserve this?

I brushed away the thoughts and stepped out of the toilet. To my surprise, Sunghoon was standing next to the door. He looked like he was waiting for me all along. He approached me and took my hand, "You used the wrong technique to serve the ball just now. Look at your hand. It's all swollen up," he nagged.

My eyes widened when he put an ice pack on my swollen hand. "Where did you get that?" I asked as I watched his hand putting the ice pack gently on mine. "I asked for it at the cafeteria," he answered bluntly.

I nodded and looked everywhere but him. It was too awkward to look him in the eyes. "Hold this," he motioned for me to take the ice pack as he rummaged for something in his pocket. He took out a black hair tie, "Is this yours?"

I realised my hair was down all along. The hair tie probably fell when I was kicking all the dustbins at the back of the school. "Yeah, how did you know it was mine?"

"You always tie your hair. But today, your hair was down. And then I saw this so I assumed it was yours."

My cheeks reddened as I heard his explanation. "How are you so observant?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Hm?" He hummed in response. "Oh. Nothing. Just thinking about something."

"Turn around," he ordered and gently tied my hair into a ponytail. My heart was pounding like it was going to burst at any moment. I could hear his heart beating rapidly as well. The hallway we were in was so silent that the only thing we could hear was probably our heartbeat.

As soon as he was done, I turned back around and realised we were standing so close. I could feel his breath against my skin. My skin felt tingles and I could feel his warmth.

"Thank you," I breathed out as I backed away from him. Sunghoon cleared his throat and averted his attention somewhere else. "I'm gonna go now. Since there's no reason for me to stay, I think I'm just gonna rest at home," I said before walking away. I could feel his eyes piercing through me from behind as I left him.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps running after me from behind. I turned around and saw him panting, "Can I walk you home?"

"What?"

"You know, umm— Taehyun's gang could still be around so I'm afraid he'll hurt you. It's safer if I walk you home," he stuttered nervously as he held the back of his neck.

My lips curved into a smile and I nodded, "Sure. Thanks."

💌

Heeseung folded his arms as he watched the seniors play volleyball with Jihu. He felt his anger rising inside him as he watched her avoid the ball. "Yah, Jihu. Stop avoiding the ball. It's annoying. If you keep acting like this, then you shouldn't be one of the first six players."

The girl stood silent as she held her gaze on the ground. He then turned around before walking towards Ahrin. "Yah, aren't you going to check on Hana? She's still not here."

"She is just at the toilet. There's nothing wrong."

"But what if she's crying? Or what if she falls and cracks her head open?"

"You know how Hana is. She's very independent. She can take care of herself," Ahrin said out of annoyance before changing the topic, "Do you wanna know something?"

"What?"

"I think Jihu has a crush on Jay. I mean look at her, she keeps looking at Jay for assurance. They both look great together."

Heeseung's heart dropped as soon as he heard what she said. "No! She can't. Hana liked Jay first. And Jay looks way better with Hana than Jihu."

"Oh my God, I totally forgot about that!"

"Make sure Jay doesn't like Jihu. Hana has liked him for three years already. If the girl that she hates gets Jay, she'll be so sad."

"What?" A familiar voice asked behind them. Ahrin and Heeseung turned around, seeing a wide-eyed Jihu standing behind them. "Jihu-yah..." Ahrin forced out a nervous laugh.

"So, she has liked Jay all this time? That's too long!" Jihu's voice was so loud that it earned the said man's attention. "Who likes me?" Jay asked as he approached them.

"Hana! She likes you!" Jihu casually told him, earning surprise looks from Heeseung and Ahrin. "Yah! What the hell! You're not supposed to tell him that!" Heeseung yelled angrily.

Jay backed away from them as he was trying to process all the information. "Hana...likes me?"

"Jay, it's not what you think—" Heeseung tried to change his thoughts as he approached his friend slowly. "I think I have to talk to her about this," Jay said before leaving the court. He took his helmet and hopped on his motorcycle.

Heeseung glared at Jihu, "You! What the hell is wrong with you?! First, you ruined my best friend's life! And then you told the person that she loves her feelings towards him! Just... what the hell is wrong with your mind?!"

"Hana is your best friend?" Ahrin asked in disbelief, "You weren't even that close to her. And stop yelling at Jihu. She didn't know about Hana's feelings. It's not her fault."

"Well, maybe you should pay more attention to Hana and then you'll know how close she is to me. Maybe if you paid more attention to me, you'll know more!" He yelled out of frustration before leaving the court.