𝘐𝘕𝘚𝘈𝘕𝘐𝘛𝘠. ⇌ 𝘱.𝘫𝘴.

26.

Renjun took slow, stiff steps as he walked next to a cheerful Mark.
The latter babbled excitedly, not quite noticing the mood Renjun had been in for the entire morning already.
Neither did he mind that Renjun didn't listen to his words, nor reply to any of them.

He was trapped in his thoughts, drowning in sadness while his brain repeated Nari's words over and over, like some cassette tape were being played to the boy in order to torture him.

„Yesterday was CRAZY, Renjun! You were awesome in that practice fight, even Mr. Lee seemed impressed.. Also why didn't you join the rest of our group for dinner? We went hunting afterwards, you missed Yunjin killing her first demon! She did so well, it was the complete opposite of how it went with Nari back then. Not that I want to blame her. Oh- speaking of her, did you hear?"

At the mentioning of her name, the younger lazily let his eyes glance up and ahead of him for a second.

„Hmm?", he hummed, yet it wasn't enough to catch Mark's attention.
His blank face almost seemed to grow even paler when his best friend mentioned the person he loved, the person who broke his heart.
„Rumor has it Nari fainted in class yesterday. I wonder what happened..", Mark replied and frowned.
She wasn't weak, something must've happened for her to faint, he thought.
„Oh, and- even more interesting!", the older looked at Renjun, hoping he'd elicit some sort of reaction from the indifferent looking boy, whose eyes, however, only found their way to Mark's face where they rested, awaiting the news.

„I heard that she called a name when she woke up"

Renjun's heart ached at the information his ears just picked up.
He dreaded one certain name and just wasn't ready to hear his best friend speak it out aloud.

„Apparently she asked for someone called Jisung, do you know who that is? She never told us about anyone of that name.."

Jisung.
The guy she liked. The guy who got what he desired all these years. Within the blink of an eye.
Pang. It felt as if someone just shot him. Or stabbed him again and again until he wouldn't be able to walk, until all he'd be able to do was scream and cry for mercy.
It sounded brutal, but depicted his emotional pain at the moment quite well.

„What? Aren't you gonna comment on it?", Mark asked with a baffled expression. His lips slightly parted in bewilderment, he couldn't believe how Renjun took the information so carelessly.

„No."
„What do you mean ‚no'?"
„Mark, I don't give a damn about it. So what if she mentioned some random guy...", Renjun's words turned into a mutter at the end of the sentence.

„Renjun, are you okay?", he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. They stopped in their tracks, somewhere in the middle of the campus.

The mentioned sucked in a deep breath of fresh morning air before he looked at the older and eventually answered.
„Yeah, why wouldn't I be?", he clicked with his tongue and averted his gaze.
„You know, somehow I always assumed you had a thing for her..", Mark trailed off.