Catch-22, HAECHAN

03 | he's kinda hot

"So. Don't be mad." Yena bites her lips as she suppresses a meek smile, one Chaerin knows she does whenever she's hiding something.

She stares at her roommate blankly, waiting for her to spill.

"I kinda forgot that I'm supposed to visit Mark at the hockey rink. Come with?"

Chaerin lets out a loud groan, tiling her head back. "Yena!"

"It's just for a while! I promised him I'd give him a kiss," the girl pleads. "You don't even have to come in. Just wait outside. Please?"

"He's not even going anywhere! Ugh, I liked you better when you were single," Chaerin grumbles, walking past her roommate towards the sports block.

"You don't get to say that. My boyfriend treats you to food like, all the time," Yena mutters before asking her to wait up.

Their classes had coincidentally ended at the same time, and Yena had suggested they go get some lunch before heading home. Of course, under the agreement that her roommate covers the bill for the both of them, Chaerin agreed.

But now, she's wondering if it would even be worth it at all.

She hadn't been to the rink ever since she broke up with Jeno four months ago, and needless to say she's not that keen on returning. She's sure Yena is aware of her predicament as well, which is why she had told her to just wait outside, but still, being in the sports block alone is enough to bring back some memories Chaerin would rather not remember.

"I'll just be a second!" Yena says before disappearing through the double doors, and Chaerin lets out a sigh as she leans against the wall behind her.

Fine. She decides she could give in this time. It's not like she wasn't the same back when she was still with Jeno anyways— visits to the rink used to be a normal occurrence for her, and she too would drag Yena with her whenever she felt too awkward being alone. Thinking back, it was such a cringy thing to do, wasn't it? Wasting away half of her day to sit in the bleachers spectating a sport she doesn't understand.

The things love does to people.

"Cherry?" A voice snaps her out of her reverie, and Chaerin doesn't even need to look up to know who it is.

Donghyuck grins in amusement. "Waiting for somebody? A certain number 66, perhaps?"

"In your dreams, Donghyuck," she chides, and the boy's lips curve up into a smile. She gives him a side glance. "Why are you here?"

Despite being in his hockey uniform, his bulky helmet is missing from his person, leaving his dark hair disheveled atop his head.

"Went to take some ice." He lifts up an arm to show a plastic bag of frozen ice cubes. "So, good thing that you're here, actually. I've been meaning to discuss with you on some things, if you catch my drift." He smirks suggestively.

Chaerin groans. "Is this about yesterday?"

"You're damn right it is!" Donghyuck says gleefully. "But I can't talk now. Practice ends in like, half an hour. Wait for me."

She scoffs humourlessly. "I am not waiting for you."

The double doors beside them swing open before the boy could reply, revealing a smiley Yena.

Chaerin pushes herself off the wall, a scowl on her face. "You said just a second."

"You could not have possibly believed that," Yena laughs airily before turning to the hockey player, giving him a wave. "Hey, Chan."

The boy snickers at the pun, and Chaerin rolls her eyes at the thought of her roommate and enemy fraternising. Why is the whole universe against her all of a sudden?