Love-ish~~ | | Hwang Hyunjin

16. The Reason

"Hwang Hyunjin!!" The 6-year-old Kari shouts, putting her hands together, in the hallways of her empty kindergarten.

"Yah, Stop with the game and come out. Ms.Hwang is waiting for you." Kari looks over her school's empty classrooms. "Hyu-"

She approaches a partially open cabinet. It was so dark. And as the sight gets clearer, there he is, hugging his knees and crying like the little baby he is.

Kari sits down beside him as calmly as possible and looks at him. "What are you doing here?"

"My dad doesn't come to pick me up from school anymore." He says he is crying. "He isn't even at home. It's like he isn't with me anymore. He never loved me."

"They're divorced," Kari says, and Hyunjin cries harder, making her regret saying that.

"No, no. I didn't mean to say that. I mean, it's a few of the consequences you face, but imagine how Ms.Hwang must be feeling." Kari starts, "Hyunjin, stop being a crybaby. I don't even know how to comfort you."

Kari couldn't see him crying like that. He has always been a goofy kid who plays pranks on her. Now, she is not used to seeing him like that. So, she wraps her hands around him, hugging him from the side.

"You look so ugly when you cry."

He snorts at that and says, "Don't lie."

~

Hyunjin's POV:

"You're an asshole..." I mutter to myself, walking up the hill. "She was trying to be nice to you, but you still blew it."

"Hey!! Is that you? Hyunjin?" I turn around at the voice to see Changbin and Beomgyu. I slow down so they can catch up with me. "What are you doing here?" He asks.

"Trying to win?" I raise my brow. He scoffs, "No shit. You know you need two people for that, right?"

"Oh, really? I was unaware of that."

"Why did you exchange your team number with me?" When Changbin asks, I quickly turn my head away and pretend not to hear him. "He did what?" Beomgyu asks him.

"Yeah, he was supposed to be your teammate, and I ought to go with Kari. Then he suddenly asked if I wanted to switch with him. That was why I was surprised when Kari said Hyunjin was her teammate." He says.

"Why would you do that?" Beomgyu questions. "Do you not like to be on the same team as me? Because there's no way you would want to be Kari's teammate. You both hate each other to death."

"I'm starting to doubt that..." Changbin's eyes get narrower.

"What do you mean?" Beomgyu asks.

"I'm not sure. It simply doesn't fit... When we met her earlier, she was just so concerned about him, and if I hated someone, I wouldn't do that."

"What?" I stop... Beomgyu hits Changbin's arm as he grunts, "Yah! She told us not to say."

"Gyu, you're too naive for this world." Changbin turns to face me after grinning at him. "She was searching for you as you left your bag and phone with her. She was afraid you'd get lost, and she's probably still looking for you."

Oh no! "You guys go on." I walk away from them to go to Iseul. "I'll catch up with you."

"Why couldn't he just call her from our phone?"

"He's never got brains to begin with."

~

I had been searching for her for 15 minutes when I heard her yell my name.