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Lee Haechan wasn't able to walk with Iyana to school that day, as it was the day his mother was finally being discharged from the hospital after two weeks.
"Iyana!" the soccer player called, running behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and her eyes widened when she saw the Kim boy.
"I'm here," he said, stopping beside her, panting heavily. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"How did you know I was here?" she asked, surprised. She was only three streets away from her house, and she never told anyone which neighborhood she lived in.
"Chaeyeon," he blurted out, bending over with his hands on his knees, still trying to catch his breath.
"Isn't your house like a 15-minute walk from here?" she asked, taken aback.
"Yeah, I woke up late, but it's fine," he shrugged, brushing it off.
"Oh, I wanted to ask you something," he continued, swallowing hard as he stood up straighter. She nodded hesitantly, gripping her backpack straps loosely.
"Why didn't you hang out with us last Friday?" Sunwoo asked.
"I had to see someone in the hospital, sorry," she apologized, bowing slightly.
"Don't worry, you're good," he said with a grin.
"Can I ask you something else?" Sunwoo asked again.
"Sure, go ahead," she replied as they walked toward the school's gates.
"Want to go on a date with me? Just the two of us—no double dates, just us?" he asked, looking at her with those soft hazel eyes.
"I do need to make up for the date I missed last Friday, so what time?" she asked with a smile.
"Um, I'll text you the details after school!" he said, his face lighting up with a huge, gummy grin. The Kato girl couldn't help but giggle at his excitement. With that, he ran into the school building, jumping and cheering in joy.
Her heart sank with guilt. Seeing him so happy about their first date made her feel awful. She didn't like him that way, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. Iyana wanted to keep their relationship purely as friends, but he thought differently.
Everyone seemed to believe—or at least thought—they were in a romantic relationship. Her mother had always pressured her to make a move on him, their friends shipped them, and even a few classmates had mistakenly assumed they were a couple. In the first year of high school, the class had even elected them as the best couple on Valentine's Day.
Poor Iyana had no idea how to break his heart. All the while, her own heart yearned for someone else's love.
