✓ cold boy next door | p.sh

29

“silent regret”

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ever since that day on the rooftop, yeoji had been avoiding sunghoon at school. the accidental kiss and his heartfelt confession had left her confused and awkward. she couldn't bear to face him, so she found herself dodging him in the hallways, taking different routes to her classes, and even eating lunch at different times.

in class, yeoji kept her eyes glued to her books, avoiding even the briefest glance in sunghoon's direction. she felt his gaze on her several times, but she couldn't bring herself to look back. the once comfortable silence between them was now filled with unspoken tension.

during one particularly awkward moment in the cafeteria, yeoji saw sunghoon approaching their usual table. panic seized her, and she quickly grabbed her tray, mumbling an excuse to her friends, and left before he could sit down.

her friends, nara, hyunwoo, and sunoo, noticed her behavior and decided to intervene. one afternoon during lunch break, they cornered her in the cafeteria and decided to ask her what really happened.

"yeoji, what's going on?" nara asked, her voice filled with concern. "you've been avoiding sunghoon like the plague."

yeoji sighed, her shoulders slumping. "it's just... complicated."

hyunwoo raised an eyebrow. "complicated how? he confessed his feelings for you, right?"

yeoji nodded, looking down at her hands. "yeah, but i can't reciprocate it. or at least, i told him i couldn't."

sunoo leaned forward. "why not? we all know how close you two are. and it's obvious you care about him."

"it's not that simple," yeoji said, her voice barely above a whisper. "his family is going through so much, and i didn't want to add to his stress."

nara placed a hand on yeoji's shoulder. "but avoiding him is only making things worse, for both of you."

hyunwoo nodded in agreement. "nara's right. sunghoon needs you now more than ever. you can't just leave him to suffer alone."

sunoo chimed in. "you care about him, don't you? then show him. pursue your feelings. the tension and family issues will eventually ease, but your absence won't help either of you."

yeoji looked at her friends, their words sinking in. she knew they were right, but fear and guilt held her back. she nodded slowly, promising to think about it.

the realization hit her on the day of her birthday, which coincided with sunghoon's regional skating contest. she woke up feeling a mix of excitement and dread, knowing she had to make a decision. just as she was about to leave for school, she received a text from sunghoon.

sunghoon

happy birthday, yeoji. i just wanted to explain and apologize for everything. i’m sorry for falling for you and putting you in this position. i hope you can forgive me. good luck today, and i hope you have a great birthday, even though i am not by your side.

his words struck a chord in her heart. she couldn't let sunghoon face this important day alone, not after everything they had been through. determined, she hurried to the competition venue.

when yeoji arrived at the rink, she immediately saw sunghoon already performing on the ice. her heart pounded as she watched him glide gracefully, but she could sense something was off. his movements, usually so fluid and confident, were tense and uncertain.

as she made her way closer, her eyes never leaving sunghoon, then the unthinkable event happened. sunghoon attempted a difficult jump, but his distraction caused him to falter. he lost his balance and crashed into the iron railings at the edge of the rink. the sickening sound of his head hitting the metal echoed through the arena, and blood began to pool around him as he lay unconscious on the ice.

yeoji's heart stopped. she screamed and rushed towards the rink, tears streaming down her face. she reached the edge, her hands gripping the barrier as she watched the medics rush to sunghoon's side.

"sunghoon!" she cried out, her voice breaking. "please, wake up!"

the medics carefully lifted sunghoon onto a stretcher, his face pale and bloodied. jay and their mother was also shocked when they saw sunghoon was bleeding. mrs. park suddenly sobbed and quickly approached her son. yeoji followed them, her heart pounding with fear and regret. she had been too late to tell him how she truly felt, and now, seeing him like this, she couldn't bear the thought of losing him.

as they wheeled sunghoon away, yeoji's tears flowed uncontrollably. "i'm so sorry, sunghoon," she whispered, her voice shaking. "i should have been there for you. please, come back to me."

the competition venue faded into the background as yeoji focused on one thing: staying by sunghoon's side, no matter what happened next.

"i hope it's not too late", she silently whispered to herself.

___

a/n:

hmm... something's fishy... 🤭🤭🤭
do you think it will lead to a happy ending?