Strange Hearts || Heeseung

18

"You can't be serious".

Yuju muttered, speechless. Staring in disbelief at her empty safe, where not a single won bill remained. The entire inheritance was gone, something she hadn't even touched before.

She glanced over at Yuria, who was sitting on the floor, admiring her Dior bag bought with the money of her little sister. Exhausted, Yuju slid down her wardrobe and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Her entire inheritance was gone.
The only thing left to her by her parents. She had saved it her whole life.
Now it was gone.

"Don't be so mad, I'm your older sister, and I'm allowed to do this," Yuria murmured. Yuju let out a pained laugh.

"My older sister? What kind of older sister would do this to her younger one? Especially the older one? Do you even know I have a sick heart?!"

Yuria shrugged and looked at Yuju disinterestedly:
"You're still alive, so it's all good."

Angrily, Yuju stood up and walked toward her sister. She snatched the bag from her hands and threw it away. With tears in her eyes, she looked at Yuria.

"Are you completely out of your mind? Be careful, it was expensive," Yuria whined and ran after her bag. Yuju couldn't believe what was happening before her eyes. A stupid designer bag was more important than her?

Yuju left her apartment. She had just come home from school to go to her part-time job later, when she saw that all her money had been spent on a Dior bag.

"Long time no see, Yuju!" Jaeyun greeted her as she entered the café. Yuju nodded with a brief smile and went to the changing room to change into her café uniform. If her boss started bothering her today too, she wouldn't be able to sleep at all from the stress.

Yuju went to the counter and stood at the register to take orders. It wasn't too busy, so her annoying boss stood next to her.

"How's your heart?" he asked, gesturing with his eyes to the spot where her heart was. Yuju quickly muttered "good" and hoped he would just go away.

"Ah, Yuju," Jaeyun murmured, getting even closer to her. His hand almost touched hers, which was resting on the counter. She quickly pulled her hand back to herself and waited for the moment Jaeyun would realize she wasn't comfortable.

The door opened, and four guys came in. Yuju realized it was Riki, Jungwon, Sunghoon, and Heeseung. Quickly, she pushed her boss aside and hid under the counter, but to no avail.

"Hello, we'd like to order, Mrs." she heard Riki say. Embarrassed, she stood up, and there they were: Riki in front, Sunghoon and Jungwon behind him, and Heeseung at the back.

"Yuju?" Jungwon said. She looked into the cat-like face of her classmate.

"Are you working here?" Sunghoon asked. Yuju nodded and glanced at Heeseung, who ignored her gaze. Somehow, that made her sad. After spending time together at 3 a.m. by the Han River yesterday, she had slept so well. She'd been happy all morning to see him again, but he still ignored her at school.

"Heeseung, say hello to our classmate," Riki ordered, and Heeseung stepped forward. He nodded silently at Yuju and looked around. Why was he doing this?

Suddenly, Yuju felt hot breath on her neck. She looked to her left, and her boss was standing too close to her. He raised an eyebrow:
"Stop talking and start working, Kirai Yuju," and finally, he disappeared.

"You must have a strict boss," Sunghoon observed. Yuju nodded, and her gaze fell on Heeseung, who had his fists clenched. Before she could say anything, Jungwon interrupted her:

"For us, three latte macchiatos, but one with extra sugar, so the guy there isn't so sour," he said, pointing at Heeseung. Everyone laughed, and Yuju did too.

She brought them their lattes and disappeared behind the counter. She was surprised that they had recognized her, even though Yuju was pretty much invisible. Maybe she had made an impression when she collapsed in gym class. Embarrassed, she slapped her cheek.

As long as the four of them were there, Yuju watched them. Heeseung was quiet, just drinking the overly sweet latte macchiato Yuju had made herself. It bothered her that he was ignoring her.

Why was he doing this?

Whenever they weren't alone, she felt like air to him. He had promised her to do the 10 things on her list. That was supposed to be a sign of friendship, wasn't it?

She had trouble remembering her list of 10 wishes, but she still knew the second thing was to play tag at the Han River. She had never had the chance to do that because:

She wasn't allowed because of her heart, and

She didn't have anyone to play it with. She used to watch from a corner as other kids her age played tag. She wanted to join so badly, but she couldn't.

Yesterday, she had finally done it, with Heeseung. And somehow, she felt no fear for her heart next to him. In some way, she felt safe with him, even though he had put her life in danger several times before.

"Have a nice day," Jungwon said as the four of them left the café. Yuju smiled, but her expression quickly changed as her sister's betrayal came back to her mind.