HYUNJIN'S POV
I watched her leave, the echo of her footsteps fading into the distance, but the storm she stirred inside me refused to settle.
I ran a hand through my hair, gripping the back of my neck as I turned away from the door. The sky stretched out above me—gray, overcast, and suffocating. Fitting. My chest felt tight, like I couldn't get a full breath in.
Why did she still get to me like this?
Why did she still matter?
I hated this.
I hated her.
No—I didn't. That was the problem.
When she grabbed Seoyeon's hand and shoved her—my first instinct had been to protect her. But when I saw Seoyeon stumble, all I could see was Wendy pushing someone again, running again, hurting someone again. And my anger? It just took over.
I shouldn't have yelled at her.
But God, it still hurt.
She left me.
When I needed someone the most, when my world was crumbling, she disappeared. And now she was here—again—laughing with Seojun, touching my life like she had any right to be part of it.
And I hated that a part of me wanted her to be.
I stared at the spot where she stood just minutes ago, my fists clenched. That look on her face—hurt, betrayed—like I was the one doing this to her. Did she really think I could just forget?
But then... her voice echoed in my head.
"Don't you know me at all, Hyunjin?"
And I didn't know the answer to that anymore.
Maybe I never did.
I thought I did. I thought she was the one person who would never walk away from me.
But she did.
And now she was talking to Seojun. Again. Leaning on him like she used to lean on me. And that stupid, irrational jealousy burned hot in my chest, even though I had no right to feel it.
I laughed bitterly to myself.
"Running to Seojun now?" I had spat, but what I really wanted to ask was—
Do you still love me?
But I didn't. Because I was a coward. And because I wasn't sure I could handle the answer.
I stood alone on the rooftop, heart pounding, the taste of regret bitter in my mouth.
I told her to stay out of my way.
But what I really wanted was for her to come closer.
She was everywhere.
In the halls.
In the company.
In my goddamn head.
Wendy Richard.
The girl I once gave my heart to—and the same girl who left it shattered without a second glance.
I told her to stay out of my way. I said I hated her. And maybe I meant it.
But hate was a weak word for what I felt. Because the truth was, hate wasn't supposed to ache like this.
It wasn't supposed to carry the ghost of her laugh in quiet corridors.
It wasn't supposed to make your chest cave in when you saw her smile at someone else.
Like she did... with him.
I had barely calmed down from our rooftop confrontation when I noticed her again, walking across the campus lawn with a bounce in her step that hadn't been there minutes ago.
Because he'd called.
Seojun.
That name alone set something off in me.
I should've gone home. I should've let her go. But instead, my legs moved on their own, my eyes following her from a distance like some pathetic shadow.
She met him at the training field.
He grinned when he saw her. Open. Familiar. Like he belonged in her world now.
She laughed, bumping his shoulder with hers, and that sound—it hit me like a punch to the gut.
That laugh used to be mine.
I stayed hidden behind a tree just past the edge of the bleachers. Watching.
He offered her water. She took it. He adjusted her grip during a drill. She didn't flinch. Didn't pull away.
I saw her smile at him the way she used to smile at me—bright, easy, unguarded.
And it wrecked me.
Because even though I told myself I didn't care...
Even though I told myself she didn't matter anymore...
Every part of me still ached for her.
I clenched my jaw and looked away. I couldn't watch anymore.
Not without losing whatever pieces of pride I had left.
I had told her to stay away.
But deep down?
All I ever wanted was for her to come back.
