Ice: Thaw the Frozen Heart [EDITING]

Chapter 43

Yeojin stopped and looked back when Sehun just walked past her. A part of her wished he would turn to look at her. He didn't. Her heart was clenched, but she took a deep breath and continued walking to her class.

Has he given up on trying to uncover my secret? Yeojin wondered.

It felt so wrong to be ignored by him, but wanting his attention felt even more so. Knowing she had unknowingly broken her promise with Lin made her feel even worse. By lunchtime, her mood was plummeting with some people still giving her weird looks. She regretted coming with Sunhee and Lin to the cafeteria, but she knew better than to stay in class. It would only make people think that she was weak. And she was not.

"I don't see Sehun sunbae," Lin stated craning her neck to look around.

Yeojin looked around too and realized Lin was right. Sehun was nowhere seen.

Taken aback, Sunhee almost choked on her food. "Whoa! You're being straightforward now?"

Lin shrugged with a shy smile. "Well both of you already knew anyway. And Yeojin eonni is okay with it too."

"Really?" Sunhee asked with a subtle tone of surprise.

Yeojin saw the look Sunhee shot her and immediately brought her gaze down to her food.

She didn't see Sehun even until dismissal time. She wondered if he was deliberately avoiding her because of the viral pictures. The thought disappointed her a little knowing he was the one who had been adamantly insisting that he was her boyfriend all this time.

But all thoughts of Sehun ceased when Mr. Ahn showed up to pick her up. Today was supposed to be Kris' day, she reminded herself. She shouldn't be thinking about someone else.

__________

Rays of sunlight filtered through the crisp leaves protecting the figure lying on the bench. With arms as his pillow, Sehun covered his face with a book.

Just a few more minutes and lunch would be over, so he could avoid seeing Yeojin enter her class. He would avoid seeing her go home too later. He gulped down the lump in his throat knowing that wasn't really what he wanted. He wanted to see her, talk to her, hold her hand. But he couldn't be selfish. This game they were playing needed to stop.

Lin still had a few minutes until lunch is over. After excusing herself from Yeojin and Sunhee, she went to look for Sehun with a cup of bubble tea in her hands. If Sehun was not in the student council office or library, then there was only one other place he would be at.

The field behind the school.

Lin knew that no one would know that secret place of Sehun. Not even Yeojin. And she was proud of that.

She remembered that time during junior high when she was so frustrated with Yeojin and Kris' cold relationship that she felt so lonely. She went to the quiet field and sat on the bench crying. A groaned from somewhere behind the tree surprised her. Then a guy came out frowning at her and complained she had disturbed his sleep. He gave her a handkerchief nonetheless and then left without any word of comfort.

That was when Lin started falling for the cold guy Sehun. If it were any other guy, he would be flustered and try to comfort her knowing which family she came from. But not Oh Sehun. And she liked him for that.

Spotting Sehun lying on the bench, she carefully approached him. Upon hearing the crack of a leaf she stepped on, Sehun immediately sat up taking off the book covering his face. He looked at her surprised but then looked away as he stood up.