crumpled papers // park woojin

p / 5

yerin nor woojin knew what was going on.

just after dining at the food stand, yerin and woojin haven't been communicating as much. no hi. no eye contact since then. it was getting awkward and neither of them wanted to approach one another.

• • •

from home, yerin did her normal routine to get to school. she sat at her desk in her homeroom and read a fresh new book. by the time the halls filled with all sorts of things, a shadow casted above yerin. she slowly averted her eyes from her book and up. the one and only jieun.

"hi," jieun said emotionlessly. clearly her eyes were still angry and sad and yerin felt bad. yerin even recalled the talk she had with woojin the other day.

"i had someone else on my mind"

when yerin was about to talk, jieun cut her off.

"look yerin, i know you and woojin have something going on with each other," she began, "but i don't understand what he sees in you. so yerin," jieun set her hand on the desk and leaned closer.

"if you don't want anyone hurt, you should back off away from him, hm?" she lowered her voice. she was still emotionless, but something in her voice sounded like she was coy. she stood back up and left to the desk. yerin was flustered, but confused at the sudden moment. although the words that jieun had said were replaying in yerin's head. over and over.

"if you don't want anyone hurt"

• • •

at lunch, yerin couldn't get her head to stop replaying the words.

is it my fault that he rejected her?
it's my fault?

honestly, yerin had no idea what she was going through. she was so confused.

you've gotten on a big mess
now you have to clean it up yerin

she wanted to believe that it wasn't her fault that he got rejected. she wanted to believe that it wasn't her who made the mess. yerin wanted to believe all of that, but her mind says otherwise.

"yerin," someone called. she was woken out of her thoughts as she looked up. woojin.

"are you ok?" he asked. yerin panicked a bit and could only look back at jieun who sat at the front. jieun looked back yerin and lifted her eyebrows. yerin then shifted her eyes back to the latter in front of her.

"mm," she nods in response, "excuse me," she quickly grabbed her things and ran out the classroom.

"y-yerin!" he tried calling out, but to no avail, the girl was gone.

"woojin," a voice called. he turned his head and saw jieun.

• • •

yerin ran to the school garden as fast as she could. she sat at the bench she usually sits at and breathed heavily. as she regained her normal breathing, she reached for her backpack and took out a piece of paper and her black pen. she began writing.

17-09-03
jieun told me to back away from woojin so no one could get hurt. i didn't get her but it's my fault she got rejected by him. i feel sorry. i was the one that got her rejected. i should just stay away from him. i don't want to get involved with them.

she crumpled the paper and stuffed her pen back inside her backpack before heading back into the school and throwing away the paper ball.

• • •

as she passed the canteen, yerin saw jieun and woojin. they were surrounded by other girls in a group, laughing and smiling. jieun's arm was around woojin's and she never let go. woojin was for sure uncomfortable, though he didn't show it. he couldn't.

when woojin and yerin made eye contact, woojin's eyes lit up, his mouth curving up to a smile, but yerin panicked and ran off. woojin was just as curious to know why she was acting that way.

"you're an idiot yerin!" she scold herself. she made her way to the empty homeroom and sat at her desk. her head in her arms and letting out a sigh.

ignoring him is easy
...right?
i mean we don't know each other much, so drifting away is possible
...right?

yerin let out a groan. so many things were running in her head. positive and negative. she didn't know what to do honestly.

• • •

during class, yerin tried focusing to what the teacher said, but her brain would only linger elsewhere. she'd think about what jieun told her and the ways she could stay away from woojin. she let out her hundredth groan, but this one was a little louder than she thought. the teacher's voice stopped and everything was quiet.

"is something the matter, yerin?" the teacher asks as she looks up at the students. they were just as confused as she was. she saw jieun and she had that smirk on her face. then, woojin. he was a little concerned. even the fact that she was ignoring him.

"no, there's nothing wrong. i'm sorry," yerin says as she straightens up. her cheeks flushed and her eyes shook. she was embarrassed.

god dammit yerin

• • •

as soon as the bell rang for school to end. yerin grabbed all her things, shoved them in her backpack and dashed out. unfortunately, she was stopped by someone grabbing her arm. she felt the familiar grasp and she didn't want to turn around to face the person.

"yerin," his voice was concerned and soft. yerin didn't want to look back, fearing jieun's intense glare. instead, woojin turned her around and his hand rested on both her shoulders. his eyes looking straight into hers. yerin's head blanked out, but her heart began to beat fast.

"yerin," his voice, delicate and soft, "why are you ignoring me?" she wanted to speak and tell him what jieun had told her, but something else came out.

"it's nothing," she loses the eye contact and shrugs off his grasp as she looks at the ground.

"i'm going now," she bows her head a little and left. leaving woojin, confused.

why is she like that?

• • •

ahahahahhahahaha 170+ views??!!!!
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sooooooo soooooooo happyyy omg thank you all so muchhhhh
it means a lot to me because i'm always so nervous about this book's outcome :")
let's get to 200!!

but...

i think this was a long-short chapter??
hehehe
anyway, chapter 6 will totally be released as soon as possible!!
but sorry for not updating so often, so much school and too much homework TT

xoxo - lienao1