I Will Fight For You (A The8 Fanfiction)

Chapter 40

Weeks turned into months. Months turned into a year and a half. How I survived through it? Strategy and perseverance. I would come to the company building with my co-workers, sandwiching myself in the midst of the group. When I did end up being approached by him, I would keep up the glum face that I rarely pulled around others.

"Why are you always like this whenever I talk to you. Didn't you say you have forgiven me? Holding grudges can make you look older faster, you know..." he confronted me on one occasion.

"I'm just naturally like this. Why? You don't like older-looking women? Fine by me," I shrugged.

"If it were you, I'd still love you the same even if you looked 70 at the age of 20," he said with a smile on his face.

"Thanks but no thanks," I said before leaving.

-

Well, I had been holding up pretty well too in terms of hiding my social anxiety. Fake it 'till you make, right? The staff members under Pristin could talk to me more openly and I was dragged around a lot less as they would probably never have guessed I was usually rather anxious in social situations. They believed I was independent and hence did not feel the need to have to watch out for me all the time.

I started to believe in myself too. I eventually started getting used to forcing myself to be more social. Then again, perhaps I was wrong and I had been disillusioned by the facade I made myself.

I was just done with a whole week of Pristin's promotions. That honestly took a lot of energy from me who had to talk to people and interact with them for a whole week. I was only a few blocks down from the company building when I spotted a seemingly familiar gang of boys.

They were dressed ruggedly but their hairstyles were not as outlandish as I last remembered. One of them, however, was decently dressed and I knew him well. I barely had much energy left to talk so I tried to walk by them without looking at them. However, I got caught when my old classmate stood in front of me. He had a smirk on his face.

"Hey, Hee-young," he greeted me.

"Oh, hi Minhyuk," I greeted him back, pretending to be surprised.

He pulled me by the side of the pavement. He was restless.

"I heard about you and that guy you liked. Rough, huh? You got cheated on. Never trust foreigners, I tell you," he spoke out.

I simply hummed. I refused to speak. My heart started beating faster from the very moment he greeted me. No, it was not romantic feelings. I was anxious. A sudden bump-in with an old friend who I rejected was not very nice. It was very sudden. I was not prepared for sudden.

"This would not have happened if you had dated me instead. Just saying. But hey, I scored myself a good girlfriend," he said to me.

He called a girl over and held her hand. They both had rings on their fingers. The girl was decent-looking but she had a bright smile. She greeted me politely.

This was extremely awkward. I kept my hands in my pants pocket. She was probably better than me in every way possible.

"And yes. She is better than you. She doesn't get anxious over such petty things," he added as if he read my mind.

His words hit close to my heart and I could not help but feel the sting of it. He just had to talk about it. I thought he was nice. He seemed so nice but after I rejected him, he was a different person. Perhaps he was just salty about the rejection. I stared at him in disbelief.

"Why? The burn too bad for you? Well, unless you want a guy who actually stays around, I advise you work your way out of your anxiety. It's rather inconvenient to always-"