grape flavor

four

"i'm confused," sooyoung points out,
as she stares at her friend, who is busy typing on her phone, while sipping on her grape drink.

"about what? your chemistry class?"

"no, but rather the chemistry between
jeon jeongguk and you," sooyoung points out bluntly, as their other friends
hum in agreement.

seungwan chimes in, as she looks up from
her english essay, "okay, i'm with
soo here, because, girl, i heard you attended his recent volleyball game and held onto his
other jersey shirt. care to explain a little?"

yerim glances away from her phone, as she nibbles on the straw as she
glances around the faces of her curious friends, who are eagerly waiting for her reply.
"we are just friends."

"that's a lie, because friends do not wait for each other after school outside classrooms; friends do not
buy a bottle of drink every day and lastly,
friends do not hug."

seungwan then shakes her head, "friends do hug, soo, but they do not hug publicly when they are just friends yet acting like a couple."

"and also, friends do not wear their jerseys to a game."

"i did not wear it," yerim shakes her head, defending herself before typing a reply on her phone to the other party.

"you brought it, and well, waved it
in the air, so technically, you did wear it."

just as yerim is about to respond, her phone rings and she immediately answers it, "hey jeon."

she rolls her eyes as her friends begin to hum in a sort of tease-like tune, while shooting funny expressions at each other. "no, wait― the fuck,
are you crying?"

the raspy voice of the male clearly says that he has been crying, and she grabs her bag along with her
half-drank drink. "where the heck are you? i'm going to find you, right now."

with that, she heads off for the exit, not bothering to bid her farewell to her friends, who are watching her.
"and she says they are just friends."

yerim wanders down the hallway against the crowd, while looking high and low for the male.
"the bleachers? alright, heck, stay there, jeon. i'm coming." with that, she ends the call and begins to shove her way through, making her way urgently to the bleachers where the male is.

as soon as she arrives at the bleachers,
she glances around, before calling out, "jeon?"
hearing the faint male's response, yerim
heads towards the right side just to see
the male, wrapping his knees close to his chest, and his eyes a little red and puffy.

"holy fuck," yerim whispers, climbing the steps towards him, throwing her bag down onto one of the random rows, before sitting down beside him. "are you alright? wait, you clearly aren't."

she bites on her lower lips, feeling her
heart clenches tightly and painfully, as she watches another tear slips down from the corners of the male's eye. "hey, here, come here,"
she mumbles, inching closer to the male.

she then wraps her arms around the male's torso, as he automatically wraps his around her shoulders, burying his nose into her neck as another sob escapes from the male.

yerim rubs his back gently and soothingly,
not knowing what to say since she sucks at comforting others, and hopes that whatever she is doing right now, may help him a little.

a few minutes later of silence, the male the mumbles, "m-my grandmother has just passed on."

yerim widens her eyes slightly at the sudden news, since she has heard the mention of his grandmother,
who he loves and adores terribly. jeongguk shares a close relationship to his grandmother since young, and with her passing, it will affect him.
"i'm sorry."

"s-she fought for really long," he lets out another sob, tightening his grasp around her as she returns the hug as tightly, hoping that it will give him some sort of comfort or warmth. instead, the male only breaks down even harder,
and she was there to catch every tear.

involved in an accident that left her in
a comatose, his grandmother decided to head up to find his late grandfather, early in the morning. jeongguk buries his face in yerim's shoulder, letting
out another painful cry, grieving
for the loss of his grandmother, who brought him up since young, and taught him tons of things.

"at least she is in a better place now,"
yerim gives a small smile, as she runs her fingers across his hair, hoping that it will calm him down while giving her silent condolences to his grandmother's passing.

the male whimpers softly,
holding onto her tightly, as if afraid she
will disappear instantly while shedding his grief.

"it will be alright, jeon. i'm here with you," she whispers softly, giving him a tight squeeze as she gives him the support ― emotionally,
and physically.