stalker | hyunjin

貳

[two ; the meeting]

"THE DOCTORS SAID NONE OF the injuries were serious but you might have to endure the swelling and ache from the bruises. think you can handle it?" hyunjin teases as he questions her.
"of course i can, nothing hurts me." she replied confidently.
"right— will it hurt if i pinched your cheeks?" he laughed and she glares at him as if to say 'don't test me'

"how'd you even get into a fight with them?" he asked, handing her a tray of food that consisted of rice and pumpkin soup along with vegetables and kimchi.
"they were following me and myung hee home, i had to confront them." she mumbled casually in between chewing rice.
"myung hee? but weren't you alone?" he questioned, confused as his memories of tonight's event never presented myung hee being there.
"o-oh right u-um..she left first while i was dealing..with them." she felt small under his stare as he furrowed his eyebrows, eyes squinting at her displaying the perfect personification of an incredulous expression.

thinking about it only pissed her off and she shoved a spoonful of rice down her mouth. even though they were best friends, that didn't fully detach her feelings of abandonment when myung hee left. she was slightly annoyed - not only did myung hee ditch her for her own safety, myung hee was also her only ride home and decided to leave without hei ryung anyways.

hyunjin, wondering off about what kind of person myung hee was, catches notice of hei ryung's reckless behaviour, "slow down before you cho-" her cough interjected his sentence and she hacked out chewed food.
"-choke." he finished, patting her back for support, not knowing whether his efforts even helped.
"can you just get me water?"
"sure."

after running off, the curtains that covered the bed next to hers was roughly pulled to the side, revealing her neighbouring patient. she turned her head to see them.
"it's kim hei ryung right?" the teenager was none other than minho, the schools most popular guy in highschool, (along with hyunjin of course) and more importantly, her best friends ex boyfriend. she was astounded to see him here, he didn't look hurt nor injured nonetheless she didn't know how she felt about him. she definitely wasn't okay with minho breaking up with her friend only after a week of dating and it always occurred to her how quiet myung hee was around him.

"yea that's me, and you're lee minho?"
"how did you know?" he joked, a smirk materialising on his face.
"right, how can i not?" she said, rather sarcastically and he chuckled.
"anyways, i may or may not have overheard your conversation with someone earlier, did you get into a fight?" she sighed, the thought of men inflicting bruises upon her frail body gave her a headache.
"well if you call getting beaten up a fight then yes, yes i did." he nodded blankly and pulled out a small box on the side of his table, handing it to her,
"take some vitamin c supplements, it's good for healing bruises faster." she stares at the box in his hands and hesitates before slowly retrieving it.

"um sure thank you."
"don't worry about it, i don't need 'em as much as you." she smiled covering her surprise as to how nice he was. she wasn't dreaming was she? this was the same guy that left her best friend heartbroken for days? she thought, tilting her head to the side as she stared at him, suspiciously.
"what?" he spoke up, feeling uncomfortable with her eyes observing him.
"nothing, you're weird." the words had just naturally come out of her mouth and she covered it in embarrassment, not intending to speak her mind.

he laughed at her cute reaction, "well you look like a zombie, it's embarrassing when you're in the presence of someone as handsome as me." he retaliates nonchalantly as if it was common sense. she glares at him causing him to laugh, "sorry, did i say that out loud? whoops." he smirks and she clicks her tongue indicating her annoyance.
"you little-"

"minho? you're here too?" hyunjin walks in from the room, a water bottle in his hands. he approaches minho and begins a conversation as if she wasn't there.
"i just fainted from overworking and being too sleep deprived." minho scratches the nape of his neck as he laughs off the reason for his appearance in hospital.
"you need to rest, why are you stressing your body so much?" hyunjin hands minho the water bottle instead and he takes a sip of it, gaping over at her with a smug smile, well aware she asked hyunjin to bring her water.

"thanks, i'm feeling much better already."

❀

heading to school, her classmates bombard her with questions about what had happened and where she'd gotten the bruises from. she only nods them off, too tired to explain the reason. hyunjin watches her in class until myung hee comes into view, he scowls at the thought of her recent behaviour.

"hi hyunjin, how's your morning?" she asked, her eye smile lighting up the room. he only responds with a quiet "hello" and excuses himself to talk with seungmin instead. he never quite saw her the same after hei ryung explained to him about the events of last night. it made him uncomfortable, they were supposed to be inseparable, why did myung hee ditch her?

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