Hairstyle | nct

Chapter Twelve

CHAPTER TWELVE

It was late at night on the same day I saw Choi Youngpil at the mall.

Part of me was glad he didn't come over to say hi like Hoyoung and Raewoon did, while the other half felt hurt, realizing how much our relationship had changed in the matter of months. I was OK, and the same time, I wasn't.

It was late at night when I was in my room, on my phone on Twitter when my usual scrolling was interrupted by an incoming call. I was surprised at first when I read the ID's name but I couldn't leave it calling. So I swiped answer and brought the phone up to my ear, awaiting the caller's voice.

"Hello?" they said on the other end.

I paused before I stifled, "Hi. Um, why are you calling?"

There was a chuckle on the other end. "I didn't think you'd be awake at this time. Aren't you tired from today?"

I looked at the bedside digital clock that I had in my room. The numbers 23:34 glowed in bright green on the screen of the clock. I replied, "I was just checking my Twitter. Nothing interesting. So, why are you calling?"

"I just felt like it," Lucas said on the other line. There was a pause. Then he asked, "Are you feeling OK?"

My lips eased into a smile. "You asked me that earlier when we were having lunch, Lucas."

"I know. I just wanted to check again. Are you?"

"I'm fine," I answered with a light laugh. "I told you that story because I wanted you to understand why I wasn't feeling that great earlier, not for you to pity me. So don't feel bad or anything."

There was another silence before I heard him say, "I was heart broken too before. The time... the time I ghosted you."

I felt my whole body slowly tense up before it froze in place. I was seated on my bed, leaning against the wall with my legs crossed under my warm blanket in the dark. I always wondered why he ghosted me that time but I never had the guts to ask him the reason why. But this was it. He was going to tell me willingly. He was going to tell me why. I was nervous.

He continued, "I... had a fling. We weren't dating, just like you and yours. But we acted like a couple too and I really, really liked her. But I don't think she liked me that much. When I broke it off because I felt like she didn't care that much, you know what she said? Okay, sure. She didn't even sound sad or anything! She was totally fine with it!"

Unconsciously, my head fell lower, my strands of short hair covering parts of my face. There was nothing as painful as letting go of someone you cared for and realize they never felt the same as you did.

"The time you saw me with my hair shaved? I was hurt. It hurt like shit and I shaved my head because I was heart broken." I had never heard Lucas sound so vulnerable and in so much pain. He was showing a new side of him today. "But time has passed and things had gotten better. Things feel better too."

"I'm proud of you, Lucas," I whispered.

"You are?" He sounded confused on the other line.

I smiled, even if I knew he couldn't see it. I adjusted the phone in my hands and told him, "You were hurt but you healed, at your own pace. You overcame an obstacle you thought you couldn't. I'm just proud of you, for these little achievements you made that no one noticed."