Dear Renjun

eight

They saw it.

Renjun's friends saw how Ningning entered the cafeteria looking devastated. It was clear how she ran towards her friends for comfort. They all saw how she cried.

It also hurt for them to see someone cry like that, even if they weren't really that close.

"Ouch, my heart hurts.." Irene said, clutching her chest. "What did Renjun do this time?" She took a deep breath.

Minutes later, Jeno, Donghyuck and Jaemin entered the cafeteria with Renjun following behind, looking so devastated.

"Something happened." Jaehyun said, but not too loud. "Look at him." He sighed.

"Those two are hopeless." Kun sighed.

✨

"Tell us what happened." Yiyang sat in front of the girl who cried earlier.

They were already at their dorm, and once Ningning calmed down they all asked her to tell them everything that happened.

She took a deep breath. "Yesterday, I went with Herin at the locker room to put my usual letters. He's reading them, I know it. He even told me." She chuckled. "To my surprise, yesterday was an unusal day. I saw how he ripped the paper into two, crumpled it, and threw it away."

She looked down and played with her fingers. "Herin treated me ice cream yesterday since I was really down." She chuckled.

Lami stood up, "What?! That's so unfair—"

"Shh, Sungkyung. Ningning's talking." Hina warned.

Lami huffed. "Fine."

Ningning sighed. "I didn't give up though. I still went to his locker and placed another letter, as if nothing happened yesterday. The same thing happened." She chuckled bitterly. "Am I annoying? Am I already too much?"

Yiyang sat beside her and patred her back. "No, you're not. He's just stupid to not realize that you're worth it." She smiled. "Besides, he doesn't know that it's you."

Herin nodded, "Yeah, he's stupid for not realizing that yz stands for Yizhuo." She sighed.

Ningning scoffed. "As if something else would happen if he knew that it was me."

"Of course something else would happen!" Jungyeon said. "As if you're blind not to see his smile every time he approaches you, or his little actions every time you're around." She smiled. "It's definitely something, Ningning-ah... he's just too dumb to realize."

"Ah, what are you guys saying?" Ningning laughed. "Like I said earlier, I don't want to keep my hopes up anymore. I'll only end up being hurt." She said.

"What are you planning to do now, unnie?" Lami asked.

Ningning stood up. "I'm not gonna stop, though I'll keep my distance..." She smiled brightly, as if she didn't shed tears yesterday and earlier. "Stopping isn't in my dictionary." She took a bow and went to her room.

"Is she even sure it's still a crush?" Hina asked. "Based from what we're seeing, it doesn't look like it's a simple crush at all."

"Let the kid be. She knows her limitations." Koeun sighed.

💓