unspoken words || a jaena ft. jeno ff. [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 2: The Cynic & The Skeptic

HINA DIDN'T EXPECT the words to hurt but it did. Oh, it did. Like a punch to the throat, leaving her speechless.

It was clear that Seyeon only answered the question, an argument to counter hers but the thing was, Seyeon and her had history. Hina used to be friends with her back in middle school but after the accident, Seyeon grew cold. Hina knew it was her fault, and Seyeon was just getting her revenge but Hina never truly forgave herself.

She tried reaching out, but Seyeon had already built a wall she knew she could never break. Hina didn't have that kind of power anymore.

Few years passed by and nothing had changed, only this time when Seyeon  decided to talk to her first, it was of mockery.

It's not like her words were some well-planned insult that knew exactly how low to strike. Seyeon never really knew about her family's current situation in the first place. Those words were a coincidence. A coincidence that still hurt.

"I think you don't have to be in love to understand common sense."

That probably came out too harsh, but it had to be said.

"You've always rejected the idea of love. I've never seen you with anyone before. Tell me how can you possibly understand?"

Everything was silent. So silent, somewhere you could hear a pin drop.

Their teacher clapped twice and cleared her throat, "Okay, that's enough," and passed around a handout, announcing that the rest of the period would be for silent work. She shot Hina a look when she said "silent" that had her sinking down in her chair.

For the rest of the class, Hina wrote down halfhearted answers, all the while replaying what Seyeon said in her mind.

Seyeon was wrong.

She knew everything she needed to know about love. She's just one of those people who accepts the reality of it. Love was destructive and dangerous but people fail to see that because they only use their heart, instead of thinking.

She shook her head, trying to shake the negative thoughts out of her mind and focused on the paper work. She glanced up once before the period ended and realized Jaemin was looking at her. He had this look on his face that she couldn't quite decipher. Pity? Understanding? Disgust?

Hina ignored him for the rest of the period and continued working on her activity. The morning went on without any problem. She aced her test, and was the first one to get a perfect score in a graded recitation. All was good.

The bell rang for lunch break and Hina began grabbing her things and putting them inside her bag. She made Eun wait outside the room and told her that she'd follow after. It was only her and Jaemin in the room, and Hina wanted to be out of his sight as soon as possible.

Jaemin casually sat backwards on his chair and looked at the window. The outside view was beautiful, flowers and leaves were just starting to sprout from their stems and the school have never looked so majestic and peaceful. So different from the expression Jaemin had on his face.

Then he started speaking, "You're right, you know? You don't have to be in love to know it's stupid to hold on to things that you know are going to hurt you in the end." Hina felt a chill ran down her spine when he suddenly turned his head to look at her, instead of a frown, he was smiling. "Sometimes we just have to accept the simple fact that love is not worth it and it's never worth all that pain."

For him to be able to say something like that was surprising to Hina. He meant it, even though he was smiling she could never mistake that hurt in his eyes.