admirer • jongho

seventy-four

hyejin sat alone in the cafeteria, spacing out as she slowly munched on her food.

she closed her eyes for a moment and the image of her sister flashed behind her closed eye lids. yeji smiled brightly.

a tear managed to escape her eye as the image changed to the one moment of her, hyunjin and yeji laughing around together.

"unnie, i miss you.." she whispered.

the girl slowly opened her eyes and wiped the remaining tears on her cheeks before looking up.

to her surprise, three familiar figures were sat at the table with her, offering her their charming smiles. the girl tilted her head in confusion.

"what are you all doing here..?" she questioned. the boy beside her pulled her in a headlock, much to her surprise.

"saw you here alone so we decided to sit here!" wooyoung exclaimed. hyejin glanced at the other two, earning a dimpled smile from san and a playful eye roll from yeosang.

she smiled. but it came out as an awkward one. but san let it slide anyways.

"yeosang, why do you seem like you have a grudge on hyejin?" san curiously asked, eyeing his friend who had been narrowing his eyes at the girl. hyejin blinked.

the girl was slowly annoyed at the boy too, somehow.

"he thinks he owns my emma watson" hyejin blurted out.

san blinked. yeosang snapped his gaze to her. "i thought i've made it clear"

the two then eyed each other for quite some time, the air turning awkward and tense.

san cleared his throat before mumbling to himself. "i don't even wanna know"

wooyoung shook his head.

"so! why are you eating alone, cupcake?" wooyoung asked, digging in on his own food. at the nickname used, yeosang snorted while hyejin was a bit flustered.

"uhh jeongin and minhee was punished to clean the gym for one week during break time.." she muttered.

the boys turned quiet before san and wooyoung suddenly beamed. "guess we're sitting with you for one week then!"

at that, hyejin panicked. sure, they were kind and fun to be with, but she barely knew the guys. plus! the whispers and looks were getting less but ever since she interacted with the three boys two days ago, their mouths turned wilder. gossips spread around and she truly didn't want the boys to experience it.

she wanted to protest but wasn't sure how. "uhm but-"

just then, someone shrieked, followed by a gasp and footsteps marching towards her table. "hyejin!"

the four looked up towards the voice and saw a panic hyunjin before them, with jongho and seungmin approaching him. jongho made eye contact for a quick second before hyejin tore her gaze away towards her brother.

"hyunjin?" she asked, confused. hyunjin glanced at the seniors around her sister before locking gaze with hyejin.

"why are you sitting with strangers !"

wooyoung gasped at that. san's mouth went agape before turning into a pout.

"how could you, hwang hyunjin!" wooyoung hollored. "i lit rally taught you a new dance just yesterday!" the boy fake cried, burrying his face into hyejin's shoulder. yeosang simply shook his head at the sobbing boy.

hyunjin playfully forced a smile. "new phone who this"

wooyoung looked at him wide-eyed before aggressively pouting. "wow okay i see how it is"

seungmin chuckled from behind. jongho on the other hand stood there in silence. his eyes never leaving the girl before him.

"but really though. i never knew you're friends with them, hye" hyunjin said.

"oh them? nah they were the ones who followed me around" hyejin said. wooyoung was clearly offended. "the hwangs are evil hmph" he pouted.

hyunjin stuck out his tongue. "i'll get going then. see ya losers at practice" hyunjin said, making a 'peace' sign before walking out of the cafeteria.

seungmin waved at them politely before following his friend. jongho stood there, feet glued to the floor.

wooyoung smirked.

"would you like to join us, jongho?" he asked. hyejin and jongho blinked.

the standing boy glanced at hyejin. the girl didn't want to face him. he sighed.

"nevermind. i'll head to class" the boy replied before leaving them. hyejin quietly let out a sigh of relief.

"coward" yeosang commented. san nodded.

meanwhile, a girl was walking out of the library, a few books in hand.

"jisu"

the girl stopped in track and turned around only to be met with hyunjin. she waited silently for hyunjin to proceed.

"was it you?"

jisu blinked. 'not again'

the girl let out a defeated sigh. she knew exactly what he meant by that. she looked at him with tired eyes.

"no, hyunjin. i didn't. do you not trust me?"

hyunjin nodded. he gave her a small smile.

"i was just making sure but yes, i do trust you" he smiled. "thank you"

she frowned in confusion.

"i'm sure yeji would be proud of you"

jisu pursed her lips at the name. a pang of guilt hit her heart.

"welp. i'll get going then" the boy said before turning around and head towards his class.