eternal

us / hajibel

rewrite of book 1's 'us'

warning: coarse language used

···

in all cliché love stories, there would always be a love triangle between the protagonist, the good guy, and the playboy. the protagonist would always choose the bad boy, no matter what, and the good guy would always be there as moral support. that was the unspoken 'rule' that posed as a trend in all novels.

in belinda's life, she felt she was definitely not the protagonist. if her life was a movie, she would probably be one of those good-natured side characters that appear in the film from two to four times, maybe even an extra in a story. you know, the kind chef that appeared in page sixteen of the storybook, or the store assistant who was moving boxes in the back.

now, you might be wondering who the protagonist is. it was sawabe nagi: skinny, fair-skinned, and popular. like the typical protagonist she was, she chose the bad boy, oikawa tooru, the dashing heartthrob of seijoh. the good guy here was then iwaizumi hajime, who happened to be the playboy's best friend and childhood friend.

before the plot was written, the good guy had a backstory with the side character. (perhaps this story would change the course of the actual story? we will never know.)

belinda walked into class with her earpieces plugged in as she scrolled through her instagram feed. as she sat down, she happened to come across a ridiculously hilarious post, something like a text post regarding her favourite korean pop girl group red velvet, and she tried so hard not to laugh. the pressure of holding it in was so great that as a result, she snorted. her eyes widened in surprise and she immediately clapped a hand over her mouth, hoping no one heard it. unfortunately for her, her table partner iwaizumi hajime heard it, and he threw her a curious glance.

a sudden thought popped into her head: huh, iwaizumi really almost never smiles. almost timidly, she decided to show him the post that had caused her earlier embarrassment. cautiously, she slid her phone over onto his desk and said, "look at it."

the tan ravenette looked up at her, meeting her gaze. she just tilted her head towards her phone as a response, and he raised an eyebrow at her. he still looked down at her phone anyway, after angling the device, and looked at the post. slowly, his lips formed the grace of smile. shortly after, a chuckle resonated from his throat.

"seriously, iwaizumi, you should smile more," she commented casually, pulling her earpieces out of her ears, "it suits you."

"you think so?" iwaizumi asked, somewhat shyly, handing her phone back to her.

she nodded, taking her phone from him, then keeping it carefully in her blazer pocket.

"i'll give you my number so you can send me more of these, then," he said.

she stopped mid-movement, then she laughed slightly. very smooth, iwaizumi, very smooth.

ever since that day, the two would talk, laugh at ridiculous posts they found on the internet social media, eat lunch, and do usual things friends did. slowly, through the passage of time, she realised a few small things: how she looked forward to their mini rendezvous during lunch, how she automatically lit up whenever iwaizumi smiled, laughed, or complimented her, and how she found herself wanting to know him inside out and as well as the back of her hand.

the final epiphany settled in: through the passage of time, she had fallen in love with iwaizumi hajime.

belinda's world was filled with endless joy, dizzying euphoria, and pure bliss: she would spend the rest of her remaining high school years with iwaizumi. there was, indeed, a small part of her deep down that was afraid to come clean with him, to tell him how she really felt about him. however, she decided that it was better to keep him in the dark. she would wait for the right time to tell him everything. her desire could wait.