stigma [ yeonbin ]

xviii

Hwang Yeji stood in the hallway, shaking her phone back and forth as to somehow solve her current problem.

The poor girl's cell service had cut out earlier, and now that lunch time had arrived, she took to the empty hallways to see if she could find a spot with good reception.

Walking alone, she felt almost kind of peaceful. The last few days she'd been incredibly busy, so now she took her time to stroll, glancing at her cell service bar occasionally.

A strange sound grabbed her attention from down the hallway, and Yeji stopped in her tracks, wondering what exactly she'd just heard.

Her phone still didn't have service anyway. Why not go and check it out?

She made her way down the hall, coming up to a classroom towards the end of the hallway. Was this where the sound had come from? She hadn't seen anyone else in the hallway.

Yeji peeked through the doorway, seeing a boy in a hoodie towards the back of the classroom, leaning over a countertop. She subconsciously squinted at this, trying to get a better view.

A pill bottle lay opened on the counter— and immediately she recognized the noise she'd heard as the distinctive pop of its opening.
Next to it on the counter lay what seemed like dozens of white medicine tablets, the boy seemingly having dumped them there in a pile.

Yeji watched in confusion as said individual pulled out a small plastic ziploc bag. He sweeped the tablets off the counter and into it, shutting the bag tightly.
After this was done, he grabbed a few tissues from a nearby box and wrapped them around the baggie, hiding its contents.

What the hell was this guy even doing? Yeji's eyes widened as the person then shoved what he held into a trash can next to him, dumping a couple of snack wrappers and extra tissues on top of it for good measure.
She had to give him credit... whatever it was he was hiding, no one would suspect it to even be there.

The door Yeji was leaning against creaked as she moved, sending a shockwave through her system at the loud noise.

The boy across the room whipped around, making direct eye contact with her before she could escape.

"Y...Yeonjun?" she blurted out, recognizing the boy's face immediately.

"Yeji!" he replied, his expression incredibly startled. "Why... what are you doing here?"

"What the hell was all of that?" Yeji asked, glancing at the empty pill bottle still on the counter.

Yeonjun immediately shoved the bottle into his hoodie pocket.
"Nothing. How long have you been there?"

"Yeonjun," she repeated, "I'm asking you, what the hell was that?"

Yeonjun fidgeted with his sleeves, looking at her silently. He didn't utter a single word.

"If you're doing some illegal shit, I'm gonna have to tell Soob-"

"Why are you bringing him into this?" Yeonjun snapped at her. "Leave me alone, okay?"

Yeji stared at him, shocked at his change in tone. "I know you two have been close recently, but I'm his best friend! If anything you do could hurt him, then I—"