The Way It Is

eleven

Yejin watched the boy as he hugged his knees. This was not like the Yangyang she had known for five years. "Go ahead and tell me everything if you want," she said.

"I want to be mad, I want to be jealous, but I clearly don't have the right to..." he said. "When Yiyeon followed Jeno earlier, I felt like my heart shattered into pieces. I wanted to scream, but I can't because I need to focus on the game..."

"Are you... crying?"

Yangyang looked up and wiped his tears, "I don't know why I'm crying right now. I didn't even cry when we lost the game earlier..." he sighed. "I just need some rest, and maybe I'll feel better tomorrow."

"You don't look okay to me," Yejin sighed. "Look, if you're already hurt, why don't you tell Yiyeon already-"

"She wouldn't care," Yangyang said. "After all, I'm only her best friend..."

Yejin stood up, not believing what Yangyang just said. "I know that you're hurt, but how can you say that easily as if she's nothing to you?! Are you out of your mind, Yangyang?!"

The guy scoffed, "You're the one to talk, Yejin?! What about you and Da—"

"My situation with Daewon is much different than yours," she turned away.

"Tell me how it's different," Yangyang challenged.

"Daewon and I had nothing to do with this!" She yelled. "I get that you're frustrated but why must you include other people who are not even here?!"

Yejin started to walk away, "I came here to check on you and maybe extend some help, but it looks like you don't care," she said and walked away.

The Chinese boy doesn't know what to say.

He messed up big time.

***

The door to Jeno's room opened, and he was surprised to see Yiyeon enter.

"Yiyeonnie?" He asked.

The girl raised a brow, "What? Don't you dare get the wrong idea. I'm here for our History project," she said, while showing him the envelope which contains their drafts for the subject.

Jeno could only chuckle, "I didn't even say anything." I'm glad that you're here. "I'm sorry, I was absent earlier. My mom won't let me go to school, and I don't even see the reason why I have to be locked up here in the hospital when all I have is a sprain."

"No need to be sorry," Yiyeon said and sat down, placing her things on the other chair. "In fact, I'm the one who needs to apologize since this won't happen to you if you hadn't saved me from the ball... I mean, it's just a ball! It wouldn't be a big deal if it had hit me..."

"Idiot," Jeno snorted. "We all know how weak your stamina is. An impact from a ball like that would even cause you to be unconscious and you expect me to do nothing?" He raised a brow. "It's the same reason why you quit varsity, right?"

The girl took a deep breath and nodded. "Why is it suddenly about me?" She asked, which made Jeno chuckle.

Jeno just shook his head, "I did my research earlier. It's on the desk," he said, pointing at the desk not far from his table. Yiyeon stood up to get it.