Querencia

Juyeon sat there on one of the benches within the area, bruises were evident on his handsome face. Though he did expect to get them, he'd never regretted punching Minho's face.

He was satisfied.

It was intense, to be honest - the fight. Coaches needed to step in to stop them otherwise, someone might have been badly injured.

Settling everything, he was greeted by Eric and Sunwoo outside the building, the youngers were taken aback when they saw him.

And that was how they both dragged him here, asking him to just sit and wait patiently whilst admiring the orange sky which embodied that the end of the day was about to come.

He was not sure why they asked him to do so but they did mention Plan B.

It was almost the end of autumn. The breeze was getting more chilly, leaves started turning yellow - some had fallen on the ground, covering the concrete pavement.

Autumn was always a memorable season for Juyeon and Hana. It was in autumn when the girl started her journey waiting for the boy, and 10 years had passed. Though she was not sure if Juyeon ever remembered it, she would always make sure that they both would bond together more in autumn.

Crispy sounds from the leaves on the ground being stepped on woke Juyeon up from his daydream, his head turned towards the source just to spot Hana being surprised by the loud sound produced.

Though her hair was pulled into a messy bun - the state Juyeon had seen thousands of times, she still looked decent. The oversized sweater she had on was too big, the sleeves have been covering half of her palms.

However, she was looking at him with her stoic expression, sighing as she scooted closer to the bench he sat on.

Juyeon could not help but feel bad, his head dropped avoiding her gaze as she skimmed his face, inspecting the bruises.

"Did you drink?" she asked nonchalantly, putting down the aid kit she brought along next to him.

"No, I'm not", he immediately denied, finally meeting her eyes that were slightly judging. "You don't like me drinking, so I don't."

"You want me to believe that?" she chuckled. "You never got into any fights, and suddenly in the final year of university, you are being this mess. What is the valid reason other than being drunk?"

Juyeon stayed silent, giving her the space to lecture him. Because he knew, Hana would do that when she cared - she cared for him.

She took the seat next to him and then, opened the kit next to treat his wounds. She was no good in treating people, she might have ended up crying just to imagine how painful it would be. But, when Eric told her about Juyeon being injured after getting in a fight, she did not think twice to go to him.

"Minho talked dirty about you", he confessed, watching Hana halt preparing the cotton swab. She then held his gaze, wanting an explanation. "I couldn't stand it, so I beat him."

"There are so many things we can do other than beating him", eyes rolled, she inched closer to him, to get a better vision of the cut on the corner of his lips. "You really couldn't handle your anger well."

For a moment, Juyeon had turned deaf. He could not hear anything, not even her voice lecturing him. The close gap between them as she cleaned his wound made every feature of her evident in his view.

Her cat eyes, her plump lips and her hair. Many people ain't notice that her hair was not black. Only within proximity, they could see the slightly brownish.

Juyeon too was startled when he first noticed during high school. He speculated that she had dyed her hair but later was informed that it was her original color. Hana too was startled as he was the first who had noticed.

It was then, that he felt something cold made contact with his skin - he flinched. But, little did he know, it was not something but Hana's hand. She must have been very cold since her receptor would be activated faster than anyone else.

By reflex, Juyeon pulled her sleeve which she had rolled up earlier to put the ointment on his wound.

"You shouldn't have come out", he said, staring right into her eyes. "It's really cold."

Hana swore she felt butterflies roaming in her stomach. It was too sudden to experience such a thing with him. On top of everything, she shouldn't have experienced it with him, right?

"If only you didn't hurt yourself, I'd let you into my house", she took whatever thought in her mind off, dabbing the ointment onto his wound. "My mom will be nosy to know where you get these bruises."

Silence then fell upon them but strangely it was comfortable. Hana kept her focus on treating him whilst he just adored her. He knew Hana was always attractive but since when did his heart beat so abnormally seeing her like this?

"What did you do after leaving the game?" he bluntly asked, not even realizing that it had escaped his lips.

"Going to a cafe with Freya", she answered shortly, not looking at him.

"Got any plan tomorrow?"

"Kevin said he wants to show me something", her answer somehow made Juyeon uneasy, he slightly pulled himself away from her. "Stay still!"

"Then, will you go to him?"

"Maybe."

Juyeon grabbed her hand, halting her from treating his wound. She was flustered, her eyes unknowingly were judging his touch around her.

"If I ask you not to go to him, will you do that?" his request caught Hana off guard, she flinched a bit but then a scoff accidentally escaped her system.

"You're funny you know", she yanked her hand away from his grasp, tossing the cotton swab into the dustbin next to their bench. "You're the one who suggested us to be friends. You even complained when I rejected him and now you're asking me not to hang out with him. Why?"

"I know", he kept his head low, biting his lower lip. "It just came to my realization that seeing you with him is painful. I feel jealousy."

"Why?"

"Because I like you", he held her gaze, eyes full of hope. He saw how hers getting wide by the sudden confession and he hoped she could see the sincerity in his eyes. "I'm sorry I took too long to realize. I'm ready to reciprocate your feelings."

Everything seemed blurry in Hana's view, his voice was buzzing in her ears. Adrenaline enveloped her tight, and her heartbeat was abnormal.

What was that?

She should have been happy by the confession, she should have said yes and they could have started their new long awaited relationship, but Hana turned the table.

"How easy of you", she rose from the bench, standing tall towering over him. "One time you said, you are head over heels for her and suddenly you tell me, you want me? I've never thought that you would turn into a jerk like this."

"You have the right to hate me. After all, I've hurt you", he copied her posture, taking her hand. "But I'm real Hana. I like you."

"Everything got prices Juyeon", savagely she said, taking her hand away from him. "Prove it to me, that you're real. Like how I'd been doing my best to get you, I'd like to see you do the same".

With that she walked away, leaving the boy without any spare glances.

Strangely it was not hopeless for Juyeon to be left like that. It had just encouraged him more to show her how positive he was this time.

And he had made up his mind.

In autumn when she first confesses her feelings for him, and in autumn when he had returned the confession, he would be proving to her that his feeling was genuine and he would fight anyone who would get in his way. Even his close friends.