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Supposedly, you cannot predict everything.
Presumably, many things come to an end.
ENTP took every hit that could ever be thrown at him, always able to move on and handle the bruises, but how long would it take for those bruises to become something fatal? How long until you’re struggling to breathe from everything overwhelmingly clutching at your head, your throat, everything?
ENTP ran a hand through his hair, his fingers getting caught in every knot. The cold metal of the bench only grew colder, and the fifth ball of the lunch time hit the back of his head, harder than all of the ones before that.
“Sorry!”
The pain is going to be annoying for a while.
Suppressing a complaint as the ball rolled to his feet, ENTP picked up the dust-covered soccer ball. When turning around, giving it back to them, ENTP smiled and said, “No worries, it didn’t hurt much anyway.”
If façades were charges of money, he would be in heavy debt. It shouldn’t even be necessary to force a smile on his face and give sweet talk, but society, as he figured, liked to lie through actions rather than words alone, set social norms like they were the law, and set people up to all sorts of traps that forced you to pretend you love everyone.
It seemed that everyone was desperate to play soccer today, and that thought only grew more prominent when he spotted a familiar blond figure at the soccer pitch not too far away. ENTP swallowed hard and immediately looked down, as if he had been staring at him for a whole minute and had been caught by the other.
No.
ENTP could not just approach ESTP again and pretend that he didn’t leave yet another crack on his porcelain heart. But still, he wanted to-
Stop.
There were better things to worry about than something that should have been quelled a year ago. Where was the personal control over his life that he needed?
“ENTP, are you okay?”
ENTP snapped out of his trance, his head shooting up to see ISFJ staring down at him, her eyes half covered by her black fringe creasing with worry as she fidgeted with her captain’s badge on her blazer. She immediately avoided eye contact when he stared blankly at her. As always.
ENTP couldn’t even count how many times he had been asked this question in less than a week. ESFP had checked in with him twice, asking a long string of questions while attempting to coax him into socialising with others, which ENTP had refused to do, to ESFP’s dismay. ENFJ, on the other hand, ENFJ asked for ENTP to tell him if something was wrong, since the latter allegedly ‘seemed off’. ENTP also found ENFJ constantly repeating each time, ‘I’m here if you need it’.
Haha. There was nothing for ENTP to share.
“Fine as ever. I’m actually elated,” ENTP replied, letting out a robotic, fake laugh.
ISFJ’s brows furrowed as she shook her head.
“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not,” she sighed, sitting down beside him.
“Then you’re stupid.”
Immediately getting back up, ISFJ scoffed. ENTP, realising what he said, stiffened and pursed his lips.
“Insult me or not, I could not care less,” contrary to what she said, ISFJ crossed her arms tightly and shot a glare at ENTP’s roughly put on uniform. “You missed the captain’s meeting, yet you’re on campus.”
ENTP looked at his feet, unaware of his slight swaying.
ISFJ then said, “Look, I know that you’re busy with other things. We all are. But seeing you sitting there, doing nothing,” she pinched the bridge of her nose briefly, before averting her gaze to the soccer pitch, “there’s something wrong, isn’t there?”
Still relatively motionless, ENTP made no effort to reply.
Realising that trying to get anything out of him would be useless, ISFJ said, “I’ll briefly summarise what was discussed in the meeting.”
At first, as expected, nothing too noteworthy except one thing was worth going to the meeting for.
The captains would be presenting in three days during assembly: ENTP knew that.
Upcoming events have to be planned for management by next week: That can be done later, although ISFJ would go paranoid if that wasn’t completed sooner than later.
Praise from the principal: ENTP was probably the most hated of the four captains by her anyway, and he wasn’t even only voted as vice-captain. The principal would probably have been smiling through gritted teeth while forcing encouraging words out of her mouth directed to him. By the time she’d be finished speaking, even her dentures would have worn out entirely.
ISTJ worrying about ENTP: Wait, what?
“Sorry to interrupt, ISFJ, but what was the last part?”
ISFJ froze, laughing with a tremble in her tone.
“Um, I wasn’t meant to say that,” she said, her eyes darting across the yard, as if making sure the vice-captain wasn’t around.
Her voice lowered to a whisper as she ushered ENTP to lean closer so she could draw the least amount of attention possible.
“He and ENFJ told me that ESTP was acting off. I’m also getting concerned-”
Suddenly, ISFJ yelped as a harsh blow to her back caused her to grab onto ENTP’s sleeve and the metal bench to prevent herself from falling onto the latter.
“Hi, ENTP.”
ENTP couldn’t bring himself to look at the person who just spoke.
After several times of ignoring his name being called, he was roughly grabbed by the collar of his shirt to bend over, seeing only the concrete ground bobbing in and out of view a little.
“Talk to me. ISFJ is gone.”
ENTP paused before speaking not out of fear, but from unwillingness.
“ESTP, that isn’t what it’s about,” he said, almost folding over when ESTP let go of him.
“Isn’t about what?”
Without ENTP replying, a heavy silence fell over them, the sound of people shouting growing louder and louder as his heart pulsated in his ears.
ENTP hesitated, before replying, “I don’t know.”
A sharp, forced out laugh came from the other, before it abruptly stopped. ESTP, unlike ISFJ, didn’t face ENTP when talking, barely looking at him, and maintaining some distance. No sitting down beside him, no politeness in his voice. A fleeting image of the probable horrid consequences of this interaction crossed his mind, but he immediately diverted his attention to what was happening in the moment, forcing any fear coming out of his throat to stay pitted inside.
What about the positive side of this? ENTP asked himself, gripping the end of his blazer while attempting to wipe any negative emotion from his face. Possibly, he thought, there could be a better outcome.
It was then that it dawned on ENTP that he had been missing him on a much higher level than he realised, despite seeing him out in the yard from afar nearly every day.
“I’ll get to the point,” ESTP said, rolling his eyes at ENTP’s stalling. “You’re an idiot and I hate you for that.”
ENTP flinched, but ESTP showed no mercy and continued.
“I don’t know what good you saw in just leaving me one day after hurting my feelings.”
Despite opening his mouth to say something, ENTP said nothing and shut it. He turned away from ESTP a little, who briefly glanced at him before tersely finishing what he had to say.
“I’m admitting it. How I feel, I mean,” ESTP’s jaw tightened as he looked ahead of himself. “Fix it, if you want, but I’m telling you right now that I regret ever meeting you, ever telling you anything, and I wish…” he cut himself off, shaking his head. Already starting to walk off, he muttered, “Forget it, I’ve already said too much.”
ENTP thought he’d feel something strong, like extreme hurt, or anger, frustration. But all he could feel was a hollowness in his chest, as his mouth went dry and his head hung slightly.
Alright. He hated to say this, but all ENTP wanted to do was to be able to act normally for once, like how he used to when he hadn’t even hit double digits.
No, more specific than that. He wanted everything to be as it was with ESTP. When it was only the two of them, and ENTP hadn’t screwed everything up with a hammer instead of a screwdriver.
But for now, that can be buried under more important thoughts. Surely.
For no reason in particular, presenting was daunting.
“Actually, stress before presenting is normal,” ISTJ flipped through the various speech papers, his eyes looking far from dull as the various warm lights cast their reflections over his deep blue eyes, shaded by his pale eyelashes. “In fact, a little bit of stress can produce hormones that can produce adrenaline and increase alertness and focus.”
“I think it’s more than just a little bit,” ENTP fidgeted with his hands, almost crumpling the few sheets of paper that were given to him, messy highlighting over various word cues vibrant.
“Oh? Why so?”
ENTP swallowed, as ISTJ waited for a response. Despite his gentle tone in the query, the silence between the two of them felt like knifes scraping at the former’s skin.
Before ENTP could muster the courage to reply, ISTJ said, “It’s ESTP, isn’t it?”
The papers in ENTP’s hands scrunched up, and ISTJ’s eyes immediately widened, as he whispered a curse word under his breath.
“I don’t get it. Why can’t you, ISFJ, everyone, just stop worrying about me?” ENTP raised his voice, his stare pierced through the other’s skull, as neither moved. “And why are you, of all people, joining them in doing the same?”
ISTJ didn’t reply, as his gaze lowered slightly.
“This isn’t a good time to finish this discussion,” ISTJ said steadily. “We have to present with ENFJ and ISFJ in less than fifteen minutes, and you’ll need time to cool down-”
“Is everything alright?” the smell of a strong mix of perfume and deodorant wafted into ENTP and ISTJ’s faces, followed by the ruffle of clothes being smoothed. “I heard someone yelling from the other room, but I couldn’t tell what it was about.”
While ISTJ remained relatively calm with a poker face, ENTP’s expression was like that of a deer stunned by headlights. It wasn’t because of anything from the person who just entered the room, his thick black hair over his shoulders despite being tied up. Now that he thought of it, his feelings had been strewn all over the insides of his head so much that they were practically indecipherable.
After a few more moments of wordless standing, ENTP laughed, as if brushing off the fact he just looked stunned, and replied, “Oh, don’t worry ENFJ. ISTJ was just telling me about stress and its effects.” He grinned, causing ISTJ to stare at him with worry creasing his face.
After hearing his explanation, ENFJ nodded slowly, but despite his half-truth, ENTP had a gut feeling that the former still suspected that something was being left out.
“Alright then,” ENFJ smiled warmly, something that would usually light up a person’s mood, but elicited no reaction inside from ENTP. “Remember, I’m here if you need help.” With that, he left the room, ensuring to close the door gently.
Still staring at where ENFJ had just left, ISTJ said, “We should head to the assembly hall.”
ENTP kept his teeth gritted, still masking a cheerful face, as ENFJ’s words echoed at the back of his skull. He flattened out his papers and followed ISTJ out the door. Taking deep breaths proved to be difficult, as a certain person’s image haunted his mind.
The assembly hall was already set out, speakers being double checked, the carpet floor something that would make a neat freak’s eyes sparkle, and seats being repositioned so that they were in strictly straight rows, as people tended to push them slightly when getting past, causing them to go diagonal over time.
ISTJ, who ENTP was beside the whole time, left to the direction of the speakers. Behind them was a boy who he recognised as ESTP’s long-time best friend, who used to go to the same primary school as him. His olive skin, dark hair and eyes, and his unmistakable bright yellow headband that kept his fringe somewhat out of his eyes, despite it still pouring over and framing the sides of his face, made him clearly stand out.
Well, that’s what ISTJ described to ENTP when he first introduced the guy, ISTP, to him. Realistically, his description wasn’t untrue at all, but the way he described it – no, said it – made ENTP quite confused.
Maybe this was why.
Usually, ISTJ wouldn’t smile like ENFJ, genuine and gentle, while talking to someone. He had sat down on the lowest step on the small stage to meet to ISTP at eye level, facing directly towards him, and was asking something about the speaker. From what ENTP had heard from ISTJ and ESTP, ISTP was interested in technology, though preferred woodworks and sports as school subjects, and would never mind talking about things he enjoyed to someone.
ISTJ, however? He was more of a statistics and theory person.
Though, he had never heard any conformation of these things, ENTP had a gut feeling that ISTJ was closer to ISTP than say, ISFJ, who he was for sure more comfortable with than ENFJ and himself.
On the other hand, from what ESFP and ESTP have said, it was difficult to get close with ISTP. Although ESFP had said, he may look indifferent to nearly everyone at first glance, unless you had known him for long enough, which usually was at least several months, ISTP would most likely prefer to be alone than stay with you.
That’s to say, ISTJ only started talking to him a few weeks ago. And, in most cases, it seemed virtually impossible to know what ISTP was feeling, unless you observed for a longer amount of time.
Something started to get caught in his chest, causing it to ache uncomfortably, and when ENTP tried to cough it out, he realised that nothing was inside.
No, he thought. It was just a feeling. Pursing his lips, ENTP turned away from ISTJ and ISTP and folded his arms across his chest, trying to get them off his mind.
“Seriously?” he hissed to himself, shaking his head. “Why would they of all people be affecting me? It’s not like I like them or anything-”
“Pardon?”
ENTP swivelled around and yelped, causing a teacher to glance over.
“ESFP? You shouldn’t be here,” ENTP said. As far as he knew, any people in the assembly hall at this moment should only be the captains and a few teachers. With that in mind, ESFP was bound to get caught.
“Don’t worry, I told the teacher that I had a flute lesson,” she replied, dimples deepening as she smiled mischievously.
“Didn’t you already have that?”
“Besides,” ESFP continued, ignoring ENTP, “The sport captains will be presenting today. Do you not know that?”
ENTP shook his head.
“ENTP, we mentioned that in the meeting. Suppose I forgot to tell you.” He rolled his eyes when he heard ISFJ say that but didn’t comment. After all, ESTP shoving her away did mean that she wouldn’t be able to tell him.
Crap. Not him again, no, surely ENTP remembered wrong, and he isn’t a sport captain.
Hah, who could he fool? ESTP told ENTP that he got the sport captain role the moment the results came out.
ESFP frowned slightly when seeing ENTP’s internal panicking, with his emotions failed to also internalise, and stressed out slowly, “And that means ESTP will be presenting, too.”
“Anyway,” ESFP said, “what were you saying before?”
He blinked and tilted his head at her words, causing her to giggle.
“I don’t understand,” ENTP shoved the papers into his pocket, having it yet again crumple, as he put his hands in with them. “Why are you laughing?”
“Oh,” she said, still giggling to herself, “ESTP does the same thing when he’s confused, hehe.”
ENTP’s face tightened as he looked at the ground.
It was nowhere near a good time to think about it, but he remembered how he was always so… frustrated with ESTP. Why did he always hide behind a mask, one that didn’t just cover his face, blanketing his actions, words, even the mind? ENTP always felt like he was overexpressing himself, and maybe that was his own fault, but he was growing desperate at the time. Thinking he had done something wrong, ENTP tried to lighten up the mood, encourage ESTP, to the point where it almost felt like all he knew was his fake, constantly happy self, yet chaotic, troublemaking, and constantly overwhelmed.
Then it couldn’t be stopped, carrying onto captaincy, to the teachers, then everyone. It was foolish of ENTP to think that he could keep up the act any longer without breaking, and now he had become too temperamental, exploding at his family, then in his buildup of stress from external factors, and after, ESTP.
Now? The other captains and his close ones have started to notice his change of demeanour, and they think they can help him.
Raising his head so he could just make out what was happening around him, people were starting to come into the assembly hall, the place slowly filling with the sound of people chatting. At that moment, he realised that ESFP had already left to sit in the first row closest to the stage, and was sitting beside ISTP, who sat on the far end, with the teachers somehow not kicking him out, among everyone else who was to present. One of the teachers glared at ENTP and beckoned ENTP over, mouthing ‘get over here’ with an aggressive pat on the seat. Once he walked over and sat beside her, he heard her mutter something comprehendible, but definitely not nice.
Fine, then. Such is life.
Most of the assembly lumbered itself boringly along the road of ‘Hurry up time, I want to go home’, making ENTP scratch the cushioning of the seat, occasionally catching the other captains’ eyes. So far, he had gotten up to do the acknowledgement of country, forced everyone into a discussion to ponder over a stupid question, and talked about how the year eights went on a camp last week. He’s not a year eight.
Gladly, he didn’t stutter, otherwise he’d give himself a mind beating, but he couldn’t stop gawking in ESTP’s direction when he spoke. It should be normal for people to look at you when presenting, and he knew that well. But how intense was too intense? Because from ENTP’s perspective, his eyes were fixated onto him like paper stuck with superglue. Strange, as to be unnecessarily absorbed into him, yet undeniably fixated.
ESFP strode up to the lectern on the stage and went ahead to speak. ISFJ had explained to ENTP just before assembly officially started that the sport captains were going to talk about upcoming house events, such as chess and drama competitions, and the swimming carnival, as the head of sports allowed them so. Allegedly, ESTP had begged the poor man into letting them.
“Luckily, he’s nice and allowed them to,” ISFJ had added.
Before he knew it, ESTP had gone up to present. The topic he was talking about was nothing special to ENTP, yet he found himself listening attentively and giving him his full attention. It was no secret to himself that he still cared about ESTP, despite avoiding him, but now, ENTP started to feel something stir in himself that hurt. Devoid of warmth, yet not frigid, but also stinging and nowhere near uplifting.
“And remember,” ESTP said, his smile almost like a smirk, as it always was, but to ENTP, still sweet, “as our school virtues go, support your peers when they need it, check in on them, and don’t leave them in the dust. Trust me, even I know that it hurts.”
ENTP’s thoughts paused, running into the next hurdle they were meant to jump over on the race track.
That could not have been written on the script, ENTP concluded. The teacher would likely ask him to reword the last part, and it felt like something was behind what he said, rather than it just being a normal statement on its own.
“I don’t know what good you saw in just leaving me one day after hurting my feelings.”
ENTP recalled that ESTP had said that earlier today.
ENTP swallowed hard when more thoughts flooded in. And, it was only then that he remembered that one of the things that ESTP had said to him when he first upset him was, “Please promise me you won’t leave me, you know I cannot take it to lose someone I care so much about.”
Hands clenched in his lap, ENTP inhaled sharply when ESTP went back to sit down with ESFP. The teacher who was angry at him before assembly started went up to the lectern to announce the final part of the assembly, but ENTP’s mind was focused on what he and ESTP had said all that time ago. ENTP made a promise to ESTP, yet he broke it.
Funnily enough, ENTP claimed that he was ‘an accountable person’ in his captaincy speech, and when people bought it, he followed up on that statement and committed to that. Well, as displayed, except to ESTP, where he had clearly been a fool and ‘left him in the dust’.
From that thought, ENTP made one decision that this time, he’d definitely follow up on. Unless he wanted to continue being mocked by ESTP, chased by wellbeing check ins from peers, and have himself lose his temper to stress, he should stop running away from his own problems and fix himself.
“Hey, ENTP, how may I help you?”
His chest instantly tightened, as ENTP started to tense and feel on edge. Never mind, ENTP regretted this decision, and wanted to go back to wallowing in nothing at the bench he sat at the day before.
ENTP had decided that he would try to put himself in action as soon as possible, which meant the next day, as assembly marked the end of the school day. However, despite only expecting to see ENFJ in one of the music classrooms, ESFP was with him, too. While ESFP wasn’t a bad person to talk to, and could also give solid advice on social problems, he feared that she may end up telling ESTP about what he was doing. Not that ESTP wouldn’t end up finding out eventually, but ENTP had a feeling that if he found out too early, ESTP may act on too quickly.
“ENFJ, why is ESFP here?” ENTP asked, looking between ENFJ and ESFP as he noticed how small of a gap was between their chairs. However, ESFP’s was on a sharp, diagonal angle, so that may have explained why.
“She was hanging out with me right then, actually. Don’t worry, you’re welcome too.”
ENTP nodded before dragging a seat over to sit beside ENFJ. When he looked at ESFP, she winked at ENTP before looking at the wall, pressing her lips together and pretending that she didn’t look at him in the first place.
“Um, so,” ENTP started, before stopping when ESFP got up and started to talk to someone who had just walked past the music classroom. He sighed quietly and crossed his legs, hands intertwined with each other and resting on them, and he found himself staring at the posters on the walls. Once she stopped and saw that ENTP was waiting to speak, he carried on, “I want to reconciliate with someone.”
ENFJ nodded, while ESFP seemed to be thinking. She then said, “So, what initially happened with them?”
Exhaling shakily, ENTP replied, “It’s stupid, but I upset this person, and then,” he paused, attempting to regulate the mixed emotions thrashing at his chest, “I started to avoid the person, thinking that it would help, but all I did was make it worse.” He started to stutter at the last few words of the sentence, blinking away any tears threatening to pour over his eyes.
Embarrassing, too embarrassing to remember. ENTP wanted everything that happened in the minutes that followed to be extracted out of his brain, so he wouldn’t need to feel the shame he felt all over again when bringing back what just happened to his face.
Ignoring all the efforts he took to not cry, his eyes hijacked his emotional control and greedily begged for each tear to come down his face so they could hoard the tissues and relish in the sandpaper-like feeling the material gave when ENTP rubbed them aggressively over his eyes. Whenever he unintentionally showed how little management he had over his emotions, he always felt like ripping his face off and screaming until his voice grew raspy, before hiding away from everyone.
Through his fitted rage in his mind and the aching regret taking over his rationality, ENTP desperately attempted to avoid what was happening around him. No, ENFJ was not comforting him, no, ESFP was not giving him advice to calm down. Anything that was happening was also not happening. It’s all pretend, you’re just in a freak nightmare, he told himself.
But who could he fool? He made the conscious decision to use up his lunch break to express his feelings into full, coherent sentences, which he knew he was awful at, and the fact this was to people he didn’t feel as close to made it all the worse.
Without thinking, ENTP asked, “Do you ever think that people fake to get attention?”
ENFJ’s expression changed, hardened, in fact.
“Of course,” he immediately coughed, and then added, “I mean, there are people out there who are like that, yes.”
“But do you acknowledge that? Have you done that before?” disregarding ENFJ’s visible discomfort, and ESFP’s fearful look in her eyes, ENTP drilled on, “How far would you go, what lengths would you take, to just satisfy your need for attention, for their attention?”
“Are you saying that you’re attention-seeking?” ESFP tried to communicate without words for ENFJ to soften his tone, but he didn’t take it, continuing, “Because if you are, maybe you don’t deserve that person.”
“ENFJ!” ESFP barked, startling him. “How dare you say that to your friend!”
“He’s not a friend.”
“Then what is he?”
ENTP’s mind was pulsating in his skull.
He wasn’t here for another argument. But it did give him something to think about.
ESTP faked, and same as ENTP. He knew that he personally faked because he couldn’t confront his own emotional mess, and beforehand, because for a mixed bag of twisted reasons, some for his fear of loss of what was once how their relationship was like, and a small part was because he saw ESTP moving on to other people, as if forgetting him.
No, ENTP wasn’t ready to completely start over with ESTP. But he would for sure ensure that he recovered himself before he did so.
“ENFJ, ESFP. Thank you.”
Before they could react and process what happened, they saw ENTP’s seat left empty.
Well, at least he got something meaningful from what minimal conversation they had.
Despite initially trying to block it out, he still remembered what ESFP said.
“ESTP tends to play things off like they’re fine, which they mostly are, but that’s not always the case,” ENTP was already catching onto that, but it was good to have conformation on that. “I can tell you, he definitely misses you and wants everything to be as it was, but I can’t guarantee that it’ll be easy.”
And, the important line that rung in his ears. “Like I said before, he’s not ready yet.”
Which, from mere guesses, meant that he’d have to prepare for the worst.
Later on, after school in the hallway, ENTP stopped in his tracks. He had stayed back to practice for the school musical and had left at quarter past five after helping the teachers to pack up the props used. Further down, he saw a familiar blond figure. He swallowed hard and immediately stared at the floor, as if he had been looking at him for more than a minute and had been caught by the other. Unlike last time, he was actually caught.
Leaving ISTP behind, ESTP approached ENTP, who backed off when he got too close.
“You can’t run forever, you know.”
It was clear to himself in the moment that he wanted to dissolve into plentiful nothing.
“Why are you here so late?” ENTP asked.
ESTP chuckled quietly to himself, before replying, “Silly, I was waiting for my other friends. Not you.”
ENTP bit the inside of his cheek. “I never assumed in the first place.”
They both fell silent, but neither left nor spoke. From the corner of his eye, he saw ISTP still waiting for ESTP, scrolling on his phone, his fringe obscuring some of his face from the side.
“You know,” ESTP started, avoiding eye contact with ENTP. “I think of your from time to time, more than I thought I would.”
ENTP frowned, while he snickered and smiled slyly.
“You’re just too kind,” ENTP muttered, not hiding his sarcasm. He saw ESTP glance at his hands, which he stuffed into his pockets as soon as he noticed. He had clearly overestimated how much time he would have to prepare himself to confront ESTP and improve his mental state, or rather, did not expect to see ESTP so soon, right after rehearsals.
He opened his mouth to say something, but ENTP shushed him before anything could be said, “maybe this whole time, you never noticed that you’re also not ready yet.”
ESTP cocked his head to the side slightly “For what?”
ENTP smiled, yet it didn’t reach anywhere near his eyes.
“I’m an idiot. You hate me for that.”
ESTP’s expression faltered, but ENTP continued.
“Hey, I don’t know what good I saw in leaving you after hurting your feelings, either,” ENTP lowered his head slightly, like he was submitting to ESTP, when it was the contrary. “You admitted how you felt. A rare artefact of a sight. I could fix this problem I made, if I wanted, but you regret ever meeting me, telling me anything.”
ESTP let out a shaky breath, mouthing the word ‘no’.
ENTP fell silent for a moment, his face softening briefly, before it was hidden under a poker face.
“Both of us need to face ourselves, and how we feel about this, before trying to forgive each other,” the silence of the hall whooshed loudly in the background, as ENTP quickly shot a glance in ISTP’s direction, who didn’t seem to have heard them. “Clearly, you haven’t recovered yet, and neither have I. I’m sorry.”
ENTP felt his heart shatter when he saw tears coming down ESTP’s face, his eyes still appearing a little shocked from what he just heard, but also blank. Nearly by instinct, he wrapped his arms around ESTP, who at once returned the embrace, burying his face into the other’s shoulder. Rubbing his back gently, ENTP avoided letting his feelings overcome him, focusing solely on bringing comfort the other, which in his eyes, was the least that he could do for him.
Still, they could not reconciliate so quickly. After all, ENFJ recommended not to do so, since it was evident that ENTP was still emotionally overwhelmed, and needed time to calm down, as was the same with ESTP.
Letting go of ESTP, who reluctantly complied, ENTP said, “I’ll see you sometime, hm?”
ESTP wiped the remaining tears off his face, before mumbling, “Yes, see you.”
Once ENTP left, footsteps on the wooden floor fading away, the hallway grew silent again, ISTP still waiting, and ESTP still standing in the same spot.
Right as it struck five-twenty, ESTP whispered, “ENTP, you don’t know how I feel.”
“I love you.”