Chapter Text
The lunch period had just begun, and Seokjoo was giving Yeona the look again. He didn’t say anything, none of them did–they knew it would only provoke her, and Jaehyung had learnt this was the only thing he shouldn’t bug Yeona about.
She had a gloomy look upon her face, as she had since Ijin hadn’t arrived at school. She was slouched in her desk chair, frowning, and had a gloomy air to her.
Hyeokjin wasn’t typically the one to initiate a conversation. But here he spoke first. “Yeona, you have to do something about this. At this rate, you’re never going to get anywhere. Talk to him. I’m sure he feels the same way.”
Yeona didn’t respond. Jaehyung whipped his head around towards Hyeokjin and Yeongchan with a livid expression. His face continued to redden as Seokjoo hung his head and sighed.
“Oh look, Ijin’s here.” Yeona’s face instantly brightened, her posture suddenly perfect. Her face was filled with excitement as she turned towards the door to see… no Ijin. She glared at the source of the noise, Jaehyung, and he glared back. Her cheeks filled with blush to match the shade of his anger. But neither spoke. Yeona looked away. “What’s your problem?” she huffed, looking away.
“The problem is you just mope all day just cuz’ your crush isn’t here!” He pointed his finger at her as he raved. “And the end result is always the same. YOU never get anywhere, Ijin remains oblivious, and MY league score suffers!”
Yeongchan and Hyeokjin nodded their heads, looking down in solace for the leagues they’d fallen due to Yeona’s drifting thoughts.
Yeona responded by antagonizing further. At least she wasn’t outright denying it like she used to do. “How about this: when I beat you today, you’ll pay for everyone, and if you manage to win. I’ll do the same. Deal?”
Jaehyung slammed his foot down on her desk and continued to shake his finger at her. “It ain’t working this time! You’re not using your fancy business skills to distract me this time!” Yeona faced forward as her face became tight, slightly irritated. Making him mad to distract him had always worked. “We’re gonna talk about your gross ass crush once and for all! I can’t stand it!”
Seokjoo put his hand on Jaehyung’s shoulder to tell him to back off. He did so begrudgingly, murmuring something under his breath. Seokjoo did turn to Yeona in the meantime however, telling her, “You are going to have to do something about it eventually. You know he won’t be around forever. He’s popular with other girls as well.”
Yeona did know. She’d noticed it for a while now, the attention Ijin garnered from other girls and women. However, until recently, she’d still securely felt that Ijin wouldn’t be snatched by other women. He was too adorably awkward to accept their advances, too naive to see them in the first place, and much too suspicious of others to accept them anyways. She’d liked the security she'd felt.
But recently, her sister had told her about the other women occasionally guarded, and how they clearly liked him, and much more concerning, he seemed comfortable with them, which was practically a love confession from Ijin.
She sighed as she thought about this. She resolved herself. “Guys, I think you’re right. I do have to do something about this.”
Jaehyung's subtle complaining stopped. Yeongchan stopped writing. Hyeokjin looked up from his phone, his mouth opened slightly in shock.
Yeona noticed all of this and looked at Seokjoo, who was also looking at her with wide eyes. “What! What’s so shocking?”
Seokjoo looked at her earnestly. “Well,” he said, “You’re not denying your feelings. That alone is pretty surprising. What changed?”
Yeona huffed and stood up, heading towards the door with a cowl on her face. “Nothing changed.” She paused. She knew she couldn’t run from this forever. If she did, she’d lose him. “I suppose… another woman will make an advance on him.”
Yeona looked at the rest of her friends. Besides Seokjoo, they still seemed to be in a state of shock. She rolled her eyes, “Knock it off guys. This isn’t THAT surprising for me to say.”
Jaehyung seemed to snap out of it, and when he spoke, he was much more subdued than normal. “Maybe not to you, but we’ve been witness to you denying your feelings for what? Three months now? Four?” He looked at Hyeokjin for confirmation, who nodded slowly.
‘Has it really been that long?’ Yeona thought to herself. ‘It hasn’t felt like it, but when I think about it, so much has happened.’ Ijin’s suspicious arrival. Yeona’s and her cousin's kidnappings. Her other cousin’s attempt at sending her away to America. Her suitor.
Add that on top of her relinquishing her candidacy for the leader of SW corporation, and her new hangouts with friends, and time had seemed to fly compared to her life just a few months ago.
Yeona looked at the time. It was getting close to the point where there wouldn’t be enough time to eat lunch. But for her, she was also uncomfortable talking about her feelings in such a public place. “Can we all talk about this after school? Seokjoo, at the place we typically eat at with Ijin? We should get going for lunch.”
Seokjoo gave her a small smile. “Of course. We’ll go there after the game room.”
With that, Yeona rushed out of the room, noticeably quicker than usual. Yeongchan turned towards Seokjoo, asking “You know Ijin best out of all of us. Do you think she likes him back?” They all turned to him, and he seemed a little startled at the sudden attention. “I’m just not the best at reading him. I don’t really think anybody is, in fact.” He gave a nervous smile and chuckle.
They all turned towards Seokjoo expectantly. He looked to be deep in thought. “...I have no idea.” He deadpanned, and they all gained flat, tired looks on their faces.