by the sidelines • haechan

eleven

I dangled the set of keys above my head as I lied on the bed, thoughts bombarding my brain like atoms in heated gas. The same question repeated in my head countless times no matter how hard I dismissed it.

Why the jalapeno did he help me?

I sighed for the nth time, plopping my hand back onto the bed. He said not to get the wrong idea, so I shouldn't even be thinking about this in the first place. Not only that, but I felt greatly indebted to him, and I hated that.

"Gosh, I can't get a moment's peace around here," I mumbled, closing my eyes as the bright sun rays illuminated my eyelids. Even the sun doesn't let me rest properly.

"Yoojin! Isn't it time for your training?" Aunt Youngshin called from outside as I jumped out of bed.

"Yes, I'm leaving soon!" I yelled back, quickly packing my gear into my duffle bag. Yeah, maybe the vigorous training can pull my off these cumbersome thoughts. I scanned the room one last time, noticing the glittering object at the side of my bed. Oh my god.

I swiped the pieces of metal into my bag, my heart skipping a few beats. That could've been disastrous.

---

I stood outside the entrance of the gym, my hands clutching a can of energy drink tightly. If I got a dollar for every time I stood there for more than a minute, it would be enough to buy a week's worth of meat-stuffed bread from my aunt's bakery.

I peered into the gym, checking the location of my target once again before marching straight up to him, chucking the canned drink into his face. He looked up at me, puzzled.

"I didn't get to thank you yesterday, so take this," I stuttered, avoiding eye contact with him. There was a short pause before he took the drink out of my hand. I peeped from the corner of my eye as he gazed at the cylindrical metal without a word.

"Don't get the wrong idea," I confirmed immediately after, "I'm just thanking you for helping me out." My voice faded away as I felt stares shooting my back, keeping my eyes on the canned drink to prevent any unnecessary eye contact.

Donghyuck's snigger drew me back to him as he stuffed the energy drink back into my hand, a bothered frown on his face.

"If you want to thank me so badly, don't cause any trouble from now on." He got up and walked away, leaving me utterly speechless. So much for the effort, can't he jump down of his high horse for once?

The drink was swiped from my hands before I could go after him.

"Thanks for the free drink." I watched in disbelief as Youn gulp down a mouthful of the liquid.

"Training hasn't even started yet," I mumbled bitterly as she wiped the excess off her mouth.

"What was that situation just now?" She ignored my comment and asked, glimpsing at me with curiosity. I sighed deeply.

"He saved me from a drunk man, that's all," I replied queasily, shuddering at the thought of that unfortunate night. I didn't even tell my aunt about that situation, and especially not my brother. Youn's expression quickly hardened.

"You mean you got attacked? Don't you know how to protect yourself?" She shot back in the same tone as Donghyuck when he found out I didn't know self-defence. I shook my head and she scoffed, "I guess I expected too much from you."

I narrowed my eyes at her as she frowned upon my incompetency. "Then what happened?"

"Well, um," I hesitated to reveal the whole event because I myself was embarrassed at the fact that I had resorted to his help, but I did so anyway. "He just taught me some basic self-defence moves, but now I don't know if I should be grateful or not."

I scorned at the entrance of the gym as if my glare could travel all the way to where he was. Now that I think about it, that whole training was rather redundant. I shifted my eyes back to Youn, who was now staring at me in shock.

"Wait, did I hear you correctly? He taught you?" She emphasised that word, her face distorted with disbelief. "Lee Donghyuck, that selfish punk, taught you?"

I could feel additional stares pricking my back as she raised her voice, causing me to cower with the extra attention. "It's not like I wanted to but-"

"Fascinating," she interrupted, the corner of her lips twitching as she scoffed, "Really fascinating."

I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "Is there something I don't know?"

She seemed to have snapped out of her thoughts as she cocked her head to the side, grinning as if she's got something up her sleeve, although I don't know what to expect anymore. She leaned back, placing her palms on the ends of the bench as she gazed up at me.

"I don't know, is there something I don't know?" She questioned back, stunning me with her weird words. What on earth is she going on about?

She laughed at my bewildered silence and rested her elbows on her legs, raising her eyebrows. "That guy doesn't help just anyone, in fact, he hates coaching others."

I blinked twice at her words, making sure that I heard her correctly. I mean, I'm not surprised, to be honest, but that just makes me more confused. "Why though?"

Youn shrugged her shoulders. "For whatever reason, no one knows." She then looked at me with a smirk, "But I guess you're an exception."

"It's not what you think." I found those words leaving my mouth instinctively, not because I don't want her to think otherwise, but because I was trying to convince myself too. A familiar figure caught the corner of my eye as I subconsciously turned to the door. Speak of the devil.

I watched with much scepticism as he walked past us, not even sparing me a glance. One time he's bugging me nonstop, another time he treats me like a ghost. I really don't understand him.

I felt Youn's anticipating eyes on me, trying to connect two dots on opposite sides of a page. She then stood up and followed Donghyuck to the other side of the mats without another word.

She is also one confusing character.

Luckily, class started just in time and hopefully, to take my mind off this stuff.

---

I wiped my sweat thoroughly and stuffed the towel back into my bag, emitting a clinging sound. I dug around for the source only to pick out a familiar set of keys. You've got to be kidding me.

"What a burden," I muttered under my breath, looking around for its irresponsible owner. He was sitting at his usual spot on the bench, seemingly forgotten about the keys that he trustfully threw to me yesterday night. Part of me wanted to hand it over to Coach Lee to determine how irresponsible he was, but sabotaging wasn't in my nature. Aish, how many times must I talk to him today?

I plucked myself off the floor and trudged towards him, flinging the key into his bag without him knowing.

"Heading home?" A voice chimed before I could scurry away, but it wasn't from Donghyuck. I whipped around and came face to face with a sweaty Haknyeon. I almost forgot he existed.

"Yeah, why?" I asked warily. He sniggered at my overly cautious reaction as he swung his towel over his shoulder.

"Don't be so tense, just wondering if you wanna have lunch with us," he requested. I glanced at his friend seated on the bench, immersed in whatever was on his phone. I had enough dealing with him for today, let alone have the energy to socialise with anyone else.

"I'll pass-"

Donghyuck suddenly got up, startling the both of us as he hauled his bag over his shoulder. He glanced at me, before turning his attention to Haknyeon with bloodshot eyes.

"I'm not going, sorry," he apologised before hastily leaving the gym. Damn, he's got a temper too. I looked at his friend, who was equally shocked as me, but mostly dejected. Now I feel bad for rejecting him, the boy's gonna have to eat all alone.

"Um, sorry, maybe next time." I flashed a quick smile before leaving too.