Chapter 6: Yuna’s Slip
545 Words
“The hardest part of growing up is watching someone fall for someone else while you're still standing in the same place.”
– Yuna Han
SCENE 1: Art Box Helpers
Sunday morning. Sunlight filtered gently through the blinds. Katienne sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by a mess of sketchbooks, charcoal pencils, and tangled headphone cords.
“Why do all your brushes smell like coffee?” Yuna teased.
“Because I rinse them in my mug.”
“Katienne!”
Yuna laughed and swatted his arm playfully, kneeling beside him.
They were reorganizing his art materials after he finally decided to “stop being a mess.” Liora had gone to the library, giving the dorm some much-needed emotional breathing room.
“You’ve really improved,” Yuna said, flipping through a sketchbook. “Your line work used to be so... drunk.”
“Thanks. I think.”
“You draw her a lot.”
“Who?”
“Liora.”
He didn’t answer.
Yuna smiled, but it wobbled.
“She’s pretty.”
“Yeah… she is.”
SCENE 2: The Drop
As Yuna leaned over to reach a pencil box on the far side of his desk, her phone slipped from her hoodie pocket and clattered to the floor.
“Oops—”
The phone popped open slightly. Inside the clear case, a small, worn photo strip fluttered out.
Katienne picked it up.
Three tiny photos.
Him and Yuna, two years younger. Laughing. Messy uniforms. Her lips near his cheek. His eyes wide, looking shocked, smiling—then not smiling.
“This…” he whispered. “This was from the school fair.”
“Yeah.”
“You kept this?”
Yuna didn’t answer right away.
She slowly took the photo from his hand, but didn’t hide it this time.
“You forgot. That’s okay.”
“I didn’t forget.”
“You said I was joking. When I tried to tell you.”
“Yuna…”
“I transferred here… because I thought maybe I still had a chance.”
The words sat heavy between them.
She smiled.
But her eyes were glassy.
“I know you like her. I see it. And it hurts… but I still wanted to see you smile again.”
SCENE 3: The Silence Between
Katienne sat there, stunned.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid you’d say sorry. And I didn’t want your apology—I wanted your heart.”
He looked at her like he’d never seen her before.
The girl who joked about cupcakes and rain.
The girl who never stopped watching from the sidelines.
And now, here she was.
Not waiting anymore.
Just… finally being honest.
“I don’t want to be second,” she said. “Not to Cherry. Not to Liora. Not again.”
She stood up.
“I need to go.”
“Yuna-”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
And she left, closing the door softly behind her.
SCENE 4: The Sketchbook Page
Later that night, Katienne flipped open a new sketchbook page and started to draw.
He didn’t know what else to do.
He sketched Yuna’s eyes.
Smiling but sad.
Brave but breaking.
Then he turned the page…
And drew Liora.
- Writer
