C-15
"I think I need to pee."
Minho stops walking and glares at me. "Oh, yeah?"
I pout at his sarcastic response. "Do they really want to meet me?"
"Yes."
"You shouldn't have made them buy our lunch. Should I run to the cafeteria real quick?"
"No need."
"What if it's not enough?"
"If the food's not enough, then let's eliminate people."
I can't help but pout even more. "Minho!"
He doesn't answer and just pulls me with him.
Minho will introduce me to his friends today. It's so ironic because he still doesn't want to be friends with me! We've already shared a lot of good and bad memories but we're not friends yet.
We reach the rooftop and wait for the others to come. I keep walking back and forth in an attempt to calm my nerves, but I almost trip when Minho slightly kicks me.
"What was that for?"
"Stop it, you're making me dizzy."
I'm really nervous so I resume walking back and forth. Minho must've had enough of it, that's why he puts his hands on my shoulders to steady me. He sighs as I pout at him.
"Hey."
"Hmm?"
"It's fine if you don't want to meet them, I won't force you into something you don't want to do." He looks away and that's when I notice that he's just as antsy as I am.
"Alright then..." I say, but I immediately regret it because he looks so disappointed.
Lee Minho, when did you learn how to show your emotions?
"Just kidding! I'd love to meet them but I'm just so nervous." I giggle. "I got you, right?"
"Shut up." He groans and covers his face.
"You looked funny!"
"Stop it." He glares.
I do a zipping motion on my lips but I'm still laughing. Minho just shakes his head at my amusement. We sit down after I overcome my nervousness and stare at the sky.
"I only realised this... Why do you go here on the rooftop when you're afraid of heights?"
"Why do you go here on the rooftop when I can just push you off so easily?"
I pout. "Fine! I promise I won't mention it again."
Minho smirks. "Good girl."
We both look back up at the sky. It's so clear and refreshing. I hope meeting his friends would turn out as pretty as the view.
"You know, the rooftop--" I raise my hands when he whips his head to me so fast and glares so hard. "No, I wasn't talking about that!"
"Tsk." He scoffs, and I giggle as he squints his eyes even more.
"I was gonna say the rooftop's the perfect place for stargazing. I've always wanted to do that but you can't really see the stars in the city, and I don't have close friends to do it with."
"We can actually stargaze in the daylight because the Sun is also a star," he says.
"I know, I'm not that clueless," I say but still stare at it, making me dizzy after a few seconds.
"See? You're so gullible, no wonder why we're not compatible."
"But we just stargazed together! Does that mean we're friends now?"
"Nice try." He flicks my forehead.
"You're introducing me to your friends but we're not friends yet. What do I have to do?"
"For the record, they pestered the hell out of me to meet you. You can do nothing, I just don't want you as a friend."
I look down so he won't see how my eyes dampen. I don't want to spoil the mood, but I can't help getting sad at the constant rejection.
"Y/n?" He nudges me, but I refuse to look at him. He peers at my face and suddenly laughs.
"What's so funny?"
"This is why we can't be friends. You're too soft, I might break you."
I frown. "Then just don't break me?"
He sighs. "Whatever you want."
"I want us to be friends."
"Aren't you tired of asking?"
"Aren't you tired of rejecting me?"
He turns serious. "Do you remember that day at the lockers?"
I nod. "With those thugs?"
"Aren't you afraid that'll happen again? That's what you're signing up for if we ever become friends."
"No, it's not!" I shake my head.
"What do you mean?" He frowns.
"It's you who I want to be friends with, not those thugs. Besides, it's not your fault that they wanted to cause trouble, you even refused to fight back at first. See? You're not a bad person, you're someone worthy of being a friend."
He presses his lips into a thin line. "You don't really know me. What if I'm dangerous, huh?"
"Can't I decide that for myself?"
He looks away. "Forget it."
I bite my lower lip and try to rack my brain for anything that can convince him. I can feel the tears of frustration in the corner of my eyes as I can't think of any more reasons, but then I suddenly remember something he said.
"You said I was hopeless last time."
"You still are."
"B-But you also said I should try being a--" I take a deep breath as I feel my face heat up. "...a good girl. You said you'll see!"
"What?" He clears his throat, averting his eyes.
"Remember what you said earlier when I promised I won't talk about your fear of-- no, I mean your greatest dislike anymore?" I explain to him as if I just made a scientific breakthrough.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He shakes his head.
"Oh..." My excitement vanishes as my last ray of hope dwindles. My shoulders slump in defeat. "You don't?"
He sighs and finally turns to me. "Fine, what did I say?"
"You said I was a good girl..." I look up at him with misty eyes. "Please, Minho?" I meekly grab the hem of his shirt and tug on it a little.
Minho's breath hitches as he stares at my face, his eyes moving lower as I purse my lips. He swallows and I see how his Adam's apple bobs up and down.
I tilt my head and tug on his shirt again. "Please?"
He suddenly put his hand over my face, pushing me off gently as he let out a shaky breath. "...Fine."
I blink in shock at his response and peek through his fingers. "Sure?"
"Sure." He nods halfheartedly. "Just stop looking at me like that. You look like a rain-soaked kitten... It's disturbing."
"Finally!"
I cheer with raised hands, hugging him out of joy. The contact made us lose our balance and before we knew it, we already landed on the floor with him on top of me and my arms wrapped around his neck. My eyes are wide as I look at Minho's face, who's just as shocked as I am. He's supporting his body with one hand whilst he uses the other to shield my head from the concrete.
Before we can even process what happened, the door opens.
"We brought foo-- fooking hell?!"
Minho pulls me up and we somehow end up five feet apart, both standing as straight as a pole as if we were caught committing a crime.
"Yoh, keep the school PG. You could've just borrowed my car, the backseat's available," the smaller one says.
"And I thought this is the holy land of education," the blond guy adds.
Minho clears his throat before speaking. "Calm down, we just hugged."
Blond guy smirks. "Did you use protectio--"
"Shut the fvck up." Minho glares at the two, pulling me behind me.
"Relax! I'm just messing with you." His friends laugh and fist-bump with each other, making the mood lighter.
We all take our seats on the picnic blanket Minho and I always use. My seatmate is beside me and the other two sit in front of us. They're both wearing all-black outfits, looking quite intimidating especially with the blond guy's slightly curly hair and the shorter boy's eyebrow slit.
"Hello?" I wave awkwardly.
"Are you nervous?" Blond guy asks.
I nod.
"Are we that intimidating?" Eyebrow slit boy asks this time in which I also nod at.
They look at each other and crack a smile.
"I'm Bang Chan," the blond guy introduces himself and points to his companion. "That's Seo Changbin."
I frown at the familiar name and look at Minho for confirmation. He nods and my lips part in shock.
"The Seo family who owns the biggest share of this academy?"
"That's my dad, but yeah." He chuckles. "Keeps Minho-hyung out of trouble. Wonder how he got transferred to the top class with his failing grades?"
Minho throws a bottle at him. "My grades aren't failing, they're just average. Know the difference."
"I didn't know he'd be able to pull up his grades in months so we're all shocked when he actually did get into the top class," Chan teases.
I giggle at their childish banter. The rumours were not entirely wrong because Minho does have a connection, but doesn't necessarily use it. He's also not wrong when he told me that his friends are dorks.
"I thought your name was Chris?"
"And I thought you're Minho's girl."
I feel my cheeks heat up. "No..."
"Is that so? Shall I call you baby girl now?" Chan smirks.
"What?" My eyes widen at his words.
"Bang Christopher Chan," Minho enunciates every syllable coldly. "Her name's Moon Y/n, stick with it."
"Chill! You're gonna kill me with that glare. Y/n it is then--" Chan stops mid-laugh as if he realised something. He and Changbin look at each other before looking back at me. "Wait... You're not--"
"No," Minho cuts him off.
"We were so excited because we thought she's--"
"No, she isn't." Minho's face is stoic, but there's something sad about it. "It's pretty damn obvious, isn't it?"
Changbin looks at Minho sympathetically. They seem to be conversing through telepathy as Minho shakes his head whilst the other two sigh.
"Is something wrong with my name?"
"We just thought you were someone else," Changbin answers.
"Who--"
"Oh, it's nothing." Chan waves dismissively. "Shall we eat now?"
"But-- hm!" I frown at Minho when he shoves a fry in my mouth.
He chuckles. "Just eat and be done with it."
I just let it go even when I'm still confused and we proceed with lunch. It's not long before my shyness dies down and we're finally getting to know each other with the basics.
I found out that Chan is from Australia that's why he's also called 'Chris', and he's already in college majoring in music. Even though they basically own this school, Changbin studies in a different one to avoid being called a 'nepo-baby', in his words.
I start to clean up after we're done eating but Minho immediately stops me.
"Why?"
"That's Changbin's duty as the youngest," he says and pulls me back.
"But she's the youngest of the four of us today!"
"Where are your manners, Changbin? You can't just make her clean after our mess." Chan shakes his head disapprovingly.
"Why is it always me?" Changbin whines but does it anyway.
We all laugh as we watch him clean up halfheartedly.
I just met them but I already feel comfortable with their presence. They don't look like gangsters at all and I feel bad for judging them so easily. Chan is very friendly and Changbin is actually nice, they just look intimidating because of the all-black aesthetics.
"Life is so unfair..." Changbin groans as he finally finishes throwing the rubbish in the bin.