I walked into class, looking for one person in particular. Hyunjin was sitting in the back like he usually did. I wanted to sit next to him for some reason but, I didn't want to bother him. I waved to him lightly as he noticed me. I sat next to Grace. For that one moment, I felt small. Chan immediately walked in with a big smile on his face. "Okay. So our trip was a success, right? I think everyone got along.." He nodded while looking at all of us. I sat up straight. "Now, time for actual school, don't let me down." He laughed. He went around and handed everyone a paper. "A pop test. Seriously?" Felix let out a big sigh. "I have to see if you're actually studying," Chan added. "I don't think he does that," Grace said with a smirk. "Hey!" Felix scuffed and rolled his eyes. Grace just snickered. I laughed a bit. I looked down at the quiz, and it didn't seem too hard. I wiped my forehead and focused on my quiz. It was silent in the room, but I heard a slight whisper between Felix and Minho. I noticed Felix turn around to get Changbin's attention and whispered to him. "Hey!" Chan noticed them and Felix fixed himself. "Sorry." Felix coughed. I made a quick smile and went back to do the quiz. After the surprising, yet not surprising quiz, Chan came around and gathered all the papers. He looked at the answers. "I will grade these tonight, and let you know your scores tomorrow." He nodded to us and we were dismissed. "We have time before going to the next class, we are going for coffee, want to come?" Grace stood up and looked down at me. I looked up and scratched my head. "I think I am just going to stay and study a bit.. thank you though." "That's okay." Grace and the girls left but I got out my books and started reading. I felt bad for not going with them. But, I wanted to stay behind for some reason. I saw the boys getting up in a rush, grabbing their coats and bags. "We are heading to the halls," Felix added as they left. I looked around the classroom to see only one person, looking down at his phone with his head low, his hair was fluffy. I made a quick smile.
I got up and made my way to his desk. I grabbed a juice out of my bag and placed one on his desk. "If you like it you can have it," I said with a grin. He slowly looked up at me with a curious face. "Thanks." He said softly then looked back down. "Do you mind if I sit next to you so we aren't alone?" I realized what I said, then got embarrassed and scratched my head. "I mean since we are both here." "Sure." He made a quick shy smile. I went back to my desk and grabbed my books. I came back and sat at the desk next to him. He put a straw in his juice box and took a little sip. I made a quick smile and got out a juice box for myself and took a sip. "You rejected your friends to drink juice with me?.." Hyunjin said softly while taking a glance at me. "This wasn't my plan." I waved my hands with a chuckle.
"Truly it wasn't."
I looked down shyly. "Maybe I am too awkward?" I coughed and focused on my book. "I can never be a normal friend, can I?" I sighed to myself.
"Thank you." I suddenly heard Hyunjin say. I slowly looked over at him, scratching his head. "No one wants to hang with me, but you came over here and kind of made an effort." He made a quick smile.
"Of course. Why not? I mean, I would like to be your friend.." I looked up because I still felt awkward. I shrugged. We didn't say much. "I am glad he at least said something.." The feeling of silence took over the room, for we both were too quiet to say anything. "I need more effort."
I was in the girls' locker room, shuffling through my clothes. I got dressed in my sweatsuit. I noticed the other girls were already on their way out the door. I finished getting ready and tied my long hair up in a ponytail. I sighed to myself and ran out. I made my way to the school's soccer field where we would be playing games of soccer. We all lined up to form teams. Our teacher stood in front of us. "Our team leaders will be Grace and Felix." Felix walked over to one side and Grace to the other. "Now, take turns choosing your teammates." Grace chose first, Haley. Felix went next and chose Minho. "Rylee." Grace chose. "Changbin," As they were calling out people, I knew I was going to be last. "This is always how it is." I looked down with a scuff. I shrugged. I looked up to notice Hyunjin looking at me. I made a quick smile. "Carys," Grace called out again. I sighed. Hyunjin and I were the only ones left. "Hyunjin I guess.." Felix shrugged. "Wait.. we could use Annie.. She is scary.." Minho whispered. Felix nodded. "No, it'll be weird if she was the only girl on our team and Hyunjin was the only boy on their team." Felix laughed. "Oh true."
I went to the girls' team and Hyunjin went with the boys. "I was right." I shrugged to myself. We then went up against each other and started to run around. I didn't even get a chance to get the ball or even be much use or not. But, running back and forth in the field was an exercise. "Let's take a break." The coach called out and we all came together to sit on the grass and drink some water. I looked over, as I got my water. I saw Hyunjin, by himself, in the shade. He was sitting and curdling the ball in his lap. I chuckled a bit. I walked up to him and looked down. "isn't the ball a bit dirty?"Â He quickly got surprised that stood there. He looked up. "Yeah." He dropped it with a slight laugh. "why were you doing it?" I laughed then sat next to him. "Because I felt like it I guess.. I don't know." He scratched his head shyly. I saw a small smile on his face. I smiled slowly. I laughed softly. I took a sip of my water. "I guess I wasn't much help in the game at all.. haha." I scratched my head. I am usually not much help." As I said that Hyunjin looked at me, with a soft face. I shrugged. "I guess I got exercise out of it though, right?" I chuckled. Hyunjin quickly chuckled. "He's still not really talking..but I guess we are not exactly friends anyway." We all got called up to play another round. I was skipping waiting for maybe the ball will come my way so I could kick it. I saw Felix passing it to Minho. I noticed Hyunjin was in the middle of the field too, following them around. I suddenly saw the ball coming towards me, everyone was looking at me, I was getting ready to kick it. I slowly felt my right foot slip on the grass while I was running. I slowly felt directly on my knees, scraping them up. The ball flew passed by me. I felt grass fly everywhere and my knees started to sting. Everyone huddled around me. "Are you okay?" Grace asked as I slowly stood up. My knees, wobbling. "Of course, I embarrassed myself." I sighed and I felt so embarrassed, I almost began to cry. "Sorry." Is all I could say. The awkward feeling of everyone looking at me made me feel so small. "Go wash up." The coach told me. I nodded quickly. "Someone take her there so she doesn't walk alone." The coach looked around to see who would offer. "Don't worry, I can go on my own." I nodded and started walked with a limp. "I'll go.." I heard someone say with a bit of a hesitant voice. I looked back to see Hyunjin raising his hand halfway. "Why would he...?" "Alright, go on." The coach nudged his shoulder. Hyunjin started to walk beside me and we made our way down the soccer field as the others continued to play. I looked down awkwardly. "Why did you volunteer?.." I took a glance at him. I looked down at my scraped knees. "I didn't want you to go alone and I got kind of bored with the game anyway." Hyunjin chuckled softly. His voice was soft to listen to. "Thanks, I guess." I chuckled. I felt a stinging in my knees and I almost tripped. Hyunjin looked down at me as I bent down. He stared at me. I looked up at him and I chuckled. "You okay?" Hyunjin raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, just a bit of a sting." I stood up again and he led me to the girls' locker room. "I can take it from here." I made an awkward smile at him. He nodded then turned away. I smiled and went in the locker room.
I made my way to a bench in the locker room and looked at my bloody knees. "Aish.. Why do I always make a fool of myself?" I said out loud as I made my way to the shower stalls. I took off my clothes and made my way into the stall and washed off all the grass. It stung when the water hit my knees. "I am glad he was at least there even if he only did it to get out of the game.." I laughed to myself as the water hit my face. After, I got dressed and headed out of the locker room to see Hyunjin still waiting for me. "Why are you still waiting for me?" As I said that he looked back at me. "I didn't want to go back to playing the game." He shrugged. "Oh." I laughed to myself. He looked down and saw my knees were still exposed. "No bandage?" He raised his eyebrow. "I.." I looked down. "There wasn't any in there so I guess I have to go and get some.." "Nurses office?" "No!" I yelled back. His eyes widened. "I don't like going to the nurses' office when it's not even a big deal." I shrugged. He nodded softly and looked away. "are you just gonna stand there...or?" I shrugged. "Sorry." Hyunjin panicked. "It's okay." I laughed. He made a nervous smile. I started walking inside the school halls. "I should have some in my locker, probably." I walked ahead and saw he was following behind me. I smiled lightly and made my way to my locker. I opened it and a bunch of things fell out. "Seriously.." I sighed nervously. I looked back at Hyunjin and chuckled. He leaned down and started picking up the small things. "Sorry." I stood up to try to reach the medkit at the top of my locker. But, I couldn't get my fingers on it. Hyunjin suddenly appeared next to me and I almost got scared. "I can." He said softly then handed it to me. "Since you're a giant compared to me..thanks." I nodded quickly and walked away from him. "Too close for comfort," I muttered to myself. I walked around people in the halls to get to a seat on a bench in the main hall. I noticed that Hyunjin still followed me. "You're still following me?" I chuckled. "Sorry." He bowed his head. "I don't know where else to go until the next class." He laughed and sat next to me with his head down shyly. "Why is he so shy with everyone...? It's kind of adorable." I chuckled to myself as I got the bandages out and put them all over my knees. "All of this work just for knees, like it's not even that bad," I whined. I looked over at him. "Sorry I dragged you out here." I gulped. I felt I was being a burden, just like I was with everyone. I chuckled, got up, and walked away. He just sat there.
The rest of the day passed and I made my way home, with a yawn. I took off my sneakers at the door. My mom looked at me while she was mixing something in a pot. "Can you go to the store for me? I forgot something dinner." "Sure," I added and just got my shoes on again. "At least I will get some more exercise." I sighed and turned back around to go out the door. "What is it you need again?" I looked back. "Just some cherry tomatoes for the sauce."
I opened the door and made my way to the sidewalk. I started to walk to the store which wasn't far from where I lived. I shoved my hands in my pockets. "I'm Hungry." I felt a rumble in my stomach. "The quicker I get these I get dinner." I moved my feet quicker so I could arrive at the supermarket faster. "I should really learn to drive." I whined to myself as I walked in the automatic door. I looked around to make my way to the produce section. I got a bag and started filling it with tomatoes. I hurried and made my way down the aisle. There was one thing that caught my eye: a chocolate bar. I closed my eyes, trying to resist my craving. "But, it's just one." I quickly grabbed it with no regrets and walked to wait in line for the cashier. I looked ahead because people were in front of me. I heard someone speak and heard a familiar voice. "That will be twenty-four dollars and fifty-three cents." I looked ahead to see tiny Changbin, in a uniform and a hat. "He works here?" I laughed to myself. "I guess I don't know my classmates that well at all..." As I came up I put my two things on the conveyor. He rang up my two things. As he looked up he recognized it was me. "Oh hey!" His face lit up. "I didn't know you worked here." I looked down, trying to hold my chuckle. "Well, I have to help out my mom the best I can. Plus, there is a lot I have to save up for." He added and put the two things in a small bag. "That'll be three twenty-five." I gave him the few dollars and he gave me a receipt. "Thank you." "I should get a job to be honest.." I muttered. "Let's hang out more. okay?" Changbin said as I started to walk away. "Sure." I nodded quickly. As I walked away I thought: "I wonder if he thinks I am weird for what happened today..like I am awkward so why would he hang out with me when I just embarrass myself?" I looked down and laughed as I walked out of the store. I noticed someone out in the parking lot. My heart made me look away. I stood there, taking another glance up. Hyunjin was with his two brothers and his mom. They looked to be coming my way so I quickly panicked and tried to walk away. "Why am I so scared to run into him?" I gulped but it seemed like he noticed me before I could completely make my way out. "Oh.." He called out. I stopped and looked back. "Hey." I made a small wave. His brothers and Mom were looking at us. "Let's go." His mom called. He bowed lightly with a small smile. I turned back around to walk my way home. "The chance of me running into not only with Changbin but Hyunjin too?" I laughed as I made my way home. I put the bag of tomatoes on the counter then opened my chocolate and shoved it in my face. "Dinner is soon, why are you eating that?" My mom added. "I am going to work it off anyway. I am hungry." I scratched my head. "I have to stop forgetting to each lunch." I muttered as my brother shrugged into the room, on his phone. I looked at him to see him in messy clothes, and messy blonde hair. "Did you shower today?" I asked him. He looked up at me. "Of course." He walked past me, but it didn't smell to me that he showered. "I wish he would take better care of himself." I sighed. "After what happened to him I don't bother him for dropping out of school but I still wished he cared about his health." I said to my mom. He turned back. "I heard that." He scuffed as he sat on the couch. "I am still eating, ain't I?" I rolled my eyes because I didn't know what else to say. "Jisung can do as he pleases. Just as long as he takes care of himself." My mom took something out of the oven. I shrugged and made my way to my room quickly. I quickly looked at my phone, but nothing was there. I got changed real quick before my mom called for dinner. I walked into the kitchen, my dad had just arrived home and he looked stressed. I didn't say anything. I got my food and sat at the table. "Is it okay if I head to the gym again tonight?" I popped the question. "Okay. Just don't be out too late because it's not safe." My dad looked up at me. I nodded and started to eat, but I was no longer hungry after I got a flashback of what happened today at school "Who would want to be my friend, anyway?" I looked down and muttered as I played with my fork. After dinner I helped clean up, then I got dressed in my workout clothes, which consisted of a sports bra, leggings, and running shoes. I pulled my hair back, then headed out to go to the gym. I took the bus all the way there because I was too lazy to walk the whole way there. It was already dark, I felt kind of jumpy for some reason. I got off the bus to make my way down the street. I walked across a crosswalk and the gym was around the corner. I walked in to see there weren't many people there. I got my water bottle and took it with me to a certain part of the gym. I started to do my workout routine. I lifted my weights, squats, leg lifts, crunches, and etc. I then wiped my forehead and popped my earbuds in as I went on the treadmill. I started to run, run, and run for as long as I could. Before I knew it, It was getting late so I had to stop. I felt sweaty, so I wiped my forehead and took a sip of my water while taking deep breaths. I kept getting a feeling of wanting to talk to someone, but I shook my head to try to get rid of the thought. "Every time I try to make friends anyway, I embarrass myself in some way. I am not like anyone else." I said to myself proudly. "You sure are confident." I heard someone say. I looked back to see a girl with brown hair, she put her weights down with a laugh. "Haha, sorry." I scratched my head. I felt awkward yet again. I grabbed my things and made my way out of the gym. Across from me was a pizza place, and I wanted to go so bad but I resisted. But, I noticed someone walk out of the pizza place, with a pizza in his hand. "Why do I keep running into him?" I tried to hide my face so he wouldn't see me, but it was too late. He walked past me but didn't stop for me. "Okay, I don't think he saw me." I sighed. "What was that?" He stopped and looked back. "It's nothing." I gulped. "Geez, I let my mouth slip again.." I tried to hide my face as he came up to me. "Oh...Hey." He chuckled. "We keep running into each other like this now don't we?" Hyunjin scratched his head with a slight smile.
"Yeah, Kind of funny.." I tried to laugh but I just felt awkward. "Well, I am going to head back now." He awkwardly shrugged and walked away. But, I realized I had to walk that way to get to the bus station. So, I walked slowly behind him. He kept taking glances back at me, but he didn't say anything. He suddenly stopped. "Why are you following me, now?" Hyunjin looked back at me. "No, I am not following you.." I crossed my arms. "I am heading home. The bus station is this way." I shrugged. "Oh, I am heading to the bus station too." Hyunjin started walking and I caught up with him. "I guess you wouldn't mind if I came with you then?" I skipped. "but, why bring a pizza on a bus?" I chuckled. He took a glance at me. "Well, I can't drive and I picked up a pizza for my mom and brothers so..." He shyly looked down. I smiled quickly. "Well, can't you get it delivered?" I raised my eyebrows. "Well, They don't really deliver where I live."
"That's weird..I don't order for that reason either." I laughed. We arrived at the bus station and waited for the bus to arrive. We walked in and sat in the back. "It's not good to be alone at night anyway." Hyunjin looked ahead. "Especially in those clothes."
I looked down at myself to realize I was still in my workout clothes. I blushed."Uh.. Shoot I forgot to change after my workout.. I am clumsy." I suddenly felt uncomfortable sitting next to him. He chuckled. "I was just teasing." He smiled. I haven't seen him act this way towards me before. "Since when does he tease people?" I looked down with my eyes widened. It was silent until it was time for me to get off. "It's time for me to get off." I stood up and moved past him. I felt an awkward feeling and quickly made my way off the bus with everything in my arms. I looked back to see him looking at his phone, as the bus started to pull away. "He is really interesting to me..his personality confuses me." I shook my head as I made my way to my house. "Strange, yet a lot like me. Funny. How we are so similar yet so different." He was just someone I knew, I didn't think much of it at all. But, at that brief moment, I felt a connection and fascinating to me. I shrugged it off since it was just a mere coincidence. One thing was on my mind now: Candy and anime. "I need it now," I muttered to myself. Little did I know, that small, tiny things that happen in our lives that we don't notice play a big role in the aspects of our lives. I walked into the house, with a sigh. I saw my brother watching t.v again. "Why don't you come to school again? My class is quite enjoyable and you would get along with people there." "No, thanks." Jisung didn't even look up at me. I looked around and didn't see my parents anywhere. "They're probably in their room again disagreeing on stuff like they usually do." I scuffed as I made my way to my room. "Just the same as it always is." ðº