"Come on, hand it in."
Hyunjin nudged the back of my shoulder.
I was nervous as I stood in front of Chan's desk.
I made a quick smile.
I saw Chan make a smirk up at me. "Are you ready to take it? good because you are due to take it today." He made a laugh and shuffled his things on his desk.
"Well, I also have extra homework I did.." I scratched my head and handed him a stack of papers.
"Extra..?" Chan was surprised.
"Yeah," I made a small nod. I looked back at Hyunjin, who was smiling. "I felt bad for falling asleep and for making a big deal of things so...I decided just to do extra! I could even clean the classroom." I shook my hands.
As Chan looked at the papers, he raised his eyebrows. "I am impressed." He made a slight chuckle. "You outdid yourself and did extra homework..I feel like I should reward you somehow."
"Reward me?" My eyes widened. "I mean I didn't do that much..I am just trying to make up for what I did before." I looked down.
"How about I move your desk!" Chan stood up confidently.
"uh...move my desk?" I watched as Chan moved around the classroom. He slowly walked down the aisle of desks. "How about here?" He pointed to Hyunjin's desk.
My heart did a flutter. "Next to Hyunjin?" I looked over at Hyunjin confused then looked back at Chan.
"Yeah, since you guys like each other so much." Chan made a laugh.
"Uh..." I felt so awkward all I could do was look down at my feet. I don't know why I felt so nervous. "I mean...I want to sit next to him, but why am I so nervous about it...?" I thought to myself as I peaked over at Hyunjin, who was playing with his hands in his hoodie. The awkward silence was interrupted by Felix and Minho slamming open the door.
"Hey, be careful with that door. I paid for that." Chan glared as he made his way back to his desk. Felix and Minho moved past Hyunjin and me. "Why are you guys just standing there?" Felix laughed as he jumped into his desk. "Sorry." My eyes widened and I awkwardly moved to the back of the class and I noticed as Hyunjin followed behind me. I Sat down and lowered my head on the desk.
Hyunjin shuffled his legs and stuffed his hands in his hoodie. "Why is it so different to be at the back of the class?" I looked up.
"I guess you know how I feel now." He shrugged as we watched the other classmates walked in.
"Yeah, but I am here now, so hopefully you don't feel as lonely!" As I said that I felt a weird tingle in my chest. "What did I just say...?"
Chan hit a rod up against the chalkboard to get all our attention. "Okay, Children I have an announcement." He paced back and forth. "I actually funded and got permission from the school for us to go on a class field trip!" He raised his hand confidently.
"School trip? where did you get the money for that?" Minho smirked.
"Shut it." Chan glared, then shrugged. "Anyway, it's not really a field trip but more of a fun trip because I feel bad for being so hard on you guys and I think it will bring us all closer together and we learn a lot. " Chan looked excited and I started to feel excited too.
"I wonder where we are going.." I whispered, excited to Hyunjin. He made a quick smile.
"Where are we going?" Grace asked.
"Oh, yeah. I have to tell you where we are going." He chuckled. "An amusement park. You guys like those, right?"
My eyes widened when he said that. I started to get nervous.
"I don't really ride roller coasters.." I whispered and scratched my head.
"I will ride with you." I heard Hyunjin say, as I glanced over at him his face was lit up. He looked excited and because of that, I felt happy and excited too.
"It will be a day trip so, tell your parents you will be sleeping in a hotel and all that." Chan shrugged and got on with the lesson. My thoughts started to wonder. "I am going to spend a night with these guys...?" I looked up then my heart made a large thump as another thought came to my mind. I looked quickly over at Hyunjin. "I will be spending a night with HIM?" I screamed to myself. Then shook my head. "Why am I so worried about this?" I muttered to myself. Hyunjin stared at me with a slight chuckle. "Are you okay...?"
I quickly flustered my hands. "Yeah..just excited for the trip that's all..Hopefully, my parents allow me to go." I scratched my head.
I headed home that day with a full mind: "What if my parents say no? What if things come up? What if I do go? What will happen?" I took off my shoes as I walked in the door. "Welcome home." I heard my mom say as she was getting food on the table. I looked around and didn't see Jisung. "Where is Jisung?" I dragged my way to the kitchen. "Oh, he went out for a bit.." My mom seemed nervous, she had a dragged look on her face.
"Did something happen?... He usually never goes out unless he's mad.." I thought to myself. I started to worry, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to put that stress on my mom. I took a deep breath. "Maybe I shouldn't mention the event either..I don't want to stress her out." I looked down and scratched my head.
"Dinner will be done soon." She told me.
I nodded. "Just let me put my things in my room," I muttered softly. I made my way to my room. I was worried. I had a deep, tense feeling in my chest. I got out my phone from my pocket and decided to try to call Jisung. I stood there with my phone up against my ear for a minute.
"He's not replying.." I started to get frustrated. I decided to text him:
"Where did you go? I am worried about you."
I put my phone down and let out a huge sigh. "The trip isn't for a week so I have some time to ask my parents..but now doesn't seem like a good time at all." I shrugged and looked out my bedroom window. I then noticed someone standing on the sidewalk, with two mini people running around him. But, all I could see was the back of their heads. I squinted my eyes. I thought it was Hyunjin but I shook my head and looked back down at my desk. "No way it's him. I am just imagining things." I laughed to myself. But, I wanted to keep looking up at him for some reason.
"No, Annie. That's weird." I yelled at myself but peaked up anyway, but this time he was turned around, and it was him.
I didn't know why but Hyunjin was standing right in front of my house, but he was. I almost choked myself with my big gasp. I walked closer to the window, looking down at him.
Suddenly I saw one of his brothers look up and point to me.
I was flustered and started looking away, hoping Hyunjin didn't notice me. I quickly took a glance back to see, and Hyunjin was looking up at me, while still trying to block the sun out of his eyes.
"I can't just sit here awkwardly.." I panicked to myself and decided to make a small wave. He waved back then looked back down, shyly.
I felt so nervous, "Why is he in front of my house?" I coughed to myself and decided to head back into the kitchen.
I had a deep feeling in my chest like I wanted to see him, but I didn't want to make it awkward. I slowly moved to the table and sat down with my mom. I couldn't shake that surprised face off.
"Uh..are you alright? You look spaced out." My mom looked up at me. I shook my head out of my trance. "Yeah." I made a small laugh and started eating. Then, I suddenly heard a knock on the door.
My heart almost skipped a beat. "What if it's Hyunjin?..." I gulped. My mom stood up and went to the door. "Wait!" I called outright as she was about to open it. "What?" She glared back at me.
"Don't open it." I chuckled nervously.
"Why? What if it's your brother?" She rolled her eyes at me and opened it anyway. I closed my eyes because I hoped it was my brother.
"Oh, hey, can I help you?" I heard my mom say.
"That means it isn't my brother-" I bit my lip, holding my eyes tight.
"Annie, someone is asking for you." My mom called back to me. I slowly stood up, I could feel my knees trembling a bit. "Why am I so nervous to see him for no reason?" I thought to myself, trying to brush it off as I made my way to the door. I peaked behind the door to see Hyunjin standing. He made a small wave. "Hey, I saw that you saw me..and well, I didn't know you lived here so I was-" I stopped him by quickly stepping outside, closing the door behind me.
I stood right in front of him. "Yeah, I was surprised too.." I looked down and scratched my head. "Wait..do you live near here too?"
"Yeah, I live a few houses down, I thought you knew that." Hyunjin made a small laugh.
"Oh, no. I guess I let it slip my mind." I felt so awkward. Then I looked up quickly and waved my hands around. "I wasn't staring at you or anything! I just noticed you when I was standing in my room, like..I don't want to seem creepy." I laughed awkwardly because I was just noticing what I was saying. Hyunjin started to laugh.
"I mean, I am not creepy in any way like I saw you and got surprised and now we are here..and I will stop talking." I felt so awkward all I could do is look down. I couldn't imagine how uncomfortable he must have felt.
"Haha," He started laughing. I slowly looked up at him with a big smile. "No, you were not creepy at all." Hyunjin had a lifting voice. I was afraid he was going to make fun of me, but he was actually pleased by my awkwardness. "Uh, want to walk?" I shrugged towards the sidewalk.
He made a small nod. We started to walk. I shoved my hands in my pockets. I still felt awkward so I wanted to bring up something else.
"So, I assume that you were with your brothers earlier?" I looked over at him.
He made a small nod. "Yeah, siblings are a bit rough but, yeah they're my younger brothers." He scratched his head.
As he said that it reminded me of Jisung. "Yeah, I know that for sure..." I looked down.
"So, you have a brother then?..." Hyunjin seemed interested. "Yeah, I mean, it's complicated because he's actually not much younger than me, and could actually come to our school but.." I stopped myself from saying any more.
"Oh..I am guessing it's a bit difficult..?" He shrugged.
"Yeah, he's not home right now and it makes me worried. That's why I haven't asked right as I got home. But, hopefully, he's back by tomorrow." I made a quick smile.
"Yeah.." Hyunjin looked down as we approached the end of the sidewalk. We turned back around. "Did you ask your parents?"
"Yeah, they said I could go. Which is weird, I thought it would take more convincing." He laughed.
"I am glad!" I smiled widely at him. "Hopefully I can go too.." I looked down, and started to picture things we could do together on the trip, it brought a smile to my face.
As we walked I noticed the sun starting to set. "oh, uh." Hyunjin looked like he wanted to say something. I glanced over at him, he had a flustered face. "Did I take you from eating dinner? I feel bad now." He said gently as he scratched his head.
"Oh, that. It's fine. I wasn't that hungry anyway." I took a big sigh.
"That sounds like a lie.." Hyunjin muttered under his breath. I felt like he was guilty.
"No, no. Really." I flustered my hands. "I am thirsty though.." I looked down as the light in the sky got darker.
"Do..uh, do you like boba?" Hyunjin awkwardly stuck in his pockets.
"Sure! I love all kinds.." I smiled just thinking about it, swaying back and forth. "Well, do you want to go get some...?" He asked but then got all silent.
"Uh..." I felt a thump in my heart, but I couldn't help but say: "Yes. But, isn't it far away?"
"True.." Hyunjin scratched his head and looked up and down the street. "How about we go to my friend's cafe then? or is that too boring?" He made a small laugh.
I stood there, looking at him. By his nervous face, all I made was a small laugh. "Anywhere is fine..I just have to go let my mom know so she isn't worried." I made a quick smile and ran back to my house. I quickly opened the door. "I will be gone for a bit, I will be back," I yelled to my mom. I felt bad for leaving her alone, but this deep, exciting feeling in my chest didn't stop me. "Why am I so excited when I hang out with him?" I felt like I wouldn't have done this before.
As I walked I thought: "If this was before and someone else that asked me I would've come up with some lame excuse to stay home curled up.." I was confused at myself as I made my way to Hyunjin, who stood there in the middle of the road, confused. I waved to him. "Hey, let's go get some Boba in town! we just have to take a bus or something." I looked around for a bus stop.
"Are you sure?" He looked up.
"Yeah, I have been craving anyway." I made a small smile at him. We walked quietly down the road to arrive at the bus stop. The bus slowly came in and we stepped in. We made our way down the bus, looking for a free place for us to sit. As we passed some people we heard:
"Hey!!" From a familiar voice. We both looked back to see Changbin waving at us. We sat down behind the seat he was in.
"Didn't expect to see you guys together like this.."Changbin laughed nervously. "Working on homework things?" He assumed.
"Uhh..." I felt awkward and when I looked over at Hyunjin he looked shy, too. All he did was look out the window.
"Uh, we ran into each other and decided just to go get boba real quick." I scratched my head.
"Oh cool! cool." Changbin made a small smile. "I am going that way as well, so I will accompany you guys until then." he shrugged back.
I nodded then looked back over at Hyunjin, who was gently looking out the window, watching the dark pass by as we drove. I played with my hands and knees because I was so fidgety. I laughed at myself nervously. after time has passed we finally came to a stop in town. We three all came off together. "Wanna go?" I looked over at Hyunjin. "So many unexpected things keep happening tonight.." I thought as we started walking together. "Sorry, it's getting so late." Hyunjin made a small smile.
"No, it's okay. It's not that late.." I looked up and noticed the sky was completely dark. Changbin quickly ran by my side. "So..are you going to the class trip?" Changbin held tightly to his jacket. "UH..." I froze and noticed Hyunjin gave Changbin a rough glare and tossed his head down.
"I haven't asked quite yet, My parents have been busy.." I found an excuse. "Oh, cool, cool." Changbin nodded his head. "I haven't been home yet, but I texted my mother and she said it was cool.. so yeah." he made a quick smile. My head kept wanting to look over at Hyunjin, who had a blank expression on his face.
"Did something happen between them..?" I looked both ways as we crossed the street to the Boba Shop. Changbin bowed and made his way apart from us. Hyunjin and I walked in together, Hyunjin was still silent. "Sorry, this was so far away!" I exclaimed because I was afraid I was troubling him.
He quickly looked back at me with a slight nod. "It's no problem." I shyly looked down and we ended up ordering.
We both grabbed them and I took a big sip. "Ah!" My face immediately lit up. "I haven't had one in so long. It's so refreshing."
Hyunjin made a quick smile then quickly got out his phone. "How about we take a photo?" He flustered as he opened the camera on his phone.
I felt this nervous pressure on my chest. "Photo..?" I stuttered.
"Of our boba..I like posting it whenever I get it." Hyunjin scratched his head and made a quick sniff.
"Oh...uh sure." We lifted our hands and he took a photo.
He quickly lowered his head. "Sorry, that was weird." Hyunjin quickly turned around shyly and walked over to a table and sat down. I ran up to him. "It's okay, it's not weird. I like doing that too." I nodded my head and sat across from him. I found him so interesting. I felt like he was holding so much in and I wanted to know more about him. By that thought, I made a quick smile at myself.
"What is it?" Hyunjin had noticed. I looked up quickly, flustering my hands. "It's nothing," I muttered. All I could do was chuckle nervously while seeing his soft smile.
As we sat by the window there was a sudden crash from across the street. I quickly looked outside to see someone tripping, with a bottle in their hand. I couldn't recognize the person because it was dark outside, but I felt an odd, deep feeling in my chest. I suddenly heard yelling. Someone from a restaurant started throwing things around at the person holding the bottle. The person yelled back.
"What's going on?" I quickly looked at Hyunjin.
Hyunjin looked concerned. "Looks like someone is drunk and got into a fight..it looks dangerous so let's not get involved with it." Hyunjin took a deep breath. I made a small nod. But, for some reason I kept wanting to look outside, I had an urge to go out there. But, I shrugged off the feeling. I took a sip of my Boba, then I heard another crash that sounded like glass breaking. I quickly looked outside to see the person right in front of the shop, lying on the ground with a broken glass bottle on the ground. My heartfelt so deep as I stared at them, I stared deeply at their back, lying face on the ground. I quickly stood up. "They're hurt," I explained as I quickly walked out of the shop, Hyunjin flustering while following me. As I approached the person I recognized the person's face, passed out on the great.
"Jisung!" I exclaimed as I ran up to him. Noticed that his hand was covered in scratched, bloody. I gently shook him, with high breaths. "Jisung! Jisung!" I felt this deep terror in my chest, I couldn't keep still. Hyunjin ran up behind me. I quickly looked at him. "It's my brother." Hyunjin gasped and quickly went on the other side. We both tried pulling him up. "I.." I heard Jisung moan, swinging his head. "He's still responsive." I took a deep breath as Hyunjin and I pulled his arms around our shoulders. "We should get his hand wiped up," Hyunjin said quickly. I made a quick nod. As Hyunjin supported him, I quickly grabbed towels from my backpack. "I always keep towels in case of accidents, I am so glad I came here at the right time." I paced around and gently took Jisung's hand, wiping the blood, and wrapping it so it stopped.
"I didn't know your brother was like this.." Hyunjin muttered.
"Yeah, he hasn't done this in a while so something might've triggered it." I felt so flustered, frustrated, and upset. I could barely even say anything. "Let's go." I quickly took a hold of Jisung's other arm. Hyunjin and I ended up dragging him home.
Hyunjin didn't say anything on the way back.
"He probably thinks I am hopeless..and Jisung too now.." I thought to myself as we brought him up to my front door. I quickly knocked on the door, with my father answering. His face was filled with worry as he noticed what happened. We both struggled our way in and gently put Jisung on the couch. My mom quickly running up to Jisung, making sure he was okay.
My dad starred at us.
I explained what had happened. "I should get going." Hyunjin lowered his head. I made a quick wave. He slowly left.
My dad glared over at me. "What did I say about taking care of your brother?"
"He was gone when I got back home from school, it isn't-" I tried to say but the annoyed look on my dad's face was intimidating. I couldn't look at him. "Well, maybe you shouldn't be at school then."
I quickly looked up. "But, Mom is here, why do I have to be here too?!" I exclaimed, trying to stay calm, but my upset feelings were coming out.
"He only listens to you, you know that." My dad crossed his arms, he couldn't look at me.
"It's not my responsibility, though. Like, I have to go to school or I won't be able to get jobs or anything. Isn't my career important?" I shrugged with a deep sigh. "Like, if mom is here I don't see the problem." I rolled my eyes and just looked at Jisung, who was laying on the couch.
"Well, you should care about your own brother's health over some education." My dad had stormed off.
"I care about Jisung's health...he is so important to me..but, so is my life...is everything really in my hands...?" I thought to myself as I took a big sigh and sat on a chair next to Jisung. I felt empty, I didn't know what choice to make. "I definitely can't ask them to go now...it's out of the picture," I muttered to myself as looking up at Jisung's, gentle sleeping face. "What have you gotten yourself into, Jisung?" I took a small sigh. "What's going on inside your mind?" I wondered. I sat there, feeling a deep, upset, confused feeling running through my head. I felt scared and didn't know what I was going to do. "Hyunjin probably thinks I am pathetic now...I guess it happens every time and should be used to it by now.." All I could do was sit there, in my thoughts, and stare at the ceiling all night. I couldn't sleep, all I could do was stay by Jisung's side. What worried me most, "Was I going to see Hyunjin again? Is Jisung going to be okay? Why am I so scared to lose Hyunjin? Why do I care so much about what he thinks?.." I gripped onto my chest. I couldn't bear the feeling of not talking to him again. I cared too much, and I knew I had made a mistake. I laid my hand over my face, trying to stop my eyes from watering, trying to bear with the fears trembling in my heart. "This time..it feels different.."