Remark

Friends

“Reps, I want you to give me the list of all the officers of every year level in our department by the end of the day so Gail can make the master list by tomorrow. I’ll take charge with the layout of the overall museum. Gail will keep an eye on everyone today; Henry, Chris, I want you to be responsible of the tickets we’ll be selling out; Diane, Jules, Darwin, please start getting on the layout for posters and BGs for the booth.” Jonah started, “We have about a week to finish the set up in time for the school festival. If we want to make this work, we’ll have to sacrifice our time and devotion into this. I want works presented to me today. No excuses.”

I nodded. It was an early Friday morning and just like senior year, Fridays were meant for club activities. I have the whole day to collect all class officers of the first years. I’m not sure I’d be able to do all that without eating this morning but the fact that we’re building up a museum I’ve always wanted to see, felt very exciting. Jonah has some surprising leadership skills for a second year. I wouldn’t wonder why even the fourth and fifth years voted for him. I think he has a lot of background in the leadership ground which most of the students don’t have.

“Chop, chop! Let’s get working!”

“LET’S GET IT!”

I looked at Chris laughing and remembered Mark. He uses that word quite often around his friends but very rare when with me. “Sometimes I wonder why Jonah is a second year,” I turned to Serena who stood with me to get our works done like our president just ordered. “He thinks like a fifth year.”

I chuckled. He was mature for his age. I did think he was a fourth year when I first saw him. I was more surprised than everyone when they told me that he started school late and had to be considered a junior when he’s supposed to be a higher senior now. He’s really something. He’s accomplished a lot, I mean for his age. I’m 19 but I haven’t reached his peak.

“You mean the president’s superhot?” Terry, a third year representative, who was openly gay and accepted by our university, said turning to the both of us. “I totally agree. I mean look at those abs!”

Don’t tell me he actually ripped his shirt for Terry to see. I turned to Jonah eyes wide, freaking out but he was just wearing his black graphic tee and his cap was hiding his face now. He wasn’t wearing that a while ago. He doesn’t look this comfy before but maybe he was just preparing for the work he’s about to do today – and no abs.

“He’s not even shirtless.” Serena turned to him, eyes droopy.

“Exactly!” he clapped his hands together making me jump a little from my seat. “He’s not even shirtless but you can see them even with those clothes on.” Terry added making me and Serena shake our heads in disbelief. He suddenly started acting all sensual which grossed me out for a few minutes but then again, it was really funny to have a gay person with us.

“Don’t even dream about it, T. Jonah is not interested with relationships. He’s too dedicated to our department, I can almost imagine him growing up here single.” Yelena, a second year representative said and steps out of the office with us. “I would know. He’s my classmate after all.” She crossed her arms and now, the four of us were walking in a straight line. “Gail even tried but,” she shrugged and we all turned to her.

“No way. Gail?” Terry repeated and she nodded. “Gail, Gail? Gail, vice president, Gail?” He repeated again but received the same response from her. “Holy mother of God! Jesus Christ! He turned her down too?! How am I supposed to confess now if he even passed out on Gail? That’s like throwing a pearl back in the ocean!” He exclaims dramatically. “I’m not even a pearl at that!”

Jonah and Gail have been the talk of our department. We were told that they had something fishy going on with each other but some say they were just a couple that people find very compatible and now Yelena was telling us Jonah turned down Gail which should be big news but it never came out.

“I thought they were like a thing though? Weren’t they a thing before and just broke up? That’s what I’ve been hearing from my classmates.” Serena asked her but she shook her head in disagreement.

“I think the confession was private. I don’t know the whole story. I just hear from my nosy classmates all the time. They talk about Jonah a lot. I mean, who doesn’t talk about him right? He’s like Andrew Garfield in our department.” She gestures her hand. “Like a lot. They never stop talking about him. Ever since Jeffrey left the department, I feel like they got crazier for him.”

“Speaking of Jeffrey, isn’t your boyfriend friends with him?” Serena suddenly turned to me and I looked down awkwardly. The way she said your boyfriend never felt better and embarrassing at the same time.

“Holy s**t, you’re Tyler’s rumored girlfriend? Why am I hearing all these terrible news today?” Terry said and my eyes went wide as I turned to him frantically shaking my head. “I mean it would make sense. You’re both captains of the senior dance teams before right? I’ve heard about you two. I was surprised when they said you’re taking up architecture. Girl, you slaying senior year!”

“Tyler’s rumored girlfriend is fake news. I mean, Tyler doesn’t really care about girls or anything. I don’t think he’s even interested at all.” Yelena poked his head but he turned to me again, eyes wider than a while ago. “It’s the other one, stupid!”

“Holy s**t, Johnny Suh?!”

I frowned and felt myself shiver in terror. “Johnny’s my half-brother. It’s so weird that he’s my brother but we’re both freshmen. It would have been tragic if I fell for my step mother’s son.” I thought everyone knew about me and Mark, I guess I was exaggerating when I said that. “It’s—”

“Holy s**t, the Marcus Lee Dyer?” I stared at Terry who looked so surprised. His reaction was even bigger now that he mentioned his name. I mean, I shouldn’t be surprised since Mark was adored by almost everyone in school. “Girl he’s like the Jonah Fedler of the whole school! What the f**k? Are you serious?”

“Well, Mark never told me about Jeffrey’s departure from Architecture and I never asked because it might be a private thing between him and his friends.”

“Forget Jeffrey!” he flicked the topic off just like that. “We’re talking with Marcus Lee’s girlfriend so,” Terry clung onto my arms and didn’t felt right. “Have you two done it? Like, is he good in bed?” he leans closer to me. “Was it big?” My nostrils enlarged at how awkward he just asked me those things.

“Gross, T!” Serena, thankfully, jerked him away from me. “Why would you even ask that? They’re still babies! God,” She shook her head and I remained stiff. I can’t believe he just asked me all that. It was so uncomfortable. “Ask them when they’re married not now.”

“Okay but let’s keep it real y’all. Jonah’s hot but Marcus though, he got the charisma and the good looks and the talent! I mean, hello? Jonah’s the Earth and Marcus Lee’s the universe.”

“You sound so racist.”

“It only sounds that way if you think that way.”

Now I wasn’t sure if I should be proud that he was my boyfriend or if I should feel mad that they’re talking about him like this. Hearing other people talk good about someone that’s supposed to be yours can make someone really jealous and that’s exactly how I feel right now. They were just talking about him but somehow I was getting all jealous even if they’re not really doing anything to him.

“You do remember that his girlfriend’s basically walking next to you, right?”

Terry looked at me and I stared back with an awkward smile. “Girl, I’m just saying how freaking lucky you are.”

Am I really lucky or unlucky? The fact that he just fangirled over him just like that made me feel worried that more girls are fangirling over him like that. If anything, I’m scared right now that people might still come after him even after washing off his player reputation.

When I finally got all class officers from sections 1A to 1D, I finally went back to the office only to find everyone scattered all over the room busier than ever. On one corner, they were all facing their laptops, on the other, they were busy with the layouts of the blueprint, on the other, they were scribbling over a pile of papers – the office never looked this busy since the day I got her.

I looked for Gail and see her with Jules who looked like he was reviewing the papers clipped inside a folder. I wasn’t even sure if I was okay with disturbing them but Jonah said to hand them over by afternoon so I guess it would be fine? “I have the list of officers from the first years.” Gail looked up to me, down to the folder I was holding. “Who am I supposed to give it to?”

She grabs it from me then stood from the chair she was sitting on leaving Jules alone in the desk. “Great. Can you find Jonah and ask him to meet with the layout committee? The designs are ready to be presented and they need to know if he wants changes so they can revise it now. Tell him we can’t check everything by night because we need to get started.”

W-Why me? I looked around me and everyone had their own things. “Okay,”

Without much of a choice, I stepped out of the office again and looked for our president. I would protest but I was the only member who wasn’t doing anything at that exact moment. I could do what they were doing or whatever they want me to do but to be assigned in walking around under the sun wasn’t a really good order to someone as short tempered as me. How am I supposed to find him? Why did he even leave the office when he should know better that it was going to be hectic like this?

For an hour, I’ve been walking around the entire campus trying to look for Jonah. I couldn’t find him. I’d be damned if he got abducted by aliens or if he was taken to another Earth. Screw this Hide and Seek, I’m hungry. At that, I marched my way towards cafeteria to eat something. There’s no way I’m ignoring my hungry stomach for a missing person that the office needs.

When I bought a sandwich, I was back to my scavenger hunt. I sighed as soon as I stepped out of the cafeteria and froze from munching my sandwich. My eyes wandered around the silent hallway and my eyes dart over the huge window at the end of the building. I walked towards it after seeing a figure from a distance and the closer I got to the window, the clearer view I had.

I took a bite from my sandwich again and when I reached the window, I leaned closer to it and saw Jonah leaning against the big tree behind the building, a pen and a notepad lying down the grass, and he was speaking with someone over the phone. What is he doing there? I wondered but it was important to me now to take him back to the office after failing for an hour straight when they’re probably waiting for him for forever now.

I quickly ran to the other side of the building but when I was just running through the intersection, I crashed and bumped into someone. After regaining my self-consciousness, I looked up and saw Jonah holding my shoulders. “Senior!” I exclaimed and stepped away from him in fright. “Gail said you need to meet the layout committee as soon as possible. I think it’s about the design for something,” I don’t really know what but I’m guessing it’s something important.

“You can just call me Jonah. No need to be so formal. Besides, I think we’re both 19 at the moment.” He doesn’t move a bit from his position. “And Gail just called me actually. She said I should look for you. She thought something happened because you didn’t went back to the office. I already told her everything she needs to know so it’s okay now.”

“O-Oh,” I looked down and blinked several times. “I couldn’t find you so,”

He chuckled. “I need you.” I looked up at him in confusion. Need me? “I need your creativity at least.”

Creativity. Right. For a moment, I thought I was going to have a heart attack from what he just said. I need you. I feel bad for thinking unpleasant things, even. I felt like I was cheating on Mark right there.

“Gail said you don’t have anything to do in the office.” He tilts his head and his very light brown eyes were so beautiful. It’s like something I would see in American movies. They were like marble stones. “You can help me with the structures.”

I nodded and we both headed out of the narrow intersection of the two buildings. I don’t even know where we’re going, I was just following him behind, repeating all his tracks. He kept walking until we reached a familiar garden I never dared to enter.

I looked inside the greenhouse through the transparent mosaic glass and I could already tell that there were greens things inside. Well, it is a greenhouse in the first place. “I usually work here when I’m with someone. When I’m alone, I prefer sitting down under a tree.” I don’t even know what to respond because I wasn’t sure why he was telling me all these things about him.

When the door opened, a beautiful garden like what I expected welcomed me. The ceiling was filled with plants crawling all over it. The sprouts were a little disappointing though but they didn’t make the place less beautiful. It looked definitely astonishing. I smiled and see the sun hitting the plants and making them more vibrant. “Tell me why I’ve never been here?” I turned to Jonah in fascination and walked around amused. The fountain in the center was very beautiful too. The peaceful sound of the water dripping from the upper plate was peaceful. When I turned to my left, there was a white tea table set there. “This is so beautiful!” I exclaimed and still couldn’t get over the place.

“Very beautiful. It’s nothing like any other place in the world when you’re under a tree.”

I turned back to Jonah who smiled and makes his way towards the table. I followed him and sat next to the seat he took. I still couldn’t stay still in here without staring at every flower. This place was too magical for me to move on easily.

“This is what I came up with for now,” He showed me the paper he was holding so I leaned closer to see it better. The floor plan was very detailed. Boxes were labeled with names and they were organized well. “I figured we could do like the small city for one side and the other will be the opposite size. This is the map of Korea in detail. I compressed the important ones so it won’t take up too much space. Like this part,” he points at a box he drew over the paper. “The S-Tower.”

I nodded and wait for more.

“The big things though,” he paused and I looked at him. “I’m not so sure what to do with there.”

“We can do big things from inside the house? And have different sections. If it’s a library, we can have like a big shelf then a big book.” He looked back at his pad and started jotting things down. “Then if there’s a music section, it can have big piano tiles, or big speakers, and big headphones.”

“Can we have big donuts?”

I blinked for a moment and wondered if he was seriously asking the question. “Sure? Like a food section?”

“And have the donut?”

I pressed my lips together and searched for a not serious look from his face but he looked dead serious. I snorted and ended up laughing together. “Yeah, and have the donut. And maybe a big chicken? And kitchen utensils.”

“And the donut,”

“Donuts,” I laughed. “What with you and donuts? Are you like obsessed with them or you’re obsessed with them?”

“I don’t really have a choice,” he chuckled. “Literally,” We were both quiet. “I do love donuts. I feel like they’re desserts I can’t give up even if it means giving up water.”

I nodded. I understand his feelings for his precious donuts as they serve as my gummies. “I feel you,”

He chuckled and nodded after he stopped writing diverting all his attention to me. “You do realize how amazing you are right?”

My smile slowly faded when he told me that. I stared back at him and felt my heart beat uncontrollably. Not because I was happy of what I was hearing, but because I felt a lot of discomfort right now. My thoughts were filled of Mark when he used to tell me things like these before which made me like him in the first place.

“Your ideas are crazy and it’s rare for people to have that. It fascinates me every time people show me how out of the world they are and they’re not ashamed of it.”

I do feel good that our president complimented me but even if it was flattering me so much, I was still uncomfortable. Working with Jonah is like working with Tyler before. He wasn’t difficult to deal with and we just share one mind if that makes sense. “You have a great sense of leadership as well. I mean, for a second year and beating up fifth years – that’s pretty impressive. I don’t think that’s ever happened to the school before. Having a department lead by lower years.”

“It’s an honor for the most part,” I was quiet. For the most part? “I wasn’t into the leadership side of me but I had to do it for some reason. I didn’t even want to take up this hella course.” He laughs and I wheezed at that.

“It is a hella course,” His American slang was very contagious and fun to mimic. “Why’d you do it then? I mean, how are you going to do well if you don’t like what you’re doing which I definitely don’t see from you. You seem pretty devoted to your post.” I pressed my lips together, looking away and realized how much of a nosy girl I was to my senior. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go all in on that.”

I hear him let out a soft chuckle. “I just have to do well I guess. I can’t really do anything about it now that I’m almost half way through the course.”

“The more reason to stop before it gets regretful!” It just got to me and I’m getting so frustrated for him even if we weren’t even that close. For some reason, I see myself in him for not being able to do what he wants. I stopped dancing because of my ankle and I just feel really terrible for the both us.

He laughed at me.

“I’m sorry! I just really feel bad for people who would stop doing what they love. Isn’t it frustrating? Or am I the only one who is frustrated about things like that?” I looked away in shame and gritted my teeth.

“It is frustrating but it’s all on me and I’m already taking in every bit of change very well. I’m learning to love the course. Now – especially,”

“I really don’t know when to shut my mouth so,” I turned back to him, apologetic. His eyes were really brown now that the sun was hitting them. It’s almost transparently freaky and cool. I’ve never seen eyes this vibrant like his. I feel like it’s one in a million if that makes sense. “Is it weird that I want to take out and steal your eyes and have them for myself? I feel like it is.”

“My eyes?” he sounded a bit surprised as well so I immediately take it back and moved a seat further away from him. “Why would you do that? My eyes are the only thing that I love about myself so you can’t. Sorry about that.”

I laughed. Jonah was shockingly very open to jokes and playing along with them. “If I can, I probably would.”

“Then you can get it if I die first. How about that?”

I nodded and laughed harder. The fact that his personality works so well with my playful side was eye opening to me who doesn’t have any idea of what type of a person Jonah was. “Deal. You know who to call if you feel like dying.”

He wheezed. “Deal,”