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Chapter Eight:Jung Wook-jin

Thursday, 26th of January, 2023: 3:15 p.m. (after-school)

It’s been 4 weeks since I joined Shimseng High. Not much has really happened from this time, though. I managed to join art club, and I’m starting to get quite popular with the older years as well, especially with Taeyoub , Rie, and Junhyung. They’re a lot like good friends to me.

But I’m rather close to Yongsoo, though. In fact, I think I could consider us two as best friends…yet there’s something about him that makes me want to say otherwise. “His personality…it just really makes me want to kill myself,” I tell the three, “but not in a bad way. He’s just so…perfect that I can’t take it anymore.”

It was after-school hours, and me, Rie, Taeyoub , and Junhyung had been walking out of the main gates. Of course, I wasn’t going yet. I had art club today. I was just there to walk the others out and greet them goodbye… “What do you feel when you’re around him?” Junhyung asked.

“I don’t know…” I said in return. “My heart just races whenever I’m with him, and when we get close…I don’t know, I just feel like my heart’s gonna burst out my ribs at any moment, and my breathing starts to heavy. What do you call that?” He then looks at me for a while, staying in silence for the time.

“That’s love alright,” he finally blurted out.

“Oh. Shit.”

“It’s fine,” Sungho said as he threw an arm around my shoulder. “At least you’re not gonna be the only person in this group that’s single.”

“Wait…” I muttered, “Taeyoub ’s dating someone?”

“Wook-jin, don’t listen to him,” Taeyoub deliberately interrupted, “I am single. They’re just making up false accusations.”

“Hey,” Junhyung said, “you know we saw you in Mr. Shin’s office yesterday!”

“That was because I got a detention!”

“Nope, not having it. I saw you two with my own eyes. I know what happened in there.” Honestly, it felt like there was about to be a physical fight on the school grounds. I knew it was only a “play,” but it seemed so legit that almost anyone would fall for it. I had to silence them.

“Okay, guys, wait,” I tell the two of them, putting my hands up in surrender, “what in the actual f**k are we even on?”

“Rie, you do the talking,” Junhyung said as he moved away so Sungho would be next to me. “I don’t reckon that it would be a good idea to talk anymore.”

Sungho then cleared his throat, looking at the two with a slight look of concern in his eyes. “Right…so,” he started, “it was right after the bell rang, and Taeyoub told us two that he was getting a detention for talking too much in class…which is something I’m quite sure that you lot would expect, but anyway, me and Junhyung were just about to start heading home, until we passed by Mr. Shin’s office, your form teacher. At first, we didn’t think much of it, until we saw Taeyoub in there as well…or at least we thought it was Taeyoub . So Junhyung, being the reckless boy he is, decided to sneak up on Taeyoub just as a little joke. Yet little did he know that Mr. Shin and Taeyoub …weren’t actually doing the detention lessons…and supposedly, Junhyung said that he saw them kiss, but at this point I don’t know what to believe.”

“God…” I silently muttered to myself. I didn’t know what I had just heard. At that point, I didn’t know what to believe either. In my eyes, I would have never expected Taeyoub to even do such a thing, nor would I have thought that Mr. Shin, my homeroom teacher, would actually have the audacity to kiss my best friend. (Who is in fact a minor.)

I just stood there in silence. I didn’t know what to say at that point. I couldn’t tell if it was because I was just too shocked, or if I just didn’t know what to say anymore. I would reckon that it would most likely be both of them.

“Look at that, Rie,” Junhyung scolded in a playful manner, “you scarred him.”

“Sorry, Wook-jin…” Sungho said in a quiet tone. Junhyung then pulls him close and ruffled up Rie’s hair.

“Good boy,” he quietly said. He stops for a while, and the two gaze at each other for a moment. Eventually, they give each other a small smile and a peck on the lips. Meanwhile to their left, Taeyoub and I were staring at them with utter disgust and confusion at the same time.

“You two are adorable together,” I say with a dull smile on my face. Immediately, Taeyoub snaps back.

“You think??” he blurted out in disbelief, “these two should just get a f*****g room.”

“Whoops…” I tell myself as I cover my mouth with my hands.

“Right, anyways,” Sungho said as he pushed Taeyoub and Junhyung to the side, “I think we gotta go now. Enjoy the art club!”

“Bye!” I said as I waved him goodbye. I turn around, back to the building, and head inside, heading all the way into the art hall.

. . .

When I enter, no one seemed to be present except for two people. Mrs. Kim, my art teacher, and Yungsoo. The room was silent, with only the sound of keys being pressed gently on a keyboard. Yongsoo looks up from his easel, giving a happy wave as I walk toward him. “Wook-jin hyung!” he exclaimed.

I went to the seat next to him, taking a peak at his drawing. “What’s that?” I immediately asked. I stand up to get a better look. It was me. He was making a drawing of me. As I gazed more intently at the drawing, I couldn’t tell if I were happy of guilty. He drew me too good. I wasn’t actually like this in real life.

Each line; each curve. Everything seemed too perfect. Yet I loved it. It was almost like the feeling you would get with a romance drama. Their love story would sometimes just be so perfect that you can’t help to love-hate it.

“Wow…” I muttered. It was all I ever managed to muster. “You drew me…well.”

“Do you not like it?” he asked, “you seem to be slightly…”

“No, no!” I say deliberately, “I love it! I absolutely love the picture! It’s beautiful, actually! It’s just that…this can’t be me.”

“What?” he asked.

“You drew me too…perfectly,” I stated, “I don’t actually look like this.

“Yes you do! In my eyes…you look perfect.” By the last syllable, my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest and my cheeks flushed with his words. And he started blushing as well. A look of shock had filled his expression, and he seemed as though full of regret of his words.

“s**t,” he muttered. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong. I meant you look perfect to draw. Yeah, to draw.” I brush off the idea with a smile and look back at the picture.

“It looks unfinished,” I told him, “Do you want me to be a reference?”

“Yes, please,” he said in a posh, pleasured voice. Immediately, I walk over to the middle of the art hall and strike a simple pose and a smile for him to reference from. His smile was so warm and pure…I never wanted to look away. It was always so rare to see him smile like that…I wanted to keep my eyes on him forever. His smile then caused me to smile; it always does.

Though it’s been a while since I came into the class, not many people were in. I would reckon that it was just me, Yongsoo, Mrs. Kim, and 2 other students. “Was it always this empty in art club?” I asked Yongsoo.

“Nah, not really,” he told me, still gliding his pencil over my drawing, “but because it’s the flu season, many people are starting to get sick here and there…which means that majority of the class is probably put sick or is on a detention.”

“Ah…I see…” It was just a few seconds after I spoke until we heard the bell ring. That signified the end of after-school sessions and detentions. Yongsoo immediately stood up from his easel, along with the other students, and the teacher dismissed all of us row by row.

Right when we both stepped out of the gates, I took his hand and ran off with him. He stumbles just slightly, yet there was still a smile on his face amidst his confusion. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Wanna go to the beach?” I asked in return.

“So suddenly?” he asked, yet I don’t answer. “Fine,” he said, brushing off the idea with a small smile.