RUINED 《 EXO 》

CHAPTER TWO △ #352

"Okay, popular me," I said to Chen. "Hit me up."

"I don't think that's how it works," he smiled crookedly, adjusting his headphones.

"Well, what's wrong with me?" I asked Chen on the bus ride home. "Why don't the populars like me?" It was more of a rhetorical question really, but he gazed into my eyes for a long, long time, deep in thought. How long would it take him to pick apart all my flaws? I exhaled, disheartened.

The first day was mostly comprised of me trying not to get into anyone's way - anyone above me on the list's way, to be precise. It was hard to avoid being caught up in the waves of Southwood, with students surging down the corridoors at every turn, the uproarious crowds merging with one another. Still, I liked to look down, a background character, unnoticed. The loud and rowdy gossip groups weren't really my style.

Just as I had reached the end of this train of thought, Chen, like the psychic he is, suggested, "You're too quiet and passive."

"What, my personality?" I tilted my head to one side curiously, picking at the dirt in between my nails. "You know that's not true, I'm totally open and I can't stop talking when I'm with you."

"Yeah, I know," Chen smirked at me fondly. He was often the one who was constantly telling me to shut up. "But other people don't know that. You gotta make more friends, get yourself out there. Join some clubs or something."

Something in my mind clicked. I hadn't really thought about the clubs Southwood had to offer before. There were colourful, handmade posters advertising all sorts of alliances plastered on the doors of every classroom, but I never really paid attention to any of them. But then again, the thought of spending an hour after school with a group of people I barely knew, doing something I supposed loved, didn't really appeal to me.

"What clubs are you in?" I questioned Chen in hopes of finding a school club that was right for me. He began counting on his fingers, ticking each group off as he spoke.

"Hm, let's see," he said, trying to recall all the cliques he was in. "Soccer club, art club, K-Pop club..."

By the time he had finished, I was almost asleep, my head resting on the quivering bus window. I had no idea there were so many associations in our school, and I doubt Chen had joined all of them. Rubbing my eyes, I tried to hide a yawn with the palm of my hand.

"Chun," my best friend laughed, scrolling through photos on his phone. They were probably pictures of me he took in my tired state. "Are you listening?"

"Yeah, yeah," I assured him, blinking hard to keep myself up. There was only one more stop before we were due to get off.

"Oh, really?" Chen raised an eyebrow, challenging me. "What clubs am I in then?"

"Um," I furrowed my brows, struggling for a correct answer. Somehow, I couldn't remember anything that he had been droning on about for the last five minutes. I grinned meekly, guessing, "Sudoku club?"

"Actually, you're right," he replied, looking surprised. "Would you like to join?"

"No thanks," I declined his offer hastily, my laugh high-pitched. "I'm afraid I'm not enough of a nerd to participate in anything to do with maths."

Seeing the bus's brake light flash red, I gathered my belongings. The doors swung open with a creek and the two of us stood up, exiting in a hurry. I never told anybody except Chen, but one of my childhood fears was the bus's automatic doors closing in on me, squeezing me into a pulp. Knowing exactly what I was thinking by my expression, Chen poked me in the cheek teasingly.