Enigma ➳ pjm [EDITING/HIATUS]

Act 10

Expelled.

I imagined the word letter for letter in front of me on the paper of my ring binder in Strategy class.

Perhaps I had the word imprinted in my brain so much it began appearing anywhere unexpected.

My finger trailed along the imaginary letters, and my focus backtracked to the night in the shower rooms where Ryon about the situation regarding her expulsion. Speculating of how to approach her the next time I see her, I thought of Jimin again. Where was he right now?

My head bobbed up at the shrill sound of the bell, indicating the class period was over. For some reason, I remained in my seat and stared at an empty spot in the room, zoning out over the seconds that passed; until a bony finger tapped my right shoulder.

It was my Strategy teacher, Mrs. Liu. Her appearance reminded me vaguely of Mrs. Rhee's, but all in all, both were polar opposites when it comes to their personalities.

The middle-aged woman, very skinny to be, according to her, a former champion in the National Martial Arts Championship a decade ago, sent me a warm smile and pointed at the exit. "Class has finished, dear."

"Oh, yeah", I stammered and hastily slid my notes off the table straight into an empty pocket in my huge training bag. "I... zoned out for a little." My mouth turns into a weak smile.

My schedule wasn't the same for every day, sometimes I had my classes shifted around, which caused severe headaches to me, but the odd concept was manageable.

Strategy class happened to be the period before lunch on every Tuesdays. My feet carried me the long way out of the building, heading to the cafeteria.

Due to Ryon's anger fit from the day before, and Hobi's strange outlook on my deal with Jimin, I was clueless about who to hang out for this coming lunch period.

Preparing for a lonely lunch break, I entered the room through the big doors whose black paint was already chipping off on the sides, and added to the long line in front of me. At least everybody here was reasonably quick, so moments later, I ended up in front of the drinks in front of the fridge and eyed each row, looking for a soda.

As I had subconsciously expected, nothing but soda water and regular water. This academy indeed set high values upon a strictly, healthy intake for the students.

Hundreds of students had already found their seats. My gaze flickered towards the table I generally sat at, and to my astonishment, both benches were empty.

For a split moment, I considered to call Ryon and ask her where she was, but the unofficial silent treatment came to mind again, so I dismissed the idea. Out of nervousness, I shifted my weight from one leg to the other.

Out of nowhere, I noticed someone purposely bumping into my right shoulder.

"What in the..." Spinning my head to the side, my eyes met with Jimin's who stood few inches away from me. A subtly alluring smile caused the muscles in my arms to tense up, and the grip on my tray tightened.

"Aw sorry, my fault. Why are you lurking around here?" Furrowing my eyebrows at Jimin's purposeful "accident", I leaned back, creating distance between both of us.

I turned my head around to check whether Ryon or Hobi had arrived at the table, but as I expected, no one, once again.

"Your friends are gone, huh?" Jimin's voice softened. "You can sit with me, if you want."

Where did he get that innocent, harmless undertone in his voice from? As I know Jimin, he constantly tries to smuggle provocative, sarcastic remarks whenever he opens his mouth.