jongsang | scent

02

yeosang

i took the bus to school today. i recalled the incident between me and jongho. it's been a week. so far, he hasn't really bothered me. don't get me wrong but i'm kind of sad. after a day of being nice to me, i was hoping he would be my friend. yeah, i'm sorry for being so nice but i really wanted him to be my friend.

i opened up my locker and a piece of folded paper dropped to the ground. before picking it up, i looked around. as i picked it up and unfolded it, it read:

hi, or hey (it doesn't really matter, does it)

i'm sorry that this is sudden but could you be my partner for the physics project? i'm not really good at it and neither are my friends. yeah, they're useless. i just need help for the subject. if i don't pass it, it's a thousand smacks from my aunt. again, i'm sorry if you're uncomfortable or anything but if you don't want to, i understand. it's up to you anyway.

jongho

i smiled. he is nice after all. he even respected my choice. to make him ace the subject, of course i accepted his offer. i have no idea why but i'm smiling . it's not like he's asking me to be his boyfriend or anything. well, i am not thinking about that, jokes on you. i'm just saying that i'm feeling all happy for no reason. maybe it's because someone finally genuinely wanted to do something with me. maybe it's cause i'm not going to be so lonely anymore.

i closed my locker and was surprised when jongho appeared right beside me.

"so..?" he asked

"i..uh.. well..i-"

"i don't think you want to. i mean, after all i did to you, i kind of deserve it-"

"N-NO! i meant yes!! i will be your partner..." i muttered.

he smiled but it quickly faded when some students were walking past. they looked at us suspiciously. right, jongho always bullies me. they probably found it weird to see us being normal. as a result, jongho bonked my head lightly to cover it up.

"i told you to bring it!!" he shouted.

i pursed my lips, suppressing my laughter. he slammed his hand on the locker as i leant against it as well. we hold our gaze for a few good seconds. eventually, i looked away because his stare was intimidating and i could feel myself burning. soon, they walked away without saying anything.

he heaved a sigh of relief and removed his hand.

".. let's go to class. just keep pretending that we're.. against each other" he uttered.

"you mean enemies..?" i asked

"yeah, that."

"how would you know if i hated you or not..." i muttered under my breath.

"pardon?"

"nothing. i was talking to.. myself" i noticed his choice of words. he spoke rather politely. he used "pardon" instead of "huh".

we walked to class, keeping a metre's distance from each other. the teacher told us to pair up with people and we naturally took a seat together. i put my books on the table and glanced at jongho's direction. good thing we were sitting in the back seat of the class so i won't have to suffer from the disturbing, unnecessary stares. his head turned to my direction and i averted him immediately. god, i cant stand it.

the teacher gave instructions and we started on our project. i took my laptop out and tapped the table to some kind of beat out of habit. jongho then tapped my shoulder.

"what do we do now, yeo?" he asked.

"i uh..i guess we could research first.." i told him

"the question is about exoplanets right? what do they mean...they don't make any sense, why are they talking about the kpop group exo?"