1996 | Y.Jw

| 38 |

Apparently the Christmas ball was to be held in the gymnasium, but the hallways still seemed to be available for us. I don't know exactly what I expected for it to look like, but I thought it to be more formal than it was.

In the opposite end of the gymnasium was a scene, on which some band was playing music. It sounded quite messy, just like the band members looked. In the ceiling hung weird shapes of fabric, as if people had tried to make it look like snow (and miserably failing). Weirdest of all was the mix of formal wear combined with the horrible dance movements that was on the floor of the gymnasium.

"I have no idea where to put myself," I murmured to Jungwon, who glanced down at me and immediately nodded in agreement.

"Punch?" he questioned and I immediately frowned at him  before I noticed how he was pointing towards a table with two big bowls on it, "Soomin says the boys always gets punch for the girls."

"Hmm..." I hummed quietly before a small smile grew on my face, "I think it's more fitting if the girl get it for the boy," I shrugged and casually walked over to the table.

A few teachers stood guarding the table for some odd reason, but none of them looked at me for more than a second after I had given them a small smile. By the time Jungwon had gotten to his senses and rushed after me over to the table I had already poured a cup up for him, shoving it right into his hand.

"How does it taste?" I questioned quietly and crossed my arms, waiting for him to test.

"You don't want any?" he questioned softly.

"I poured it, I've already smelled it," I scrunched my nose up before slowly smiling, "if it tastes like it smells, then I think I'm skipping."

Quickly sniffing to the cup Jungwon had the same experience as I. His nose immediately scrunched up, looking back at me in bewilderment.

"Smells like someone threw up in the bowl," he commented and I immediately nodded with a small laugh, "excuse me..." Jungwon trailed off turning to one of the nearby teachers, "it smells like someone threw up in the bowl."

"I mixed the punch..." the male teacher simply replied making Jungwon quickly sip from his cup.

"Delicious sir," Jungwon excused and raised his cup as a toast, "we have to go before I make more of a fool of myself," he hurriedly murmured to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me along - back towards the hallways.

I let out a small laugh as he rushed out on the hallway and around the nearest corner to actually find a trashbin to get rid of the punch.

"So... was it as bad as it smelled?" I questioned in amusement.

"Surprisingly... no," he let out a small chuckle, wiping his mouth with his sleeves, before dusting off his pants, "cherries... I think... maybe oranges. But there was something weird bitter taste to it... actually a bit like vomit."

"You had me at oranges and then you lost me again," I let out a small laugh as he shoved his hands into his pockets and just shrugged, "I really like you in that suit... you look great," I softly complimented.

"Yeah?" he questioned and fixed his blazer slightly, "should I wear it some more?"

"As much as you look great in it, I think you would be greatly bullied to show up on a normal school day in this," I pointed out and wandered over to fix the collar of his shirt, "besides, all clothes, besides the white pajamas, looks great on you."

"Trauma?" he questioned and I frowned before nodding.

"Yeah... I think that might be it, now you say it," I excused with a small chuckle.

"I don't mind," he murmured quietly as I felt him wrap his arms around my waist and lock his hands together behind my back, "I fell in love with you when you only wore that pajamas. I'm sure it'll still work today... but the dress is no doubt better."

I only smiled as I looked up at him, his forehead slowly inching closer until it touched my own. 

"Jungwon?" I murmured and he softly hummed at me, "I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you too?"

"Yeah?" he whispered in excitement and I nodded at him, "how?"

"Right now... my heart beats so fast I think I might faint," I admitted with a small laugh, and he simply snickered.

"I got you," he murmured quietly, slowly leaning down and placing his lips on mine.

I couldn't help but smile a bit into the kiss as his lips rested against mine for a few seconds before pulling away from mine slowly. His eyes opening to look down at me. Those gorgeous, gorgeous eyes.

"Hey! Everyone in the g-" a man's voice spoke up and my head immediately pulled away from Jungwon, for both of us to look over towards the man.

He had stopped dead in his tracks, and despite his hair being slicked back I knew that face. Mr. Johnson was attending the Christmas ball.

"Oh... I'm terribly sorry if I interrupted anything," he excused as I discreetly moved my arms to wrap around Jungwon, underneath his blazer, hiding my bracelet completely.

"Oh thank god I found you two!" Riki exclaimed as he turned the corner as well, completely disregarding the man beside us, "I have a bit of a major problem?"

"You got ditched for her friend?" I let out a small laugh to try and cover up for Riki, hoping he recognized mr. Johnson beside him. Which he thankfully did with a glance that made his eyes widden.

"Uhm... no," Riki trailed off slowly before turning back to Jungwon and I, "Emmy said she would go to the bathroom, so I escorted her to it and went to wait outside. It's been at least half and hour and she hasn't come out. I got Liv to look for her, but she said she was nowhere in the bathrooms. She's gone... completely vanished."

"And you're sure you didn't just miss her walking out?" Jungwon frowned and Riki immediately nodded.

"We agreed to dance once she finished!" he exclaimed slowly beginning to breath faster, "will you please look for her sir? She's wearing this dazzling dark green dress."

"A student... has gone missing?" mr. Johnson slowly questioned with an arched brow and Riki immediately nodded.

"It's my girlfriend sir, she never just walks off and disappears like this," Riki insisted.

"Girlfriend?" I exclaimed in shock, making mr. Johnson look towards me.

"I'll go look," he confirmed slowly before rushing off around the corner, making Riki rush over to Jungwon and I properly.

"What do you mean she's disappeared?" I hissed as I grabbed Riki's arm.

"Exactly what I just said," Riki sighed as his eyebrows furrowed with helpelessness, almost looking like he was going to cry, "what if they got her?"

"Okay... no... she's still here. We just have to look a bit better. We'll have found her before the night is over," Jungwon sternly assured, "go look a bit for her, we'll split up, okay?"

"Okay," Riki nodded before quickly rushing off.

When I looked up at Jungwon his face showed clear worry. He wasn't convinced that Emiko was alright, neither was he sure we would find her tonight.