FLOWER | Winrina

Chapter 3

"How was your drawing day yesterday?" Jeno asked over the phone. He had called Jimin before school - something that the two of them did sometimes to get some extra time to talk before school.

"It was fine," Jimin answered. "Did you go to the movies?"

"Nah," Jeno answered. "No fun going alone."

Jimin smiled to herself. "You're allowed to go with other people besides me you know," she teased. Jeno didn't answer for a second, which actually surprised the black-haired girl. Jeno rarely hesitated.

"Well, I don't really have a pool of people to hang out with, and you know that," Jeno stated. Jimin furrowed her eyebrows slightly.

"Hey, I've gotta finish my makeup. I'll see you at school," she said.

"Alright," came the lame reply, before her phone beeped to indicate an ended call. Jimin sighed. Jeno was starting to seem different to her, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was that was different, or if she was the only one acting different and it was just affecting the way she looked at other people.

She had no idea, but she knew that if she let herself think about it too much, she would get nothing good from it. So instead, she ran her liquid eyeliner in a thin line along the underside of her eye and then left her bathroom.

Her mom was already gone - to make up for the hours she had missed the previous day no doubt, so Jimin didn't have to rush to leave her house. She grabbed a quick granola bar from her pantry, after stuffing some random foods into a lunch bag, and was out the door.

She took bites of the granola bar as she drove to school. She tried not to think about anything that would confuse her or her make her upset - such as her dad or her best friend. Instead, her thoughts drifted suddenly to Aeri, and then, subsequently, Minjeong. Thinking that she would get to talk to Minjeong again today brought a small smile to her face.

It was kind of nice that they had the seventh period together because since it was the last class, there was nowhere to rush off to afterward.

Then she remembered that she had sort of agreed to sit with her and Aeri, Ning and the others at lunch that day, and her thoughts drifted back to Jeno. She wasn't sure how he would react to her wanting to sit over there. Not that it was his decision of course, but she didn't want him to be mad at her for ditching him.

It was true that she could invite Jeno to come with her to the other table, but she knew that would never happen. Jeno was too reserved, and content with his life, to interject randomly into a different pattern. That was just how Jeno was. And maybe it's how she used to be, but not anymore. No, Jimin was ready to embrace how she had once pictured high school could be.

When she got to school, she was immediately intercepted by her best friend. "Hey," he greeted.

"You okay?" Jimin asked. "You were weird on the phone earlier." She knew that she had to embrace the weirdness that she was sensing from her best friend - he was her best friend after all.

"Was I?" Jeno asked in a mumble.

Jimin rolled her eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Jeno. You're my best friend, okay? I can tell when something's bothering you."

"I'm fine," Jeno insisted, suddenly standing straighter and smiling at the black-haired. "I was just bummed that we didn't hang out yesterday. But we're still on for Friday, right?" Jimin smiled. "Of course."

"Cool." They made their way to their lockers, and Jeno smiled at her. "So, are you ready for day two of being an upperclassman?" Jimin could tell that he was sort of messing with her since he mentioned being an upperclassman again and was giving her a playful smile.