That Stupid List (A Seventeen Fanfic)

Chapter 77: Cold Little Quiet Girl

Vernon wanted to have a date that very night they first made up, but Jin insisted that they not have any dates until she finished writing her extended paper on Jewish mysticism. It was a very important paper that composed of 50% of her final grade in that class, and so she needed to stay focused on it.

The paper took much longer than she expected it to take, and so whenever Vernon texted her to ask if she were done with that paper, she would apologize and disappoint him when she postponed the date again.

I'LL WRITE IT FOR YOU IF YOU CAN'T BUT PLEASE LET'S GO OUT ON A DATE ASAP, he texted her. I'M SO AFRAID IM GONNA MESS UP AND DO SOMETHING AND YOU'LL BREAK UP AGAIN :(

J: Sorry. I have to finish it...

V: Booooo.

She found his impatience funny, charming almost. But she was insistent on not having her relationship with him impact her studies. Her studies were definitely her priority.

It would be a lie, however, to say that although she made studying her priority, Vernon occupied her thoughts so much more. She wished she could finish her stupid paper quickly so that she could finally go out on that date with him. Ever since their meeting in the lecture hall a few weeks ago, they haven't had the opportunity to be together for extended periods of time. They would take walks in between classes and occasionally have lunch together, but they never had a specific outing together as a couple because of that paper.

Jin felt that it was stupid how she was avoiding a date with him, because the time she spent texting him would probably equal more than the time she would have spent on a date with him. She wasted so much time messaging him, but it was irresistible not to. She liked talking to him over text about random things, ranging from philosophical debates about the meaning of life to their preferred toilet paper orientation.

Jin had always preferred texting to confronting people directly. She found that she could organize her thoughts better when she texted him, and was able to express herself better than if she faced him. He seemed to just inherently know that. He never called her, and he never asked her personal questions in person. He seemed to just know that she would prefer typing out the answers than saying them out loud. It was these little things that he did for her that showed her how well he knew her.

Vernon always seemed to reduce her to this blushing mess though, even when he just texted her. The puns, the lame jokes, the cringe-worthy pick-up lines that he randomly threw at her, and even just his blunt statements like "you're pretty" or "i adore you btw" or "your smile is the cutest;" they always managed to make her blush.

Jin had learned the hard way never be in front of Seokmin or Sena when she was texting him, because those two always teased her when they saw pink in her cheeks and that wide smile on her face.

She couldn't find it in herself to return Vernon's compliments. She was much too embarrassed, though she did indeed think things about him that she did not have the courage to say to him out loud. She did write them in her diary though. Things like: "how could someone be so attractive?" or "I feel like I love him more and more every day." She also wrote other things about him that made it so much more important that no one ever read her diary ever again.

-

Vernon suggested a study date when Jin told him for the fifth time that she was not done with her paper. He said that he also had a big exam to study for, and suggested that the two of them spend the night in the library to study together.

That was a date that she was willing to go on. She figured that it was actually a good idea, because having him there with her would mean she would not text him. And texting was the ultimate waste of time for her anyways.