Mean to Me | Im Youngmin

Mean - 11

The next few days, Ji-hye spent alone. She secluded herself from everyone (not that it isn't what she was doing all along, anyway). Maybe the difference now is that she makes extra effort to avoid Im Youngmin.

First of all, she doesn't want to stir any more rumors between them because the last thing she wants to face is the wrath of a hundred or more of his admirers, a few of them she's sure are obsessed as hell.

Secondly, she is not sure why Youngmin has a sudden reversal towards her. She's confused as to what changed because just a few weeks ago, the guy was treating her as if she were trash of the dirtiest kind.

And lastly, and most importantly, she's not liking the way her body reacts everytime Youngmin says anything or does something nice towards her: her palms sweat so much; her cheeks go all hot and red uncontrollably; her knees feel wobbly; sometimes, she doesn't seem to hear anything except her abnormally fast and loud heartbeat to the point that it actually terrifies her.

Is she getting sick or something? Does she need to see a doctor soon?

"Ji-hye."

Startled, she jumps slightly. Okay, maybe slightly was an understatement?

Seriously?

"Jumping in place even just when he mentions my name," she mumbles as she makes sure to add that one more symptom on her growing list of abnormal body responses. She definitely needs to see a physician soon.

"What are you talking about?"

Suddenly, Youngmin is on her side. She pretends not to notice he's there by putting stuff on her locker continuously. Deep inside, however, she knows her heartbeat is starting to become erratic again.

"I'm surely going to die early," she thinks to herself.

With the last book in place, she closes her locker and begins to pick up her bag. A little too late, however, as it can no longer be seen on the floor where she dumped it so carelessly a while ago. Instead, it's hanging from one of Youngmin's broad shoulders as he carefully holds on to the strap with one hand.

Ji-hye suddenly feels her cheeks become warm at that very instant.

"Let's go?" Youngmin offers, seemingly unaware that the girl in front of him is getting all flushed.

"C-Can you please..." she stutters.

"What?"

"Please give me back my bag," she whispers too softly.

"Why though? It's heavy. Let me carry it for you," Youngmin smiles warmly at her.

Ever since that day in class when she told practically everyone that she likes Youngmin's smile, she swears that the boy wears it so much more often that she wonders if his cheeks or jaw ever ache or something from all the non-stop smiling.

Of course, she likes it better when Youngmin smiles because that makes him look so much softer but seeing him smiling at her makes her feel all sorts of weird that she's starting to question if someone could actually go crazy over another person's smile.

"Ji-hye?"

She wakes up from her thoughts as Youngmin reaches for her shoulders. She flinches as an automatic response.

"Woah? Why are you so scared of me?"

"I-I'm not." She barely makes the words come out.

"You've been avoiding me for days, and now that I finally get the chance to speak to you again, you seem so... I don't know... Shy? Scared? Both?"

Surprised at his sudden rant, Ji-hye does not reply.

"Are you okay? Are you sick again?" Youngmin's tone changes from a disappointed to a worried one. He tries to reach for Ji-hye's forehead to feel if she's hot or anything. What surprises Ji-hye more is that this time around, she does not move to avoid contact. She just lets Youngmin feel her forehead.

"You don't seem to have a fever, but why are your cheeks so flushed?" Youngmin wonders aloud. The moment she hears this, Ji-hye feels her cheeks getting more flushed, if that's even possible.

"Ah, how could I have possibly forgotten to write this in that list..." Youngmin suddenly says while scratching the back of his head. This catches Ji-hye's attention.

"Of course, I absolutely like the way your cheeks turn the color of my hair whenever you're around me," Youngmin lets out a small chuckle before facing Ji-hye. "Makes me think that maybe, just maybe, the feeling is mutual after all."

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HELLO!!!

I've been MIA for the past couple of days because of uni and I feel so guilty for not updating for too long. *cries* I hope you didn't forget about Ji-hye and Youngmin!

Also, thank you for all the comments and votes and reads! I feel like I can never thank you enough for all the love my story has been getting. I love reading all of your comments, and they give me strength to continue writing! I seriously did not expect the story to get this much attention because I originally wrote it only as a way to express how much I love Youngmin (haha), so it really surprises me to see such overwhelming response. TT TT

Anyway, Youngmin and Donghyun are debuting as a duo unit and we are all so happy and my excited ass of course had to publish a Donghyun fic as well! :')) Shameless plugging but PLEASE READ WORTHLESS (Kim Donghyun fic) too <3

Again, thank you very much for all the love! I love you guys, too xx