My forehead was drenched in cold sweat. My hands and feet are cold as I notice people staring at me. I tried to look at him, but my shame made me appear a coward. I made an effort not to move while sitting in front of him, with Yeona on my left side of the couch.
"What's your name, boy?" he asked, his voice solemn.
I mumbled, "H-hyunjin... Sir."
"What?" he asked, raising his voice slightly.
"H-Hyunjin Sir!" I exclaimed louder, trying to straighten my back. He let out a sigh and massaged his temples.
"Would you protect Yeona?" he questioned.
I paused for three seconds to consider what he was saying.
"Why wouldn't you?"
"Yes, S-Sir!" I replied without thinking.
"Before you two get married, don't do anything stupid."
I looked at him, perplexed.
"What are you talking about, Dad?" Yeona inquired, surprised. She asked the same question I had.
"What do you mean? Don't you want to marry?" her father asked.
"Of course I do!" she retorted, "but why are you telling this to Hyunjin?"
"Why? Isn't he your boyfriend?" Mr. Kim inquired, perplexed.
My eyes widened in surprise. Yeona and I exchanged a brief glance before turning to face her father.
"NO!" we all exclaimed.
Her father's expression was indescribable.
"Then why is he... And you..." he struggled to find the right words to say.
"Dad! That was an accident!" exclaimed Yeona.
"How? Really?" he exclaims as he rises.
"He's here because he needs some notes for our homework, and I'm the only one who knows where I live; we live in the same neighborhood, and he's a transferee. I was about to open the gate for us to get in, but you suddenly pushed it, causing me to lose my balance and fall over Hyunjin," Yeona explains.
"Oh my God," he said as he sits beside me.
"I'm so sorry, Hyunjin," he said, tapping my left shoulder.
"It's okay, Sir. It happens," I said awkwardly. Seriously, I just wanted to get out of there. I feel humiliated.
He returned to his seat across from me, next to Yeona's mother, I believe.
"I'm sorry once more, Hyunjin, but you can do what you have to do," her father said.
"Did you have dinner yet?" Yeona's mother asked.
"Uhh, no, it's fine, Ma'am," I said, refusing to leave.
"Oh come on, join us," she insisted, and I looked at Yeona, who looked at me as if she was saying I should just do what her mother wanted. So I went with her mother to their dining room.
We eat together as a group. Yeona's parents questioned her about school, and they also questioned me about my life and so on. I'm not used to their dinner being so loud. That is to say, I miss eating with my parents, not just Jeongin and me. I miss the times when we ate and laughed together. We used to be a happy family. Family.. What a lovely word it is.
We finished our meal and went to Yeona's room to get her notes. Her room is reasonably clean. There is enough room for one person. Her wallpaper is a sky blue color. Her study table is filled with pens, highlighters, and other art supplies that are visually appealing and make you want to study harder.
Her bed is a little sloppy, indicating that she's been there. She has three stuffed animals. A Llama, a diamond, and a squirrel There's a window beside her bed that looks out in front of their house, and you can see the front gate clearly.
"Here," she said, handing me her notebook. I smiled at her and flipped through the pages.
"Can I take this home, or do you still need it?" I asked, my gaze fixed on her.
"No, you can borrow it; I have the same notes saved in my laptop anyway," she replied.
"Can I ask for your phone number and email address?" I asked after closing the note book.
"Sure," she replied.
"Anyway," she goes to her bed, grabs something, and shows it to me. It's her Llama stuffed animal. When I looked at her, she smiled. A lovely one.
"You look like this," she said, and her smile widened to the point where I could see her beautiful full smile. We laugh together, but I'm not sure why she's telling me this because I don't see any resemblance between myself and a Llama.
When I got home, I immediately began reading Yeona's notes. She writes neatly and with good handwriting. Every critical detail is highlighted. I read it until I fell asleep on my study table without realizing it.
***** After a week
YEONA'S POV
We finished the test and, thankfully, survived. At least the majority of us. We groan and stretch to relieve stress.
"At long last, it's done, right?" Yuji said as she stretched her body.
"Yeahh " I stretched my body as well.
Yuji invited me to go shopping for snacks at the store. Someone called my name as we walked down the corridor, laughing and talking. When I turned around, it was Chan.
Yuji said, "Chan Oppa." He approaches us, and Yuji whispers something into my ear.
"How can you reject someone like him? Look at the girls around him, they're staring at him like he's the most beautiful kangaroo," she said.
"Why Kangaroo?" I wondered as I looked at her.
"I don't know either," she replied, and we both laughed.
"Where are you guys going?" Chan questioned, looking at both of us.
"Oh, we're just going to get some snacks," I explained.
"All right, let's go," he said, getting ready to leave.
"Are you coming with us?" Yuji asked.
"Yeah, why?" Chan wanted to know casually.
"Nothing. Okay, let's go," Yuji responded.
We all bought snacks, but we can't eat them because we're all talking and laughing loudly as we walk back to our classrooms. Chan is about to enter his room when he asks us a question.
"Hey, do you want to eat samgyupsal after school as a reward for passing today's exam?" he asked.
"Sure," we said.
"Can I come in?" a voice asked abruptly. We investigate the source of the voice and discover that it is Seo Changbin. I'm not sure why he wants to come with us; we're not particularly close to him. He's a classmate of Chan's, and as far as we know, they don't get along.
"Why would you?" Chan asked sternly.
*****
REFERENCE PHOTO FOR
SEO CHANGBIN
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