bnc | lookism.

11 × out of luck

He'd been keeping himself from clutching too hard the tickets in his hand in which he channeled his nerves into pacing back and forth by the school gate. Unbeknownst to him, eyes followed his every move. Many pairs of eyes, that is.

It's become a habit to some students of J High to wait for Park Daniel to arrive on campus. And there's a good number of students from other schools who shared the morning routine as well. It came as a surprise to them to see the Fashion department student already by the gate. They noticed the agitated state he was in and it was another surprise for them to find out that the slight furrow of his brows and the nervous lip bites he did was probably the cutest and most attractive thing to witness in the morning.

Of course, Daniel didn't noticed any of the ogling he was getting. His thoughts were purely occupied by Chae Eun and how she's going to accept the tickets. Will our fingers brush? It was such an innocent thought but it made him blush and giggle softly that even he himself was taken aback. He then heard a chorus of "aww" that made him look up from his hands. The people that were looking at him were smiling and laughing, probably because of his seemingly unprovoked giggle. He smiled sheepishly, apologizing with a small bow of his head. There was at least one person who dropped straight to the concrete.

A car pulled up in front of the school gate. Daniel was surprised to see Jay emerged from the passenger seat, and even more so when Chae Eun, Jace, and Vasco came out of the backseat. The blonde usually went to school riding his motorcycle—he'd told Daniel that he was rather uncomfortable coming to school by car—and this perplexed him a great deal, also considering how the four of them came to school together.

Jay immediately found Daniel among the thin crowd by the gate. It helped that the guy was taller than most, if not the tallest. But honestly, he'd just been able to pick him easily from any mass of people. It was a flair he was particularly proud of acquiring. He held up a hand and waved at him. Daniel was already looking at them and with the invitation to come over, he strode towards them.

"Hey, guys." Daniel greeted the group. His gaze didn't waste no time in zeroing in on Chae Eun. He remembered the slight panic and worry on Vasco's face just a few hours ago back in the convenience store. Something happened to her last night. She wasn't the type of person who considers smiling as a social reflex but he noticed that she was missing a particular shine about her today. He couldn't quite point out what exactly it was but the absence of it deflated him for some reason. "Are you okay, Chae Eun?"

She wasn't expecting to be called out. Chae Eun's brows furrowed. Why is he asking me if I'm okay? Do I not look okay? The look of genuine worry on Daniel's face further deepen the creases on her forehead. To his side stood Jay and she remembered a piece of conversation they had back on his living room. When she was asking about his dogs, Jay recounted how he got them and Daniel entered the tale. There was an unmistakable affection in his voice as he talk about the then newly transfered boy. As they continue to converse, mostly about the time in school when she was away abroad, Daniel's name always found itself in the center of it all. And if there's something to take away from that talk, it was that for some reason the black haired boy seemingly always attracts trouble. But there's also one thing that stood out for Chae Eun—he's got a big heart to show for despite all of it.

Daniel was looking down at her, still with the concerned look on his eyes. Up close, she can see amber specks adorning his irises. It looked pretty with the sunlight reflecting on it. Right, he was asking me a question. "I'm okay. Why do you ask?"

While she was taking his eyes in, Daniel was openly gawking at her face. His gaze was travelling down from her nose when she spoke and he caught every movement her lips made. His ears immediately ran hot and a blush crept towards his cheeks. "N-nothing! I mean, no reason! I'm asking everybody! Are you okay, Vasco? What about you, Jace? J-Jay, you!"

This caught everyone's attention. Eun Tae, Jace, and Cha Eun shared a confused look while Jay peered at Daniel, equally perplexed.

"I thought I told you to stop scaring him." Jace leaned in to whisper in Chae Eun's ear.

"What? I didn't do anything!"

"Poor guy is spooked." Eun Tae didn't even bother to lower his voice.

If there's ever a good time for the ground to open up and swallow anybody, this would be it. Daniel was really contemplating to make a dash for it when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Jay's. "What are you doing here?", his look seemed to ask.

His fingers instinctively fidgeted at the tickets. "I wanted to give Chae Eun something."

"Me?" Chae Eun thought deep for what he could possibly have for her and came up with nothing.

Daniel had to force his hands to extend towards her. "It's the tickets Daniel mentioned to you. The book signing."

Chae Eun remembered being excited and actually looking forward to the signing but with the events that transpired last night she had completely forgotten about it. She made a move to accept the tickets but then stopped mid-reach. "When's the signing?"

"Oh! It's uh—it's this saturday."

She and her mother didn't even had a stable place to stay at and so she couldn't see herself having a day out any time soon. Leeching off other people to get by day by day doesn't seem like an ideal life for her. And she didn't want to go out, not unless everything's been resolved and that she's certain her mother was okay. But it felt bad to cancel on Daniel. She looked up at him and saw an enthusiastic glint in his eyes, making it all the more harder for her to decline his invitation.

It must've been an awkward full minute before Eun Tae decided to answer for Chae Eun. He had been observing her and knew what her thought process was as she contemplated the situation. He knew her mother always comes first to her.

Something must've changed with the way she saw Daniel now—she would've normally flat out turn anyone down, and for no special reason that is. But it was good that she's warming up to the guy, Eun Tae wanted them to be friends with each other. And now to deal with the matter on hand.

Eun Tae clamped a hand down Chae Eun's shoulder and then spoke to Daniel. "She has plans with me that day. Little Daniel didn't mention the date last time. We would've picked another day."

His tone made it clear that there was no room for compromise. Daniel's smile turned upside down, his excitement and nervousness coming to a sudden drop. Between him and Vasco, it was clear who was Chae Eun's priority. Guess it was just unlucky for him where the date of signing fell. He can't even hide the disappointment in his face fast enough because Jay was already consoling him with a hand patting his back.

Jace nudged Chae Eun. "Look, you've made him sad. When are you going to stop picking on him?"

"Hey! I—" She can't even think of a rebuttal because even she can acknowledge he was disappointed at best and that she had cause that. And although she was thankful for Eun Tae thinking fast and talking faster, he could've said something less demanding.

"Don't worry, she will make it up to you some other time." Eun Tae said this matter-of-factly that Chae Eun wondered if the guy would be making all of her decisions and voicing out her thoughts from now own. She raised an accusatory brow at him but he only shrugged.

It was his fault for expecting too much. Nothing changed when it comes to his affinity with misfortune. "No, it's fine. There's no need." Daniel forced himself to smile, not wanting to cause any uneasiness to the group. But when he looked at Chae Eun, he willed his smile to reach his eyes. She looked kind of uncomfortable from the attention from the get-go and he felt bad for putting her on the spot. "Chae Eun, it's okay. No worries." He even threw in a laugh to lighten up the mood. He slipped off his backpack and stuffed the tickets inside and then turned to the four. "Let's walk together to class, guys."