chewing gumㅡ재민

07

        “you like this place, don't you?”

jaemin opened his eyes and sat up from his lying position when he heard nari spoke. his was mentally exhausted that's why he was dramatically feeling the air near the soccer field. he barely had time to rest since it was exams week in their department.

“coffee?” she handed him a cup of iced americano.

jaemin smiled at her as he sipped his beloved coffee. “you're surprisingly not giving me some strawberry today—ya, is this only with two shots?”

“hey ungrateful child, your normal 8 shots will kill you.”

“you sound more like the medicine student here, not me,” jaemin scoffed, teasing nari but they both know he's thankful for the coffee as he was tired from his exams.

“sure, should i become the surgeon and you, the engineer?”

“no, thanks. i hate math.”

they both laughed, agreeing that mathematics really suck. they said renjun likes math at the same time which made jaemin smirk.

“you like him, don't you?”

to his surprise, nari didn't even deny it. “am i that obvious?”

“no, but i saw how you looked at him the other day. you looked whipped. do you want him to know?”

“a little. but i'm not ready to tell him yet,” nari fiddled with her fingers whilst biting her lip.

jaemin chuckled, “don't worry, renjun's dense.”

“he really is! he even ships us!”

“i don't mind though.”

jaemin paused when he realize what he said to nari. he decided to change the topic and it became a heated argument: which is better, strawberry or coffee? they were spitting what they call facts when nari paused for a while to smile and admire jaemin's facial features, realizing something, making the boy flustered about the sudden stare.

“what's wrong?” jaemin mentally slapped himself when he stuttered.

nari beamed wider, “you have no bruises today.”

“it's exams week, i was busy studying. and i don't have bruises everyday!”

“you're a trouble magnet.”

jaemin opened his mouth to say something but closed it again after the hesitation.

nari looked at him. “can i ask... why you're always bruised?” she carefully asked. “but it's okay if you don't want—”

“i actually do this for the person i admire. she always stands up for the weak. she always protects me. since i've went to college, i've met different kinds of people, most of them are disgusting. and since she's not here with me anymore, i swore to protect myself and others, as much as i could,” jaemin's eyes were glossy, as if tears were forming. he was gulping multiple times in a row, he's making sure that he's not going to cry. “that's why i got into a lot of fights. one time i saw a senior forcing my blockmate to drink, so i kinda kicked his ass and i guess that's when it started?”

nari didn't know how to react. she kinda regretted asking jaemin about this because he looked like he's having a hard time controlling his feelings not but at the same time, she was glad because she could finally understand jaemin.

“i have so many bad habits, right?”

nari smiled. “i don't really mind you smoking, though. even drinking coffee with 8 shots. but as a concerned friend, regulate your intake please,” her head was suddenly hung low. “i'm sorry if i'm acting up too much.”

“it's fine. i understand you where you're coming from.”

they stared at each other with comfortable silence enveloping the both of them. jaemin was about to speak when his phone rang. he fished the phone out of his pocket, revealing the caller to be jeno. he was confused as to why jeno called him but soon realized that he promised jisung to watch his dance practice with jeno.

with an apologetic smile, jaemin stood up. “sorry, i have to go.”

nari also stood up and dusted off her pants. she smiled at jaemin as he bid goodbye. nari turned around to walk away from jaemin when she felt a hand tapping her shoulders.

he handed her strawberry candies which made nari confused. “thank you for being my friend,” he smiled before he ran away.