nostalgia, four.
❛ she was familiar-looking ❜
Yang Jungwon walked into school looking like he always did, with an unreadable expression. Usually he was just lost in thought, but this time he was trying to forget. He wanted to stop his mind from going back to thinking about what happened on the bus.
He'd gotten up oblivious of the day ahead. He'd boarded the bus and instinctively walked towards his usual seat, only to find someone already sitting there. He swore time stopped for a good minute. Everything in him was telling him to keep walking. That was the now-or-never moment most people spent their first seventeen years waiting for. And now he knew why.
The first thing he noticed about her was her expression after seeing him. Soft bangs fell right above her downturned eyes which grew wide as saucers, lips parted slightly in shock. She was familiar-looking. Then the bus jolted forward. He saw her hit her head on the metal pole and get her earphone wire stuck on some kid's backpack. Turned out she was a klutz too.
This wasn't supposed to happen in the first place. He thought he'd made sure of that yesterday night. Clearly, the universe was working against him.
And the worst part was, he knew. He knew full well that she was his soul- ah, he couldn't even say it. He might've just thrown up then and there.
"Jungwon!" someone called, interrupting his train of thought. "Are you coming or what?"
He looked around in confusion, before spotting the Sanheoli High School van parked by the side of the road. Heeseung was leaning out the passenger seat window, an alarmed expression on his face.
"Oh, shit." Jungwon broke out into a sprint towards the vehicle. He was about to miss volunteering activity. Again. The door was opened for him by Sunoo, and he swung his backpack in first before jumping aboard. The van started to move right as he was seated.
"Dude, we called your name like five times before you noticed." Heeseung looked over his shoulder. "Didn't get enough sleep last night?"
"Yeah," Jungwon replied. "Something like that."
He leaned his head on the backseat and closed his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind. He had to get it together.
Soon they were on the other side of the island, where Haean High School was located. The three-story building looked similar to theirs, excluding perhaps the atmosphere. He'd never seen it, but the beach was supposedly a few miles away, while Sanheoli was built right by the mountainside. Jungwon had been to Haean a couple times for events, but never actually tried to make friends like Sunoo did.
After getting off the van and heading inside the school itself, Jungwon decided to leave his thoughts at the door. He was supposed to put his best foot forward and be his happy, easygoing self at things like these. He was sophomore representative after all.
Besides, all he had to was avoid her in the meantime. Should be easy enough.
Following Heeseung and Sunoo into the gym, where students were already at work, he was introduced to Choi Beomgyu, Haean's student body president.
"You can help out wherever you want to," Beomgyu told them. "We're hanging decorations up over here, there are people carrying chairs in over there, and- oh! And there are some painting by the stage."
They all turned to the direction Beomgyu pointed at, where several students were working on signs and posters. Sunoo's eyes seemed to light up as he spotted someone.
"Jungwon, I have to introduce you to my friend!" Sunoo motioned for the boy to follow him.
As they edged closer, Jungwon set his eyes on the girl he was being led to. She was seated cross-legged, leaning over a banner as her right hand steadily held a paintbrush. She was facing away from them, but the back of her head seemed strangely familiar. She turned to the side, and he felt stupid for not working it out earlier. The girl on the bus was wearing the Haean high school uniform.
Sunoo started walking towards her, but Jungwon froze. He looked around, trying to find something to occupy himself with. Rushing towards a random ladder, he pretended to support it with his two hands.
He looked back and watched as Sunoo greeted the girl happily, before growing confused as he checked behind him. He seemed to be looking for him, but shrugged when no one was there. Jungwon let out a sigh of relief.
"Hi?" The boy at the top of the ladder stared down at him in confusion.
"Oh uh- hi," Jungwon replied, embarrassed.
"Who are you?"
"Yang Jungwon, from Sanheoli. I'm the sophomore representative."
"Oh okay," the boy said. "I'm Huening Kai, Haean's secretary."
Jungwon nodded in understanding as Kai went back to painting hanging decorations. He must've zoned out for a few minutes, as the next thing he knew, he was being called.
"Yah, Yang Jungwon," Kai spoke. "Could you pass me the black paint?"
Jungwon checked around in confusion. "Where is it?"
"Over there, see that girl working on the banner? Just go up to her and ask," Kai instructed, pointing directly at her.
'You've got to be kidding me,' Jungwon thought, realizing who he was referring to.
"Don't be shy, she's actually really nice! Look." Kai suddenly turned to her and shouted, "Yebin-ssi!"
"Yeah?" the girl answered, eyes still trained on her task.
"Could you pass the black paint to Jungwon?"
"Sure!" She stood up, grabbing the paint can he asked for. "Who's Jungwon?"
Kai pointed to the boy standing at the bottom of the ladder, and Yebin swore her heart dropped to her stomach. Unfortunately, so did the paint can as it slipped through her grip. Kai shrieked as black paint began pouring to the floor, but Yebin tipped it upright before any more could be spilled.
"I'm doomed," Yebin breathed out. She rushed over to Jungwon, hesitating before she handed the can to him and rushed back to the black stain on the ground. She then grabbed a spare rag and crouched down, trying to scrub the paint off the floor. She was also trying to ignore the fact that she'd just seen him for the second time today.
She couldn't shake the thought, and wound up looking over her shoulder to see him. He was gone.
"Oh my god, the floor." A voice gasped, and Yebin looked up to see two girls with alarmed looks on their faces. It was Taeri and Micha, her classmates who looked like supermodels with their tall heights and long hair. They were popular, but contrary to popular belief they were pretty kind people.
Yebin would sit with them at lunch, as the person she considered her best friend was two years older than her and didn't even go to her school. Taeri and Micha were good company, and she'd grown close to them over the past years.
"We'll help you!" Taeri exclaimed as she and Micha grabbed rags of their own, dipping them into the bucket of dishwashing liquid before crouching down next to their friend. Yebin thanked them, but after a few moments she couldn't keep in her curiosity.
"Hey, do you guys know anyone named Jungwon?"
Taeri and Micha exchanged confused glances, before shaking their heads.
"Do you know his last name?" Taeri pulled out her phone, her eyes glued to the screen. "Wait, never mind. I think I found him.
"Yang Jungwon from Sanheoli, he's in our year." She flipped her phone around, showing Yebin a social media profile. It was him.
"How did you-"
"And follow." Taeri clicked her screen with a grin. "He's really cute. Do you like him?"
"No, I-" Yebin tried to find the right words. "I don't even know him."
"Well if you don't like him then maybe I will," Micha joked as the three friends fell into light laughter. "Why are you asking about him anyway?"
Yebin shook her head, her smile slowly fading. She looked down at the floor, going back to scrubbing the paint off. "Nothing. I was just curious.""