Hey guys, I'm back. I'm sorry I couldn't post last week. I'm back now. So, happy reading!
Previously,
She was ready to sleep after taking a shower. She received a call then...
The number was unknown. She was doubtful if it was the same threatening dude again. "Not this again, please..." She said and slid her finger through the answering button.
"Hello..?" She asked.
"Hi! It's me, Eun Hyuk." It was Eun Hyuk on the phone.
"*relievedly sighs* Oh, it's you."
"Why?"
"No it's nothing. How did you get my number?" She asked.
"Oh, I asked my sister."
"Ok..why did you call me though?"
"I wanted to tell you that I got back home."
"You could've just texted me."
"Ummm..anyways, have a good night."
"Yeah, you too, I had fun today. Bye." She hung up the call.
"Sighhh, I got really scared. I should go sleep now."
;-;-;-;-;
The next morning,
She was all ready and was going downstairs. She stopped in front of Kyung Ae's house.
She thought : "Is that guy okay? He should be. It was just a normal fever. But, that doesn't make me forget that he took a selfie when I was cooking AND I thought he was sleeping! I need an explanation-"
"What are you thinking about?"
"Oh my, That startled me! Who..oh..sunbae."
"Good morning. Did I startle you?"
"Well, I just didn't expect you would be here already. Let's go." She said.
They started leaving.
"You still didn't answer my question." He said.
"Your question? Did you ask something?" She asked confused.
"Wow, you should've been deep in thought then."
"I'm sorry. What did you ask though?"
"What were you thinking about?"
"Oh, that..just."
"Just? I don't think it's a 'just'. You were thinking about it so much."
"Was I? Forget it. Sunbae, do you know any other place where I can work part time?"
"Why? You're quitting this part time?!"
"Uhh..well...it's not like I am going to quit. But I might...?"
"You're confusing me."
"The store isn't so active. There are barely some customers. I don't think the pay will sustain me. You're from a rich family, that's a different thing. But my situation is not like yours." She said and thought: "I can't just work in the same place where I won't get enough pay to just look at the guy I like. I have to get some money to live on my own."
"But..you are the only company I have when I go to the store." He put on a sad face.
She thought: "He looks genuinely....sad."
"I-I don't know if I really would quit. As long as I find a place with a better pay, I won't quit. Can you just notify me if there are any places I can work in? I'll search from my side too, so that it won't be a burden for you."
"Fine...I'll tell you if I know any."
"Thank you sunbae!"
He smiled.
;-;-;-;-;
They reached the school. She went to the garden as usual and went back to class.
She was zoning out looking outside the window.
"Good morning, Bo Young!" Ji Ae entered the class.
Bo Young looked at her and smiled.
"What's with that reaction?" She asked.
"Ohh..I was zoning out so.. How is your dad?"
"He is doing fine..I visited him yesterday too."
"That's good to hear."
"And I wanted to ask-!" Someone burst opened the door.
"Yu Ah?"
"Hi!"
"Bo Young! I need an-.." Yu Ah realised that she was being weird and loud.
"*clears throat* Bo Young, follow me." Yu Ah said and left the class.
"Okay..?" She said and followed her. Ji Ae was confused too.
;-;-;-;Outside;-;-;-;
Yu Ah was standing outside.
"What is it?" Ji Ae asked.
"Come here." Yu Ah said having her phone on the hand. Ji Ae looked at Bo Young once and went to her. Yu Ah passed the phone to her and showed an image while whispering something to her. Ji Ae gasped.
"What is it? Let me see it too." Bo Young tried to peek. The two turned their heads like two cats.
"You..we need an explanation." Ji Ae asked.
"You guys should tell me what's going on first." She said.
"Ok...Is this you?" Yu Ah asked showing the selfie Yeon Joon took.
"Ummm..yeah." She said.
Ji Ae's jaw dropped while Yu Ah had a dramatic reaction.
"Wha-Why-yo-"
"Woah, woah, I did tell you guys yesterday, didn't I?"
"You said what?"
"I told you guys how I knew he was sick."
"But that doesn't explain what you were doing in his aunt's kitchen!"
"Well..his aunt and uncle weren't at home. Do you want me to leave sick person alone and leave the place like nothing happened? I can never do that!" She said.
"Okay..so what did you do?"
"What do you mean what did I do? I did the first aid. I tried to reduce his temperature."
"Ok..but you should've called his aunt and uncle, why didn't you do that?"
"They went to the doctor for his uncle. His uncle has to be treated. But I did call them after he woke up. They were on their way to home, so it was easy."
"Ok then...about this photo? You can cook? And you did it for him?"
"It reminds me of my mom when somebody is sick, I always take care of people who are sick cooking for them and stuff."
"But...this photo?"
"I know right! I thought he was sleeping! Now! I, want an explanation from him! He never asked my permission! Where is he?!"
"He did it without your permission?"
"Yeah!"
"Wow..I never knew all this was happening."
Ha Sang, Seong Seop and Yeong Hyun entered the scene.
"What's up?" Seong Seop asked.
"Ceiling." Bo Young said.
"Wow." Seong Seop said.
"That looks like Yeon Joon! *gasps* Yu Ah, are you cheating on your boyfriend?" Yeong Hyun asked after getting a glance of Yu Ah 's screen.
"As if."
"Then, why is his photo in your hand?" Yeong Hyun asked.
"Oh..not this again." Bo Young sighed.
"Why? What's happening?" Ha Sang asked.
"We just finished talking about this. You do know that I was in his house, don't you? It's about that." Bo Young said.
"Oh, yeah. But you were there even before me. How-?" He was interrupted by the teachers alerting them to get inside the classes.
"Let's go."
"Ji Ae! Are you still upset with me?" Yeong Hyun didn't let his chance fly away.
JiAe ignored him. Bo Young felt a little bit guilty. She thought : "I feel guilty. Ji Ae put me before him and it is right for him to feel upset about it. I didn't open up to them too. But he was wrong for not talking to her for years. I should tell Ji Ae to talk to him soon."
;-;-;-;-;-;-;
"How's the preparation going on for you guys?" Bo Young asked as she was chewing on her rice. They were eating their lunch.
"Don't even start. It's so tiring." Yu Ah sighed. Ji Ae agreed.
"I hate this. Why are they keeping exams for something useless?" Ji Ae asked.
"I know. But I'm still curious about why they keep saying that 'it' has to happen. But I just can't do all these problems." Ji Ae said.
"I can help you guys though." Bo Young said.
"Can you?!" They asked.
"Yeah..?"
"Great! So..Umm..when?"
"I don't know..I'm free except for the time I work in part time."
"That's totally okay for me! What about you Ji Ae?"
"Do you have to ask me? Heck yeah!"
"Ok...where?"
"How about your house?" Yu Ah asked.
Bo Young thought: "NO! If they come to my house, they'll ask where my parents are at and I am definitely not ready to talk about it." But however her mouth said otherwise.
"S-sure..." She thought : "I wish I could beat myself now."
"We are going to ace the exams!"
"Wait, you guys are going to come only for maths, right?"
"Yeah. But if we can't figure out the next exams, we might have to again."
"Okay."
"We are going to hangout in one of our places for the first time! I'm so excited!" Ji Ae was hyped. Bo Young smiled widely. They continued eating. From afar Bo Young could sense stares poking her, more like a glare. She turned around feeling uneasy, and found it was Yeong Hyun who was throwing glares at her. She was confused on why he was glaring at her.
She then realised the reason: "Is he jealous that Ji Ae is all jovial being with me? From his look, he IS jealous, does that mean he has romantic feelings for her or just possessive?" Little did she realise, that in return, involuntarily, she was glaring at him. It was just her normal resting face, that looked intimidating. He immediately turned his look to his food, taken aback. Ha Sang beside him let out a chuckle. Seong Seop knowing the three girls were sitting across their table, walked to them with his plate. The other two guys followed him too.
"Why are they coming here?" Yu Ah asked.
"Probably, Yeong Hyun wanted to join." Ji Ae said.
"I don't think so, it was Seong Seop who first got up to come here." Bo Young said.
"You really have only Yeong Hyun in your mind, don't you?"
"If you like him so much, then why don't you talk to him? Talk to him, he looks like an angry but sad puppy. Angry on me but sad cause you won't talk to him. Just do it." Bo Young convinced her. But Ji Ae was stubborn this time. She was going to play the long game or not.
"Here they are." Yu Ah said.
"Hey!" Seong Seop said as he placed his plate on the table. Ha Sang and Yeong Hyun placed their plates and sat down. The girls were already sitting side by side. The guys now sat opposite to them.
"Why did you decide to come halfway through your lunch? You should've just come later." Yu Ah asked.
"It's my wish. I didn't see you all in the first place when we got our lunch."
"Whatever."
Bo Young let out a chuckle before taking a bite. She met eyes with Ha Sang, who was just opposite to her, after taking a bite. She put on a smile. He returned it.
"*clears throat* Ji Ae," Yeong Hyun started. Refusing to hear him, she got up.
"I'm leaving first." She said after completing the last bit.
"Ji Ae, hear me out." He followed her, though he didn't complete his food.
"Hey, you didn't even finish half of the food!" Seong Seop was worried about his friend.
Hearing this, Ji Ae stopped. "Yu Ah, don't leave without completing your food. It's for EVERYONE." She said and started leaving.
"You heard that? Come sit down and eat." Bo Young said.
"But-"
"You did hear her, didn't you? Now, shut up and eat." Bo Young said again. He sat down and continued eating. "You did a really big mistake. I actually wanted to beat you up." Yu Ah added.
"We would've joined you." Ha Sang added. Seong Seop nodded.
"It was just my instinct. She wouldn't tell me first and wouldn't even fill me up with things. I felt like we were going apart." He said.
"She didn't say only that. You yourself know how she tells you things first."
"I know! That's what upset me! She didn't tell me that her dad was sick to me at all! She wouldn't tell me and–" He was interrupted by a notification from his phone. His face lit up when he looked at the name.
"Look at your face. It's so bright now." Seong Seop said as if he knew who it was. Yeong Hyun hurriedly finished his food.
"Slow down, you might choke."
"I'm leaving!" Yeong Hyun left.
"Look at him being all smiley and expectant. Dummy." Seong Seop shook his head while sheepishly smiling at his friend.
"Why? Who was the message from?" Yu Ah was curious.
"Is isn't it obvious?" Ha Sang asked.
"Then..Ji Ae..?" Bo Young asked.
"Of course." Seong Seop agreed.
Bo Young and Yu Ah looked at each other in amusement.
"Don't tell me Yeong Hyun...likes Ji Ae?" Yu Ah directed the question. Bo Young's eyes were shaking being flustered by Yu Ah's direct question.
"I thought you were pretty good at these things. Isn't it obvious?" Seong Seop said.
"Why?" Ha Sang asked.
"It's nothing. But one thing is clear, these are idiots." Bo Young answered.
The two boys were confused. The girls giggled at each other.
;-;-;-;-;-;-
Bo Young was in the study lounge waiting for Ha Sang. He was late, especially today, having maths exam the next day.
"What's he doing? He is running late. It's past 10 minutes now." She said to herself. She didn't know what to do and decided to take a nap. She looked around to check if there were any teachers. There was no one.
"You gotta seize the opportunity. Let's go to dreamland." She said and she laid her head on the table.
A few minutes went by. She was woken up by paper crinkling sounds beside her. She jerked being scared and looked at. He was there finally.
"You finally woke up."
"What? When did you come here?" She sounded sleepy.
"A few minutes back."
"You should've woke me up."
"You were so immersed in your dreamland, that I didn't want to wake you up."
"Were you doing all these by yourself?"
"Yeah..I've completed 5 of it."
"Wow..that's quite an accomplishment. But that doesn't answer why you were late. Why were you late?" She asked.
"I thought you weren't going to ask. Haha.." He laughed it off.
"Haha. Funny. Why. Were. You. Late?"
"I was at the cafeteria. Buying chocolate milk."
"Seriously? Is chocolate milk more important than this?"
"Of cour- N-no. But I bought for you." He said the last sentence a bit inaudibly. Bo Young did catch that.
"For me? Why?"
"Well..just to offer it as a reward for helping me."
"*sighs* I really tired of this game played by you guys."
"Game?"
"Each one of you is giving me something as a 'token of gratitude' and it's just burdening and unnecessary. You all can just thank me in words, why give something?" She was agitated.
"W-woah. Fine, if you don't want it, then I'll have it."
"Woah there, I didn't say I didn't want it. Where is it? Give it to me." She stretched her palm out asking him to give.
He chuckled and handed it to her
She hurriedly took a sip as if she was low on sugar. She took a sip and left out sound of satisfaction.
"When did you get back home yesterday? Sorry, I didn't text you as I slept in." She asked after taking the first sip.
"Hmm..pretty late though. I went to check on my mom again. Had a talk with her as she was free. Later, went to my dad's office and gave him a late night coffee."
"Coffee? Late at night?"
"He works late most of the time. Till dawn." He said as he was reading the question on the model paper.
"That's so tiring." She said and went silent as he was fully focusing on his problems.
She thought: "He is a really good son, he's got loving parents too. I didn't think he had this side of him. Anyways, I should work on the sums too." She started working on her problems.
Chapter 40 end.
So,thats it for today, hope you all are safe and healthy. See you guys in the next chapter! Byeee!