"Jaemin is okay now, he's just drunk" Hyunjin said and gave me a towel "I think you need to take a bath, you also got wet in the rain. You might get sick"
"Uh thank you, are you sure he's okay?" I asked while looking at Jaemin's face. He's now sleeping peacefully
"Yeah, don't worry about him. I'll take care of him" Hyunjin said
I looked back once more to see Jaemin's face before I left the clinic
Hyunjin saw us right after Jaemin fell asleep on my shoulder. He immediately helped me to bring Jaemin in the school's clinic. He also called Jaemin's parents to pick Jaemin here in the school
I am now here in the school's cafeteria and watching the rain when Jaemin's face suddenly flashed on my mind. He's good looking but that's not what caught my attention. It's his eyes that caught my attention. His eyes were full of pain and it looks like he's keeping it for too long
I knew it because I used to have that kind of eyes before when I was young
I smiled unconsciously when I remembered the first time that I met him. He's playing piano when I first met him and now that we met again, he's playing piano again with the same song that he played when we first met
That song that he played that gives me comfort when I needed it the most. That song that he played that told me that 'I can cry' that 'It's okay' and that 'I can start again'. It's just a piano piece with no lyrics but gave me a lot of messages that I wanted to hear
I want to thank him someday for playing that piano piece that time
I want to thank him someday for comforting me that time
And most importantly, I want to play that piano piece someday
"So you didn't go to our first class just to watch the rain?"
I almost cursed when Haechan suddenly talks behind me
"You surprised me for Pete's sake!" I said and held my chest
"What happened to you? Don't tell me you played in the rain?" he said and laughed so I immediately cursed him
"Something just happened earlier because I got lost here in the campus. I didn't expect this campus to be this big" I said and used the towel that Hyunjin gave me to dry my wet hair
"Come with me. I have my P.E. uniform in my locker. You can use that" he said so I followed him to the boy's locker room
I just watched him until he opened his locker. I accidentally saw a box of necklace inside his locker. My brows furrowed when I saw what's written on it
'For Ji Eun'
"Here. I think this fits you" he said and gave me his P.E. uniform. I immediately looked away and accepted his P.E. uniform
"Thank you. I'll just give it back to you tomorrow" I smiled awkwardly before I left
What the hell did I just saw?
I clearly saw Ji Eun's name on that box
A memory of me secretly watching Haechan on Ji Eun's room suddenly flashed on my mind. I clearly saw Haechan kissing Ji Eun's forehead that time. But what does it mean?
Does he like Ji Eun? Or am I just overreacting?
But even if he likes her or not, it's none of my business anymore so I will just probably forget about this again
After I get changed I immediately go to my second class which is a Science class together with Haechan. He was supposed to be my senior because he's a year older than me but we're on the same class because Mrs. Lee pulled some strings for me to be on the same year level as Haechan and the rest
"Introduce yourself newbie" the professor said so I have no choice but to stand infront and introduce myself
"I'm Ryujin" I simply said
The professor looks so disappointed about my brief introduction but he still managed to smile at me
"That's all? Don't you want to share something about your life?" he asked calmly
"I don't think I have anything to share" I said with a poker face which makes the professor laugh
"Okay, I understand. You may now sit"
Haechan offered me the seat beside him but I just ignored him and chose to sit on the last row near the window where a beautiful lady was waving at me
"Hi Ryujin! I'm Heejin" she said with a bright smile
"K" I shortly said and immediately lean on my desk to sleep. I didn't get enough sleep so I need to recharge or else, my whole day will be ruined
And also, I feel like I will get sick at any moment. My head is aching so bad since earlier, I'm just enduring it
I slept well as well as I wanted but our professor ruined it
"Ms. Shin Ryujin!"
I woke up lazily and slowly stood up
"Did you understand the lesson?" he asked madly
"I just woke up so, no" I answered and yawned. I secretly touched my forehead and realized that I have a fever. I also have a cold
What a really nice day
"Who told you that you can sleep in my class? Stand there and don't sit down until you've answered my question" he strictly said
"It looks like you're doing great on your first day" Yeji said sarcastically but I just ignored her
I looked at the white board and read what was written there
So they're still in the Gas Law?
The professor immediately erased the writings on the board when he caught me looking at it
Tss. As if the answer to his questions was there
"What is Ideal Gas Law?"
I pretended that I'm thinking of the answer even though I already know it because I don't want to look arrogant
"The ideal gas law, also called the general gas equation, is the equation of state of a hypothetical ideal gas. It is a good approximation of the behavior of many gases under many conditions, although it has several limitations" I sneezed right after I answered his question
They all looked at me in disbelief after I answered his question but the professor was not contented
"What are the 5 gas laws?"
"Boyle's Law, Charle's Law, Gay-Lussac's Law, Avogadro's Law" I answered and was about to sit when he asked another question
"What is Avogadro's Law?"
"Avogadro's law, a statement that under the same conditions of temperature and pressure, equal volumes of different gases contain an equal number of molecules. This empirical relation can be derived from the kinetic theory of gases under the assumption of a perfect (ideal) gas" I answered and immediately sat down
They looked at me in disbelief after I answered his question
Our professor was supposed to ask more questions when the bell rang. It's finally our break time. After our professor left, my classmates immediately surrounded me
"Daebak! You look like Ji Eun"
"You gave me goosebumps the moment you entered the room earlier "
"You're smart like Ji Eun too"
"You're so pretty like Ji Eun"
"But Ji Eun is prettier than her"
"No doubt. Ji Eun is above all elegance"
I was about to leave when my seatmate suddenly held my wrist. I was about to get mad at her when I saw her bright smile
"Uhm, which family do you belong to?" Heejin asked with her beautiful smile
She's so pretty
"U-Uh I don't----"
"She belongs to our family" Haechan answered for me. Chaeryeong was beside him and waving at me
"She's a Lee?" Heejin asked in disbelief
"Not yet, but she will be soon" Haechan smiled at her
Everyone started gossiping after what Haechan said
"I'm glad to hear that" Heejin whisphered to herself but I heard it
"Let's go to my favorite restaurant. My treat!" Chaeryeong excitedly said and grabbed me and Heejin outside when Sunwoo suddenly came
"Ryujin-ah let's eat together, my treat" he said but Chaeryeong immediately hid me behind her
"I already invited her to eat with us, go and asked Haechan to eat with you instead" Chaeryeong was about to drag me again but I avoided her hand
"U-Uh let's eat together next time, I have something to tell to Sunwoo"
I have to confirm something
We're now here at a luxury restaurant near Dream High Academy. I'm amazed that they're still allowed to eat outside during break time even though they already have their own cafeteria. I'm also amazed at how luxury the restaurants here
"What do you want to order?" Sunwoo asked
"Steak and cookies and cream ice-cream"
After he ordered for us I immediately held his hand. He looks so shocked because of what I did but I just ignored him. I tried to feel my heart but it wasn't beating so fast
"R-Ryujin-ah"
"Sunwoo-yah, I know it's weird to ask but can you hold my hand?" I asked
"H-Huh? A-Are you sure?" he's doubting because he knows that I hate being touched
"Mm. I'm sure"
He slowly held my hand and interwined our fingers. I tried to feel my heart once again but it's still not beating so fast
"What's happening?" I whisphered to myself
My heart used to beat very fast whenever Sunwoo is holding my hand before but I didn't feel anything now
Was it because of Jaemin?
Did I really fell in love with him in a very short span of time?
Is this what they call 'love at first sight'?
No way! Maybe I'm just mesmerized by his looks
"What's the problem, Ryu?"
"Hug me, Sunwoo-yah" I desperately asked
"H-Huh?"
"Just do it, I need to confirm something"
Even though he's confused he still stood up and came closer to me to hug me. His hug was gentle at first but it became tighter as the time goes by
His hug felt so warm but still,
I don't feel anything
My heart wasn't beating so fast the same way it beats for him before
"You can let me go now" I said when I realized that he's already hugging me for too long
"I-I'm sorry"
Our orders arrived after that so we started to eat. Sunwoo was quiet the whole time we're eating and it's quite new to me because he always start a conversation about something that I can relate
I'm peacefully drinking my coke when Mr. Na suddenly entered the restaurant together with Mr. Na, Lia, Yuna and Jaemin. I immediately told Sunwoo to hide
"Mr. Na and his family are here" I whisphered to him under the table and he also started panicking
We need to get out of here as soon as possible. I don't want them to think that Sunwoo is cheating on Lia with me
I found hope when I saw a fire exit near us but I suddenly felt that I need to go to the restroom
"Get out of here using the fire exit" I said and pointed out the fire exit "I'll follow you, I just need to go to the restroom"
"I'll wait for you outside" he said and left
I immediately stood up and run into the restroom. I felt relieved after I turned to the hallway where the restroom is located
What are they doing here?
I was about to enter the girl's restroom when Jaemin suddenly came out of the boy's restroom. My heart started beating so fast when our eyes met
I want to stare at his face longer but I really need to go to the restroom now
I immediately entered the girls restroom and entered the cubicle to pee. My heart was still beating so fast
After that I carefully go outside and checked if he's still there. I felt relieved because he was no longer there
"You're Ryujin, right?" I almost cursed when someone spoke behind me. I slowly turned around and realized that it's Jaemin
He's staring at me with his poker face. He looks so okay now
"I have to go" I was about to leave when he suddenly grabbed me inside the girl's restroom and locked the door. He's now cornering me using his arms. I want to get out of his arms but I can't move because of how close his face was to mine
My brows furrowed when I noticed a bruise on his lips. It's not there earlier
Did he got into a fight?
"What's your relationship with Sunwoo?" he asked seriously
I froze up on my position when he asked that. This is the first time that I felt fear
He saw us
"Friends. We're friends" I simply said but it looks like he doesn't believe what I said
"Friends? Are you sure?" he asked "Or you're flirting with him, am I right?" he started to laugh sarcastically
My brows furrowed when I heard that. I feel like I lost all my admiration for him when he said that
"Am I wrong? I saw him---"
I didn't let him finish what he was going to say. I immediately gave him a punch and kicked him. He fell on the floor and held the part of his face that I punched
He glared at me with anger
"You're a trash like your dad. It's easy for you to judge someone without even trying to know the truth" I said with a poker face and left him there
I'm really disappointed to him. I didn't expect him to be like this. I thought he's different from his dad, but I'm wrong. I expected too much about him
But I'm worried about him at the same time. I punched him and kicked him because of anger. I shouldn't have done that
====================================
After that incident I decided to go back to the school together with Sunwoo. He noticed that something happened that's why he just remained silent and didn't bothered to ask questions
"Did something happened? You're quiet since earlier" Haechan asked
"I'm always like this" I lied
We're now heading to the parking lot of the school together with Chaeryeong, Sunwoo, and some of the members of elite families. Their face is familiar to me but I don't know their names
"Noona!" Haruto suddenly came. He's still wearing his school uniform. It looks like he just finished his class
"Annyeong" I smiled at him even though I'm not in the mood since earlier because of the incident with Jaemin
"How's your first day, Noona?" he asked
"It's great" I lied
"I'm glad to hear that"
"Where's Younghoon, by the way?" I asked and looked around. I haven't seen him since yesterday
"You missed me?" Younghoon suddenly spoke behind me. I immediately gave him a death glare
I was about to ask where Taehyung is when he also suddenly came together with Jaemin. Our eyes met. My heart started to race once again so I immediately broke our eye contact
"Oh Jaemin-hyung, come here! I'm going to introduce you to Noona" I was about to escape when Haruto suddenly held my hand and dragged me closer to Jaemin's direction
He's now infront of me and I can clearly see the bruises on his face. He only has one bruise earlier but it became two because of my punch. I really felt bad for him but I can't say sorry to him because he's the one who triggered me to do that to him
"Jaemin-hyung, she's the girl that I'm talking about. She looks exactly like Ji Eun-noona but they're both completely different especially on their personality. I'm sure that you two will get along really well"
Jaemin and I were just staring at each other the whole time Haruto was saying that. We're having a staring competition and I can tell that he's mad at me because of what I did earlier but I don't care about that because I'm worrying about my heart
It's beating so fast even though I'm just staring at him
His face have bruises but he's still handsome
"I'm Na Jaemin, nice to meet you Ryujin" he offered his hand to me but I'm hesitating whether I should accept it or not
I don't know why he's pretending that we didn't had an argument earlier
"Nice to meet you too" I accepted his hand offer. His hand felt so warm and soft at the same time. I suddenly felt embarrassed because I'm sure that my hand is rough
I immediately let go of his hand after that and looked away
"Ryujin-ah, we have to go"
I'm glad that Haechan came to call me. He held my wrist and grabbed me when Jaemin suddenly spoke
"They said that she looks exactly like Ji Eun. What's your opinion about that Haechan-ah?"
Haechan stopped walking. I clearly saw how Jaemin smirked when he saw Haechan's reaction
"It's probably awkward for you to have someone who looks exactly like Ji Eun in your family" Jaemin started to laugh
Haechan suddenly held my wrist tighter. I can tell that he's mad even though I can't see his face
What the hell is going on?
"Why would it be awkward for Haechan-hyung? I don't understand" Haruto asked innocently
"Why don't you ask Haechan?"
I can feel that Haechan is now really mad but he's trying to control it. His hand was trembling while holding my wrist. It hurts but I can endure it so I just let him do that.
He later on slowly faced Jaemin. I immediately felt the tension between the two of them when their eyes met
"Maybe they looked similar but they are still different person. Keep that in your mind Jaemin-ah"
Haechan said calmly and dragged me to inside the car. I looked outside the window once again. My brows furrowed when I saw Jaemin's eyes with full of pain once again
I looked at Haechan and he's just listening to the music on his airpods with his eyes closed and his brows furrowed
I'm sure that there's something off between the two of them
Ji Eun suddenly flashed on my mind
The jewelry box with Ji Eun's name, Haechan secretly visiting Ji Eun on her room, Haechan kissing Ji Eun's forehead and lastly is the tension between him and Jaemin a.k.a. Ji Eun's boyfriend
"No way" I whispered to myself while staring at Haechan's face
Does he have feelings for Ji Eun and Jaemin found out about it?
What a mess
I found myself walking on the D9's garden. I just woke up after having a great sleep. I immediately fell asleep after we get home and gladly, no one disturbed me. Mrs. Lee wasn't around when I woke up. Chaeryeong was still asleep. Haechan was also probably sleeping too. Juyeon is having a sparring with Mark
Mark is always busy with his work as Mr. Kim's assistant so we rarely meet but he's kind, innocent and funny at the same time. Today is probably his rest day but he can't rest because of Juyeon
Speaking of Juyeon. We're supposed to have a sparring yesterday but I forgot about it so he rescheduled it on weekend. I'm great at fighting but I don't know how strong he is but I'm confident that I can beat him
I immediately played music right after I reached the garden's fountain. The garden's fountain is so unique because it has statue of three children on the top. The children don't have faces but I'm sure that the two of them is a boy while the child in the middle was a girl
The lights from the statue and the water coming out from it is so mesmerizing
"Hey young lady! Can you help me with this?" an old woman suddenly spoke beside me. She's struggling to push the cart full of plants. I didn't hesitated and immediately pushed it by myself. She offered to help me but I insist on doing it alone since it's not that heavy for me but very heavy for her
"Do you have anything else to do ahjumma?" I asked
"I'm already done with my work, thank you for helping me" she said and gave me a candy. I happily accepted it and immediately eat it
"I can tell that you're different from the others" she said
"Ah yeah, I was just adopted" I smiled and looked at the sky
I wonder if my mom is watching me now
"That's not what I mean"
"Eh?"
"What I mean is that you're kind and a caring person. I can tell it by the way you didn't hesitated to help me earlier"
I don't know how to react because I'm not really that kind
"I'm not kind. I'm actually known as a rude person" I honestly said and she started to laugh. I looked at her confusedly
"Every person has bad traits, but that bad traits doesn't define your whole personality" she meaningfully said
She's right. My bad traits doesn't define my whole personality because in kindness, there's evil and in evil there's kindness.
Nobody's perfect, it's just that the world is cruel and judgmental
"In the whole 2 years I have been here only three people have shown genuine kindness to me" she said
"May I know who they are?"
"Haechan from the Lee family, Jaemin from Na Family and you" she smiled to me
I don't know why but for some reason I felt comfortable with her even though we just met
"Those two are really close to each other and they always used to go here in this garden together with Ji Eun" she later on said which grabs my attention
Jaemin and Haechan are close to each other before? But what happened?
I'm really starting to get curious about what happened between Haechan and Jaemin before
"You really look exactly like Ji Eun. I thought you two are twins. It's just that you two have different styles and personality"
"Uh is it okay for me to ask about what kind of person Ji Eun is?" I carefully asked
I still remember what the make-up artists said about Ji Eun. It looks like they all hate Ji Eun because of her personality but I don't want to conclude things so I don't still believe it
"I'd rather not say anything about her. Why don't you find it out yourself. I'm sure you two will get along well" she smiled meaningfully before she left
I was about to leave when I saw Jaemin standing and looking at me. He's wearing a hoodie jacket with white shirt underneath it and a pajama. It looks like he's ready to sleep
He's just staring at me with his emotionless face. The bruises on his face looks better now than before. Even though he said those things earlier I still can't get mad at him
I still like him
I was about to leave when he suddenly spoke
"I'm sorry about earlier"
I stopped walking when he said that. I slowly turn around to face him
"I heard from my sister that you're really his friend" he said and sat on a bench infront of the fountain
"It's nothing. I'm sorry too for punching and kicking you"
"It's okay, I'm used to it" he meaningfully said
I don't know why but for some reason I feel like there's a deep meaning behind what he just said. The bruise on his face earlier is one of the proof. I don't want to conclude things but I feel like it's his father who did that to him
"Why don't you sit down first?" he said
I hesitated at first but eventually I sat down next to him. I made sure that there's a gap between the two of us. Even though I like him I still need to respect the fact that he has a girlfriend
"Haruto told me everything about you. He also told me that Mrs. Kim wants to adopt you but you declined it and chose the Lee Family instead. May I know why?"
I sighed heavily
Why are they so curious about my life?
"I really don't want to be adopted. I already decided to live on my own. It's just that everything suddenly became complicated. Mrs. Lee offered me something. It's a win-win situation that's why I accepted it and chose to join their family instead of the Kim's"
He remained silent for a moment
"It's about being the ace, right?"
I'm so shocked that he knew about it. He started to laugh when he saw my reaction. My heart started to race because of his laugh so I immediately looked away and cleared my throat
He looks more attractive when he's laughing
"Haechan was once one of the aces but he suddenly lost his focus last year that's why one of the Hwang twins replaced him. They received a lot of criticism because of that that's why Mrs. Lee became competitive. She's really aiming to let atleast one of her children enter the list of aces this year and it's probably you and Haechan" he explained
"But that's not what our agreement is. I'm aiming to be the ace of aces of Dream High Academy" I said
"W-What?" he looks so shocked
"I'm going to replace Ji Eun on her position as the ace of aces of Dream High Academy" I said while looking directly at his eyes
We remained like that for almost two minutes. I'm expecting him to laugh about what I said but he didn't and smiled instead
"Why are you smiling?" I asked
"I can't help but see Ji Eun in you"
It's sad to hear that from him but I can't blame him because I really do looked like Ji Eun
But we're completely different person
He later on stood up and stepped closer to the fountain. He took something out of his pocket. It's a coin
"Come here and make a wish" he said
"I don't believe in that kind of---"
"Trust him" the old woman earlier suddenly came out of nowhere. I almost cursed due to panic
"Ahjumma?" Jaemin looks so happy to see her. The old lady later on held my hand and grabbed me closer to the fountain where Jaemin is
"Jaemin's wish was fulfilled because of this fountain" the old woman said while staring at the statue of the three children with full of admiration
"What wish?"
"You don't have to know"
"He wished that Ji Eun would like him back. And it happened"
"Ahjumma!"
I secretly laughed when I saw Jaemin's reaction. He looks so embarrassed but cute at the same time
"You should make a wish here too" Ahjumma said and gave me and Jaemin a coin. My brows furrowed when I realized that the coin wasn't familliar to me
"U.S. coin" Jaemin said when he noticed my reaction
Oh so this is a U.S. coin? I'm just familliar with dollar bill. But why does she have this kind of money when she's just a helper here in District 9?
Are they getting paid with dollars instead of won?
"Go and make a wish now" Ahjumma said
I don't know what to do so I looked at Jaemin instead. He closed his eyes while holding the coin so that's what I did too
I don't really believe in this but I think I should wish too
I suddenly think of Beomgyu
I hope he's fine. I'm sure he's sad right now especially now that I'm far from him. We only have each other ever since we're young. He's like my other half so I always want the best for him
After I earn a lot of money, I'll make sure that I'll travel the whole world with you, Beomgyu-ah. Just wait and trust me
And to my step father, I hope he's okay and doing fine. Even though I'm mad at him, I still care for him because he's the one who raised me. He's still my dad
And to myself,
I wish to find my happiness
I opened my eyes and threw the coin to the fountain but I used too much force so the coin landed to the hand of the girl's statue
"Eh?" I frustratedly said
Jaemin and Ahjumma started to laugh when they saw my reaction
"It's not a basketball ring, you don't have to throw the coin that high" Jaemin said
I felt so embarrassed
"I know!"
"Then why did you---"
Ahjumma started to laugh. We both looked at her confusedly
"This reminds me of the past, you two are still the same" she said
I got confused about what she said but I later on realized that she's probably referring to Ji Eun. She probably saw Ji Eun in me and it reminds her of the past where she used to see Jaemin and Ji Eun here
Yeah, it's obviously Ji Eun and not me
As always
I later on received a call from Haechan so I immediately answered it
"What's your problem?" I asked the moment I answered the call and he started to laugh
[ Calm down. I just want to ask where you are ]
I looked at Jaemin and he's looking at me too with his poker face. He probably knows that I'm talking to Haechan
"Why do you have to know?"
[ We're going to mall with Mom to buy your own piano and some stuff]
"Right now?"
[ Yeah ]
"K, Just wait for me there"
I immediately ended the call and faced Jaemin and Ahjumma but Ahjumma is no longer there
"I told her to go back to their quarters and rest since it's already getting late" he said
"Ah, I also have to go"
"I'll take you home--"
"No, I'm okay. I can handle myself--"
"District 9 is not as safe place as you think. You also belongs to the Elites so it's more dangerous for you to go home alone" he seriously said
Me? An elite? But I'm still not a Lee, legally
He later on removed his hoodie jacket and wrapped it around me. I froze up on my position when he did that. My heart also started to beat very fast
"It's getting cold we have to go" he said and dragged my wrist
If it's not him who's dragging me right now then I probably already punched him in the face for touching me without my permission
Is he naturally like this? He's so gentleman
I judged him immediately because of what happened earlier but it turns out that he's really a good person
"We're here" he said
I didn't noticed that we already reached the mansion of the Lee's. I'm too focused on him
"Thank you--"
"Why are you together?" Haechan suddenly came out of nowhere with thw car keys in his hand
He's now having a staring competition with Jaemin
"Don't overreact. I met him on my way here. He offered to take me home because it's already getting late" I explained with my brows furrowed
I can't understand why he's being like this
"You shouldn't have let her go outside without bodyguards with her. You know how dangerous District 9 is. Haechan-ah, don't be careless" he said seriously
Haechan just remained silent while staring at Jaemin. It looks like he wants to say something but something is holding him back
"I have to go" Jaemin suddenly said and faced me. I was about to gave him his jacket back but he stopped me
"You can have it, I don't need it anyway" he said and looked at Haechan meaningfully before he left
I found myself smiling while staring at him
We just had an argument earlier but it turns out that it was just a misunderstanding. I didn't expect to be this comfortable with him in just a short span of time
I looked at his hoodie jacket that he gave me and smelled it. It smells so sweet
He's making me fall inlove with him even more
====================================
(NEW CHARACTER UNLOCKED: HEEJIN)