Banners and balloons of different colors were strung all around the campus, tents and booths lined the school's courtyard, music was playing from the speakers, and lively students crowded the pathways.
"I missed fairs like these!" Hendery excitedly exclaimed to Xiaojun.
"I texted Jeno," Mark informed the group, "He'll be here to pick us up in a minute,"
"I wonder what food they have," Lucas thought out loud, scanning the different booths.
"Hey, guys! You made it," Jeno greeted with a smile.
"Where are the others?" Xiaojun asked Jeno while they made their way through the fair.
"Haechan, Renjun, and Chenle are preparing for their performance while Jaemin and Jisung are on their way, " Jeno paused for a moment, glanced at Mark then continued talking, "Chaerin's handling student council business but I texted her already,"
Mark raised an eyebrow at Jeno's actions but he just responded with an eye smile.
Jaemin and Jisung arrived a few minutes later bringing several drinks which they handed to the members who thanked them in return.
"Where's Chae?" Jaemin asked the group.
"Oh, I saw her with the Akiro guy, " Jisung replied casually sipping on his drink.
"What Akiro guy?" Jeno questioned.
"The student council president of the other school, you know, tall, blonde, half-Japanese?"
"And you know this how?" Jaemin queries raising his eyebrows.
"Some people were talking about him earlier," Jisung shrugged focused on his drink.
Jeno took a glimpse at Mark observing his reaction. Mark slightly frowned at the information but quickly put back an expressionless face.
• • •
Chaerin stopped and held her knees for support. She had just run to and back from the auditorium to pick up something for the stage.
"Woah, slow down," Akiro told her, seeing her crouched-down figure.
"Sometimes I wonder why I choose to become part of the student council," she said with ragged breathing.
Akiro handed her a water bottle which she gladly accepted. She took a seat and rested her chin on her palm trying to catch her breath.
Yuqi approached Chaerin and handed her a piece of paper.
"Here's the updated schedule," Yuqi's eyebrows creased in concern, "You okay?"
"I'm fine, let me go over it," Chaerin waved it off, scanning the sheet of paper in her hands, "All good, let me know if there's anything else,"
Yuqi nodded with a smile and left.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Chaerin asked Akiro before resting her head on the table.
"No," he chuckled, "They seem to be doing fine, nor do they need my assistance,"
"Don't you want to tie your hair?" Akiro asked, observing Chaerin.
Chaerin lifted her head and shook her head no, "I forgot to bring one today,"
Akiro then started rummaging his pockets.
"What are you doing?"
"I think I brought a hair tie with me,"
Chaerin raised her eyebrow in question, "For what?"
"For me? I tie my hair sometimes because it's quite long,"
He finally found the hair tie and handed it over to Chaerin. She thanked him and began tying her hair.
"Do you know how to tie your hair?"
"What?"
"Sorry that came out wrong, uh, it's because it's a little messy," He smiled sheepishly, Akiro then approached Chaerin and pointed out the part she should fix.
"Over here," he said, gently touching the section of hair.
From far away, Jeno choked on his drink.
"Jen, you good?" Jaemin asked in concern and panic and patted him on the back.
Jeno took a breath and regained his composure before answering Jaemin, "Look,"
Jaemin stared at what Jeno pointed at. Realizing something caught the attention of the two, the other members looked at what they were staring at.
"That's the Akiro guy I was talking about earlier," Jisung said.
As subtle as possible, each member tried to look at Mark's reaction, which was stone-cold and emotionless.
Mark then started walking towards the two, and that made the others start panicking.
"Wait what do we do? Should we stop him?" Jaemin hastily asked the group in alarm.
"Why what does he plan to do?" Hendery asked.
"Hopefully not punch him," Xiaojun said while grabbing the members to follow Mark.
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exhilarating | mark lee
gabrielle_010