케미
MINA'S FIRST THREE classes went by quite quickly, much to her surprise. When she was homeschooled, she would learn nearly for the entire day due to her father's wishes. Thankfully, Bitna, her new friend, was in her previous two classes where she had practically clung to her. Her teachers were nice, adding more and more to the comfort of high school for Mina. Though, she wasn't sure why gym had to be a class.
Of course, it wasn't like Mina wasn't fit or anything. She liked to exercise on the rare occasion she got a day off from homeschooling or her singing lessons, but she didn't know why it was mandatory for school. However, much to her gratitude, they didn't have to do any exercise that day considering it was the first day. Mina sat through the whole period listening to Bitna's complaints about gym class, and how much she hated being sweaty.
The period for lunch had finally come, and Bitna accompanied her to the large cafeteria, Mina nearly dropping her jaw at the sight of the crowd of students sitting down already.
It ignited a spark of excitement within her. She couldn't wait to finally be among them, sitting beside them.
"Did you bring lunch?" Bitna raised her eyebrows at Mina, playful swinging her body in her place with her hands clutched to her backpack straps.
"No, my secretary gave me a credit card," Mina answered, regretting it after due to the way it made her sound. Bitna only laughed, once again intertwining her arm with hers before making their way to the line, where students were presumably waiting to get their lunch. There was a large bar on the side of the cafeteria, several people behind it preparing the students' lunches neatly. The cafeteria—hell, the entire school looked so pristine, as if it were some high-end academy, even though it was a public school.
Mina had followed Bitna's actions carefully when they reached the front, grabbing a tray and following down the line, earning some rice, pork belly, and a side of kimchi to fill her tray. Except the portions of each dish were huge, way more than Mina usually ate. She was usually required to follow a strict diet due to her frequent recitals, where she had to wear dresses and get pictures taken. She wasn't even sure if she could eat all of it.
After paying, Mina followed Bitna toward the back of the cafeteria, where she assumed she ate every year.
"I sit at that table!" Bitna pointed to a long table far away near the corner, beside the windows, providing fresh light to the surface. "Wait! I forgot napkins! You go on and sit!" she exclaimed before turning around. Mina obeyed, continuing to make her way toward the table.
She suddenly felt self-conscious, noticing a few students glance at her as she would walk by. Her eyes darted to the tray of food, her mind hazy with a loud and chaotic train of thoughts as her insecurities began to tumble down on her at once.
What if they won't like me? What if they don't accept me? What if—!
The train crashed in her head as she felt herself run into a large force, her lunch tray flying onto the figure in front of her as she stumbled back. The clang of the tray onto the floor echoed through the cafeteria as she gasped in shock. Her food was scattered on the floor, the stack of kimchi balled up by the other person's feet.
If she was wondering if the students noticed her before, well, they were sure looking at her then. Their eyes were glaring into her, staring at her as if she were an alien that had landed in this school with a clown outfit on. She wished she could just hide under a rock and stay there forever so she would never feel this way again.
Mina's eyes slowly traveled to the person in front of her, seeing a tall boy, his dark hair draping over his forehead as he furrowed his eyebrows at her. Her mouth opened in shock as she saw the large red stain on his white shirt, from the provoking amount of kimchi she had on her tray.
"I-I am so sorry!" she bowed slightly to the boy, who only looked at her unamused, standing uncomfortably so that the stain on his thin white shirt wouldn't reach his skin underneath. "I didn't see where I was going, I-I'm so sorry, and about your shirt, I-I'll buy you a new one, I—"
"Yeah, because money can fix everything, right?" the boy spat. Mina stared at him with wide eyes, her heart falling to her stomach. Great, she thought. The last thing she wanted was to be seen as some rich celebrity, and it turns out she was making herself be seen as that.
At her silence, the boy only huffed and brushed past her as the other students continued staring at her. She felt as if she had dug her own grave, and she was ready to jump in at any moment. This utter humiliation was enough to last her a lifetime, and she thought what she feared came true.
Pulling her out of her thoughts was a tug at her arm by Bitna, who took her away after slightly witnessing the accident. By the time they made it to their table, the other students had continued their conversations, yet an odd feeling simmered through the air.
"Are you okay?" Bitna asked as they both sat down, across the table from each other. Her tray was already on the table, and Mina deduced that she must have set it down quickly before saving her from the situation.
"I don't belong here," Mina swallowed down the lump in her throat as she fumbled with her fingers, staring at the table. "Everyone hates me already."
"I promise you, they don't. They're just not used to new people, especially people as pretty and special as you," Bitna said calmly.
"I don't want to be special, I just want to be like everyone else," she stated, biting her lip.
"Why?" Bitna furrowed her eyebrows. "Being like everyone else is boring! Hell, the reason why I sit alone at this table every year is that I don't want to be like these people! And do you think I'm not special?"
"Y-Yes, you are," Mina muttered, glancing up toward her.
"Damn right I'm special," Bitna huffed, dramatically tossing her hair over her shoulder. Mina chuckled a bit at the action, looking down once again. "Hey, if you're special, celebrate it! Or else you'll end up like Heejin and her minion, Hanbyeol."
Mina nodded shyly, sending her a small smile as thanks. However, her face fell as soon as remembered the previous situation she'd encountered with that boy who looked like he wanted to murder her.
"Did you see the way that boy looked at me?" she bit the inside of her cheek as she asked.
"What, Jungkook?" Bitna blinked, almost as if she were surprised. "Was he mean to you?"
"I-I don't know, he made a remark about how money can fix everything after I offered to buy him another shirt..." Mina sighed. "I was stupid."
"Huh," she tilted her head in confusion, tapping the table with her fingernails. "His name's Jeon Jungkook. He was in our history class earlier. He's usually a quiet and nice person. He's one of Namjoon's best friends."
"Namjoon?" Mina raised her eyebrows in curiosity.
"Yeah," she nodded before slightly turning her body, pointing her finger at a group of people sitting at a different table. There were seven boys, all getting along quite well, even with Jungkook who was in the midst of trying to clean his shirt. The sight sent a pang of guilt to Mina before Bitna spoke up. "That's Namjoon, the one in the yellow sweater," she pointed at one of the boys sitting at the end of the table, his white hair sticking out as he ate his food. Mina recalled seeing him in her history class earlier, along with a few of the others, including Jungkook. "He's my childhood friend."
Suddenly, Bitna grew silent, which grabbed Mina's attention as she glanced toward the girl in front of her. Her eyes were locked on one of the boys in the group, the one with pitch black, long, and curly hair who was quite good looking in Mina's eyes. Of course, she found that entire group to be really good-looking, but it could just be because she never even saw or talked to boys often.
"Who are you looking at?" she asked with her eyebrow raised.
Bitna let out a sigh of contentment as she faced forward again, her cheeks a light shade of pink as her eyes sparkled dreamily. "Kim Taehyung. He..." she sighed once again before leaning in closer, a smug smile on her lips. "I've had a major crush on him for years."
"Oh," Mina nodded. "Why don't you go talk to him?"
"Are you silly?" Bitna laughed nervously, suddenly picking up her chopsticks to begin eating. "I can't possibly. He doesn't even know I exist. And besides, he's too beautiful for me to just walk up to him."
"If Namjoon's your friend, he should know you exist, right?" Mina pointed out.
"For my sake, I hope he doesn't know I exist. Every time I walk by him I do this weird thing where I suddenly trip on my feet like I'm a toddler or something," Bitna whined. "Eat some of this, I know you dropped your lunch on the floor," she said, handing her spare chopsticks. Mina hesitantly grabbed the pair, picking up some kimchi.
"So, that entire group of boys are all friends?" she asked as she chewed on the cabbage.
"Yeah, so, they're all pretty known throughout the school because they're all on the soccer team, and they're all like crazy good at it," Bitna started, words muffled from the food in her mouth. "Kim Namjoon's the team captain, and he's like... super smart. Kim Seokjin is the guy with the broad shoulders, and he's a total pain in the ass. Min Yoongi is the guy with the dark red hair. I don't think I've ever heard him talk," she explained, causing Mina to look over to the group, identifying each person as Bitna continued talking.
"Jung Hoseok is the goalkeeper, and everyone calls him sunshine because he's super nice and all that. Park Jimin is the shorter guy over there, the one with blonde hair, and he's annoying too. Then there's Kim Taehyung, who everyone loves and adores because he's just so perfect and sweet and someone that I just want to put into my pocket and-" Bitna stopped herself, shaking her head out of her thoughts as Mina laughed a bit. "Then there's Jeon Jungkook. He's the main kicker or whatever, but he's pretty smart too."
"You seem to know a lot about the people here," Mina remarked, putting a slice of pork belly in her mouth.
"Well, when you sit alone at lunch like me, all you can do is observe," she shrugged, staring down at her food.
"Not alone anymore."
Bitna looked up at Mina, a wide smile spreading her cheeks as she nodded. "Thank god. I might have actually gone crazy if you didn't show up today."
Mina laughed, enjoying the rest of lunch with Bitna who had continued to inform her about how the school works.
-
The passing period before the last class had begun, and Mina was making her way to her last class, chemistry, with a bit of excitement. Chemistry had always been her favorite subject, having excelled in it from Yeojeong's teachings. She admired the challenge of the constant memorizing of the periodic table, along with the extensive equations the subject had to offer. She could see a career in it someday, had it not been for the already-planned future her father had set for her.
She stepped into the classroom near the end of the passing period, mentally cursing as she saw a lack of open seats. There was only one left, beside a boy who was engulfed in his notebook, someone who looked vaguely familiar until she saw it; the kimchi stain.
The bell suddenly rang, and a thousand thoughts ran through her mind before the pressure made her walk toward that stool, sitting on it quickly.
Jungkook didn't seem to notice her presence, his back nearly facing her and his face buried into his notebook.
"Welcome to chemistry, everyone, since it's the start of the year, I think it's very important to get to know the ones sitting next to you, considering they will be your partners for the rest of the semester," the teacher spoke up.
Mina nearly choked at his words, her eyes widening as she realized the boy who she humiliatingly splattered kimchi on was going to have to be her partner for a few months.
This seem to have caught Jungkook's attention, as he raised his head a little bit, his eyes low in disapproval as Mina noticed, biting her lip. He hates me.
"So, why don't you introduce yourselves to each other. I'll give you five minutes, considering we don't have a lot of time and we have to go over our syllabus," the teacher explained, and before she knew it, other students were suddenly conversating with one another.
Mina hesitantly turned her head toward Jungkook, noticing a small sketch on the notebook he was hunched over. She could see the side of his face, his long black hair tickling his cheekbones as his tongue poked his cheek in concentration. He continued doodling on his notebook, ignoring the girl beside her.
"D-Do you draw?" she asked carefully, quiet enough that he could barely hear it.
"Yeah," is all he said.
"I-It's really good," Mina spoke up, trying to initiate a conversation with the boy who she knows hates her.
He only nodded, leaving a few seconds of silence between the two as the voices of other students filled the room. Mina bounced her knee on the stool, looking around awkwardly as her stomach churned.
If I can't even get over a small mix-up, how am I going to survive school? Mina thought. Pull yourself together.
"Hey..." she spoke up suddenly, her eyes glued to the counter as she was too nervous to look at him. "I'm sorry if I made a bad impression earlier. I really didn't mean to bump into you, and I'm sorry for offering to buy you another shirt. I don't want you to think that I'm the type of person... like my father," she let out a small sigh. She didn't notice the pausing of Jungkook's pencil on his notebook, his eyes darting back in forth on the paper as he listened to her.
"I understand if you don't want to be friends with me, or even talk to me," she mumbled. At this point, she thought she was just talking to herself. "I've been homeschooled all of my life and this is my first time with other people my age. I guess I am a bit of a freak," she swallowed, referring to what she had been called earlier.
Mina nearly jumped when Jungkook suddenly sat up beside her, no longer facing away from her as they made eye contact. He seemed calm, his lips curved a little as he spun around to actually face her. His large, round eyes gazed into hers, emitting a sort of comfort to Mina as she gradually felt her pulse increase unknowingly.
"You're not a freak," he shook his head. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have quickly judged you like that. You seem like a really nice person. Of course I'd want to be friends with you," he smiled brightly, his eyes crinkling in the process. Mina stared at him, dumbfounded until he held up his hand.
"I'm Jungkook," he said, and hesitantly, Mina brought her hand to his, shaking his hand gently. His grip was soft, and gentle while he held her hand as if she were a princess. Her palms were clammy, and she was wondering if he could feel it.
"I'm Mina, but my friends call me Minnie. W-Well, friend," she nervously chuckled, her heart racing as he continued to shake her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mina," he smiled, pulling his hand away from hers. She felt a twinge of sadness from the loss of touch. "Welcome to Marina Hills High. I look forward to being your lab partner," he giggled, causing an unknown feeling to erupt in Mina's stomach.
She masked her panic with a smile, feeling her heart nearly beat out of her chest.
Oh my God... Mina thought as she stared into his dark eyes. I totally just fell in love with Jungkook.