༊*·˚ fools
"um, so, i stalked your profile this morning to see the comments under your post making sure everyone was hyping you up and i saw that lee donghyuck had commented on it. what is that all about?" myunghee questioned on their walk to school.
when dongmin didn't pick them up, myunghee met hyerin at the train stop she got off at and they'd walk to school.
hyerin cringed. "i don't know. he requested to follow me last night and i accepted then he commented that."
myunghee sucked her jelly drink thing while looking over at hyerin's side profile.
"i don't want to talk about it. i went to sleep earlier last night to avoid overthinking about it so let's not start at seven in the morning," hyerin added, pressing the button in the traffic stop.
myunghee, although being the gossiper between their group, respected her friend's wishes and dropped the conversation entirely.
the pair arrived at school just in time to get to their first class and both headed into different classrooms. hyerin took her seat close to the door at the last row and put her head on the desk to pass the time before their teacher was to arrive. just as she thought she could get some peace and quiet, the gang of populars made a racket outside making it impossible for her to rest.
jaemin and donghyuck entered while jeno went into the next class, myunghee and dongmin's, and renjun was alone in the last one. donghyuck seemed excited about something as he practically pranced into the room while jaemin sauntered in behind him with his hands dug into his pockets. he glanced directly over at hyerin and gave her a lop-sided smile from the front of class and she stretched her lips into a simple smile back.
"good morning, kiddos!"
˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗
"what are you doing this weekend?" myunghee questioned after picking a flower from the flowerbed next to her.
"probably gaming?" hyerin shrugged.
her friend frowned. "your life is so boring!" that was a jab at dongmin, too, since all he did was either game or go to the gym so he looked a little offended. "we have that party on friday so what about saturday and sunday?"
"i'm free," hyerin responded.
myunghee looked at dongmin expecting his answer.
he sighed. "yeah, i'm free too."
"good!" she clapped her hands together. "let's do something fun together."
"donghyuck, stop!"
that made hyerin's ears prick up but he held herself from looking over at the group. however, she couldn't resist for long when the girl's giggles got louder and she was forced to turn her head.
donghyuck was tickling the girl and she was desperately trying to compose herself but she was ticklish.
"is that his girlfriend?" hyerin questioned to no one in particular.
"yeah... she's in renjun's class," myunghee informed then narrowed her eyes to take a better look at the girl.
hyerin did the same.
they were almost the exact same.
hyerin and the girl had the same hair length and bangs, the height was pretty much the same given the way the girl stood next to him, even their smiles were similar. and the girl's laugh.
"she looks almost like an exact cardboard cutout of you," myunghee voiced, looking back at hyerin.
she didn't say anything and instead just looked away.
when lunch was coming to an end, hyerin had to go separate ways to her friends and had to walk passed that group she dreaded.
she didn't mind the guys like jeno, renjun, chenle etcetera because they were never the problem. the problem were the other guys who joined in when donghyuck spoke to back him up.
"you should post more."
hyerin stopped in her tracks.
"on instagram, i mean."
she twisted around on her heel to look at him.
"do you want anything?"
he shrugged his shoulders in a careless manner and she turned back around to continue walking her way to class knowing that he wasn't too far behind from her.
˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗
"you look like you could use some jasmine tea or something to relax," dongyoung expressed with an eyebrow raised, wiping the counter.
hyerin buried her head in her hands and sighed. "would you mind?" she spoke, softly.
visible concern was written on his face but he licked his lips and nodded telling her he only had to finish wiping the counter and he'd get on that. hyerin went back to digging her head into her study books and homework. finals were just around the corner and she always did decently when it came to exams without looking over stuff but 'decently' wasn't doing it anymore – she had to do her best.
"your tea." dongyoung served, pulling up the wooden chair opposite her. "you should take a break. i've seen you writing for the past two hours nonstop."
hyerin put her pen down and cracked her knuckles, letting out satisfactory cracks that made dongyoung cringe.
"how've you been doing?" he asked, genuinely interested.
dongyoung's brother worked with her uncle in the same sort of business and although dongyoung was significantly older than hyerin, they were close friends. he worked at the café she often frequented to study and was often at the dinners her and her uncle attended so it was only expected. to her, he was like an older brother figure and he viewed her as a little sister he'd never had and felt the need to protect.
she shrugged her shoulders. "exams are approaching, summer is coming, university is around the corner – i'm stressed but i'm holding myself together."
he pushed the tea closer to her, signalling for her to have a drink. "stress isn't good. if you need me to help you out with some stuff you can always ask and i'll try my best to multitask while working."
a smile crept onto her face. "thank you, doie, but i can't ask that from you."
"sure you can!" he enthused. "what are you studying at the moment? korean? i used to be good at that."
she slid her book and homework over to him and he took one or two minutes to read over it before sliding his chair next to her to explain it to her and working through the questions together.
"dongyoung!" his boss exclaimed, making both of them, and some customers, jolt and look at the middle-aged man. "i don't pay you for tutoring, do that as an extra if you have to, i pay you for serving drinks so get back here otherwise you're fired."
"yes, sorry, boss!" he called out and set hyerin's worksheets down, looking at her with a disappointed look. "if you need anything just slide me a note over the counter, ok?"
she nodded. "sorry..."
he put the chair back in its place and gave her an assuring smile while picking up the empty mug. "don't worry about it."
for half an hour more, she sat at the table completing the last few questions on the worksheet she'd been working with dongyoung on before packing up her stuff.
"dongyoungie!"
she froze in place as she slid her books and folder into her bag.
"hey, donghyuck!"
she packed her backpack at an even quicker rate and acted like she hadn't heard a thing in those past five seconds but that wouldn't work because the pair of boys were at a maximum of five metres away and donghyuck had located her in the corner but hadn't said a thing.
donghyuck was also a friend of dongyoung's.
"see you later, dongyoung," she whispered, whisking past both boys.
dongyoung seemed confused as he headed up the cream in the coffee machine and she didn't have enough time to check whatever expression he had on his face because she didn't even care. before dongyoung could stop him, donghyuck followed her outside.
"you don't have to run from me, you know?" he called.
hyerin came to a halt and turned on her heel. "i'm not running from you."
"i don't care if you are or aren't but you act like i'd eat you alive if we were in the same environment for longer than five seconds."
"wouldn't you?"
"you act like i don't have a right to?"
she scoffed at his ignorant comment. "you know, you amaze me. every time we talk, the bullshit coming out of your mouth becomes more and more preposterous."
<3
the lack of hyuck in the beginning is sad BUT they are enemies so