Choi Iseul
Before I realised, two weeks passed and exam time was almost over. I pulled all nighters, barely getting any sleep. It only made my mood worse. But hey, it was worth it.
Math was a subject that gave me a little bit of struggle, but I somehow managed to do it.
Mostly with Minho's help.
It was the day of our last exam, and Eunseol looked like she would pass out any second.
"I'm going to fail," She said, chewing her nails.
"Relax, Eun. I'm sure you'll do great." Felix reassured her.
"That's easy for you to say! You've studied English basically your entire life." She whined. "I suck at it."
"You've worked hard. I'm sure you'll do great. Just relax." Said Jeongin.
With a nervous Eunseol constantly worrying, our group entered the classroom and sat on our respective seats.
"All the best," I whispered to Eunseol as we were handed the question paper.
She weakly nodded in my direction at turned her attention towards the inconvenience in her hands.
By the time we were done, it was already 1 pm.
"I'm failing. Let's celebrate!" Eunseol screamed as we made our way out.
"She's gone crazy, I'm telling you." Jeongin whispered in my ear.
"The exams messed with her brain." Said Changbin who overheard us.
"It's alright, she's probably trying to forget about the exams." I said with a chuckle.
Jeongin ran towards Eunseol, who was acting like she was drunk.
This girl is something else.
"How did you do?" A voice came from behind, startling me.
"Pretty good, honestly." I said, relaxing when I realised that it was Seungmin. "And you?"
"Good I guess," He said. "I don't think Minho did good though. He looks like he's ready to kill." He remarked, pointing towards a sulking Minho who was walking behind us.
"Let's cheer him up!" I said, getting a sudden motivation to lift up Minho's mood.
With a bright smile I made my way towards him, and Seungmin just followed with a shake of his head and a light chuckle.
"The last one to reach the cafe becomes the new old man!" I screamed, running in the direction of the cafe that we were headed to.
Minho looked surprised but wasted no time and participated in my silliness.
By the time we reached the cafe, all of us were out of breath.
"What... what was that for?" Eunseol asked, desperately trying to catch her breath.
"I don't know," I answered while painting.
"But hey," Hyunjin interrupted us. "Look, Chan lost."
"You're meant to be the old man." Jisung teased the poor guy.
Chan just looked at us all with a sigh.
"The oldest pays!" Minho suddenly announced.
"Seriously, why do you always want to spend my money?" Chan protested, shooting Minho a dirty glare.
"Because you're the oldest. We are your responsibility." Minho replied with a shrug, immediately heading towards a table before Chan could say anything.
The rest of the group followed him like obedient ducklings, while I stayed behind with Chan.
"Dealing with these kids is so tiring." He sighed for the nth time that day.
"You really sound like an old man right now, Chan." I giggled.
"Not you too," He mumbled.
We spent our freedom with lots of laughter that evening. It was fun.
Yeah, it was definitely way better than being alone.
***
The weekend was over before I realised, and I found myself sitting in the class once again.
"It's so hot!" Eunseol whined.
"It really is." Felix agreed, fanning his face. The three of us were sitting around Chan's seat, who was busy typing something on his phone. It was lunch break and we just got back from cafeteria.
"What do you expect? It's summer." I said.
"Yo dude, who you texting?" Felix suddenly asked, making Chan surprised by the sudden question. He nearly dropped his phone.
"Woah, is it your girlfriend?" Eunseol suddenly jumped in on the conversation.
"Show us!" Felix said brightly, trying to take a peek into Chan's phone.
The guy in question let out a frustrated sigh. "Why do you always jump to the same conclusions? I'm texting mom."
"Oh." Felix let out.
"Um, sorry." Eunseol muttered.
I burst out into laughter at the scene in front of me.
"You guys are really desperate for gossip, aren't you?"
"We have nothing going on in our lives, you can't blame us for being interested in other's." Said Felix.
"Valid point, I guess." I said.
We were talking about random things when suddenly a voice interrupted our conversation.
"Hey guys!"
"Oh, hi Yuna!" I spoke up as I spotted the girl.
I guess I could say that Yuna had grown pretty close to everyone. Maybe it was because she already was their friend, but even after that, she befriended me and Eunseol and made us love her even more.
"What were you guys talking about?" She asked, taking out a candy from her pocket and popped it into her mouth.
"About our single lives." Felix said with a sigh.
Yuna burst into laughter. "Aw, poor you. Want me to introduce you to someone?" She asked with a wink.
"Wait, is that possible?" Said Felix, sounding surprised.
"Why not!"
Felix squealed with joy. "Yes please!"
"By the way, did you guys hear about the upcoming field trip? I'm so excited!" Said Yuna.
"Wait, really? When?" Asked Eunseol, seeming very interested.
"Probably in the upcoming week. It's gonna be fun!"
"In this weather? No thanks." Said Chan.
"What if it's a hill station?" Yuna asked, passing him a sly grin.
"And how do you know that?" Chan asked, getting suspicious.
"I have my sources. Hehe."
After that, the recess came to an end and eventually, the day as well.
School field trip, huh?
I've only been to a school trip once and that too was during elementary school. I guess now that I have many friends, it won't be boring.
I was actually looking forward to it.
***
A few days after Yuna told us, the teachers announced the upcoming field trip. And just as she said, it was a hill station.
"Make sure you keep atleast one cardigan! It can get pretty cold." Said Ms Kim, packing her stuff to leave the class. "Though I'm sure you won't be needing it since it's summer."
Soon after she left, the entire class was filled with excited whispers of students. After a hectic exam week, a field trip was enough to light up everyone's mood.
"You excited?" Minho suddenly asked, pulling me out from my thoughts.
"A lot! It's gonna be so much fun." I said, getting excited.
"We still have a week to go! Calm down." He said with a laugh.
"A week is too short, though."
"Are you really that excited? I heard there are a lot of bugs there." Said Minho, sounding serious.
"Minho!" I groaned, hitting him on the shoulder lightly. "Stop saying stuff like that!"
"What? I was just telling you the truth!" He protested.
"Seungmin was right. You're really evil." I said.
From the other end of the room, Seungmin shouted. "I warned you, Iseul!"
"Yah! You wanna die?" Minho shouted in response.
Seungmin just sticked out his tongue towards Minho and laughed as he made his way out of the class.
"He's so weird." Said Minho.
"You're weirder," I stated.
He paused to think for a second. "Maybe," He said with a shrug. "But you're weird too. You know, I saved you number as 'Weird girl' after we hung out that day?"
"No way." I said in disbelief. "I'm gonna save you as weird guy too now!"
"Okay. Fair enough." Said Minho.
We just stared at each other for a few moments, until the two of us broke into a fit of giggles.
"What's so funny?" Eunseol questioned as she stood near us.
"I don't know." I said, controlling myself for a few seconds. But when I caught a sight of Minho's face, I broke into laughter again.
The two of us laughed like maniacs for God knows how long. Eunseol looked at us with a bored expression, waiting for us to stop.
"Are you guys done?" She asked, having a bored look on her face.
The two of us nodded like obedient puppies. Eunseol was kinda scary when she was mad.
"Alright, Iseul. I wanted to ask if you wanted to join me for a shopping date."
"Shopping date?"
"Yes! We need new clothes for the trip!" She said excitedly.
"Can I tag along?" Jeongin said, appearing out of nowhere.
"No! It's gonna be a girl's day out." Eunseol crossed her arms.
"So? I'm coming with you! And Minho hyung is too!" Said Jeongin.
"What about us?" Hyunjin said, Seungmin right behind him.
Eunseol groaned as they appeared. "No means no! Yuna and Chaer are coming with us, we don't need you guys!"
Jeongin pestered her, which annoyed Eunseol even more.
With a frustrated sigh, Eunseol shoved Jeongin away. "Don't annoy me, kid."
Jeongin didn't stop, obviously.
Our group made it's way out of the school soon after that, laughing and bickering along the way. Everyone bid each other goodbye and I found myself walking next to Minho just like usual. There wasn't a single day when we didn't walk home together.
It was almost like a habit to us now.
I stretched my arms as we walked peacefully. So many things were coming up. I couldn't help but be excited.
"How's everything going?" Minho suddenly asked.
"Everything?" I frowned. "Oh, you meant with landlord and stuff?" I said, realising the meaning of his words.
He just nodded his head.
"Hm, I guess it's going pretty good! I've almost saved up the amount I needed, and by the end of this month after I get my paycheck, I'll be done!" I said.
I couldn't believe this problem seemed so insignificant now.
"Um, Iseul? There's actually something you don't know." Said Minho, looking hesitant.
"What is it?" I questioned.
"The restaurant-"
He was about to speak, when suddenly his eyes widened as he spotted something behind me.
Before I could even register what was happening, he pulled me towards him, the car barely missing me by a few inches.
"What the heck? See where you go, man! You almost killed someone!" Minho shouted angrily as the driver stopped his car to apologise.
My cheek was pressed against his chest, his arms wrapped around me protectively.
In that moment, my heart was beating so quickly that I was scared that I would actually faint.
This wasn't the first time he was holding me close. Then why was I feeling so jittery inside?
It was as if my stomach was a container of sauce and someone was violently shaking it before squeezing the sauce out of me.
Except for sauce, I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my chest.
"You okay?" Minho asked, waving his hand in front of my face.
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I'm absolutely fine. Yeah. I guess." I said.
Minho laughed at my response. "Are you broken or something?"
"N-no." I shook my head, covering my face with hands because I felt my body heat up.
"You must've been surprised." He said, patting me on the head.
"Yeah," I muttered, refusing to look at him.
He would never let it go if he saw me blushing. I was sure he would tease me a lot.
"So I was saying-"
"We're here!" I interrupted him. "I have to go!"
"Why?" Minho blinked at me a few times, tilting his head to a side.
"I uh... I actually have somewhere to be today. You know? A... A relative! Yes, a relative called me yesterday." I said, grimacing as I realised how dumb I was sounding.
"Well, I hope you enjoy your outing with your 'relative'." Minho chuckled. "Have fun."
I groaned as I felt my face heat up again.
Seriously, what was happening to me? Don't tell me...
I was getting sick right before the field trip?
Yes, that was the only logical explanation as to why I was feeling so hot today.
I was probably getting a fever or something.
Or was I not?
***
Dense character moments incoming *cue evil laughter*. Who do you think is gonna realise their feelings first? Let's have you guys vote! Add any emoji in front of the name you're voting for.
Minho→
Iseul→
See you guys next week!