Saturday, 9:17am.
Jimin had just woken up and was obviously hungover from the alcohol she consumed last night. Aeri managed to drive her back home and sneak her in without her parents knowing. She placed her hand on her forehead. She felt incredibly nauseous. Drinking all that alcohol didn't help her at all, it just made it worse. "Oh, well." She whispered to herself. Jimin couldn't even get up from her bed.
KARINA'S POV
This was irritating. I just wanted to enjoy my time without thinking about... Minjeong. I shook my head as I try to forget about her and relax my shoulders. I keep on stressing about all of this. My thoughts are all about Minjeong, I hated this. I don't know if I should approach her or not. I sighed in defeat. Though, as I looked at the ceiling I hummed. A song I remembered. A song we made.
Just her and me.
Me and you.
WINTER'S POV
I was woken up by my older brother, Minjoon. I groaned. I sat up as he ruffled my hair and exited my bedroom. He still tells me that he can't sleep since he needs time to adjust to a new environment. Honestly, I get him. We're still a bit behind from all of this. I missed Busan if I'm being honest. It's okay though, I like here aswell. However, as I stood up to get ready, I managed to take a quick glance at a Polaroid photo hanging on my wall. It was me, Aeri, Ningning and... Jimin. We were close. How could I have messed this up? Why do I keep avoiding her? Is it because I'm afraid? I don't want to avoid her. My emotions are something I could not understand. How do I feel?
...
Monday, 8:32am.
It was still early in the morning and many had just arrived. It already has started snowing due to it being November, therefore many students are joyful to this occasion and could not wait for Christmas.
A lot of events are happening at this time of year. Christmas Theme Musical Performance, Throw Your Ice (Game) and so on. Minjeong wasn't interested in any of the events and planned to just be in the audience. Though, she got picked to be the lead vocalist. "Come on, it's not like it'll ruin your life." Aeri chuckled as she tried to reassure Minjeong.
"I haven't sang in a long time, okay? This is freaking me out. Why did they choose me instead of everyone else in the school?" The younger one started rambling, walking in a pace back and forth. Aeri remained quiet since she was the one who actually recommended Minjeong.
"Yeah... haha, why did they? I think about that too." Ningning said sarcastically as she turned her head to look at Aeri. The Japanese had a grin on her face and placed her index finger on her lips as a sign to 'keep quiet. It's for her own good.' Minjeong was devastated. She's just annoyed that she needed to memorise the lyrics of the song with it's rhythm and the entire school is going to watch her, which is going to make her go to school the other day with fans crowding her. She groaned, "It's not that bad! You could show your talent to the world, who knows you'll become an idol." The Japanese tried cheering up the Korean but failed miserably.
"Well, okay. I guess I can't do anything about it now." Minjeong shrugged and looked at the paper she was holding, which were the lyrics.
Aeri and Ningning glanced at each other then back to Minjeong. Which leads to her confused.
"What's the matter?" The puppy tilted her head slightly, her expression was slightly confused.
"You're getting much more comfortable with us. The way you talk is different than the first time we met you." The Japanese chuckled and ruffled Minjeong's hair.
"We're best friends now! Right, Unnie?" Ningning abruptly wrapped her arms around Minjeong's neck. Minjeong was shy at first due to their statement, but realised she had friends that cared for her.
This was heartwarming.
As they all kept on chatting, Ningning spoke.
"Oh right, Jimin-Unnie is also going to be singing on stage with you."
Minjeong's expression quickly became stoic upon hearing the news, though she tries to pretend.
"Really? That's... great." It was awkward.
Aeri noticed Minjeong's changed tone and expression. She was squinting her eyes as in observing her every movement, which makes Minjeong uncomfortable.
"So... when is the performance starting?" Minjeong asked the two girls, trying to change the subject.
"We're the ones who should be aski-"
"Next week on Thursday." The Japanese cuts off the Chinese.
Minjeong's jaw dropped, literally opened her mouth in shock. "What?"
"Yeah. The stage performance was announced a before November, and they did have some members to do the performance but they couldn't find the lead singer for like two weeks. That's why you only have a week since you just had just joined." Aeri explained calmly as she took out her phone.
The youngest shook her head at the oldest, "where do you even get these sort of information..."
"What can I say? My middle name is Gossip."
"That's silly." Minjeong giggled softly towards the statement. "But still, this is making me cry inside."
"You can do it, Winter. I'm sure of it." The oldest reassured the Korean as she placed her hand on her shoulder. "Yeah! Go, Winter-Unnie!" The youngest girl exclaimed which made Minjeong felt a whole lot better.
However, the two girls standing in front Minjeong turned their attention towards someone behind Minjeong who is currently walking towards them. The Korean girl turned around aswell to see who it was and there was... two girls and three boys beside Jimin. Minjeong gulped, but she knew she couldn't avoid her forever. She needed to make things right.
"Hey guys, and it's a pleasure into meeting the one and only Kim Minjeong!" Yeonjun extended his hand towards Minjeong. She also noticed Jaemin was smiling at her, therefore she smiled back at him. They all had a conversation together and got to know each other. Well, when Minjeong glances at Jimin, the older girl avoided her gaze from her. Like she doesn't want to interact with Minjeong. This made the younger girl anxious.
"You have a great style. I think you'd look pretty cute if I dress you up in some clothes." Yeji always liked observing what her friends wore and would help them choose an outfit for the day. This statement made Minjeong shy. "I like you a lot, you don't reject compliments or accept them. We're definitely gonna get along." Ryujin wrapped her right arm around Minjeong's shoulder. Most of them were taller than her which makes her feel embarrassed for them to have to look down at her. The bell rang which means class is starting. "Come on, we should get going." Hyunjin whined as he tried to grab Yeji, his twin sister to class. Yeji disliked going to class early since even the teacher would arrive late. "Guess we'll hang out during recess. Pay attention to class." Aeri spoke to the younger ones, referring to Minjeong, Ryujin and Ningning. The younger ones nodded. They all parted ways.
During Class
Minjeong's focus wasn't on the board. She rather focused on the birds outside, seeing the eggs hatch. Her mind was in a different place. She kept thinking about the performance and especially Jimin. Even she does not know how to feel about all this. Though, she did notice Jimin was rather quiet during the conversation and avoided interaction with her. She disliked that. Suddenly, she snapped back to reality and heard the teacher calling out for her name multiple times. "Ahem. Ms. Kim, seems like you were on your way to space for a bit. Could you tell me the answer for question number three?"
Minjeong stood up and looked down on her book, question number three. She first read the question and then answered. "Marcellus Callahan is foreign man in his fifty's living in South Korea, a man with dedication and determination. One day he met with a gentlemen at a bus stop named Park Seo-Jun. He wore a delicate navy suit with a formal top hat. They chatted for about ten minutes, what was the conversation about? The answer is D: They chatted about the difference of their cultures and about their hometown." The teacher was expecting that Minjeong could not answer but it seemed he thought wrong. He just nodded and Minjeong was allowed to sit back down.
...
Recess
The group were chatting as they sat down on the bleachers, eating their lunch. Though they seemed to notice one of them wasn't here. "Hey, Ryujin. You're classmates with Minjeong. Where is she?" Jaemin asked first.
"She said she was going to go to the restroom for a bit. Stop worrying about your 'princess', shining armour." Ryujin chuckled which made others laugh except for Jimin.
She never really paid much attention to the conversation. She too was having trouble to reciprocate with her emotions, not knowing if she should talk to Minjeong or not. Everything was confusing and a total wreck. A ship sinking down the dark sea. While Minjeong was actually in a storage room, trying to memorise the lyrics and comfort herself from all of the troubles. Her fans, her friends, Jimin especially. She was scared. The younger one assumed that the older girl disliked her, therefore she's hesitant to talk with her. Out of frustration, she threw the papers as she groaned.
'Stupid' She thought to herself.