Chapter 29 – Agent K
"Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" I asked but he just smiled at me cheekily. We were currently sitting on the bus next to each other and somehow, I felt like all eyes were on us, even though every time I looked away from Jonghyun, everybody removed their gazes from us. "I know that you all are looking at us," I said as I turned back and shot everybody a glare.
"Somewhere deep inside, the old Mina still exists" I heard someone whisper and I felt like face-palming myself. "I actually wasn't planning to go, but when you told me on Friday you were going, I finished my work as soon as possible and yes, here I am," he said as he yawned. "Did you even sleep last night?"
I eyed him suspiciously as I examined his tired eyes. "I did" he answered. "Lie" we both looked at each other's eyes, having some sort of staring contest. "I did" he repeated. "Give me your hand," I asked and he looked at me doubtfully. He hesitantly gave it to me, not knowing what I was planning to do. "So now, tell me. Did you not sleep yesterday because of me?"
"I did sleep" he answered. "I knew it. Your hands start sweating when you lie" I said and threw is hand away. "Geez, why are you angry?" he asked. "Of course, I'd feel guilty if you neglect your health because of me," I said calmly. "So, Jonghyun's hands starts to sweat when he lies?" the class president asked me curiously.
"Usually, they don't" Jonghyun answered instead of me. "That means that they only do so when you lie to Mina?" one of Jonghyun's ex-classmate deducted. "I don't know" he answered and shrugged. "Why is everybody talking about us?" I asked myself. "Because you guys are the only couple in here. Let us be entertained"
"Anyway, what is the plan?" I asked, changing the topic. "Camping, camping and camping" the president announces. I would like to call her by her name, but sadly, I couldn't recall it and asking her what her name is wasn't really a clever idea. "Her name is Ji Soo" Jonghyun whispered in my ear. "Right," I said awkwardly and smiled at him.
"Ji Soo, when will we arrive there?" I asked, addressing her with a smile. "An hour to go" she replied. "Bored?" I heard Jonghyun say and I nodded. "Here," he offered and handed me one of his earphones. I took it and so, we both listened to music together. Since he was listening to ballad songs and because he was tired, I knew that he would fall asleep, which he did.
The entire ride long, his head rested on my shoulders and even I fell asleep shortly but woke up before him. "We are here, wake your mister up," one of the boys said when we arrived. I looked at him annoyed, but he knew that I wasn't even near to mad at him, so he just laughed and exited the bus.
I carefully woke him up by shaking his shoulders. "Wake up" I whispered. He opened his eyes and looked at me sleepily. "Thanks," he said. "No problem," I said and then, we got off from the bus as the last ones in there. We were near the Jungle and immediately, we walked to our destination; somewhere, deep inside the dark and chilling forest.
Little conservations were being made as everybody was busy examining the place. Or we were just not in the mood to talk. I could say that unlike last time, I can really call this short vacation camping. We built tents, collected wood for the fire, arranged food and by the time we were all finished, it was already 6 p.m.
Then my phone suddenly rang, playing its jingle and I picked up. It was a video call from Key. "Hey," I said adjusted my camera position. "Mina, you left me!" Key whispered, but the pout was still evident. I laughed and noticed that he was actually sitting in a park. "What are you doing there?" I wondered. Right then, Jonghyun unexpectedly came and sat next to me on the bench. "Hey Key"
"Jonghyun? You too?" he whispered shocked. "I feel betrayed" he added and I playfully rolled my eyes. "Anyway, why did you call?" Jonghyun asked. "Can't I call her just because I want to?" he asked challengingly. This time, it was Jonghyun who rolled his eyes. "Get to the point. You never call anybody. I know that you hate telephone calls, you must have a reason"
"Nevertheless, I called because I stalked Taemin" he started and all four eyes were focused on my phone screen. "Why would you do that?" I asked. "I was hanging out with him and he suddenly had to "somewhere", so I followed him from behind" he explained, still whispering, as I nodded. "As I was saying, I followed him and he came to this park and I saw something interesting"
"Why is he whispering?" Jonghyun diverted his question to me, but I just shrugged. "Well, because I can't let him see me" he clarified. "Stop interrupting me and listen" he continued and I giggled. "Let me show you" the camera screen was tilted to his left and surprisingly, we saw two figures sitting on the bench and talking. Taemin and Hina.
I gasped as I looked at Jonghyun who was equally shocked. We couldn't see clearly since Key was hiding in the bushes and they were covering the view, but it was clear enough to see that they were laughing. "My goodness, Taemin that sly fox," I said as I laughed. Suddenly, Taemin looked at our direction with a suspicious look and in a matter of a second, all we could see was the floor and Key's movements as he was running away.
Some moments later, the screen was positioned again and we could see his face covered in sweat. "Why do you sweating so easily?" I wondered. "I am not used to doing sports, that's why. Anyway, my mission ended here." He said as if he was an undercover agent. "Sure, thanks Key for the useful information," I said with a smile. "Agent K will soon report with the latest news," he said playfully and ended the call.
"What are you guys doing here? Get moving" we heard and we lazily stood up. "Let's get done with this," I said enthusiastically after I took a deep breath. After we finished our finishing touches to our preparations, when it was already dark, we started a bonfire and ate our food. "Who knew that we were able to do that much by ourselves"
I agreed as I happily took a bite of my food. "Hey, I forgot to tell you. The wedding is on Friday" Jonghyun whispered in my ear. "Your father's?" I wondered. I had completely forgotten that he had asked me to accompany me to it. "Yup," he said casually. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I have to prepare myself" I said shocked. "Geez, it's not your wedding. Calm down" Everybody around us started to laugh and I just sighed.
Then chilly wind ran through my skin and I noticed that time flew away without me realizing it. "Let's get sleeping" someone suggested and all of us agreed, seeming tired from all the work we had done. We had built up six tents, dividing us into groups for the sleeping arrangements. I was the first one to go inside our tent and soon, Ji Soo and another girl followed. "Goodnight"
The tent was obviously not as comfortable as my bed, but still, laying there with my aching body made me feel relieved. Naturally, I feel asleep as soon as I laid down. I don't know how much time passed, but when it was still dark, I felt somebody shaking my shoulder. At first, I thought that it must be one of the girls, moving around in their sleep, but soon, I remarked that the shaking was actually not stopping.
"Stop moving-" I was cut off before I could finish my sentence by a hand placed on my mouth. "Shhh," Jonghyun said as he made sure that I wouldn't talk. My eyes widened as I saw him in there. I was glad that the tent was huge and that the other two girls were sleeping soundlessly, not noticing anything. I removed his hand and looked at him confused. "What are you doing here? More importantly, how did you enter?" I hissed. "Just come out"
As silently as possible, we exited. "So, tell me" I demanded as soon as we were outside. "Your roommate forgot to lock it" he explained. "Really?" I asked shocked. I can't believe that they forgot something so important. I need to scold them tomorrow. "And why are you here?" I asked. "Well that was obvious," he said as I looked at him confused. "I mean, we are out camping. The couple is always supposed to meet at night. Don't you watch films?"
He patted my head as I looked at him blankly. "Are you serious?" I asked. "You woke me up from my precious sleep because of that?" I asked, not angrily but gloomily. But suddenly a smile crept on my face when I noticed something particular was shining in the moonlight. It was the necklace I had given to him. I've always wondered from where she got it from and I remember having asked her this question once, but she just replied with "from the person I cherish the most".
"What are you smiling about?" he asked, bending down a bit to come to my eye-level. "Nothing," I said and shook my head. "Anyway, you wanted to go for a walk, right? Let's go" I said excitedly. "Where are you trying to go?" we heard an amused yet stern voice. "Ji Soo," I said awkwardly as she looked at us sleepily.
I knew that it was only a matter of time until they would notice my absence. "I should have known the reason why you went to sleep so early," she said playfully. "No, that's not it" I denied. "Really? Then let's go back to sleep" she said challengingly. I looked back at Jonghyun apologetically and walked back. "Wait. Mina" he called after me, but I walked back inside. "Goodnight, Jonghyun," she said and winked at him before entering too. And so, I went back to sleep.
If I had known that this opportunity would be the last one where I could have laughed along with Jonghyun, I would have used that time more wisely. But sadly, no one can know the future and I didn't know that I had just missed my last possible good memory with him.
End of Chapter 29