Ara's POV
When I walked into school on Monday morning, I was fuming with rage. What had started out as any normal Monday took a turn for the worst when I got a text from Jeno that read, 'hey munchkin, sorry, I'm not gonna be able to give you a ride today, something came up. I asked mark to pick you up, so don't worry." At first I wasn't angry at all, in fact, I thought that it was sweet of Jeno to manage me a ride on a rainy morning, but that was until I got into Mark's car.
That's where I learned that Jeno had gone to pick up Areum because she was upset that her pet fish passed away. Jeno always gave me a ride to school since I didn't have a license, it was like our thing and he made sure to never miss a day. Once, his tire popped and even then, he made sure to walk with me to school. Which is why I was furious when I heard the news, Areum's fish died, people eat fish everyday, why was her fish dying such a big deal?!
I didn't know what it was, but I was starting to sound beyond irrational, even my own thoughts were driving me insane. I hated being jealous. It was leading me to say and do things that I would never even think about saying. For god's sake, her fish died, I should be feeling remorseful, that poor fish didn't deserve it.
On top of my irrationality, Jaemin's offer was still roaming around my head. All part of me wanted nothing to do with it and that was final. That's what I had decided on Friday night when he told me, yet I spent the entire weekend thinking about it just like he asked. However, I still didn't want to face him, so another part of me had to work on avoiding Jaemin. It couldn't be that hard though, I mean, the guy had pink hair, he stood out pretty well.
I sat quietly between Mark and Donghyuck with my headphones plugged in as I shuffled through my playlist to find a decent song. In front of us sat Chenle and Renjun, who were having a heated debate about whether some alien landed in Korea three centuries ago. Class didn't start until 8:30, so it gave the group some time to talk, however, Jaemin, Jeno, and Areum were nowhere to be found today.
"Where's Jeno? I need the answers for the Pre-Calc homework," Donghyuck whined from beside me.
"Well, maybe you wouldn't need the answers from Jeno if you actually bothered to do your homework," Mark retorted from the other side causing me to snort. Their banters never got old, I don't think I've ever seen them carry out a normal conversation without teasing and bothering each other. It was amusing to watch.
"Where is Jeno though?" Renjun questioned earning a nod from Chenle. I almost rolled my eyes, but stopped myself and continued to scroll through my playlist.
"Didn't you hear?" A new female voice entered the conversation. I looked up from my phone to see Tzuyu standing next to the table ruffling her hair that was wet from the rain water. Tzuyu was tall and soft spoken, and was one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen. She was like Mark and everyone knew her because of her contributions to the school's cheerleading team.
"Hear what?" Chenle questioned, scooting over to give Tzuyu space to sit. She held back a laugh as she took a seat.
"Dude, don't laugh, it's actually kinda sad," Mark warned her causing Chenle, Renjun, and Hyuck to give them curious looks.
"Oh, c'mon Mark. I mean yeah it's sad that Areum's fish died, but she's being over dramatic," Tzuyu finished, rolling her eyes.
"Oh no, her fish died? That's so sad, I loved Mr. Bubbles." Chenle pouted.
"What the frick, Chenle? We've never even seen the fish, how do you know its name?!" Renjun exclaimed turning to Chenle.
Chenle only shrugged. "I just assumed."
"Wait, stop. Why is Areum being overdramatic?" Hyuck questioned furrowing his brows.
"She called Jeno to pick her up this morning, apparently she was really emotional. Areum knows that Jeno gives a ride to Ara every morning, but she insisted on calling Jeno to go and pick her up when she could have driven herself here. It's pouring out there and Ara basically had no ride because Jeno had to go pick up Areum." Tzuyu rolled her eyes again.
"Damn, then how'd you get to school?" Donghyuck asked turning towards me.
"Jeno told me to give Ara a ride," Mark answers for me. I take my headphones out of my ears as I nod in agreement.
"It's fine, though, I don't really mind. Areum is Jeno's girlfriend, so she should be his biggest priority right now," I say completely lying. Tzuyu shakes her head in disagreement.
"We were friends with Jeno before Areum even came into his life, we should be his biggest priority." She concludes with a sigh.
This comment alone changes the atmosphere of the entire table and I uncomfortably shift my eyes from Mark to Hyuck who look equally uneasy. I look around the cafeteria in hopes of finding a topic to change the subject when I notice Yerim walking in with Jeno and Areum following behind. Areum was wearing a white skirt paired with a pink top, contrary to my black jeans and blue hoodie. Jeno on the other hand, was sporting casual black jeans and a white t-shirt and despite the pouring rain, he still looked perfect.
"Guys, let's stop talking about them, they are coming towards here." Mark casually sips his coffee and everyone goes back to what they were doing prior to this.
"Hey guys!" Yerim exclaims sitting down next to Hyuck causing me to chuckle at Donghyuck's cringe expression.
Yerim was another addition to the group, she was pretty and straightforward. If she had anything in her mind, she would tell you on cue. Which is why she fit in perfectly.
Jeno and Areum just stood next to the table and everyone was a bit hesitant on what to say. I fidgeted my hands around under the table and finally decided to put my headphones into my backpack. That's when Donghyuck broke the awkward silence.
"Yo, Lee Jeno, give me your homework for Pre Calc," Hyuck demanded holding out his hand. This leads Jeno to sigh and pull out a black folder from his backpack and hand Donghyuck his homework, who looked beyond relieved to be holding said paper.
"Thanks dude, I owe you one." Donghyuck immediately takes out a crumpled piece of paper from his backpack and gets down to scribbling numbers. I still wonder how he managed to get straight A's with absolutely no organization.
"You owe me more than one actually," Jeno chuckled pulling Areum closer to him. Areum wore little to no makeup today and she hid her face in Jeno's chest and out of nowhere a pang of envy hit me. I bit the inside of my cheek and looked down at Donghyuck scribbled writing in hopes of trying to calm myself and play it off neutral.
"Has anyone seen Jaemin or Jisung," Mark questioned. I immediately looked up when I heard Jaemin's name only to make eye contact with Jeno, who gave me his signature smile. The smile where his eyes crinkle up to crescent moons and suddenly it feels as if everything is alright. The smile that only looks good on Lee Jeno.
I manage to turn my lips up to form a small smile and look away from his eyes.
That's when I notice a pink haired boy enter through the doors of the cafeteria with his black backpack slung on one of his shoulders. My eyes go wide at the site of Na Jaemin and my entire body freezes with no idea on what to do.
"Oh, there's Jaemin," Renjun exclaims waving to Jaemin.
Once Jaemin arrives, he stands next to Jeno and although he was smiling, I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind. After our conversation on Friday night, I couldn't help but question his thoughts and feelings about Jeno and Areum. A part of me felt horrible for him because I knew how he felt, but another part of me couldn't process why he would want to goes as far as fake dating.
"The weather sucks today, what's gotten Mother Nature so upset," Jaemin scoffed looking around the table, only to have his brown orbs meet with mine. He earns laughs from the others, but his eyes remain on me and I clear my throat and try to look everywhere but him. I didn't understand what he was trying to accomplish, but Jaemin was making me feel intimidated.
Just in time the first bell rang, notifying everyone that the school day was about to start soon. As if on instinct, I stood up and grabbed my belongings, ready to dash to my first class.
"C'mon Yerim, let's get to class, I don't wanna be late." I speed walked out of the cafeteria, hoping to lord that Yerim was following behind me.
Avoiding Jaemin was going to be a lot harder than I thought.
🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶
hey guys,
it's been a while since I've updated,
I had this part written for like two weeks, but I didn't upload.
anyways, enjoy
xxLARA
🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶🏶