"ALRIGHT, CLASS. SETTLE DOWN."
A familiar voice boomed in the classroom as Ms Ahn walked into the classroom. The first period was not Art, but Ms Ahn had come to collect their projects. All groups had successfully completed the group projects on time, thankfully, thanks to Ms Ahn's amazing group allocation.
"Group leaders, bring your projects forward and place it on my table, please."
The 4 group leaders - Minhyun, Sejeong, Jisoo and Hani stepped forward, holding their projects carefully and bringing it forward. It was quite a sight to be hold - each group had literally done such a great job with the aesthetics, it was hard to tell that they were all made from recycled materials. Ms Ahn was evidently proud as well, as the corners of her mouth curled upwards, which was a rare sight to see.
"Alright, I have to say you all have a done a great job with your projects. Let's give a round of applause to you guys for doing a great job."
The class applauded themselves enthusiastically.
"I was going to ask you to do a presentation... but I'm so impressed that I'll let you off the hook."
A collective sigh of relief. Ms Ahn laughed dryly.
"Instead, I would like all of you to share more about how the process was like. Did anything significant happen while working together?"
Ms Ahn scanned the classroom and everyone tried their best to avoid eye contact with her, including Jieun. But all of a sudden, at the corner of her eye, she spotted a hand from around the middle of the class shoot up. She looked up, and the person who the hand belonged to was the person she least expected to speak.
"Yes, Jennie?"
Everyone else in class all seemed equally shocked as Jieun was.
"I finally understand why you put us together, Ms Ahn. Thank you." Jennie turned around and glanced at Yoojung who smiled slightly.
Ms Ahn smiled as well. "It's my pleasure. Anyone else?"
Yoojung saw another hand shoot up at the corner of her eye. This time, it was Seokjin.
"Yes, Seokjin?"
Seokjin stood up, shooting Jieun a confusing smile.
"This isn't my story but I would like to thank Ms Ahn for bringing Jieun and Jungkook from my group closer together as well."
Kim. Seok. Jin.
Jieun quickly turned her head to check Jungkook's reaction and thankfully, he didn't look pissed at all, and Jieun could swear she saw a small grin on his face.
Ms Ahn chuckled. "Yes. Anyone else?"
Silence.
"So I guess you all finally found out why I grouped you guys that way, huh." Ms Ahn smiled. "Yes, it was precisely for you to get along better with your classmates - people you don't usually mix around with. Mmhmm - I know your cliques, alright?" Ms Ahn laughed, as the class stared open-mouthed at her. "So... anyway, my time is running out so... I'll grade your projects and return them to you next lesson alright? Jisoo, could you help me with the projects?"
Jisoo jumped to her feet. "Yes, ma'am."
"Maybe ask a guy to come along too. We need more hands to carry all these heavy stuff."
Jisoo scanned the people around her. Amongst the guys, there was Hoseok, Minhyun, Jackson... "Seokjin."
Byulyi looked up, taken aback by the fact that Jisoo had picked Seokjin instead of any of thez many guys around her.
"Me?" Seokjin jumped to his feet, almost as startled as Byulyi was.
Jisoo nodded. "Come on, let's go."
Seokjin turned around, shooting Byulyi a confused look, before looking back at Jisoo. "Like... right now?"
"When else?"
"Um, because I'm actually kind of bu-"
"Come, let's go." Jisoo hesitated. "Byulyi, what about you come along too?"
Byulyi raised her eyebrows, but stood up anyway. "What's her deal?" Byulyi whispered to Seokjin.
Seokjin shrugged, and laughed it off. "I guess she wasn't actually that close to any of the geeks so, let's just help her out this time. She was a great group leader afterall, wasn't she?"
Byulyi hesitated, then nodded.
~
It had all happened so quickly no one even had the time to react.
Byulyi, Seokjin and Jisoo were on the way back from helping Ms Ahn carry the projects to her staff room, about to climb down the stairs, when Jisoo let out an "ah!" She had lost her footing, startling Byulyi and Seokjin.
However, Seokjin acted fast. Before Jisoo fell forward, Seokjin grabbed onto Jisoo by the arm and yanked her backwards, and the both of them tumbled onto the floor, Jisoo on top of Seokjin.
"Ouch..." The two of them mumbled.
"Are you alright?" Seokjin asked, helping Jisoo to get up from the floor.
Jisoo frowned, but nodded. "I'm alright."
But Seokjin examined her arms carefully, and spotted a small gash on her shin. "You're totally not alright! Look- you're bleeding!"
Jisoo looked down and gasped. He was right. "How about you? Did you get hurt?" Jisoo pulled Seokjin's arm closer and examined it, finding an even larder gash on his arm - afterall, he was the one who had fallen directly on the ground, not her. "Ya! You're bleeding even worse!"
Seokjin looked down at his wound and let out a small chuckle. "Just a small gash, it's nothing for a guy like me."
But Jisoo frowned, feeling bad for having brought this upon Seokjin. "You got injured while trying to save me afterall..."
"No... don't say that." Seokjin smiled, patting Jisoo's head as Byulyi watched on stiffly. "It was my choice and I'm just glad we're both safe, haha."
"Thank you, Seokjin." Jisoo frowned. "Let's get us to the nurse's office now."
Byulyi who had been standing watch all this time, feeling like an awkward third wheel, finally spoke as the two of them rose to their feet. "You guys need my help?"
"It's fine, Byulyi." Seokjin said with a smile. "You go back to class first. We'll come back shortly."
Byulyi nodded and watched on as the two of them walked away, supporting each other.
Why did she feel so uncomfortable watching the two of them?
It wasn't as if her and Seokjin were dating or anything, but she had spent so much time with him that it was practically as if they were dating. At least, to her. She had long developed a crush on... her best friend.
But it wasn't because of his looks. Seokjin already had many admirers since the day Byulyi got to know him simply because he was drop-dead gorgeous, but that wasn't what made him attractive to her. In the first place, Byulyi, who had hated attention all her life, was determined not to hang out with Seokjin because of how good-looking he was.
But then, he walked into her life.
It was the second week of school - and Byulyi had spent the first week keeping a low profile, talking to people only if necessary, eating lunch alone... but then that came to a halt immediately when Seokjin placed his food tray opposite her at lunch and took a seat. "No one's sitting here, right?"
Byulyi shook her head, but was obviously taken aback by Seokjin's sudden action.
"Your name's Byulyi, isn't it?" Seokjin said as he stuffed his mouth with a spoonful of rice. "Haven't really seen you participate that much in class."
Byulyi smiled politely, instantly becoming more self-conscious at once. He knew her? "I... I just don't like attention a lot..."
"Why though?" Seokjin exclaimed, taking a sip of banana milk before continuing. "You're so pretty, why wouldn't you want attention?"
Byulyi caught herself blushing, but she couldn't deby she was kind of enjoying talking to Seokjin. "No, I'm not."
"Hey, look-" Seokjin said seriously. "I know I'm handsome, so I admit it. And you're pretty, so just be honest about it!"
Byulyi laughed out loud. And she had realised that that was her loudest laugh since the year had started.
So... that was how they became best friends. But from that day onwards, everyday was a new surprise for Byulyi. She knew he was confident, but didn't know how kind he was until she saw him race across the road to help an old lady. She knew he was kind, but didn't know what a good friend he was until he pulled an all-nighter with her just to help her with the work she had missed when she was sick.
Sure, he had his own weaknesses, but his positive attributes overwhelmed his weaknesses. Seokjin was a great guy and overtime, Byulyi couldn't stop herself from falling for him.
But Byuyi knew that all this was pointless. There were times when Seokjin did so much for her she felt like he was finally seeing her as a woman, but seeing how he treated everyone else, there wasn't much of a difference. He was simply treating her nice because... he was nice. But she just couldn't help but fall for him.
Byulyi sighed as the two of them disappeared round the corner.
Having a one-sided crush was so hard.
~
"Byulyi."
Byulyi looked up, surprised to see Jisoo standing in front of her table after she had returned from the nurse's office with Seokjin. "Hey, Jisoo. What's up?"
Jisoo smiled, leaning closer so that only two could hear them since Taehyung wasn't in his seat. "Um... Can I talk to you for a second?"
Confused, Byulyi nevertheless stood up and followed Jisoo out of the classroom. "What's wrong?"
Jisoo smiled shyly, looking around making sure that no one was in the vicinity. "I know this may sound a bit direct... and you really don't need to answer me if you don't want to but... you like Seokjin, don't you?"
Byulyi felt her heart beat faster as she panicked internally. How was she going to answer this? Admit it? Deny it? And why on earth did Jisoo want to know? "Sorry- what?"
"I said... you have a crush on Seokjin, right? I was watching the way you reacted earlier when Seokjin and I fell down together and... well, you didn't look too happy."
"Oh- no!" Byulyi laughed, waving her hands in denial, before she had even realised what she was doing. "I was just taken aback by the sudden motion I couldn't really process what was happening. Seokjin is literally like... the last person I would have a crush on."
Oh, crap. What was she even thinking? It's not like she was saying this to Seokjin but did she have to deny her feelings for him to such an extent? But it was too late.
"Really?" Jisoo beamed. "Actually... I have something to confess."
Oh, no.
Byulyi could see it in her eyes. She knew, right then and there...
"Actually... I think I have a crush on Seokjin."
Byulyi felt her heart crumble. She should have seen this coming earlier... The way Jisoo's eyes lingered on Seokjin every time she turned around, the way she didn't pull back her hand when it touched Seokjin's a few days ago, the way she looked at Seokjin after he had saved her from falling down the stairs...
Then Byulyi realised. She had known it all this time. She knew Jisoo had a crush on Seokjin... which was why she behaved so passively earlier. Jisoo made her be on her toes. But what was the point in knowing? That didn't change anything anyway. She wouldn't be able to stop people from liking Seokjin - just like how it was impossible for her to stop having feelings for-
"Byulyi?"
Byulyi snapped back to reality as Jisoo waved a hand in front of her face several times and called her name.
"Are you alright?"
Byulyi forced a smile. "Sure. Yes, I am."
"Then... do you have anything to say in response to what I told you earlier?" Jisoo asked hopefully.
"What?" Byulyi was so out of it.
Jisoo smiled slightly, looking embarrassed. "Well... you know, about Seokjin."
Byulyi paused. How was she supposed to react? Get mad? Tell her the truth? Be happy for them? "Um... what was the point of you telling me this anyway?"
Her tone came out as more aggressive than she had intended. She must really be upset - even more upset than she herself knew.
Jisoo was equally taken aback. "Byulyi... are you mad?"
Byulyi forced herself to laugh. "Oh, no. Not at all. I was just asking if you needed any help?"
Moon Byulyi. You're the biggest idiot - ever.
"I knew it, I just knew it!" Jisoo beamed, hugging Byulyi's arm. "You're the best, Byulyi. I knew I could come to you for help."
Byulyi stared at her blankly.
"You know..." Jisoo went on. "You're close to Seokjin, so..."
"You want me to matchmake you two?"
Jisoo nodded excitedly. "That's exactly what I mean."
Byulyi was taken aback. Even if Jisoo had a crush, she never knew that she would have acted on it. She was one of the geeks in class afterall - and geeks were known to, well, care about nothing other than their grades. "Wait... you serious?"
"I am!" Jisoo exclaimed, before she realised she was getting a bit too loud for comfort and lowered her voice. "Byulyi , look- it's a misconception that we geeks don't wanna date. Most of us actually do. It's just that we've been so caught up with our grades that we hardly have the time to find someone. But..." Jisoo hesitated and smiled. "I found him. I have had a crush on him since the start of this year."
Byulyi felt her stomach lurch.
"You wanna know why?" Jisoo asked excitedly and answering her own question before Byulyi had the chance to respond. "At the start of the year, I was studying in the library when Seokjin sat across me and handed me a note saying 'you're doing great'. That's when I first noticed him despite already being classmates for a year." Jisoo grinned. "Overtime, I started to see more and more good points and at some point I realised - I think I like him."
Byulyi pursed her lips, trying to maintain her poker face. That was exactly the same reason she had developed feelings for him. "Oh."
"So... what do you say? Could you help me, Byulyi? I promise - I really like him."
And for the next few months after Byulyi had said what she was about to say, she had regretted it with every ounce of herself.
"Sure, I'll cheer you on."