39
<--->
tests. tests. tests.
how she hated them.
areum cautiously scraped her pencil on the test paper full of questions she had studied hard for. she was a nervous wreck as each second that had passed with her brain calculating and thinking hard.
a good grade. that's what she wished for. areum believed that her hard work will turn out to be nothing if she didn't answer the questions with honesty. even though half of her believed she would not ace the test, she knew she had to do well to praise herself that she tried.
the atmosphere of the classroom full of quiet students was calm and thick. tension arose in the air as students knew how serious the test was. they knew it determined their future and where they will be going. but areum didn't know what she wanted to do or where to go.
school was just a learning place. she believed that when she was in elementary school. now growing up, she realized how different it was than she actually thought. school was helpful, and she didn't want to admit it but it was important.
anxiously waiting for the bell to ring, areum caught herself staring at her paper full of answers that she had written down. she was nervous as her heart hammered in her chest.
her eyes twitched when the teacher stood up from the desk. areum gulped. one last problem and she was done. the teacher began to walk down the rows of students, a glare in her eyes as she focused on each individual before moving on to collect other papers.
areum quickly read the question. it didn't make sense the first time as she panicked, but the more she read it the more she wasted time to answer it. breathing in, she filled it out with fast movements of her right hand. it was a perfect timing as the teacher had arrived to her desk when she finished.
"paper," the teacher muttered, glaring into areum's skull as she shakily handed the paper over. she hoped she received a good grade. she really did.
areum relaxed her shoulders after the teacher passed. she was relieved and leaned back in her chair. a little while later, the bell rang and students hastily picked up their belongings before scattering out of the door.
hyunjin, sitting a few seats away from areum, walked over with his bag slid over his muscular shoulder. he gave her a simple smile to greet her, swiftly swinging an arm around her shoulders.
"you good?" he asked as they ventured out of the classroom, walking side by side to go to their next class.
areum shook her head. she was still not over the last problem that stuck in her mind clearly. "i - i don't know if i know if i'm good. you know?"
hyunjin blinked. "no, i don't know." areum gave him a hard stare, then she burst out laughing at his randomness.
"whatever, let's go," she mumbled, tugging him along as she held the sleeves of his uniform.
<--->
"lunch!" felix screamed, running after a giddy jeongin. both of them were probably the most energetic ones out of everyone. since answering questions for tests, everyone was glad that lunch was next before their other classes.
seungmin pressed his lips together, not impressed when the two began to do the weird fortnite dance moves that felix had taught jeongin from the internet.
"go join them," areum nudged his arm, laughing hard at felix when he began to march over while shooting the hammer dance.
"hell no," seungmin quickly said, pushing himself away from areum and felix. he didn't feel like moving around so much after huge amounts of tests piling in front of him.
hyunjin mentioned, "felix, i'll teach you this dance." he proceeded to place his hands over his head a little bit before moving crazily back and forth. meanwhile, areum was laughing, seungmin shook his head and walked away to greet sowon who had just turned around the corner with changbin.
"hey! what's up, seungmin," changbin greeted, coming in for a bro hug, but seungmin shivered away, refusing. changbin furrowed his brows and lifted his right hand up slowly. "do you... want a high-five then?"
seungmin smiled, chuckling. "sure." he lifted his hand, raising it closer to changbin's hand, but before he was able to touch it with a clap, changbin had pulled his hand into a small fist, laughing.
"you thought," he teased the younger one. seungmin stood there, embarrassed for a second, but he was more amused at himself. he couldn't help but praise changbin who got him back. "ah, whatever. hey, sowon."
the girl smiled, showing off one of her dimples that made seungmin awe at. "seungmin, hi. where's areum and the others?"
seungmin pointed behind his shoulder. "over there. they're being dumb so i'm just chilling here to avoid them, pretending i don't know them."
sowon giggled. "but you know them."
seungmin grinned smugly. "that's why i said i'm pretending. let's go get them now. i'm starving."
sowon followed after seungmin as changbin quietly trailed behind the girl. he tucked his hands in his pockets, examining sowon as he bit his bottom lip. he wanted to stay near her forever, but he was afraid she didn't like him near her. he kept his distance.
<--->
areum placed herself between hyunjin and felix as everyone else filled the circle table. exciting chatters bubbled from everyone's mouth as areum stayed quiet, eating. she was still thinking back to that problem and she didn't know why. that problem was probably marked wrong because she hurried to finish her test.
she was too deep in thought that she didn't hear hyunjin call her name. the boy huffed and leaned closer to her, flicking his finger in her ear as he smirked a little. areum whipped her head around to see hyunjin laughing at her when her nose scrunched up from the pain she felt.
"what?" she snapped, pouting a little. hyunjin felt a bit guilty for hurting her and placed his hand over her hand that was holding her ear. hyunjin's hand was slightly larger than areum's, which he found hilarious.
"sorry," he mumbled as he gripped her hand gently. "i was trying to say something to you, but you didn't answer me."
areum's eyes softened and she apologized, but hyunjin shushed her, pressing a finger on her lips. hyunjin didn't know what it was with him, but seeing areum upset now, even though she would admit that she's not upset, he felt like hugging her. he felt like protecting her.
it was a much stronger feeling though, and he didn't know what it was, and he felt scared at the unknown feeling bubbling inside his heart.
"so, i was wondering if you guys would like to go on a small road trip with me after we finish testing," sowon started out. they had a small break after testing, so everyone was enthusiastic when she suggested such a marvelous idea.
"yes! i would love to go!" minho squeezed himself in between jisung and changbin. he had gotten back from the bathroom and just heard the news sowon delivered.
everyone began to agree to sowon's brilliant idea. a road trip will surely help their brains relax from sitting down in a desk and answering questions. everyone was excited, all except areum who kept quiet.
"and what about you?" hyunjin asked, tilting his head to look at her with a questioning look on his face. he looked cute doing that and areum's heart slightly fluttered at the sudden movement of his.
"i'm not sure," she answered truthfully, causing everyone to groan at her. "what about my parents? they will likely said no..."
"not really," sowon chirped up with a happy grin tugged on her lips. "i already asked your parents beforehand so you don't have to worry about it."
areum's eyes lit up. "really? oh, thank you!"
sowon smiled warmly. "anything to help you out."
hyunjin grinned and grabbed areum's hand, resting it on the table. he looked at her. "do you want me to help you pack?"
areum furrowed her brows. hyunjin was never one to suggest helping her pack as he usually focused on himself to make sure he had anything he needed to go on trips. she knew about his habits because of how close they are.
"uh... you want to see my panties?"
author's note
heya im back and alive