Jisoo, Taeyong and Bobby were saved when a group of teachers and rescuers spotted them while going down the mountain road. Jisoo was immediately treated of her sprained ankle while the other two boys were summoned by the teacher-in-charge. The trio would be punished accordingly but not before submitting each of their apology letter.
It was already past midnight when Jisoo felt her throat throbbing. She got up from her bed and reached out for her tumbler only to be left with an empty container. She should've filled it earlier before going to bed. So, Jisoo was forced to limp her way to the cafeteria where the water refilling station was located. There, she saw a figure sitting alone in the middle of the mess hall. The figure seemed to be sleeping with his head against the table. Jisoo approached him, recognizing the person behind the figure.
"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Jisoo asked.
The boy immediately lift his head up, startled. "Jisoo?"
"Hey." Jisoo didn't wait for his invitation and sat across him.
Taeyong blinked, seemingly confused. "And what about you? What are you doing here this late at night? What about your leg?"
Jisoo raised her tumbler, making Taeyong realized her reason for her detour. "And my ankle's fine. They didn't hurt much unlike before."
Taeyong smiled and it made Jisoo uncomfortable. She cleared her throat. "I can see you're still making your apology letter."
"Ah." Taeyong looked down and tried folding the paper to hide his embarrassing letter. "And you?"
"Done but i doubt you'd call it an apology." Jisoo smirked. "It's more like an explanation why we ended up like this."
Taeyong laughed but he couldn't shake that image of Jisoo, smirking. Yes, Jisoo is beautiful, gorgeous in fact but there's something about her that stands out among the other girls he had met so far. She's... brave, smart and fierce.
Unknowingly, Taeyong reached out to tuck those loose strands of Jisoo's hair. Jisoo stilled, her eyes, wide. Taeyong realized his bold action and immediately turned red, looking away while rubbing the back of his neck. Jisoo also felt embarrased and also looked away. She didn't want to admit it but it made her heart pound. While the two of them were busy being unconscious with one another, a certain person caught them while trying to buy himself a bottle of gatorade from the nearby vending machine.
•••••
The trip went on and for their 2nd day, Nayeon finally let on. She realized how much of a bitch she was to Jisoo. Her jealousy got the better of her. When their class teacher tasked them to make a 5-person group, Nayeon was the first one to approach her and it somehow made Jisoo happy. Of course Taeyong volunteered to join their group, forcing his two other friends, namely Johnny and Yuta to join them.
Finally, their trip came to a conclusion. The school was gracious enough to take their students to the train station. Most parents were already there waiting for their sons and daughters to pick them up.
"Bye Jisoo. I'll see you tomorrow okay?" Nayeon smiled and waved good bye to Jisoo who immediately returned it with her own.
"Hey."
Jisoo jumped by surprise. When she turned, she spotted Taeyong with her gym bag hanging across his shoulder. The girl immediately reddened.
"Wh-what?" She stammered.
"Got a ride?" Taeyong decided to take a seat beside Jisoo. "With your ankle looking like that it would be better if someone with a car picked you up."
"Ye-yeah." Jisoo wanted to slap herself for stuttering like that. "My uncle just texted me. He's on his way now to pick me up."
"That's good." Taeyong smiled but didn't dare to look at her.
"What about you?"
"Same as you." He answered. "Still waiting for my ride to come."
"I see."
Then, there was an awkward silence. The two of them were so uncomfortale that Taeyong finally decided to break the awkward atmosphere around them.
"Whoa." Taeyong suddenly stood and walked near the garbage can. "Look at this."
Jisoo craned her neck and saw a stray cat. It has a white fur just like her dog, Dalgom. She smiled softly, suddenly remembering her dog back at home.
"Oh my god. That guy's so cute." Jisoo suddenly heard one of the female bystanders whisper. "He's totally my type."
"Aww. Look at that cat. I wish he could pet me like that."
"So you think he has a girlfriend? Wanna try asking for his number?"
Jisoo suddenly felt overwhelmed. She tried stealing a glance at Taeyong who was still preoccupied playing with the cat. Well, she had to admit he looked attractive especially with those sharp jaw and perfect body proportion of his. He really looked like a model if not an idol. Jisoo flinched when Taeyong suddenly looked at her direction, waving at her. She suddenly felt small. Compare to Taeyong's fashionable style, she's nothing with just her oversized tee and denim shorts.
"Is that her girlfriend? You've got to be kidding me."
"Just look at her hair and get up."
"I bet she didn't even put on make up."
Jisoo wanted to hide behind her loose strands of hair. It was kind of surprising since it was her first time to feel that way and it was all because of Lee Taeyong.
"Hey Soo, i think your ride is here." Taeyong came up to her and picked up Jisoo's bag for her.
"Soo?" Jisoo frowned.
"Yeah, Soo. It's short for your name Jisoo." Taeyong beamed.
There it was again. Jisoo's heart leapt and her face flushed with embarrassment. She really hated that part of Taeyong. He was making her weak and it was a foreign feeling for her.
•••••
Monday came and everyone was excited to return to school except for Jisoo who was still confused with her feelings towards Taeyong. She barely slept that night thinking about him.
"Hey, are you alright?" Hanbin came to her side while walking down the hallway of their school.
"Yeah, i'm fine." Jisoo lied. "What about Bobby? Did he say anything to you?"
Hanbin groaned. "That bastard said he'll skip school today. Still tired from your school trip he said."
"Is that so?" Jisoo contemplated. Just then, she saw Jennie walking ahead of them. "Hey, Jennie!"
Jennie stopped to look back and spotted her new friend together with her long time crush. Her heart immediately pounded, her face flushed.
"He-hey." Jennie greeted them back.
"G'morning." Hanbin smiled towards Jennie. "Where's your brother?"
"H-he went to his morning practice."
"I see." Hanbin pouted. "Well then, i'll get going first. Yoyo's waiting for me. Bye girls."
"Alright. See you later." Jisoo waved.
After Hanbin disappeared, Jennie groaned, feeling frustrated with herself. Jisoo laughed. Poor Jennie. She wished she could help her friend to be brave.
"Wipe that smile off or i'll tear that pretty mouth of yours off of your face." Jennie warned.
"I was not." Jisoo suddenly pursed her lips. "Why don't you just man up and confess your-"
"Ah, ah, ah, ah." Jennie held up her hand. "Zip it or i'll really have to tear that mouth of yours."
Jennie suddenly remembered the first time they met. He already caught her attention from the very start. During Jinhwan's last year of middle school, he brought some friends over to their house. They were Bobby and Hanbin who came looking dirty and sweaty after playing some baseball. Bobby, being who he was could only look down but not Hanbin who was beaming with so much energy at that time. His smile was stretching from ear to ear and it was adorable. Not only that. Hanbin was also very friendly to the point that he couldn't shut his mouth while talking to their parents. Jennie also discovered his passion for music which you seldom see nowadays. He would always play some music every morning before classes start through the school's radio system. Hanbin also let her read some of his song lyrics and just remembering it made her smile.
How she wish she could convey her feelings for him someday.
•••••
Taeyong's class had an early break and he decided to play some basketball together with his friends, Johnny and Yuta. There were not the only students who were playing inside that court. Her basketball teammates, Kai and Sehun from Class 3-B were also there to spend their free time.
"Hey, what's gotten into you and you decided to make peace with the new girl?" Yuta asked while trying to steal the ball from Taeyong.
Taeyong smiled upon the mention of the girl he has an interest on. For him, it was like having your first love all over again. He dribbled the ball, faking to pass to the right but ended up making a left turn before making a perfect shot.
"Well, it wasn't in my character to ignore someone in the first place especially if that person hasn't done anything wrong." Taeyong wiped the sweat trickling down on his face with his shirt. "And besides, we're the ones at fault for misjudging her."
Yuta frowned. He looked over at Johnny for back up but the latter just shrugged, not caring at all. Yuta finally gave in and sighed.
"You know what, don't blame us if something happens to the girl." Yuta narrowed his eyes towards his friend. "To be honest, we're not actually worried about what will happen to you if you continue to hang out around that girl."
That time, it was Taeyong's turn to frown. "What do you mean?"
"Well, what do you think Seulgi will do to her after hearing about this?" Yuta crossed his arms. "You know that girl has already set her eyes on you."
Taeyong bit down his lips. He didn't thought about that. He knew the senior girl had some feelings for him but he would just always brushed it off, not caring. Just then, his deep thoughts were interrupted when he heard Kai's loud howl. The three of them turned to the other side of the court and saw Kai with his friends making some hoops.
Taeyong suddenly felt irritated. He could still remember Kai and Sehun gossiping about Jisoo, the very reason why the fight between them and Bobby from class 2-C broke out. Even when they were having their practice, Taeyong would always hear them talking about Jisoo. Yuta's eyes suddenly widen when Taeyong started to walk towards the group of seniors.
"Yah!" Yuta called but Taeyong ignored him. "Aishh."
Yuta didn't have much choice but to follow his friend with Johnny at his heels.
"Sunbae." Taeyong smiled towards Kai and his friends.
"Oh? If it isn't our ace player." Kai paused to address his hoobae. "What's up Taeyong-ah?"
"Do you know someone named Kim Jisoo around?" Taeyong asked.
"Ah you mean the new girl?" Kai snorted. "The school's slut?"
Taeyong's smile vanished, his eyes narrowed and dark. Kai flinched when a ball suddenly came flying in his direction. It was a good thing it only grazed his left cheek.
"What the hell?" Kai glared towards Taeyong. "What's wrong with you? You almost hit me!"
"Then you should've shut your damn mouth." Taeyong looks bored and it only made him look more intimidating.
"Wh-what?"
"Let's make a bet sunbae." Taeyong took a step forward, making the seniors flinch. Afterall, Taeyong is very athletic. They bet he could take them on alone. "Whoever wins the game, will make the other do what he's told."
Kai sneered, evil thoughts finally hatching inside his brain. "Oh yeah?"
Taeyong smirked. "Absolutely. You can even make me quit this team if you want."
"Yah!" Yuta was flabbergasted.
Yuta couldn't believe his selfish friend would bet something like that but Taeyong was undaunted. He was firm with his decision to get even with the seniors. He already knew of Kai's obsession to be the number one player of their team. He had always been jealous of his skill and popularity among the other students and this was his opportunity to kick him out of the team.
"So?" Taeyong waited for Kai's answer.
"What about you?" Kai asked. "What do you want me to do if ever you won the bet? Only if you win."
"Oh don't worry. It's just simple." Taeyong's face suddely darken, his eyes turning into slits while smiling evilly. The other students who came to watch them shiver in fear. That was a new side of Lee Taeyong that they haven't seen yet. "I just want you to kneel and beg for Jisoo's forgiveness."
It was a one on one game. The first one to make 5 goals would be declared as winner. Taeyong gave the ball to Kai, throwing it hard towards the poor senior.
"Ladies first." Taeyong teased.
•••••
The gym teacher, Teacher Gang entered the 2-A class for their last period. Jisoo who was sitting next to Taeyong couldn't help but notice how tired the boy looked. She would catch him falling into sleep from time to time. Just what did he do before this to make him this tired?
"Alright class, listen up." Teacher Gang called out the class' attention. "This coming friday, we will hold a practicum for your swimming class. Of course you all know how our grading system works, right?"
Jisoo stiffened on her seat. She's in big trouble now seeing that she has a fear of water. Ever since she almost drown during their family's outing, she never dared swimming on deep waters again. She was only 7 years old when it happened and it gave her a trauma.
During their swimming classes, Jisoo didn't have trouble swimming since she would always make sure to stay in shallow waters but during a practicum, it was a different story. She was sure they would be using the whole pool including the 10 ft deep part.
"Of course it won't hurt you guys to practice on your own so i'll give you free time starting today until the day of our practicum this coming friday."
"Alright! Free period!" The students howled in excitement.
Jisoo could only bite her bottom lip, feeling nervous. She just remembered why she hated PE in the first place.