"Did you hear, Chenle and Naeun broke up at the party last friday."
I was in class eating my small breakfast when I over heard the conversation that Hani and Sarang were having. Hani and Sarang were both very popular at our school. They were the typical school mean girls but that didn't stop others from envying everything about them. They were both beautiful and from very wealthy families. They practically got everything they wanted, well almost everything.
"I told you he wouldn't last with that bitch." Sarang grinned as she spoke to Hani. "Now that she's out of the way he will finally notice me and realize that I'm the one meant for him."
I rolled my eyes.
"Chenle would never date a girl with such an ugly personality for long." I muttered inaudibly under my breath.
"I made him a sweet last night so he will feel better. He will have to notice me when I give it to him."
Sarang pulled out what looked like a brownie wrapped in a pretty plastic.
"Wow it looks so delicious!" Hani widened her eyes. "He's definitely going to fall in love with you."
"I know." Sarang confidently bragged.
"What did you put in it? I want to try making one at home for Jeno."
Jeno was one of Chenle's friends and was also a popular soccer player at our school. I'm assuming Hani must have a crush on him along with all the other girls at our school. If I was being honest even I found Jeno extremely handsome.
"I found the recipe online. You need milk, 2 eggs, flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and peanuts."
Did she say peanuts? Chenle is allergic to peanuts!
The morning bell rang and quickly more students began filling the class.
"Y/N~" Suyeon sang as soon as she saw me and sat down in her seat.
"How are you feeling?" She asked with a slight frown on her face. "Jungwoo told me about your dad."
"Oh that, I'm fine." I quickly replied and focused on finding Chenle. I had to warn him not to eat the sweet Sarang had made him.
I finally saw him walk into the class but my view was instantly blocked by a happy Yangyang.
"Good morning." He cheerfully greeted me.
"Morning." I greeted him and focused my attention back on Chenle.
When my eyes found him Sarang was already standing in front of his seat giving him the bag.
"Y/N are you okay? You seem a little out of it."
"Perfectly fine." I sighed and stood up.
I don't know what came over me but I walked up to Chenle's desk and pulled the open bag away from him. Without thinking, I shoved the whole brownie in my mouth.
"What are you doing you freak!" Sarang yelled catching everyone's attention. "I made that for Chenle."
Chenle on the other hand stared at me with an almost amused expression.
I tried to swallow but began to choke on the dry bread.
He stood up, opening his water bottle and slowly fed me the water till I washed it all down.
"What can I say, I love peanuts?" I shrugged and lowered my head in embarrassment.
"So you had to steal someone else's sweet? You are such a freak!" She raised her voice and pushed me back.
"Yah!" He gripped my wrist. "Apologize to her."
"Why would I apologize to this loser." She muttered and crossed her arms.
"Because I'm allergic to peanuts and she just saved my life."
"What?" She widened her eyes.
"I-I didn't know."
"No you didn't, so apologize to her right now."
"Chenle stop." I whispered so only he could hear.
"I won't. It doesn't change the fact she's just a loser."
The whole class began laughing at me. All attention was on me and I hated it. I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.
"We'll at least she isn't a bitch like you!"
Everyone gasped as she stood with her arms crossed.
"At least?" She laughed to herself. "So you agree?"
Chenle was confused by her response.
"I might be a bitch but you agree that shes nothing more than a loser."
The whole class erupted into laughter again.
"That's not what I meant." He defended his words.
"Why are you defending her anyways? Do you like her or something."
"No." Chenle let go of my wrist.
He looked around the class nervously.
"I-I felt bad for her."
Sarang laughed even louder.
"So you feel so bad for this loser you have to defend her like a baby." She frowned and rubbed her eyes implying that I was a crybaby.
Chenle looked away and sat back in his seat. "Yea whatever." He mumbled.
Sarang blocked me in and slammed her hand on Chenle's desk.
"Why don't you go back to your own desk and I'll forget this ever happened." She smirked.
I nodded my head avoiding any eye contact and rushed back to my seat.
Suyeon stared at me with worry written all over her face.
"Y/N what was that all about?"
I turned to Yangyang who also looked worried.
Fuck! I want to die. Why did I embarrass myself like that?
"N-nothing." I lied and hid my face in my own arms.
I didn't feel like talking to anyone or doing anything.
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I felt something cold on my check so I opened my eyes and saw Suyeon standing in front of my desk.
She was holding a carton of chocolate milk to my cheek with a frown on her face.
"Are you okay?" She asked me, placing the milk carton and a sandwich on my desk.
She sat in her seat and turned it around so that she was facing me.
I vaguely nodded my head while sitting up.
"Do you mind telling me about what happened this morning?"
I pursed my lips and let my gaze fall onto the sandwich that she had brought me. I quietly unwrapped the plastic and took a small bite.
She sighed loud enough for me to hear.
"If you don't want to talk about it that's fine but I want you to know that I'm worried about you. I'm your best friend and I wish you wouldn't act so distant. You know you can trust me with anything."
I nodded my head.
"Aren't you going to say anything at all?" She questioned my silence.
I stood up and wrapped the rest of the sandwich. "I'm going to the wash room, don't wait up for me and go have lunch with your friends in the cafeteria."
"Y/N." She called my name but I ignored her and left the classroom.
I wasn't mad at Suyeon or anything but I did want to be alone. Although we were very close friends and she was Jungwoo's girl friend, she didn't know much about my life before we met. Jungwoo agreed that he would respect my decision in keeping some thing's private such as my brother and his death.
I decided to take in some fresh air on the schools rooftop garden. I sat down on the bench swing that looked over a shrub of white roses.
The sun was beaming particularly brighter than usual today. It gave the roses an almost blinding view.
The loud sound of the roofs bulky metal door opening caught my attention. I peeked my head over my shoulder and saw Yangyang entering the garden.
A sweet smile spread across his face when he saw me and cheerfully made his way towards me. He sat on the opposite end of the bench swing and began to look around at all the pots and plants surrounding us.
"I wish we had a garden like this back at my old school."
"Comforting isn't it?" I took a deep breathe of the fresh breeze.
He nodded his head in agreement.
"Are you feeling okay?" His sudden question caught me by surprise.
"Yes, why wouldn't I be okay." I laughed it off but he stayed serious.
"I know we only met but if you need to talk to me about anything you can trust me. It's bad for you to keep your emotions bottled up."
I looked at him with a hesitant expression.
"Did you know that sometimes it's even easier to talk to a stranger than those closest to you." He added on.
I stuck my pinky finger out. "You have to promise you wont tell anyone."
He interlocked his pinky with mine.
"I promise." He smiled and metaphorically sealed his lips.
"You probably wont believe this but Chenle and I were best friends since childhood." I began to tell him, afraid that he might not believe me.
"Huh..." He trailed off. "That explains his reaction to you."
"Reaction to me?" I questioned. "What do you mean?"
Yangyang rubbed the back of his neck and avoided my gaze.
"It's nothing big but I asked him about you on my first day and he seemed a bit tense at the mention of your name."
"What did you ask him?"
My curiosity got the best of me.
He turned and leaned in closer to me.
"If you were single."
I felt the heat of my blood rush to my cheeks. I didn't know how to reply.
"I'm joking." He chuckled and leaned away.
"Then what did you ask him?"
"That's a secret," he smiled, "and right now we are talking about you, not me."
I collected my thoughts and continued telling him about my past.
"We were best friends till the summer before high school." I sighed. "Not just him and I, but also my older brother and cousin Jungwoo who you met this past weekend."
Yangyang slightly chuckled at the memories of our unexpected meeting.
"That summer there was an incident and my older brother passed away."
Yangyang's smile quickly turned into a frown.
"That incident changed the dynamic of our friendship's forever." I took a deep breathe to stop the tears from forming in my eyes. "Jungwoo entered his third and final year of high school without my brother, and Chenle and I entered our first year as strangers."
I lightly laughed to myself as a tear rolled down the edge of my cheek.
"But none of that matters now because that was all in the past."
I stood up and dusted my uniform off.
"It's almost time for class." I said after checking my watch . "We should get going."
Yangyang nodded his head and followed me back to the stairwell. Before we reached the bottom he held me back by my hand.
"We might only be new friends but if you ever need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, I will always be there for you."
"Thank you Yangyang."
He let go of my hand and we returned back to our classroom.
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