[no one's point of view]
see it as a smol bonus
———
"Yo, Chaelin," the blonde-haired guy speaks up, dropping the dirty sponge back in the bucket with evenly dirty water at his feet. Small drops of water fly over the edge, but Jisung doesn't seem to mind all that much.
"Hm?" the girl reacts, urging the boy next to her to continue while she quickly finishes the window she's cleaning.
"So I have a plan," Jisung explains, wiping his wet hands off on his pants. "And I'm begging for your cooperation, among best friends of two very slow people in love."
Chaelin lightly tilts her head –a habit she took from her boyfriend over time. She's not sure where her cleaning duty partner is going with this, but it seems to involve Felix and his crush so she's definitely interested.
"What are you scheming, Han Jisung?" she asks, and a mischievous grin crosses the boy's face.
"I'm glad you asked," he says, moving closer and leaning against the wall next to her window. "It has been a week since Lix and Changbin hyung started holding hands. They think they are being discreet about it but they totally aren't and it's so painfully obvious, like even I would hide it better if I had a crush. Not like I have one, but you get me, right?"
"Yes?" Chaelin replies, trying to filter through the whirlwind of information in order to see where this boy was going.
"Great," Jisung grins. "Anyway, they are so obvious but so painfully slow, man. If I would like someone, I'd go for it. Why beat around the bush for so long when you–"
"Jisung," the girl interrupts him, smiling in amusement as she witnessed the boy's rants. "Just tell me your plan, okay?"
"Oh, yes, sorry," the blonde-haired mutters, grinning sheepishly. "I was thinking, what if we lock them in a classroom together? I'm not sure why it seems like a good idea, it just feels like it, you know?"
"Now you sound like someone who has watched too many anime and dramas," Chaelin jokes, finally catching the drift.
"Guilty as charged," the boy admits, holding up his hands with a grin. "But hey, it works on TV, why not give it a try in real life? It's a popular trope, it has to be based on something."
Jisung's excitement works contagious, and suddenly, the plan doesn't sound that bad anymore. The two are already whipped for each other, it's not like we're locking two oblivious strangers in a classroom and hope for the best; this actually might work out.
"Why didn't you ask Hyunjin?"
Chaelin can't help but wonder, since asking her boyfriend would make much more sense, in her opinion.
"Because you are my cleaning buddy, that creates a bond that might come in handy for the plan," Jisung explains, before grinning widely. "Okay I'm partly joking, you've been Felix's best friend for so long, asking you would make the most sense."
"Okay," Chaelin nods. "So, when are we locking them up? We're by far not done cleaning."
"I'm not sure yet," Jisung shrugs. "Let's finish cleaning first, meet me at the maintenance shed when you're done and we'll discuss the details."
Before the girl can agree, the other picks up his bucket and walks off, whistling a cheerful melody.
Chaelin isn't too sure what she just got herself into, but it sounds fun enough to participate in. Plus, if it brings Changbin anf Felix closer, why would she refuse?
——
The next day, Chaelin walks through the nearly empty corridors of the school's building. Felix is walking next to her, happily chatting about whatever.
She told him that she left her pencil case in a classroom and that she had to retrieve it in their free period. Felix followed her mindlessly, which means 50% of the first half of the plan is a success.
She wonders if Jisung also succeeded to get Changbin to follow him to the empty classroom. They'll find out soon.
The two arrive at classroom H-1, a classroom on ground level that's empty this period –according to Jisung's sources, and without batting an eye, Chaelin walks inside with Felix on her tail.
Changbin isn't there yet, and neither is Jisung. To buy time, she starts walking around the classroom, pretending to look for her blue pencil case that is, in fact, neatly stored in her backpack.
She walks around the classroom once, twice, while Felix decides to sit down on the teacher's desk, criss-cross applesauce, while assumingly playing a game on his phone.
Jisung, please hurry up, the girl wishes.
As if the boy can read minds, the door to the classroom swings open with a bang and Jisung appears, dragging a very confused Changbin with him. Felix's eyes widen in surprise, and Chaelin takes it as her cue to quickly exit the classroom, joining the blonde-haired in the hallway.
"Got them," he cheers after locking the door, holding up his hands for a high-five.
Chaelin returns the gesture hesitantly, hearing Felix's confused voice calling for her from inside the classroom.
"How did you even get the keys?" she questions as the boy next to her puts them in his backpocket.
As a reply, she gets a simple shrug with a secretive smile. "I have my sources."
Now that's a pretty useless answer, but Chaelin knows she'll have to do with it. No one in their right mind would just spill any helpful resources like this, not with the risk of losing it after word spreads.
"
So, I'm going to get a few snacks from the cafeteria," Jisung then announces. "You stay here and make sure no one lets these lovebirds out, I'll get you some snacks, too."
"Deal," Chaelin agrees, and Jisung walks off with a quick wave.
In order to kill some time, she tries to listen to the conversation that goes on inside the classroom, but the the two boys are either talking very quietly or not talking at all.
Chaelin hopes Jisung will return quickly.
——
"What do you mean, I lost the keys," Chaelin repeats in disbelief, staring at the blonde-haired boy in front of her with wide eyes.
"Yo, we literally speak the same language, you know exactly what I mean," he counters, clearly frustrated. "You know, shiny things to open doors? Poof, gone."
Jisung just returned from his trip to the cafeteria, without food but with a fresh dose of panic that was written on his features. If any janitor would've seen him, they definitely would've suspected him of being up to no good.
"Look, we have to find the keys, or get new ones," Jisung explains, excessive hand gestures showing his sudden nervousness. "If they find two students locked up in a classroom, they'll know for sure that some students messed around with the keys and that might land us in a fair deal of trouble."
Chaelin frowns, processing what Jisung just told her. Did that guy really lose the keys, the one thing that shouldn't get lost at all cost? She has a hard time believing it, but then again, this regards Han Jisung, the most chaotic person she ever crossed paths with.
"What are we waiting for? Let's get them out of there before any staff finds out they're locked in there," the girl hisses, grabbing Jisung's wrist and dragging him into the direction of the cafeteria.
"Don't bother, I already searched the entire route from H-1 to the cafeteria," Jisung protests, wiggling his arm free from her grip and grabbing hers instead. "I have a better idea."
At this point, Chaelin was honestly fine with whatever, so she just followed behind Jisung without complaining. As long as it would save them from any consequences, she would probably cooperate with it.
To her surprise, the boy drags her towards the east wing of the main building, to a small emergency door that leads outside.
"Knock on the door of the administration room and keep whoever opens it busy for a good minute," Jisung whispers, and then he casually walks outside, leaving Chaelin a bit dumbfounded.
Well, that's one way to put her on the spot.
Still, she obeys, and proceeds to knock on the bright yellow door that reads administration. She has no idea what she has to say, but she knows she can't leave Jisung hanging either.
Chaelin pushes away the upcoming anxiety that comes with knocking on the door of the school staff while doing something she shouldn't be doing, and knocks on the door. Immediately after, a middle-aged man opens it, staring down at her questioningly.
"U-Uh, hello," she blurts out, cursing herself for stuttering. She quickly racks her brain, before remembering a detail that might win her a minute or so. "I came here to look for Mrs. Kim, is she here currently?"
She knows fully well that Mrs. Kim doesn't work today, but the bulky janitor in front of her doesn't know that.
"No, she doesn't work today," the man obviously replies. "Can I leave a message?"
"I prefer to speak to her myself," Chaelin mutters, feigning shyness. "I'm sorry."
The man simply blinks, not really knowing what to do with the situation at hand.
"Can you tell me on which day she'll be back?" she then asks, dragging as much time as she possibly could.
As if fate works in their favor today, the man takes his sweet time to think, lightly tapping his chin in the process. "I think she's back tomorrow, but I'm not entirely sure since I don't always work on the same days."
"That is okay, I'll just check back tomorrow," Chaelin answers, feigning gratefulness with a small bow. "Thank you, sir."
The door closes, and the girl heaves out a sigh, hoping that she offered Jisung enough time for him to do whatever he was going to do.
She lingers in the hallway for a moment before Jisung approaches her, shaking his head with a dismal expression on his face.
"No keys in the administration room," he whispers, much to Chaelin's dismay.
"Then where else do they keep the spare keys?" she asks, her tone as hushed as Jisung's.
"Chaelin, what if I told you that maybe, just maybe, the key I lost is the spare key?" the boy admits, looking away in slight shame.
"What?" Chaelin hisses, her mouth falling open in disbelief. Actually, now that she thinks about it, she isn't too surprised. Did she expect that the boy somehow obtained the copy the teacher carries?
"Look, I'm not sure," Jisung tries to reassure her. "I'm not sure where my source got it from."
"What now?" Chaelin questions as they walk towards the center part of the building, where the lockers are located.
"Wait until someone else frees them and then hope they won't tell them it was us who locked them in there?" Jisung suggests with an awkward grin.
It's pretty obvious that the usually confident and carefree Han Jisung has no idea how to get out of this, either, and it's getting on the boy's nerves as much as on Chaelin's.
Once they arrive in the locker room, they find Hyunjin and Chan talking next to Hyunjin's locker. The two look up when they hear a pair of footsteps approaching, Hyunjin's eyes lighting up when he sees Chaelin approaching.
However, Chan's eyes are quick to narrow. "You two are panicking. What's up?"
Chaelin and Jisung exchange a quick look, both urging each other to come up with an explanation so that the other doesn't have to speak up. The boy is the first to falter, and he heaves out a sigh.
"Felix and Changbin hyung–" he starts.
"We just saw them walking outside," the oldest states, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. "Are you looking for them?"
Once again, Chaelin glanced at Jisung, now with mild relief washing over their faces. It only causes Chan's suspicion to grow, and the girl decides that now is a good time to get out of here.
"Not necessarily," she shrugs, turning to Hyunjin. "Jinnie, can we go? I miss Kkami."
Huynjin nods immediately, taking his girlfriend's hand and walking off after saying goodbye to Chan and Jisung.
Chaelin flashes the youngest a quick look as well, as if to say, we are definitely having a talk about this later.
But now, she definitely wants a break. If only Felix knew of the great lengths she goes through to get him closer to Changbin.
——
operation Fourth Wheel: behind the scenes
idk i just felt like writing this, i wanted to write about chaelin again and this seemed like a good solution lol