Chasing You

Chapter Twelve

Trip to Your Heart

It was like a school festival.

Students were all over the place in their casual clothes, chit-chatting about today's event. Some of them were trying to find shade under a tree as they waited for their friends and some were exposed to the sunlight, feeling its heat in the middle of the chilly weather. As the assembly time came, faculty members of Seoul Academy were already lined up in the stage just before the main building of the school. Today was going to be a hard day for the teachers as they needed to supervise their students the whole day with extra effort since they were touring onto public places. They were dealing with the hardest age groups to deal with namely teenagers and children.

Jongin adjusted the volume of the megaphone in his right hand. He could see the other teachers were instructing the students to stand in two lines in each section, boys and girls were separated. The buses were already coming and with that cue, Jongin knew that he needed to start the brief orientation. It was needed to discuss the students about what they needed to do and what they didn’t need to do. He glanced at Suho who signaled him that it was now time for the students to get on the bus, so he did what he was told.

"Go to your designated buses! Don't leave your trash on school grounds and instead, put it in the garbage cans which are just a few steps away from you are standing. You cannot push other students while trying to get on the bus that you were assigned to go to. You are in high school for heaven's sake. This is an educational trip and not a holiday vacation, so please behave as you are instructed to and learn as much as possible. Schedule of the trip will be explained by your advisors inside the bus as you cannot be contained outside. Listen to it and listen to it well. We don't want to wait for any students who arrive late because we clearly advised you to get here early. Be late and we will leave you. We are as strict as possible because Seoul Academy barely has any field trips or excursions or tours or whatever. One thing we will ask of you all is to behave. Okay?"

There was no response but the loud cheer coming from the students who were running to get on the bus, not caring if they were pushing each other just so that they could get the perfect seat on the bus. It was true that Seoul Academy rarely planned trips outside the school that was open for everyone so the students could not contain their excitement for today.

"Just let them," Irene said to Jongin. "I think they deserve to be free today. Let's go?"

"Whatever," Jongin mumbled.

"This is going to be fun!" Suho exclaimed, clapping his hands.

"So childish," Kyungsoo commented, rolling his eyes in the process.

Meanwhile, Ah Reum belonged to the group of students who were walking excitedly to get on the bus. She looked forward to this day because she got to sit next to Sehun and could have the whole day with him. She looked around, hoping to see Sehun so that she could ask him to walk with them but he was nowhere to be seen. Ah Reum was distracted about him for a while until Yerim’s voice rang in her ear.

"I am so excited that I barely had any sleep last night!" Yerim exclaimed, clasping her hands together showing how excited she was for today.

As always, Sooyoung agreed with her statement. "Me too! How about you, Ah Reum?" she asked, turning around to face Ah Reum, who was currently busy scanning through the crowd, looking for a certain someone.

Ah Reum looked at Sooyoung and asked, "Seriously?" She meant to be funny with her response.

Sooyoung jumped, placing both of her hands on Ah Reum’s shoulders. "Of course, we want to know, you know. Since you are sitting next to him."

The brunette smiled and said to her, "I just want to enjoy this day and you guys should do that too."

"You are so right!" Yerim chirped.

Ah Reum nodded, walking past them to talk to Seulgi. "Hey, Seulgi! Who are you sitting with?" she asked in excitement and curiosity. She never got the chance to ask Seulgi who her seatmate was, not that it was such an important thing to ask, but she just wanted to know.

"Jongdae," she replied shortly.

"Jongdae?"

Seulgi faced her. "Yes, Jongdae. We have to talk about the upcoming excursion of all the committees."

"You are assigned for that?" Ah Reum asked, thinking of how much big of a responsibility it was.

"Yes."

Ah Reum then broke out a smile and laughed. "But this is a tour. You shouldn't be talking about any school-related activites."

Seulgi rolled her eyes, her eyebrows raised, and gave Ah Reum a look. "I fail to see the rationale in that because this is a school activity. Besides, we only have a week to finish it all. The venue has already been taken care of since one of the board members offered his large private island that is not too far from Seoul."

"Cool," Ah Reum replied, not knowing what else there was to say.

Seulgi nodded. "I know. This year might actually be worth attending."

"I'm glad I joined a committee," Ah Reum cheered.

Seulgi just smirked at her. "I'm sure you are," she said and Ah Reum just giggled.

They were finally just a few steps away from the bus and after a while, they were finally inside. Students were making their way to their seats, chatters were all around, and there was a big indication that the rule of the students of the same section should be on the same bus were not abided by the students themselves. Some fled away to be with their boyfriends or girlfriends and some groups of people from different classes and year levels decided to be on the same bus. The students were really excited even if the destinations of the tour were not far from Seoul Academy. They did not really mind if field trips were for elementary students, the fact that they had this day to relax a bit was wonderful enough.

Seulgi stopped at the second seat in the front, seeing that Jongdae was already there. "My seat is here. Find yours now."

"Okay," Ah Reum said, nodding and making her way toward the back of the bus, looking for her seat.

So far, no sign of Sehun. She was already losing hope that he remembered his promise that he would sit with her. He could be anywhere and he could even be sitting beside Da Eun right now. The idea made Ah Reum frown as she started scolding herself for not talking to Sehun about the arrangements for today. It skipped her mind or she just thought that everything would be fine today. She then found an empty seat in the middle of the bus and was about to sit when a voice behind her spoke.

"You said that we’re sitting together."

She smiled, knowing that the voice was so familiar, and knowing that the owner of the voice did not break his promise. "Didn't see you immediately," she said, turning around and automatically sitting beside him. He left the seat beside the window free, knowing she loved that part.

"I can't believe how useless your large eyes are," Sehun said to mock her.

"I can't believe you insulted my eyes. They are beautiful, you know?" she retorted playfully.

Sehun snorted. "Beautiful my ."

She glared at him. "Not a very nice thing to say, Hoonie."

His face soured when he heard that. "Don't even call me that."

"It's cute so no," Ah Reum answered stubbornly.

The bus was already moving, exiting through the large gates of the school. Ah Reum felt like a child, looking back to see the view of Seoul Academy from inside of the bus as it gradually became smaller and disappeared after the bus was a great distance away. Giggling silently, she relaxed her back and adjusted herself on the seat, placing her small backpack on the tiny space to her right. She liked traveling a lot and she even planned to tour the world one day if she could get a lot of money. There were just so many fun things about traveling. She could name some of the few reasons why she loved traveling and it would include getting to new places, discovering something new, having new experiences every minute, meeting new people, appreciating nature, and many more. If given the chance, she would want to travel the world with her best friend.

"You look excited," Sehun stated his observation.

She did not waste any minute to reply to him. "I am. It's just that... this is such a different experience."

"I brought my camera with me so you are free to take some pictures," he informed.

She automatically broke out into a smile, praising Sehun intently for being so concerned. "That's great. I bet its memory will have no space for any more pictures after this day."

"That wouldn't be so surprising," he said, smirking.

"I promise you that we will have fun today."

He ruffled her hair, stating to her, "We always do."

…

Their first destination was a park filled with Sakura trees. The park was surrounded by walls around it, making it a private place to be and if you wanted to get inside, you would have to pay an entrance fee. It was a business meant to be a tourist spot. The weather was windy and it was spring so the park was a perfect place to be. Actually, the goal of the tour was for students to be aware of what lies around Seoul and to not dwell on only the city. Seoul Academy wanted this to be educational and fun at the same time so they decided to go to the places that served both the students’ needs as well as theirs. On every planted tree, there was information there like their scientific name, classification, family, and group were written on a board. The park may have been full of Sakura trees but other species of trees and flowers grew there as well.

On every small bridge there was a small pond. Information about the fishes present in the pond was also written on a board and placed beside the pond. Kids were enjoying the place more than the high school students but no one could actually deny that the teenagers were enjoying the place as well.

"There's a place like this in Seoul? Wow!" Yixing exclaimed.

Luhan laughed at his friend's reaction. "Beautiful, isn't it? Never knew that there is so much nature around the city."

"It's like... I’m seeing Sakura trees for the first time!" Yixing added with the same amount of excitement.

Sehun’s subject on his painting had been trees for years but now that his world expanded, he rarely used them. But he could see now why he liked to paint a tree. It was so graceful to look at, full of colors that made it so lively, and everything around it was gorgeous. He took pictures, getting amazed on how beautiful the trees registered into the camera because of their colors that were so pastel in shade. Their beauty could not be hidden even if it was autumn. He thought that he took enough pictures of the park and of his classmates, as well as, school mates so he decided to run through it.

"Can I borrow your phone?" Ah Reum asked beside him as he was busy scanning the photos he had taken.

He did not look at her but he quickly took his phone out of his back pocket and gave it to Ah Reum. "Here," he said.

Ah Reum grabbed it and ran a few meters. "Hey!" she yelled at Sehun making him look up.

"What was that?" he asked.

Ah Reum took a picture of herself on Sehun’s phone. "I'm making you my wallpaper and I'm making me yours," she explained while grabbing her own phone and took a picture of Sehun. He was standing in the middle of the beautiful group of Sakura trees that were close to one another, he was holding his camera, and was smiling at her. She was completely satisfied with the photo.

"You're not mine," he joked but she ignored him. "What's with this all of a sudden?" he asked, walking towards Ah Reum.

"I read it in a book," she answered.

"Oh? You read now?" he asked in amusement.

Ah Reum glared at him. "Shut up. I always do. I borrow yours sometimes, remember?"

He shrugged, acting like he was unconvinced. "Well, I don't know. I thought you just stared at them for hours and never bothered to actually read them."

"Oh, would you just shut up?" she jokingly snapped.

He poked her on the forehead which made her groan. Later on, he gave Ah Reum the camera. "Hold this and take a photo of me," he ordered.

She was confused because Sehun hated taking pictures of himself. "Huh? Sure."

She did what he wanted although she still didn't get the reason why Sehun was doing this. She took a photo of him, smiling. And she, too, could not help but smile at his handsomeness in the photo. She wished she could keep it.

Sehun grabbed the camera from her, completely and utterly satisfied with the photo. "Now, sit there."

"On the dried leaves?" she asked, not sure what the purpose of sitting on it was when all it does is make you itchy.

"Why not? Just do it."

"Okay. But why am I doing this?" she asked, sitting on the leaves.

He simply made a shot and was glad to see a smiling Ah Reum sitting on the pile mixed with dry and fresh leaves. "I'll send you the copy of my photo. You are making me the wallpaper of your little computer and I'm making you mine," he said casually.

Ah Reum smirked and by saying, "Nice words."

"You started it," he accused.

Ah Reum rolled her eyes. "You have no originality," she said.

"No one cares. I'm still better than you."

She pouted and him and said, "Don't sound too modest, Sehun."

With the time allotted on the park, they still had half an hour to walk around. Ah Reum asked Sehun for a favor, which was so childish and embarrassing according to him, but in the end, after making him feel guilty, he gave up and did what she asked. Sehun headed off to the secluded area as Ah Reum slowly got off his back.

"I think we can go here sometime and have a picnic," Ah Reum mumbled.

"Don't expect me to be there," he said.

She hit him on the head, leaning closer. "How mean of you."

…

The morning was ending soon when they stopped on the busy shopping district of Seoul where you could get good products with such a low price. All buses had found a parking spot and the advisors were starting to give the students a few instructions like what time they should meet in the parking lot so that they could leave. Girls liked the idea of actually spending money on 'crap' as boys categorized it.

"Shopping? Cool!"

"I'm just going to stay on the bus," Sehun said, feeling as moody like the other boys who hated shopping.

Ah Reum stood up, disheartened by Sehun’s decision, but of course, she would not let him off the hook. He would accompany her whether he liked it or not. "No, you won't! You are coming with me to help me buy some things."

He groaned. "Ah Reum, accompanying you to shop is the last thing I want to do right now."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him up, forcing him to stand. "Come on. Be my best friend for once."

"We are not going through this again, are we?" he asked seriously.

She gave him the same serious look and said, "If you won't agree, we definitely will."

"Fine."

She might’ve been thinking that she could control him with whatever she asked him to do, Sehun thought. He hated being ordered around but he did not really mind it when Ah Reum was the one doing so. Simply because she was his best friend and something more. He could already imagine what would happen if he accepted Ah Reum’s feelings, they would act like this all the time, like there was no tomorrow and they needed to be with each other every second. It was a very inviting idea but analyzing the consequences, it was not a very good idea after all. At least if they were friends, there was no need for jealousy, doubts, and there would be less problems.

Yes, he could have a girlfriend and he would want that person to be Da Eun. There was a strong attraction between them and they were so much alike that it was not hard for them to get along. He would ask Da Eun to go out with him after this trip was over and before the Organization Ball.

Amazing, he was with Ah Reum and yet, he was thinking about her.

"These glasses are cool. Try one!"

"Fine," he agreed, grabbing another and putting it on Ah Reum. "Here, try this."

"Does it look good on me?" Ah Reum asked, trying to look for a mirror.

He removed the shades from her face and placed it on the counter. "Yeah and I'll buy this. This matches yours."

"Cool!" she said happily.

The longer they stayed, the more things they discovered. There were shops that sold unique items only, but with very low prices. Most of the time, they just window-shopped but when Ah Reum really wanted to buy something, she would.

"We should buy couple shirts!" she suggested, walking towards Sehun while holding the shirt she was referring to. She saw him frown and she immediately knew why so she made a quick recover. "Okay, not really couple shirts but shirts for best friends like us."

He turned his back to her, busying himself with other items. "I'm not interested in that kind of thing," he said.

Ah Reum clicked her tongue. "Then you should be now. It would be really wonderful if I got to have matching shirts with you. Please?"

"No, you can't get me to say yes with that."

She tapped her foot impatiently, staring at Sehun