Chasing You

Chapter Eighteen

The Guy Who's There

"All buses are in! The faculty members are ready to welcome their students. The program will start in exactly fifteen minutes."

Jongin told his co-organizers once he received the report that all five buses they were expecting had arrived. The two students assigned for this organization get-together slash team building had been doing their responsibility excellently, giving the teacher real-time updates. Jongin had no problems with Jongdae and Seulgi so far since the two were good at what they do. He was glad that they did not divide the tasks and instead, they shared them and with that they were able to be hands-on in every aspect like the venue, the guests, food, accommodations, program, and financial needs. It was a good team and Jongin was pretty proud of it since he got the right to choose the two.

Jongdae sent Seulgi a signal before turning to Jongin to state the current status of the situation. "Okay, Mr. Kim. The venue is all set and so far, no problems."

Jongin nodded, rubbing his palms together. "Great. Let's do this."

"Let's!" Jongdae tried to sound cheerful.

Jongin just ignored his enthusiasm which was humiliating on his part. Jongdae lowered his head, looking depressed. Just when he was feeling good, he was ignored. His cheerful attitude did not really suit him that much.

"What you did was embarrassing," Seulgi, who was suddenly beside him commented.

Jongdae lowered his head again. "I'll never do that again. Ever."

"Come on. You'll get over it. We have lots of things to do on our list."

Jongdae sighed. "Yeah, let's." This time, not as much enthusiasm.

…

The moment their bus entered the venue, Ah Reum started admiring the place. She had always dreamt of joining this stuff that committees do every year and now she was a part of it. From her seat, she could already see Seulgi and Jongdae walking together and it looked like they were discussing something. Ah Reum heard that the venue was offered by one of the board members of Seoul Academy so she guessed that they would have the whole area privately but that did not seem to be the case as to the visible fact that there were a lot of people in the island that certainly did not come from the school.

The bus parked beside a palm tree that was just starting to grow. The president of the Publicity Committee instructed everyone to be on their best behavior. Yixing stood up from his seat, not long until Ah Reum followed him. The first thing that touched her feet was the white and refined sand of the beach. She played with it for a while until Yixing grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the program location. The chairs were arranged according to committee. Ah Reum could already see that the members of the Art Committee, Sports Committee, Academic Committee, Theater Guild and Writers Nook were all in. Music was blasting all over the open area and she praised Seulgi inwardly for doing so. To Ah Reum, the arrangement was according to the rank of what club did best throughout the years.

"So, is this what it always like?" she asked Yixing as they took their seats. Ah Reum chose the seat at the back.

Yixing looked around and asked, "Like what?"

"The preparation is so grand."

Yixing gave her a smile. "I don't know since this is the first time the school made it so grand."

Ah Reum nodded in embarrassment. "Right."

Organization Ball was an event Ah Reum always thought of as fun and lively but not like this. Maybe it was because of the changes but maybe not. The quiet atmosphere indicated that there was a rivalry between clubs which was just sad and stupid. Every club was aiming to be number one to get the largest budget and this trip was the best time to flaunt their achievements and developments. Shaking her head, Ah Reum smirked at her thoughts. If this dry atmosphere will continue, she best be on her way to enjoy her stay here in her own way. There was no way she would make herself sad at this trip. She deserved more than that. She deserved to be happy. She deserved to be noticed and be paid attention to. She did not deserve to be yelled at. This was the point when she realized that she still could not move on from how Sehun brushed her off last time.

Ah Reum stretched her extremities, feeling sleepy and tired from the long trip. "Have you seen Sehun?" she asked again after her earlier conversation with Yixing died. She was trying not to remember him that much, but she was aching to know.

"Nope."

"I tried sneaking on their bus but their president was so nasty about it," Ah Reum said.

Yixing found what Ah Reum just said weird. He was looking at her as if waiting for her to confirm what she just said she'd done, but nothing came. He found it weird because he did not think that Ah Reum would go to that extent just to be with her best friend. Feeling a little off, Yixing just shrugged his shoulders, saying, "Well, Art students are so full of themselves."

Ah Reum smiled and pointed an accusing finger at Yixing. "That is so judgmental of you."

"I was just joking!" Yixing said defensively, closing his eyes.

Ah Reum just laughed at his reaction making Yixing realized how stupid his reaction was. When the brunette stopped from laughing, she relaxed on her seat. "I was joking also," she said with faint giggles.

"About you saying I'm judgmental or about the bus?"

"Both," she answered frankly, "I'm a little envious because Yerim, Sooyoung, and Luhan get to be in the same club and the bus."

"What? You hate being with me?" Yixing asked, acting offended.

Ah Reum stared at the stage that was built up for this event, shaking her head with a smile. "Not at all, Yixing. You don't know how happy I was when I first joined the Publicity Committee. I feel like I’m spending my time wisely nowadays and I also get to be with someone that I know well."

"I'm happy you joined, too."

"Will you dance with me at the ball?" Ah Reum asked out of the blue.

"Actually, you don't need to ask me that since I was planning on asking you to dance with me the very first time I heard about the ball."

Ah Reum thought that it was really sweet of him to think like that. Yixing was nothing but kind to her and she should repay him somehow. She felt that Yixing was doing her a lot of favors, more than what he should. Ah Reum was aware of the fact that she was confessing a lot to Yixing, too. Because he was easy to talk to and since they just became friends, it was easy for him to say anything. Yixing was always happy, helpful, and naïve but at the same time knowing. She was lucky to be friends with him and she would be thankful for it forever.

"Thank you, Xing. I just hope Sehun will dance me, too."

"Of course, he will. You are his best friend."

That brought a thought in her head. "If we aren't friends, do you think he will dance with me?"

Yixing cursed himself silently for just saying that to her face. He just realized that it was the wrong thing to say. He needed to think of a quick recovery for what he said to be forgotten easily. Yixing could not believe his mouth for being insensitive. If it did not affect Ah Reum, she would not ask such thing.

"Ah Reum, are you aware that you are the sunshine?" he asked with a wide smile.

Ah Reum pointed at herself, confused. "Am I?"

"Yes! You smile like everything is alright. Your words, they are so uplifting... inspiring. There is something about you that makes everything alright."

Ah Reum simply smiled at his explanation. "I don't radiate happiness, Xing."

"Yes, you do!" he insisted.

"No, I do not. I can't do that thing you are saying especially if I don't feel so fine about myself."

"I doubt it," Yixing argued.

Ah Reum was about to argue with him strongly. "Stop, Xing. I don't always smile, or laugh, or make people happy. I can’t make people feel better about themselves if I’m like this. I may seem happy, but I’m as broken as a clock that’s stopped working. You can fix it, but it’ll always be a minute behind what it’s originally supposed to be,” she explained. “But―to be honest, if I had met you earlier on―then I would’ve fallen in love with you instead. You make me smile and forget my problems even for a little bit. Though, the circumstances are different and either way, I’d feel sad for you if you had a girl chasing after you for ten years," she tried to laugh. “Yeah… that’ll definitely be sad.”

Yixing could not say anything after that and he just kept on staring at her until the song playing changed into something acoustic. He was familiar with the song, actually, very familiar since it became one of his favorites. "Oh, I love this song." Yixing could not help commenting.

"That’s a coincidence! I love this song, too," she smiled.