17

Life of a Wallflower

"You were amazing! I couldn't believe my eyes at first because oh my god, Bae Joohee was actually singing, on a stage, playing keyboard!" Soyeon grabbed the smaller girl's hands, almost crushing the bones from her excitement. Joohee laughed and pried her fingers away to avoid it getting broken. "I know! You've said this for the fourth time and yesterday was the third time and the day before that you already said this twice." The blond girl chuckled and then sighed. "I feel like a mother seeing her daughter growing up." She rested her head on her arm, staring at Joohee in proud. "Me too, and you're my favourite daughter!" Mina butted in, throwing herself on the said daughter, pulling her in a bone-shattering hug.

Fortunately Joohee's phone vibrated on the table and Mina sadly pulled herself away. Thank god, she was dying from the too tight hug. Mina then decided to pester Soyeon instead and Joohee just smiled fondly at her friend's antics before grabbing her phone. A text from Seongjoon, saying Joohee, Jihoon and him should go hang out after school to celebrate their success of completing their group project smoothly. The girl mentally racked through her brain for any important things she need to do after school and found none so she shrugged and text the boy back. "Why not?" She received a reply almost immediately. "Great! I texted Jihoon and he agreed, so meet you at the gate after school!"

"Who's that? Jihoon?" Soyeon peered over her shoulder. "It's Seongjoon. We're going to hang out after school together with Jihoon." Mina nodded and grinned. "Awh look at that! She's socializing normally with boys!" Her two best friends made a move to tackle her in another hug but the girl already shrieked and ran away from the two girls. Chasing game would forever be their forte.

(。・ω・。)

"So, where should we go?" Jihoon pulled his headphones off his head and hung it around his neck. Seongjoon rubbed his chin, looking around as if he could find an answer by doing that. "I don't know. I haven't really planned out where we should go. Do you guys have any ideas?" He jutted out his lips, thinking. Jihoon patted his tummy. "Let's eat first. I'm famished." Joohee nodded in agreement and glanced at Seongjoon for approval. "Alright, let's go to the BBQ restaurant down the street."

It felt weird, hanging out with two boys, even though she's kind of already used to their presence before. It felt funny because if the current Joohee told the Joohee from last year that she had gone out with boys, the old Joohee would laugh and say she's crazy. Got to say thanks to the group project, without it, she probably wouldn't be walking in between these two cute boys. She just realized how lucky she was. But sometimes, she wondered if the boys actually enjoy her presence because why would they hang out with her when they have cooler friends?

Thinking back about the others, she remembered how the students praised their group for being really talented, since they wrote their own song. But every time they tried praising every member of the group, they forgot her, Joohee the wallflower. It went something like this "Woozi's voice is so sweet and I assumed he must be the one who composed the song. And Seongjoon was so fun to look at; he enjoyed performing which made the performance very lively. And…. who was the girl again?" To be absolutely honest, Joohee was only a little bit hurt people didn't remember her, she was already used to it, not being noticed. Mina and Soyeon were probably her only audiences who actually appreciated her effort of singing on stage, something she had never done before.

 

"We're here! Let's go in," Joohee's thoughts were cut short and she blinked twice before following the two boys to sit at an empty table. The waiter came by their table in no time, picking up a small notepad in her hands, ready to take orders. "Have you decided what to order?" Seongjoon ordered for all of them, as usual, since they all eat anything. The table was circle-shaped and their feet all met in the middle under the table, and Joohee tried to bend her legs, avoiding the other two pair of feet. "The food here taste great, I tell you. I once ate 4 bowl of cold noodles here all by myself." Seongjoon stated with a proud face, even though there was nothing to be proud of. Jihoon chose to ignore the tallest out of them and instead turned to face the only girl at the table. "Since we're now free from the project, let's continue working on your song… and mine." Oh, her song. She almost forgot about it. She was busy practicing for the project she didn't spare a single thought about her song.

"Oh alright-"

"Hold up! What are you guys talking about? What song?" Seongjoon narrowed his eyes suspiciously, glaring at Jihoon mostly though, Joohee didn't understand why. Jihoon chuckled before throwing a smug look at Seongjoon. "It's something we've been working on, together, before the project even started," He was wriggling his eyebrows and the taller one frowned, and then sighed in defeat. "Well, okay. Whatever," The lilac haired boy smirked, but hid it with his hand. Joohee tilted her head in confusion but then decided to shrug it off. "Oh the food's here!"

"Ah, that was really good! I feel like ordering more, can I?" Seongjoon patted his tummy and sighed, his craving finally satisfied. The other boy jokingly slapped Seongjoon's stomach. "No. You're already fat enough. Let's pay the bills," Jihoon gestured to the waiter for the bills and the waiter disappeared for a moment before coming back with the bills in her hand. Joohee took the bills and scanned it after the waiter left their table to clean other tables for new customers. "So, how let's split the bills?" She looked up and glanced at the other two boys.

"I'll pay for you-"
"I'll pay for you-"

Seongjoon and Jihoon both froze, before slowly turning their heads to glare at each other. "I said it first, so I'll pay for her meals," The taller of the two narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to the other. Jihoon scoffed and leaned in even closer. "Excuse you, I said it first," He said. Joohee watched the scene unfolding before her, frowning in confusion. What the hell was happening? She didn't need someone to pay for her; she's an independent woman thank you very much. Those two were still bickering who will be paying and Joohee cleared loudly to catch their attention. "I'm paying for myself, and you two should do so too," Seongjoon huffed and whispered- well, tried to whisper because Joohee still can hear him. "Look! Now she doesn't want anyone to pay for her. It's your fault, shorty." Jihoon eyes widened in shock, losing his cool. "You did not just called me shorty," And now they're kicking each other's shin under the table like some kids fighting for the last scoop of ice cream. Joohee rolled her eyes, rubbing her temples. Right now it felt she was hanging out with kids instead of fully grown men.

"Alright, let's get out of here." They paid for their own meals at the counter, with Joohee being the first in line because she didn't want any of those two secretly paying for her, like some guy in a Korean drama would do. The two boys were grumbling when they pulled out their wallets, throwing each other annoyed looks and irritated glances. When they were finally out from the restaurant, Joohee turned to face the two grumpy boys. "What should we do next?" When neither of them replied, the girl rolled her eyes and decided to choose the next venue herself. They were that acting like a child and the girl did not have time for that. "Um, what about the arcade? It's the closest thing we can do around here." They grumbled incoherent words in unison and Joohee assumed that it was a yes. "Let's go!" The girl grabbed their arms, standing in the middle and dragged them to the nearest arcade, smiling in amusement.

 

"Cheer up, little kids! Let's play that," Joohee ruffled the boys’ hairs and jogged to the basketball shooting game. Jihoon and Seongjoon blinked, touched their ruffled hair and smiled, and then glaring at each other when they realized the other was also smiling. The girl was at the basketball machine, trying to find the coin hole, oblivious to the silent rivalry between the two boys she left behind. Without any words exchanged, the boys suddenly dashed to the basketball shooting game machines and slid in their own coins into their respective machine, making a dramatic eye-contact with each other before the game started.

What was that sudden rush of wind? Joohee looked to her right and immediately spotted the two boys, playing the same game, albeit more aggressively. She could've sworn she saw fire blazing wildly around those two, like in some anime series. She didn't know what was up with those two and she wasn't about to find out. They were acting weird and ridiculous since they entered the restaurant earlier, she wondered why. The girl shrugged and continued playing her game, she was about to reach the high score just now.

"25! 26! 27! 2-"

"Shut up. You're ruining my concentration." Jihoon clenched his teeth, kicking the taller's shin lightly, hands busy throwing the balls into the hoop. Seongjoon scoffed and kicked the purple haired boy back; eyes didn't lose focus on the hoop. "You're just bitter you're losing!" He was reaching the highest record, and he needed just five more points to break the record, alas the game was over. "Ha! I win-" His words died on his tongue when he saw the other's score; he scored four points more than him. Jihoon leaned against the machine, crossing his arms, smirking obnoxiously. "You were saying?"

Seongjoon groaned and kicked the machine. He regretted his actions later because then his foot throbbed badly, making him bend down in pain, clutching his foot, and it only made Jihoon grinned wider. That little . Joohee strode over behind both of them and took a peeked at their scores. "Wow! You created a new record, Jihoon! 41! I didn't know you were good at basketball," The girl stared at the record holder in amazement, eyes twinkling. Said record holder bashfully chuckled, and shrugged. "It was easy," was all he replied. "Oh, you did great too Seongjoon! You almost catch up to Jihoon's score," The girl nudged the boy who seemed to be a lot grumpier than earlier. He attempted a smile but it only came out looking weird and half-hearted. Poor guy, he must have had been so competitive and wanted to win.

"Oh let's play that!" Jihoon and Seongjoon looked up to where the girl was pointing at, and instantly sprinted to the zombie shooting game. Sighing, the girl walked to the game and slid inside the black tattered curtains covering the machine, making it dark. They were already slipping the coins inside the machine, both holding their guns, ready to kill zombies. Joohee groaned since they were no more spot left for her to play, so she chose to just watch them play from behind instead. "I'm going to beat you this time, shorty." The tallest hissed. Jihoon laughed and shook his head in amusement. "Well, you lose to a shorty in a basketball game, what makes you think you can beat me this time?"

The game started and all hell broke loose.

(´ε`*)

"I am honestly really surprised. You guys set up new records in half of the game machines in this arcade," Joohee stared at the boys sitting in front of her, head resting on her hands, arms propped up on the table. "Yeah, and I did most of it. This guy here at arcade games." Jihoon laughed, patting the boy next to him on the back pitifully. Seongjoon didn't move from his position, still burying his head in his arms on the table. "T-That's not true! He's still better than me," The girl chuckled awkwardly, trying to lift the poor boy's mood up. He must really hate losing for him to be so upset and moody. The girl glanced at Jihoon who was trying to muffle his laugh but failing miserably and she can't help but smile softly.

Seeing her two male friends getting so competitive over a game was so amusing and interesting, she didn't mind doing it all over again. The girl chuckled at the memory as she stared at the new cute duck plush toy Jihoon had won for her at the claw game machine, which had Seongjoon failed to do so.

 


A new chapter! School is starting in 4 more days which means I'll have to go back to the much dreaded dorm. So, I'm trying to update as much as possible before I go back!
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starlighthoney #1
Chapter 12: Hahaha omg too cute
xoxosenshine #2
Chapter 24: Its a nice story =)
Got7AndMe
#3
Chapter 23: Finished re-reading this! OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS JUST TOO CUTE I FORGOT HOW MUCH I LOVE IT!!!! I WANT A SEQUEL SOOOO BADLY!! And what happened to the other guy that likes her? I FEEL THE EMPTINESS OF FINISHING A FIC!! Sorry it's late and I should go to bed nowXD
junghani #4
Chapter 5: Plus, I am reading this fic for the second time! Definitely worth the effort and time^^
junghani #5
I started to like Woozi because of this story. Thank you darkestsoul for making this incredible story. It is very much well-plotted and smooth that I immediately fall in love with your writing style, it is really one of a kind.
Champions27
#6
Chapter 23: Omg i squealed a lot while reading this story, so cute and innocent!! Thank you for writing this authornim ^^
HoesGotNothingOnMe #7
Chapter 24: Yeahhh the fic is SO freaking good~ I really liked the characters and how the theme was a cute cliché but the fic wasn't all that cliché. It's perfect to read when ur just bored :)
Unrelated stuff: I can't think of a ship name for Jihoon and Joohee... Lol JiJoo, JiHee, HoonHee... Yeah idk maybe JooZi lol
Also, the ending was a little abrupt which kinda disappointed me. But yeah, I really loved your fic! Thx 4 all the hard work~
sky_dreams #8
Chapter 24: ‹3
Wooyaboya
#9
Chapter 9: Ok I came here with the heart for an OC fic but like Sungcheol picking up Woozi was too much for me to handle.
Wooyaboya
#10
Chapter 2: Ok I just started but I think I died a thousand times over already. Mingyu characterisation is spot on XD