Trouble
Love AgainThat night, I lie in bed unable to sleep. The corners of my lips keep reaching for my ears and all the smiling is giving me a jaw cramp. My mind replays Namjoon’s earlier confession and I feel my cheeks heat up again.
“Park Sera, let’s go out,” Namjoon proposes.
My brain goes into shock from the signals going haywire in my heart. My breath is caught in my throat and I don’t know what to say. No, I know what I want to say but I don’t know how. Will it be weird if I agreed straight away? I might have hesitated for a tad too long because Namjoon’s face falls.
“Ser…?” He calls my name warily.
Not wanting to think anymore, I throw myself towards him and I wrap my arms around his neck. Namjoon stumbles a couple of steps backwards as he is caught off guard but almost immediately engulfs me in a tight hug.
“I’m taking this as a yes,” he says, laughter in his voice.
Namjoon had sent me home after, our fingers interlaced the whole way as he held my hand. My hand had surprisingly fit into his larger ones and the warmth from his palm had been strong enough to spread throughout my whole body. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so at ease in a long time. With Namjoon on my mind, I drift into a sweet sleep.
I wake up early again the next morning to make breakfast. This time, though, Namjoon’s sandwich is intentional and not the result of extra toasting. My doorbell rings just in time as I slide the lunchbox into my backpack.
“Good morning,” Taehyung greets when I open the door.
“Looking good today,” I return the greeting while pushing my feet into my shoes. “I suppose yesterday’s rice cake date went well?”
Taehyung smacks me. “It wasn’t a date! But yeah, it was okay.”
I roll my eyes at him. Swinging my bag over my shoulder, I leave the house and close the door behind me. Just like I’d told Taehyung yesterday, today we board the bus from the earlier bus stop. We take our seats at the last row as the driver pulls out. I choose the inside seat so I can lean my head on the window.
“So how was study session yesterday?” Taehyung asks beside me.
I shrug. “That kid bailed so I didn’t stay in school.”
With Taehyung’s persistence, I ended up telling him about going to the tree with Namjoon though I didn’t divulge any more details. It’s not like he needed to know the mushy things that happened. Two stops down is Namjoon’s stop. As people clear out of the bus, I see Namjoon hop on. His eyes scan the vehicle until they land on me. He beams at me and approaches with big strides.
“Move over,” he tells Taehyung, who obediently gives up his seat beside me.
“Good morning,” I say, smiling. Namjoon’s dimples deepen as his smile widens.
On Namjoon’s other side, Taehyung squints his eyes at us. “What’s going on with you two?”
“Did you sleep well?” Namjoon asks, and I nod.
When we alight at the next stop, Taehyung jumps off after me and wraps an arm over my shoulder. “You did not just space out at the tree yesterday,” he states, to which I shrug simply.
“Why are you disturbing my Sera?” Namjoon swats his arm away and replaces with his own. I don’t resist rolling my eyes at the both of them.
“Ah, right. Jjun, breakfast.” I pull open my bag and pass him the lunchbox. In return, he hands me a small carton of milk.
Taehyung clucks his tongue behind us. “Which drama did this scene come from?” I hear him mutter under his breath.
“Rice cake date eleven o’clock incoming,” I whisper to him in an attempt to distract him from us.
“What’s rice cake date?” Namjoon leans down to ask. I laugh and shake my head before leading him away.
“Good luck!” I mouth to Taehyung just as the same girl who asked Taehyung out yesterday approaches him.
At the common corridor, I stop by my locker to pick up my textbooks. Namjoon leans against the next locker watching with a face of disapproval.
“You really keep all your books in here,” he says, shaking his head.
“Why?” I close my locker shut and turn the padlock. “I never study at home anyway.”
Namjoon taps on his phone quickly. “Speaking of which, I have a study session after school today. Join me?”
“I’ll be in the library too but I’ll probably stay in my corner,” I tell him. Joining the seniors for a study session still sounds weird to me. Besides, who’s going to actually study with me when they have harder topics to work on?
Namjoon nods. He looks like he’s about to say something else but the warning bell rings signifying just five minutes left to the start of first period. I give a small wave before running off, turning back once to see him still standing by my locker watching me. I point to my phone for him to text me later and turn around again to rush to class.
I reach class with two seconds to spare before our teacher strolls in. Taehyung is already at his seat and he raises his eyebrows at me as I approach.
“Having troubles separating with hyung now, is it?” He jokes, jabbing my arm.
In a slight blush, I push him back. “What are you talking about?”
“Park Sera, Kim Taehyung,” the teacher suddenly calls our names, “nice to see you making friends but please talk after my class.”
The flush on my face deepens then probably out of embarrassment that the whole class has turned to glance at us. Or it could be because Namjoon chooses this time to so casually walk past our class waving as he goes by. Taehyung doesn’t notice him, but I return a small smile before he disappears down the corridor.
It’s noon when the bell finally rings for lunch. Pulling out my phone, I see a couple of messages from Namjoon telling me he’s saved seats for us at the cafeteria. Before I can make a reply, Taehyung nudges me to say he’ll meet me outside the classroom and something else about business and being very urgent.
“Park Sera.”
The sound of my name brings my attention upwards where a couple of girls not from my class tower over me. I recognise them as seniors from Namjoon’s neighbouring class.
“Yes?” At the same time, I quickly type my message to Namjoon. I don’t get to finish it because the senior suddenly slams her palms down on my table. The sound echoes in the now empty classroom and startled by it, I accidentally hit the send button before I can finish typing.
I look down at my message: waiting for Tae, will be r
“What’s your problem?” I glare at her, annoyance clear in my tone.
“What’s my problem?” She laughs coldly. “You have the audacity to ask me that? Look, kid. I’m only going to say this once. Stay away from Namjoon.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. Pushing back my chair, I stand to match her height. “And what are you going to do if I don’t?”
A hand flies out of unexpectedly and before my brain can assess the situation, my body acts first. I grab her wrist before her hand can reach my face and I slam her hand down onto the table. She cries out at my retaliation and tries to pull her hand back so I release my grip.
“How dare you!” She stares at me in shock. “You think by hanging around Namjoon he’ll come to like you or something? Why don’t you just go back to being a loner?”
I shrug. “I could ask you the same thing, but I won’t. Because I’m hungry and I’m going to leave now. Being here with you is a waste of my time.”
Pushing past her, I take one step forward and stop in my tracks. Leaning against the doorframe is Namjoon with a very intrigued Taehyung beside him.
“Waste of time? You little bitc… N-Namjoon!”
“I was waiting for the other half of your message until Taehyung called me,” Namjoon says, his voice gentle as he waves me over.
I smile apologetically. “I was in a bit of a situation.”
“I can see that.” His expression changes drastically as he addresses the senior girls. He looks like he’s about to go into a fierce rapping session but he suddenly shakes his head and sighs. “You’re not even my type.”
I smack him in the chest. “But last time you said I wasn’t your type too.”
“That was years ago. What type can I possibly have at five years old?” He rolls his eyes.
“Can we go eat now?” Taehyung whines. For a moment, I had actually forgotten about him.
I nod with a bit too much enthusiasm. My stomach had been growling and I’m dying for food. I look up at Namjoon who smiles down at me as he ruffles my hair. Then, taking my hand, he leads us away from the classroom leaving a mouth-hanging senior in our dust.
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