Episode 7: Jinhoo

Today’s last period was free homeroom and Deok Soong was trying to rush through her history homework so that it would be one less thing to do tonight when she finally got home. History was one of her best subjects, so it was pretty easy and she could concentrate even with the slow hum of students talking to each other in quiet voices in various little clumps around the classroom. She was so intent on her work that she didn’t realise Jinhoo had been standing next to her desk for a good 30 seconds until he gave a little cough, making her look up.

“Oh! President Kim!” she gave a start, “Huh… can I do something for you?”

He smiled quietly; his eyes not quite closing all the way. He was such a soft-looking boy; Doek Soong couldn’t imagine that he ever got angry.

“Oh, I just wanted to check if everything was going ok with the Sports Day preparations.” he asked serenely.

“Well, it would help if I didn’t have to do everything by myself…” she answered, trying to sound polite through her muttering.

“What about Kuhn?!” he asked, his large eyes widening in genuine surprise.

She gave a little shake of her head, “He says to ask him if I need help but he’s always at Basketball practice…”

“But… he volunteered… he should…” Jinhoo trailed off, “I can talk to him if you want.”

“Nah… Leave it,” she waved a hand, “it would just be wasted energy.”

He made a little sound in his throat, frowning thoughtfully. “What about Bitto?”

“Bitto?!” she exclaimed, like he’d just said something completely alien.

“Yeah, I mean he was the one selected in the draw.” he replied, matter-of-factly.

She scoffed, “Come on, you think he’d actually help?” she asked, unconvinced.

“It’s his duty. He got chosen just like you.” he simply stated, sounding serious.

She gave a little sardonic laugh, showing what she thought of that, and shook her head again. “Anyways, I’m doing alright.” she told him, forcing a confident smile on her face.

The blonde boy looked down at her sadly, as if he could see right through her front. He looked like he was about to say something else but then just sighed softly and said, “If you say so.” he turned to leave and then added, “don’t hesitate to ask if you need help though.”

“I will.” she smiled brightly.

He nodded, seeming unsure, and walked off.

*

Later, after everyone had already left, Deok Soong stood at the center of the classroom and sighed loudly, staring at the empty floor. She had pushed all the desks against the windows so that she would have room to spread the enormous flag on the floor and paint it. She stood there for a good minute before giving another loud sigh.

“Well…. Might as well get on it. Nothing’s gonna get done just standing there.” she told herself, before walking towards the front of the class and retrieving the flag from its box.

She spread it across the area that she had cleared and then walked to her bag to fetch the drawing that Sunyoul had made for her. It was a picture of 3 students wearing headbands, linking arms and smiling happily. It was a great picture, but simple enough that she should be able to copy it without need of any great skill. So, armed with a black marker, she got down on all fours to try to recreate it on the flag as best as she could.

She got lost in the task and by the time she was finally done tracing the outline, the sun was hanging low in the sky. She stood up and stretched, making her bones crack. She paused and stared at the setting sun for a moment, then back at the flag. She was debating whether to start painting it right away or leave it off til tomorrow. Finally, she decided to continue, so she walked back to the box of supplies and grabbed a few cans of paint, as well as some brushes, and went back over to her original spot to get started.

She barely noticed as the sun disappeared completely over the horizon, and focused on painting the skin of all 3 characters. It was only when she sat back after finishing the first face, and saw a shadow falling across the flag that she realized she wasn’t alone in the classroom. She looked up and gave a little quip of surprise when she found Jinhoo standing there.

“Prez, what are you doing here?!” she asked him, puzzled, but instead of answering, he walked over and squatted down next to her. Then, with his face only a few inches away from hers, his face scrunched up into a positively blinding smile, his eyes completely disappearing into little half-moons, and his luscious lips spreading charmingly across his face. She pulled back, feeling her face heat up suddenly and quickly looked away. Hye Rim was always going on and on about the president; calling him ridiculous names, praising his looks at every chance she got, but Deok Soong had never really paid attention. But now that he stood this close, she thought her friend might have been on to something.

“What should I do?” he asked, grabbing a brush, as if nothing was the matter and she coughed, clearing before answering.

“Hum… we should probably do all the skin first. You can do that one” she said, pointing to the righten-most character. He nodded and dipped his brush into the tin.

They worked in silence for a few minutes before she finally brought herself to say something.

“You didn’t have to do this, you know…” she started, feeling like she should somehow apologize for imposing on his precious time.

“I know,” he said simply, not looking at her. A small smile played on his lips. “But I want to.”

Her eyes went wide, then he turned and flashed her that glorious smile again and she had to look away. Why was it so disarming to look at him when he smiled at her like that??

A few more minutes of silence passed, with only the sound of the brushes on fabric being heard, til he spoke again.

“Earlier… You looked like you weren’t gonna ask anyone for help, so…” he left the rest of his sentence hanging.

She said nothing, feeling slightly guilty, but at the same time pleased that he had taken it upon himself to come help her. She stayed quiet for a while longer, and finally whispered, “Thank you.”

He didn’t look up, but he smiled.

The moon was well up in the sky by the time Jinhoo pulled back and stretched. They had just finished painting the skin of the 3rd character.

“Should we do the shirts next?” asked the teenage girl, ready to carry on. Over the last few hours, she’d gotten used to the president’s presence next to her, and they’d even started chatting amicably as they both worked on the last character together.

Jinhoo looked down at his watch and gave a start, “Deok Soong, it’s almost 9pm. I think we should probably stop for today.”

“Oh wow, really?!” she exclaimed, looking at her own watch. “I guess so…”

They cleared up everything and put all the desks back before walking out of the school together.

“Well, thanks prez, you were a really big help today,” she said, thinking they were going to part there at the gate.

“It was no trouble at all,” he smiled, but just a regular smile, “but please call me Jinhoo. We’re friends now.”

The glaring sun of a smile was back, and once again she felt herself redden; good thing it was dark outside.

“Well, I go that way…” she said, pointing towards the left.

“I’m going that way too. I guess we can walk together.” he replied, very naturally, and started to walk.

“Oh, ok…” she stuttered, following him.

The walked quietly until they reached the bus stop, and when Jinhoo stopped next to her, she turned to him to ask, “do you ride this bus home too?”

“Oh no.” he answered casually, looking straight ahead.

“You don’t?”

He shook his head and then turned to look at her, his lips pressed together into a soft pout, and then he smiled.

“It’s late.” he simply said. “It’s not safe.”

“Oh….” she replied, feeling a small warmth growing in her chest. He had done that for her. Once again, she was thankful for the cover of darkness to hide her blushing features. Jinhoo didn’t seem to notice though and just kept on smiling.

Eventually the bus came, and he stayed there waving at her until it left. Smiling that beautiful smile of his.

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