\ ˈfla-nᵊl  \

: a soft twilled wool or worsted fabric with a loose texture and a slightly napped surface

          A week ago my girl best friend told my guy best friend that I liked him. A little incident with my desk (he broke it, somehow convinced me not to tell on him in a flirty way) told me he was on to me, but he hadn't done anything else to make me feel awkward or embarrassed since. Sure, Jungkook was the most popular guy in our grade but he still treated me the same way. I was beginning to think that I dreamed up the whole thing.

          Today we walked together to our lunch table, Faith, the aforementioned girl best friend, Jungkook and I. I was in an extra good mood because a) everything seemed to be normal again, b) Jungkook was wearing his red flannel, (I can't even begin to describe how cute he looked - pretty sure all the other girls felt the same way), and c) today's menu included cheesy tteokbokki, my favorite! I swore as the lunch lady dropped the gooey goodness onto my plate, that nothing was going to ruin this day. Nothing. Our lunch table conversation was filled with the usual bits of gossip about the more popular kids at our school - someone apparently clocked that cocky upperclassman Junmyeon over the head with a golf ball, and the Shin girls suddenly stopped attending classes, blah blah blah. I drowned out the noise and looked over at Jungkook across the table, watching him work his way through his plate and just smiling stupidly at him, I guess.

          Faith tried to snap me out of it by babbling on about how she disliked the cheesy iteration of tteokbokki as it was inauthentic and disgusting but I gave her my usual "What are you talking about? You're three-quarters Filipino..." and she just rolled her eyes. 

          Lost in my thoughts, I was surprised when someone bumped into me from behind. I turned around to get a better look at the assailant but it was actually one of the Shin girls. She mumbled a short sorry and hurried away, obviously needing to be somewhere else. They were quiet, sure, but I didn't think they were mean, so I shrugged it off. Faith was laughing, though, because I spilled cheese all over my shirt - my white shirt.

          "Hurry up and help me! Dab some water on it, please." I asked Faith, hoping no one would notice. Being the that she is, she actually raised her arms in the air and dabbed. Ugh. Luckily, it was at that moment that the gods of good fortune chose to smile upon me, because Jungkook shrugged off his flannel and handed it to me. "Here. It's not cold anyway." 

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          I felt comfortable, snuggled up in an oversized top. I tried to wash off the cheese but decided to fix it later at home. When I got out of the restroom, Jungkook was there, leaning against the wall. I hated that he looked cool doing that.

          "Thanks. I owe you."

          "Consider it a favor returned, for not ratting me out when I broke your chair, or desk, whatever. I mean, anything for my best friend, right?"

          I didn't know how to react. Was I being friend-zoned or did he mean anything by it? I decided not to think about it anymore. Again, NOTHING was going to ruin my day, I thought, as Jungkook nestled his hand on the small of my back and led me to our next class.