|| Seventeen ||
When Night And Day Become OneEverything righted itself and no sooner did I find myself on the routine that I had been doing for the last few years. It still that Chris and Kai were no longer around, but our table eventually regained its playful atmosphere despite the lack of its original seaters.
Kai texted me frequently, usually in between his classes. He couldn't keep his promise, after all, the one where he planned to come home every weekend. He said it was difficult, adjusting to a life where he was away from his family and where the environment was so different from high school. I just cheered him on, teasing him that he could always come home if he wanted to give up.
Hannah, meanwhile, got herself involved with student council. She would have talked me into joining as well, but she knew that I couldn't stomach the campaigning-and-promoting-myself thing. I joined a scrapbook club instead to make up for my extracurricular activity requirements.
Lu Han, on the other hand, finally accepted his friends' invitation to club tryouts. He kept hating one sport after another though and kept switching to another sport week after week. Undeniably, Lu Han got more handsome over the summer and the amount of his fangirls had actually increased.
"Don't you find it weird?" Hannah asked one afternoon, a few months into the school year when we were walking down the hall. We had just seen Lu Han and a girl talking at a corner in the lobby of the building.
I could still picture the girl's blushing cheek as Lu Han smiled at her. Vanishing the stupid image out of my head, I threw a curious look at Hannah. "What's weird?"
"Lu Han pretty much receives an ample amount of confessions every day yet he has never taken even one of them as his girlfriend."
"So?" I asked, honestly feeling that nothing was wrong with that. If Lu Han gets himself a girlfriend... At that thought alone, my heart already shuddered, what more if he would really get one? I mean... we already lost Kai and Chris from our lunch table, it would be too lonely if Lu Han were to start hanging out in a different table with his girl-yeah that.
"Didn't he tell you that he has a girl he likes? Doesn't it make you curious?" she asked, giving me a meaningful look.
I nodded, suddenly remembering. I frowned, thinking just what kind of girl would that jerk actually fall for. I couldn't really understand why I cared. I already had a boyfriend, whom I was starting to miss, by the way, since his text got scarcer and scarcer with every passing month. Nonetheless, it was Kai whom I should have directed all my thoughts to. But no, my mind ironically has a mind of its own.
"It doesn't make me curious," I said as an answer to Hannah's question, scrunching my nose at the thought. "Plus when I asked, he kept bringing up a new topic anyway so he probably doesn't want to talk about her."
Hannah sighed and facepalmed herself. "Sometimes I really pity Lu Han for having such a dense best friend."
"Dense? Who? Me or you?"
Hannah just shook her head and looked at me in amusement.
My phone beeped just then, and finally, it was a message from Kai.
"Oh! He's coming home tomorrow!" I said excitedly as I read his text.
"Who?"
"Kai," I said as I typed in a reply. "Though I wonder why. He seemed really busy. Thanksgiving is still a month away, too."
Hannah shrugged. "Maybe he's homesick."
"Maybe." I couldn't care less about his reasons. The important thing was that I was finally going to see him after months of, well, not seeing him.
"Yeonie," I heard someone say from behind when I was walking home.
Hannah still had student council meeting. I didn't have to turn around to know that it was Lu Han.
"I'm hurt, Yeon. You didn't wait for me," Lu Han said as he fell into step beside me and faked a pout.
"I thought you had soccer practice today?"
"Well," he said, smiling sheepishly. "I kind of ditched them. I hate soccer."
I smirked. "You hate everything."
"Not true. I like you."
I missed a step and almost tripped. "What?"
He grinned as if enjoying my reaction. "And Hannah. And our treehouse. And pottery, too. And oooh, photography as well."
I exhaled, scolding myself for overthinking it. Sometimes moments like this with Lu Han really had a weird effect on me. I shook my head, willing myself to shoo the thoughts away. I punched his arm and started to walk ahead.
"Aw, Yeon's getting shy again," he said as he quickly caught up to me, messing my hair on the process.
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