Rude Awakening
Changing In The Name of Love
“Hey twerp, it’s almost seven. Get up.”
The adolescent peaked an eye open, merely shrugging when she saw her elder brother’s face. As she closed her eyes again, her eyelashes fluffed up bangs that served as a dark brown curtain to block the sunshine pouring out of her window. But the shield was nothing against her brother’s intense glare that cut into her soul. She sighed, unable to ignore it, and kicked off the blanket off her legs to swing them over the side of the bed.
“Thanks for the loving wake-up call.” She mumbled as she walked past him.
Her brother rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and followed her to the bathroom, leaning against the doorframe to order her about. “Just hurry up so you don’t miss the bus and make me late to drop you off.”
“Oh my, how in the world did I get so lucky to get such a concerned brother? I am much too blessed. Really.” She shot him a look as she dolloped a mountain of toothpaste on her toothbrush and stuck it in , the brush over her teeth in harsh, almost painful .
Used to his sister’s grumpy nature in the morning, he only shot her a look before walking away to give her some privacy. He silently thanked that when he passed by the youngest Cha had already left thirty minutes ago and would already be on the early bus to Shinhwa Middle School.
It was amazing how his younger siblings were so different from each other. His sister was nothing but a frazzled mess, full of rash decisions and excited energy, whereas his brother took after their father, learning to be organized and prompt in everything he did. It was no wonder why every quarter it was Seungri who brought home all the academic excellence awards while Hyunjae was stuck with signing Aeri’s deficiency slips. But even he knew that if his sister wasn’t the way she was, the world would be missing one good heart.
In the middle of his thoughts a knock came from the front door. Glancing at the clock that read a little after seven-thirty, knowing only one person who comes this early and called back, “It’s open.”, resuming pouring his daily fix of caffeine.
He heard the slight click of the door and the shuffles of his feet against the living room’s carpet before seeing a familiar face pop around the corner and greeted him a slight bow of the head. “Good morning, Hyung.”
“‘Morning,” He replied casually, not bothering to look up from the morning’s paper. He jerked his head in the direction of the hallway. “Aeri just started getting ready, so you might as well just leave without her if you don’t want to miss the bus.”
“Really?” CNU groaned. “I sent her a text and all to make sure she woke up on time this morning...” He pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose, a habit he did when he was irritated. “I swear if she makes us late again-”
“You’ll do what? Nag me to death?”
Aeri rounded the corner still only half ready. Her white dress shirt was ed, leaving it flapping over her matching tank top as she marched over to the boy, brush in hand. CNU took it from her without a second thought and began to gently brush through the knots of the morning as she began to work on buttoning up.
It was like a perfectly oiled machine, both of them being in sync with the other in their tasks. By the time Aeri popped the last button and tucked it into her navy skirt’s rim, CNU had untangled the messy bed head and gathered the wavy brown locks into a low ponytail. Plucking her school jacket that had been strewn over the back of her coach, he slipped it over her arms and straightened it from her back before she turned her around.
“Presentable?” She asked as she tilted her head up for inspection.
CNU’s eyes scrolled over girl’s face, his eyes softening considerably from their previous stress. It was noticeable to all in the room except for her, who just batted her black lashes at him expectantly. He quickly snapped himself from his thoughts, quickly turning around to open the door and hide his flushed face.
“You didn’t even wash your face this morning did you?” He chided, recovering slightly.
“Hey, I spent all night writing that stupid history paper- I should be allowed to sleep in!” She defended herself, pushing him out the door with mock hostility. Before closing the door between her home and the world, her voice yelled through the gap and echoed off the small home’s walls. “Bye Oppa!”
“See yah’.” He called back just as the door closed and the house started to feel considerably less chaotic, mellowing into a comfortable silence for Hyunjae to think in. His eyes darted to the window where he could see the two teenagers rushing across the road. Despite their situation, they were both still smiling as they ran to the bus stop, a sight that made Hyunjae’s heart feel less heavy.
“Keep that smile on her face...” He thought aloud and watched them disappear out of the window’s frame. With her out of sight, Hyunjae downed the rest of his coffee along with his worries and prepared for his own adventurous day.
- - - - -
Shinhwa Academy was truly one of the most beautiful things in Korea to Aeri. Tall creme school buildings that stood tall with two stories of classrooms, pale blue lockers standing between each door on the right, while a line of windows illuminating the halls. If you looked out of them, you could see the lush green grass and several trees that their agriculture club had maintained ever since she started there as a freshman three years ago. She always felt so lucky to go to a school like this one, not too rich, nor poverty stricken. It was a pretty average school- something perfect for the average girl.
‘But that’s only me.’ She reminded herself as they made the last turn before the school’s entrance.
The tall black gates were in view, but also, the reason why they stood there was there too. The bottom of the gate was barely visible at all with the amount of bodies huddled together in front of it. Girl’s from different schools all over Korea were present in their school uniforms with gifts, signs, and cameras in their hands as they glanced up-and-down the street expectantly.
The bus driver stopped a couple meters away from the girls and looked back the students, “There’s no way to get past them at this point, so if you don’t want to be late you’ll get off here.” He informed.
CNU groaned, “Oh god,” his hand covering his eyes to block out the sight. “I knew I should have taken the earlier bus.”
“Hey, they haven’t arrived yet, we still have a chance to get out of there alive.”
The two hurried to get off their seats and rush out into the crowd it was semi-manageable. CNU placed a secure hand around her backpack strap before they ventured out. Aeri made sure to keep her head down as she angled her body awkwardly around the tight gaps between bodies, hearing CNU apologizing often behind her for either bumping into, or stepping on someone with his considerably larger body. She fought hard through the crowd, earning dirty looks from some girls who accused her of “cutting.” Biting back her tongue from snapping at these long enough to get her to a foot of the gate, Aeri feeling her hope rise as she reached out to the guard. She almost made it. Almost.
All hope was lost when the first shrill cry was heard: “They’re here! It’s Infinite!”
The screams were piercing, blowing out her eardrums with the girl’s mouths within centimeters of her ears. The sight of the road was obscured by the girls bodies as they got as close as they could to the three sports cars driving up to the gate. CNU’s sturdy hold was cut off and without it holding her, Aeri was bouncing off bodies like a ping-pong ball. As the gate started to slide open and the cars were passing through, girls shoved Aeri into the gate to get a better look.
“Oppa! Oppas, please stop!” They begged into her ear, determinedly trying to get closer to them, pressing Aeri’s face more into the steel bars and feeling her nose being painfully crushed against them. Air was slowly starting to become sparse as her ribcage squeezed between the force of the fangirls and the harsh gate, lungs burning for oxygen not filled with overpowering perfume.
Many would think that this was crazy- impossible for just a school. But to all the students of Shinhwa, they all knew the answer to the crowd and its excited crowd of people. There was only one answer and it was written all over those fangirls’ bright posters: Infinite.
- - -
“Man, that looks nasty...” Baro grimaced as he stared over CNU’s shoulder at him putting some ointment on Aeri’s battered face. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a nose that color before.”
“And they say you’re the charmer.” Jinyoung rolled his eyes from his locker, switching out his calculous books for their first period history textbook. He shut his door and glanced over, sending a reassuring smile at Aeri. “Don’t worry, it’s hardly noticeable. A little red if anything.”
Aeri could only inwardly sigh, staying completely still so that CNU could cover all of the damaged surface effectively. She was thankful he always had that first aid kit in his locker due to his worrisome personality- or incidents like this.
It had been a full ten minutes since he was able to dislodge her from the girl-on-gate-sandwich she was stuck in and slipped out of the mess, practically running for their lives into the school building. Huffing, puffing, and bright red blotches all over her face, Aeri caught a lot of weird looks before being escorted to where their lockers were. The maknae had been the most concerned, bombarding her with questions before Sandeul had dragged him off to get some wet towels for her.
“Well this is her fault.” The blond argued. “Everyone knows better than to come at Infinite-o’clock. Only a complete idiot would take the second bus and think they’d be okay.”
She opened to defend herself, but her words were instantly trapped in her body when her eyes landed on them. The seven boys who boys wished they were like and who girls wished were in love with them. Each one was handsome, smart, and every single one of them possessed their own style that made their group a perfectly orchestrated one.
As always, Sunggyu lead the way, flaunting fiery red hair and an ever present smile on face; it was rare to see the leader in a bad mood. Beside him was their maknae, Sungjong, the only other boy who could rival Gongchan’s aegyo in the sophomore class with his darling smile and happily lit eyes. Then there was the mysterious L, who was always praised on his sophisticated style. In contrast, Woohyun had a lazy arm thrown over the other’s shoulder while showing off an undeniably y smirk that had other girl’s fanning themselves as he passed. But more boisterous wasn’t always what caught the girls, it was something like Sungyeol’s smart and modest aura that caught their hearts. The only other Dongwoo in school was in Infinite (a big reason why the nickname CNU was created) but the two were rarely mixed up, Jang Dongwoo’s plump pink lips and charismatic attitude too different than Shin Dongwoo.
In all honesty, Aeri had never really hated Infinite or really loved them like their fans outside. She knew fully why they were so admired so highly in their school. All of them were perfect in their own ways, but every girl had their favorites and Aeri couldn’t take her eyes off hers.
With the white sunlight illuminating the world behind him, it looked like Hoya had just stepped down from Heaven and walked amongst the other boys. Each may have their own charms that made them appealing, but Hoya seemed to have it all. Those dark eyes that captured her attention. Those lips that would curve into the most sweet grin, making her heart still in her chest. Just his presence made time stop.
“Ae... ri!... Cha... Yah, Cha Aeri!”
“What-?!” Aeri jumped at the yells of her friends, the world picking up at its usual speed. With time going by normally, Infinite passed by them casually and in attempt to catch one last glance at her crush, Aeri whipped her head around, but was met with the hard slam of her nose catching onto the side of the open locker door. “Ow!”
Her screech was loud enough to catch attention and the next time she looked up his eyes were on her. Her friend’s worried questions and hands gripping her disappeared as she shared returned the stare. Aeri’s breath was taken away as she noticed how when the light caught them, you could see the flecks of brown that made up his dark eyes. Or how truly clear his porcelain skin was. In slow motion, the grin he had previously had on drifted off his face and a more concerned one replaced it. A hand reached up to gesture to his nose, emphasizing the area that was above his cupid’s bow and beneath his nostril.
‘Oh my god, is he talking to me? Damnit, Aeri, do something!’
The corners of widened and her lips pulled apart for a hopefully pretty smile. By the way his brows furrowed and his mouth went back into a tight line before turning to go into the classroom, Aeri’s smile faltered and mind went crazy with assumptions. ‘Crap, did I not brush well? Or is it my hair? I knew I should’ve checked before CNU touched it-’
“Cha... Aeri... Cha Aeri!” Baro yelled straight into her ear, making the girl snap her head in his direction with a clearly irritated expression.
“What?” She snapped.
“Um... w-well...” Baro awkwardly stuttered, not looking at her face directly. He gestured to her nose, the same action Hoya had done not only three seconds ago. “You’ve got a little...”
Aeri’s heart stopped when she regained feeling of her body again and smacked a hand over her nose, feeling the warm liquid that started from her nostril and could taste it as it made its way to her open mouth, teeth lightly slathered with red as she smiled. A horrified shriek left and she raised to the girl’s bathroom.
The B1A4 boys could only watch her hasty getaway as she knocked over a teacher and the paperwork in her hand flying into a flurry of white to rest on the hall’s marble floors as she darted into the toilet. The teacher’s face flooded red and stormed in after her. Screaming about her “rudeness” echoed down the hallway. When the bell rang, they were all forced to leave the hall and leave their friend behind.
CNU hesitated at the door and looked down at the door, pondering for a second if there was anything he could do to save the girl from her scoldings. Jinyoung pushing his shoulder and pressuring him to go forward. The older one could only silently apologize to the empty desk next to his as class started started.
‘Can’t save you from them all, huh?’ He thought glumly as he took out the assigned history essay that got them late in the first place.
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