A/N: I thought the previous chapter was written [crappily] and I was unhappy with it. I am kind of unhappy with this one too. But then again, I repeat what I said: at least it its progress.

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You Picked Me [3/?]

The world in which you flee

in me, find home

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It's been three days since Jessica last talked to Jinki.

It was making her miserable, honestly. It was their custom that in every class she has with Jinki, they always sat beside each other. However, ever since that day, Jinki has sat in the back row, beside Taeyeon, and Jessica can't help but feel a little twinge of jealousy whenever she sees Taeyeon lean towards Jinki and whisper something only the both of them can hear, followed by a smile from Jinki and a giggle from Taeyeon. Her only consolation is whenever Tiffany whispers, “he's staring at you again,” and she turns around and meets Jinki's eyes, only to have him look away quickly.

She hasn't eaten lunch with him in three days as well, which is why the whole school knows there's something wrong with one of it's most famous campus couples.

“Jess, I'm just saying, you can't go on this way forever,” Tiffany, her bestfriend, told her over lunch. There was a general murmur of agreement around her table from Yuri and Sooyoung. “You're both miserable. Why don't you just go talk to Jinki?”

Jessica shook her head. “He's the one who started avoiding me in the first place.”

“He's probably avoiding you 'cause he's thinking you're avoiding him,” Tiffany said, wiping ketchup from her upper lip with a napkin. “Who ignored him at physics class? You did. Who stood him up at lunch? You did. Who didn't sit beside him and sat on the seat beside the window instead? You did.”

“What? It's not my fault that I'm sad and seeing his face just makes me sadder because of the fact that I can't be with him on the ball!”

“Jess, this is so childish of you,” Tiffany remarked, rolling her eyes. “And you have to eat. Jinki's looking our way again. He probably sees you're not taking a bite out of your sandwich.”

Jessica turned her head to where Jinki sat, on a table surrounded by Jonghyun, Kibum and Taemin. Their eyes met briefly, but Jinki looked down at his plate and seconds later, conversed with Taemin. He's talking to Taemin but not to me. The thought only made Jessica boil inside. Why is he being so difficult?

“You have to eat something, Sica,” Yuri said, snapping Jessica out of her reverie. She pushed a small plate of brown biscuits in front of Jessica. “We're just concerned about you. Jinki's concerned.”

“If he's so concerned about my health, he should come here and make me eat instead of telling you what to do with me.” Jessica grumbled, shoving the plate back to Yuri. “I'm going to the library, do you want to come with me?”

“At least take a bite out of a biscuit,” Sooyoung pleaded.

“Fine.” Jessica grabbed a biscuit and took a bite. She then hastily snatched the napkin Sooyoung was holding and spit out the contents of biscuit from . “It tastes horrible. I can't even swallow it.”

Tiffany sighed. “Jess...”

“I'm going.” Jessica stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. “I'll see you in class.”

The library was unsurprisingly deserted; it was lunchtime after all. Jessica settled herself in the lone table by the window and pulled out her physics book, resigned to understanding the most recent lesson all by herself. Jinki was usually there to clarify points that are vague to her, but she couldn't really ask for his help right now, could she?

Four minutes and twenty-three seconds later, Jessica decided that it's pointless to pretend to study when all she could think about was that Jinki should've been there with her.

She buried her face in her hands. “What is wrong with me?”

“Nothing's wrong with you, actually.”

Jessica looked up and saw Choi Minho standing before her. “Excuse me?”

“I said nothing's wrong with you 'cause you're perfect,” Minho said as he slid on the seat opposite hers. “Why are you alone? I saw you leave the cafeteria a while ago.”

“You followed me?” Jessica asked, looking suspicious. Choi Minho was a transferee from another school and her classmate in three classes, but he rarely talked to her, and when she came to think of it, he rarely talked to anybody at all. As a member of the school's soccer team, Minho had gained a lot unwarranted attention from the female population, even more than the attention Taemin receives. He even dated Krystal for three-and-a-half weeks, if Jessica counted correctly, and how they met each other was a mystery to her given Minho's utter display of disinterest in females.

Minho was also a member of the school choir, just like Jinki, and it seemed to her that Minho only talked to her whenever Jinki was around.

So why was he talking to her now?

“No...I, I―” Minho stammered. He fumbled with the zipper of his bag before pulling out a thick book, a pen and a piece of paper at last. “Since we're here in the library, I was wondering if you could help me with our history homework.”

“History?” Jessica said, eyes wide in bewilderment. “You want me to help you with history?”

Minho looked bashful for a moment. “I understand if you are busy―”

“No, no, it's just,” Jessica interrupted, waving her hands in gesture. “Why me? You can ask Jinki. He's better at everything,” she added bitterly.

“You sound like you're mad,” Minho said.

Jessica shook her head and was quick to reply, “No, I'm not mad at you.”

“I mean, Jinki. You sound like you're mad at him.”

Obviously, Jessica remarked in her thoughts. “It's just... nothing, really. How about we start answering that history homework right now?”

“Okay,” he said, and Jessica was thankful that he didn't push the topic of her and Jinki fighting anymore.

They spent a few more minutes in the library, learning about the Korean War and how North and South Korea came about, and mulling over how sad it must have been for South Korean families if they had relatives who lived on the northern territory.

It had only been a few minutes since they've started, but Jessica somehow felt closer to Minho than she was before. He's not very bad, after all, she mused. It would've been nicer if he didn't break up with my sister. He'll be a good brother-in-law.

“I probably would've died back then,” Jessica said, while they were still on the topic of painful family separations during the war. “I myself couldn't stand the thought of being separated from my sister.”

“Me too,” Minho nodded in agreement. Jessica gave him a sad smile.

“If you can't stand the thought of being away from Krystal, why did you two break up then?”

Minho stared at her for a while, then burst out laughing. “You thought I was talking about Krystal? No, I was talking about my little sister.”

“Oh,” Jessica whispered. “Sorry about that. My mistake.”

“It's fine.”

The bell rang, and the very few students who were staying the library, including Jessica and Minho, stood up and packed up their bags to get ready for class.

“You really should talk to Jinki, you know,” Minho told Jessica offhandedly, as he offered to walk her down the hallway to her next class.“It's stupid to waste three years just because you're not going with each other to the Yuletide Ball.”

Jessica narrowed her eyes at him. “How did you...?”

“Krystal,” Minho answered.

“So you're still in touch?” Jessica asked, puzzled. “But I thought...”

“There's a reason we broke up, and it isn't because we fought, or we had a misunderstanding, or anything like that. Krystal and I remain good friends,” Minho said. “So talk to Jinki. I don't think you both could stand the thought of being separated from each other for longer.”

They had arrived at the door to Jessica's next class. Tiffany, Yuri, Sooyoung and almost all of her classmates were already inside. Jinki wasn't there yet, and Jessica briefly wondered where he could be.

Minho put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. “Thank you, Jess. I learned a lot from you today.”

Jessica couldn't help but smile back. “I learned a lot from you as well.”

“You have to promise me that you'll talk to Jinki.”

Jessica nodded. “I promise.”