Sohee POV

I stood there dumbfounded for a couple of minutes before Zelo noticed me. ‘Sohee?’ I could see him mouth, the squealing of the girls drowned his voice out. I couldn’t do anything and I didn’t do anything, I just stood there and waited for the librarian to shoo the loud bunch of girls out. “Sohee!” Zelo exclaimed with a sympathetic face as he approached me.

“Zelo,” I smiled as if he wasn’t more than half an hour late.

“Sohee, I’m sorry! I slept in then I—” Zelo began explaining himself, excuses readily flowing out of his mouth one after the other. I didn’t hear any of it. I just nodded and smiled then suggested we started on the project.

We sat down in the far corner, well hidden from any fan girls that might decide to creep their way back in. I handed my book to Zelo. A whole page was decorated with scribbles of ideas and the occasional doodle. Zelo squinted his eyes as he navigated them across the page. “What is this?” he frowned. 

“This is what I did while I was waiting for you,” I said pointing at the notes.

Zelo looked up from the book, “Did I make you wait long?”

I stiffly shook my head, “No, I came pretty late too!” I smiled, the lie knocking the back of my head.

“Oh really? That’s a relief!” Zelo smiled and handed me back my book. He tucked his knees towards his chest and fiddled his fingers, “What do you want to do now?”

I furrowed my brows, “Shouldn’t we start the assignment?” I questioned.

Zelo’s eyes lit up as if it had just occurred to him that that was the reason why we were here. “Oh yeah!” he laughed. “I brought my camera!” Zelo took off the Canon EOS 5D camera from his neck and placed it between us. He smiled brightly at me and I did my best to do the same back.

We strolled around the streets. Zelo peered through his camera, seeing everything through a lens and yet he was still oblivious as to how I felt. “Are you okay?” He finally asked.

I rubbed off my pout and looked up at him. “Why were you late again?”

Zelo put the camera down and let it pull around his neck. He stared at me blankly as if I was stupid. “I already told you,” he chuckled.

“Tell me again.” I answered firmly.

Zelo took a deep breath in then exhaled. He took a firm hold of my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “Have you been working too hard again?”

I stared up at him. “What?”

He probably heard my impatience slip out because the smug grin on his face immediately dropped. “Sorry…” he said as he took a step back. Zelo sighed, “I woke up late, I slept in and missed the bus.” He widened his eyes, “Happy now?”

I stared at him blankly. “Why were you surrounded by girls then?”

Zelo chuckled. “Is that why you’re so mad?” He laughed then rubbed the back of his neck. “I accidentally ran into them, it’s not their fault I was late,” Zelo insisted, and for the first time in my life his charming smile disgusted me.

I tried to let it go and change the subject but nothing came to mind. Just as I was about to open my mouth it ran dry and no words came out. I pressed my lips together and kept walking. We didn’t speak. The only sound made between us was the occasional click of Zelo’s camera.

I caught Zelo glimpsing at me. “What?” I muttered.

“Do you want a turn?” Zelo replied softly as he handed me his camera. I stared at it and wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to take it. After a long pause of hesitation Zelo sighed. “I’m sorry, okay Sohee??”

I frowned, not entirely satisfied with his ‘apology.’ I didn’t reply.

“What else do you want??” Zelo groaned as he clasped onto tuffs of blonde hair. He gritted his teeth and stared at me with enraged eyes. I’ve seen him mad before when we were younger, but it was never this scary and never aimed at me.

“Hajima…” I said lowly as some people began staring at us.

Zelo frowned and exhaled. “Let’s just get this over and done with.” He said through gritted teeth. He shoved the camera into my hands. I shoved it back.

“I don’t want it.”

Zelo glared at me and took a step in, closing the gap between us. He stared down at me and hissed my name. It sounded unfamiliar to me, as if it wasn’t even my name. Usually it was said with a beaming smile of a handsome face. But Zelo didn’t even look like Zelo and my name didn’t seem to be my name.

“What?” I replied passively.

He furrowed his brows. “Why’d I even bother coming today?”

“You??” I scoffed, “You’re the one who was late!!”

“What?! It’s not my fault I bumped into some fans!!” Zelo yelled.

“So you ARE blaming them?!” My voice began to rise subconsciously.

 “Does it matter?? I should have just done this stupid assignment with one of them! At least then I wouldn’t have to put up with you!!” Zelo scowled at me, breathing heavily into my face. I stood there silently with nothing left to say. It hurt. An ache began to swell in my chest. I clenched my fist then released it and slapped him across the cheek. Zelo looked shocked, in no time his cheek was glowing red. His eyes were bewildered. He brought a hand to his check and stared at me in silent shock. A high pitch ringing began getting louder and louder in my ear as everything around me became more and more silent. I bit my lip as tears began filling my eyes. “Sohee?” Zelo whispered as a tear silently slipped down my left cheek. I pressed my lips tightly together, spun around and sprinted off.

My tears were stubborn and wouldn’t stop. I hiccupped every time I tried keeping them in. People started to stare at me as I sobbed my way to a bench in a nearby park. Hastily I took my phone out of my pocket and dialled Jisu’s number.

“Yobosseyo?” said a muffled voice from the other end.

“Jisu?” I croaked.  

“Sohee? Are you okay??” Jisu said in a high pitch voice.

I nodded, biting my bottom lip as it began to quiver. “No, not really…”  

“What happened? Is it Zelo??”

My lip began to quiver violently, “Y-yeah,” I managed to croak.

“Where are you?? It’s okay, you can join us!” said the muffled voice.

About half an hour later I was in Kai’s living room explaining what had happened to Jisu. “Is that all?” Kai interrupted in a low voice.

Jisu gave him a disapproving look and continued to rub my back. “It’s okay, you can join us.” She gave me a warm look, “is it okay if we keep working now?”

I moved my head up and down in an unnatural nodding motion. Kai sighed, he looked disappointed that I had interrupted. “It’s supposed to be in pairs,” he complained. Jisu shot him a glare. “What it’s true,” Kai cringed.

“I’ll tell the teacher later.”

Kai frowned at Jisu’s proposal, “What if she says no? You know Mrs Hwang is strict and—”

“Then you can go with someone else.” Jisu interrupted, dead serious.

Kai shrunk back with a frightened look. He brought his exercise book to his face and pretended to scribble things down.

Jisu sighed as she began to look through photos they had taken earlier that day.

I sat between Kai and Jisu, unsure of what to do. I was at a dilemma—I wanted to help but if I tried to help would I become a bother? So I sat there with my knees tucked towards my chest watching the two do their assignment.

My phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I stared uneasily at it, not wanting to interrupt the two’s concentration. Jisu scrunched her face. “Are you not going to pick that up Sohee?” she didn’t look up from her work, “It’s been ringing for at least half an hour now.” I frowned and hesitantly pulled the device from my pocket—Zelo. I immediately rejected the call. Jisu glimpsed at me with a puzzled look, “Who was it?”

I bit my lip, “Zelo.”

“Oh.”

My phone began to ring again. I stared at it for a while, hesitating to reject him a second time. Kai gave me an irritated look, “Just turn it off.”

I looked up at him then nodded, obediently shutting down my phone.

How long had it been? I started getting bored and began drifting off as I watched the two glue things onto paper. Kai abruptly sighed the groaned. “Does she really have to be here??” he complained chucking the handful of Polaroid photos he was holding onto the floor. They slid past each other, overlapping one another until they were spread quite evenly between us. The white frames enclosed meanings of Kai’s ‘history.’ There were photos of him in elementary and middle school, some of family and friends. One of them was a candid shot of what looked to be Jisu. Judging from her uniform it was from middle school. Her hair wasn’t dyed yet, it was purely black and in a short side pony tail. She was smiling brightly at a game of basketball being played. The photo was quickly taken away from my sight. Kai slammed it between the pages of his exercise book, a stern look on his face.

Jisu looked unknowingly between us. “There’s not something going on between the two of you is there?” she teased.

Kai widened his eyes, “What?? NO!!”

Jisu laughed, “sheesh, you don’t need to over-react!”

I stared at the two. Has Kai liked Jisu for a long time? The photo of Jisu from middle school was still in my mind as I watched the Kai and Jisu argue. How can he act so naturally around her? Does Jisu like him back? She might…

“Sohee are you okay?” Jisu interrupted my trail of thoughts. I must have drifted off. I nodded wearily and took note of Kai’s anxious expression. ‘Don’t tell her,’ his face read.

Zelo POV

I furrowed my brows as Sohee disappeared into the distance. My shoulders slumped downwards and my arms hung loosely by my sides. I scowled and kicked aimlessly at the ground. I received several glares and some short hissed scolds as people passed me. “What’s up with her?” I murmured to myself as I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my jumper. “Tch.” I looked up at the sky and exhaled. A faint cloud on vapour passed out my lips, they tingled at the brief chilling sensation. I scratched the back of my head and grasped at the hood of my jumper. I dumped the hood over my head and made my way back towards the library. “Pabo.” I grunted.

o0o ...... kai's unrequited (?) love, what do you think about it?? For how long do you think he's liked Jisu? And Zelo... whyy? ; A ;

Anyway it's real cold where I am. I've got mid years coming up, that art competitions due soon (I'm only halfway) and I've got a dance performance coming up too... and we havent even finished learning the choreo  ; A ; so busy.. How's you lives going?