Sohee POV

I bit my lip, tightening my grip on nothing. I let out a breath and lifted my head back up again. Jisu was stomping in front of me, obviously furious, I couldn’t blame her.

“What was that all about?!” She growled out in the open. The school was so quiet while everyone was in class. I never imagined it would be so silent.

“About class—” I said out loud unintentionally. Jisu turned around, frowning.

“You’re not going back, are you? It’s only Mr. Kim and it’s just basketball, doesn’t matter!” Jisu puffed. True. I never liked sports anyway.

Zelo POV

I watched Sohee leave, again. She was overreacting, as usual. “Tch,” I spat, “so childish.” I slipped my arm out of the girl’s hold; I had guessed she was ‘Eunjung’ earlier. Luckily I got it right. I sighed as Eunjung gave me a pouting face. I picked up the basketball that had rolled by the gym entrance and chest passed it to Kai. He winced disapprovingly but brought it back to the centre anyway, and the game continued on as if nothing had happened.

Which annoyed me—when was she coming back? I furrowed my brows.

“If you keep cringing like that you’ll get wrinkles,” Kai smirked as he dribbled past me.

“What’s your problem?!” I yelled. Kai was in front of our basket, hands just over his head ready to shoot another basket. He brought the ball down, dropped it and stepped closer to me glaring shallowly. It would have been menacing if he was taller. He gave me a firm shove, I saw it coming but I still had to take a step back to regain my balance.

“What’s your problem? You’re a ing , that’s your problem!!” Kai yelled. A crease had formed between his brows. He shoved me back again, this time with more strength. I took a few steps back. Mr. Kim blew the whistle.

“That’s enough!” the teacher yelled as he began approaching us.

“Chill,” I sneered at Kai. He took another step in, breathing heavily. He tightened his fist and soon enough it was coming towards my face. My eyes had instinctively shut. When I reopened them, Kai had his fist by my right ear, barely grazing my cheek. He had punched the wall. I didn’t even notice I had stumbled towards it after being shoved a couple of times. Kai didn’t speak, he just stared at me coldly.

“Enough! Time out!!” Mr. Kim firmly placed a hand on Kai’s shoulder and he backed off.

“You look pale,” Kai smirked. I sneered.

“Kai. Detention. Now.” The teacher growled and pulled out a yellow slip from his pocket. He handed it to Kai who snatched it off of him and thundered out of class.

Sohee POV

After a while of silent strolling we heard footsteps. Jisu froze and started backing away. We quickly slipped behind a building. Two lean figures appeared.

“What’s there to draw in this school?!” one complained, it held a pad of paper and pencil. The crisp pages fluttered around, smacking against each other as it was fanned around in the air. I heard a faint chuckle, but couldn’t make out what the other person said—but Jisu must’ve. Her head shot up and without warning and she rushed up in front of them. Dumbfounded and confused I rushed after her. It was Daehyun and Jongup.

Jongup’s eyes widened at the sight of us before they returned to his usual confused expression. “What’re you two doing here?”

Jisu shot the question back at him, “What’re you doing?”

 “We’re sketching things around the school,” Daehyun replied, “for art.” He smiled sweetly at the two of us. “What about you two?”

Jisu grinned; no trace of once being in a foul mood could be spotted on her face. “Can I see you’re drawings?”

Daehyun blinked, puzzled as his question was thrown away. “I haven’t started yet…”

 “Fine.” Jisu said looking a bit disappointed, “Are you better than Jongup?”

“I don’t know?” Daehyun chuckled humbly. I was just able to catch how Jisu looked at him from the corner of my eye. Her expression would soften, just slightly, and she’d look dazed as if she had forgotten anyone else’s existence. 

Jongup nudged me, “Sohee, what’re you two doing out of class?” He looked so genuinely worried I had to laugh. “What?” he blinked innocently.

“Nothing, just free time,” I blurted. He didn’t look impressed or persuaded. “We finished our work early,” I insisted.

Daehyun crossed his arms, a smug look on his face. “Oh really?”

As Jisu continued to try and persuade Daehyun that we weren’t wagging class I noticed Jongup’s gaze drift behind us. I turned around. There was a frail looking girl hiding behind a thick tree not very far away—how long had she been watching us? Her soft brown hair came down to her waist in loose waves that tangled around her arms. Like Jongup and Daehyun she had a pad of paper. Jongup nudged Daehyun and pointed at the girl. Her large brown eyes like those of a deer in the headlights as we all turned to her.

“’She in your class?” I asked. Jongup nodded.

“Stalker fan?” Jisu joked. Nobody answered.

Jongup turned to Daehyun, “Are you going?” he asked bluntly.

Daehyun opened his mouth as if to blurt out a comeback but he closed it again and replied softly, “Yeah, I guess I should.” He nodded to us then crept slowly towards the tree. We watched the petite girl cautiously turn her head as Daehyun approached her. He craned his head over her sketch pad; even at average height, Daehyun stood much taller than the girl. He leant on the tree, speaking softly to the girl. Her eyes turned into timid crescents as they chattered gently under the shade of the tree. Daehyun lifted his head, a blank look on his face compared to when conversing with the girl. He tapped on her shoulder and pointed at us. She glimpsed our way then looked up at Daehyun and shook her head.

“What’re they doing?” Jisu muttered.

Daehyun smiled a gentle yet bright smile at the girl. Laughing as the girl tipped her head and pushed herself off the tree. Then they came our way.

The girl stood about the same height as Jisu, but she was so slim she looked as if she was supposed to be inches shorter. Her eyes weren’t large, but they weren’t small; they were framed in thick, dark lashes that stared timidly up at us.

Daehyun beamed, “This is Park Eunmi. She’s our classmate.” He introduced. Eunmi nodded politely at us. “Eunmi, you know Jongup,” Daehyun said gesturing at him. “This is Jisu and Sohee.”

“Dongsaengs?” Eunmi said soflty. Her voice was gentle and so feminine it sounded fragile.

Jisu looked taken aback and nodded swiftly, as if taking back the time it used her to react.

Eunmi tugged on Daehyun’s shirt. He averted his full attention back to the girl. Daehyun said something softly, so softly it was difficult for us to hear, even though we were all standing barely a meter apart from one another. Eunmi nodded at Daehyun. “We’ll see you later,” Daehyun said at his average volume.

They took a few steps away before Eunmi turned back around. “It was nice meeting you all!” she called over her shoulder; her voice almost overrun by the soft rustling of leaves.

“Is that the girl?” Jisu asked. She looked distant as she watched Daehyun and that girl walk off together.

Jongup nodded. “Yeah, that’s her.”

I looked at the two, I had no clue about what they were talking about, but it didn’t seem like a topic I felt like I could barge into.

Jisu excused herself to the bathroom, leaving Jongup and I alone. Jongup explained he needed to draw something so we sat on the grass, under the shade of the tree me and Zelo used to sit under. It felt nostalgic. I tucked my knees towards my chest and closed my eyes; the scratching of pencil on paper soothing with the sound of the birds and the trees.

“Park Eunmi,” Jongup’s voice said. I opened my eyes and looked at him, unsure if I had heard him correctly. He didn’t look up from his work. “She’s ill,” Jongup explained. He lifted his head slightly to check if I was paying attention. “She doesn’t have any friends but she’s popular with some guys,” he continued. I lifted my brow curiously. “She’s not my type,” Jongup laughed at my expression. “Anyway,” he turned back to his drawing, assuming he might get off-track if he hadn’t. “It was out of pity at first, that Daehyun would talk to her, but I think it’s more than that now.” Jongup’s voice was tender, almost muffled as he spoke to me. “Most girls have labelled them as the tragic love story, assuming Eunmi will one day be too ill to go on.”

“Is that so?” I said under my breath. He didn’t have to tell me that Jisu liked Daehyun and that it was some sort of love triangle, that part was obvious.

Jongup shrugged, “That’s just a rumour but Eunmi has been coming to school less frequently.” He squiggled a signature in the bottom corner of the page.

“A dinosaur?” I questioned after a quick glimpse of his drawing. Jongup hastily shoved the sketch pad behind his back. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Don’t be embarrassed. It looked good,” I insisted.

Jongup scratched his head, “It’s not a dinosaur…”

“Huh?”

“It’s a parrot.”

I blinked, the ends of my lips began to curl and before I knew it I had fallen on my back laughing.