Chapter 15

“So, where are we going to today?” Eunmi asked, looking through the school-made guidebook. She flipped through the pages to the 3rd day. The first two days weren’t all that exciting from going to all the museums they could possibly go to in Gyeongju. Eunmi skimmed her eyes down the page and saw that today, they were visiting some temples. “Hmm, temples huh?”

“Eh, really?” Soyeon said, and peered over Eunmi’s shoulder. “Hey, look, it’s Bulguksa Temple and Golgulsa Temple.”

“Isn’t the Bulguksa Temple a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage?” Jiyoon said, looking up from her own guidebook.

“Eh, I don’t know. I just want it to hurry up and be the second half of this trip, so that we can go play!” Eunmi whined.

“Everyone! Please board the bus!” A teacher shouted and the students slowly trailed onboard.

This time, it was Jiyoon’s turn to have two seats for herself and as she was about to put her bag on the aisle seat, someone’s legs appeared in her view. She looked up to see that it was Woojin standing there with his hands in his pockets. “Hey, can I sit here?” He asked.

Jiyoon blinked and checked up and down the bus to see that there were no other seats left. She nodded reluctantly and moved her bag to her feet, “Yeah, sure. You can sit here.”

Woojin gave a sigh of relief and sat down after shoving his own bag onto the rack above their heads. While he had been towering over her, she could smell the deodorant that he was wearing and turned her face away. It smells kind of like Luhan, she thought with a small smile, Wait. That sounds y. What am I thinking?!

Eunmi and Soyeon barely gave Jiyoon a glance when Woojin had sat down next to her and she desperately wanted to talk to someone, just not the person sitting next to her. She mentally-willed her friends to turn around and just say something to distract her from the smell the guy was giving off.

When someone tapped her shoulder, Jiyoon nearly jumped out of her seat in surprise because she had been concentrating so hard on boring holes into the back of her friend’s heads. She turned to see Woojin give her a sheepish smile and hold out a bag of chips. “Want some?” He offered.

She didn’t reply immediately, slowly gauging whether she was hungry or not, then asked, “What flavour are they?”

“Original. Here,” Woojin held out the packet, allowing Jiyoon to reach in and grab a few chips.

“Thanks,” she said, then proceeded to eat them one by one.

Jiyoon stared out the window as she ate and Woojin watched her from the corner of his eyes as he ate. He had found her and friends a little different from the rest of the school female population and she had even seemed reluctant to give him the seat. Woojin put another chip in his mouth as he thought and soon the bus arrived at their destination.

“Which temple is this one?” Eunmi asked to nobody in particular after everyone had got off the bus. She stretched and looked over at Jiyoon. “Hey, smartypants, where are we?” She teased, poking her friend’s waist.

Jiyoon squealed and guarded her waist, “Yah, where are you putting your hands, huh?”

“Aww, but you’re so squishy!” Eunmi said and poked Jiyoon’s cheeks.

“Are you saying I’m fat?!”

“No way, are you fat! You’re just so… huggable, is all,” Eunmi emphasised her point by wrapping her arms around Jiyoon and squeezing lightly.

“Fine. Let go of me, you’re so embarrassing. And also, we’re at the Bulguksa Temple,” Jiyoon wrinkled her nose and pushed Eunmi away.

Soyeon just stood aside to watch the pair wondering why on Earth she was even friends with them. “Alright, alright children. We better get going,” she said and ushered the two forward to the group of students walking to the temple.

By the time they finished touring the temple while taking pictures, writing notes and listening to the teachers explain everything, everyone was worn out and hungry. “What are we eat~ing?” Eunmi said, as everyone filed back onto the bus.

“Well, apparently we’re going to the Seokguram Grotto as well since it’s near here and then we’ll head to some open park and have a picnic. Or something,” Soyeon shrugged and plugged in her earphones.

“Urgh, you’re not helpful,” Eunmi muttered, then slowly kneeled on the chair and peeked over to talk to Jiyoon.

To her delight, Woojin was also sitting there and she said a quiet ‘Hello’ then turned back to Jiyoon, “Hey! What time is it?”

“Uh,” Jiyoon checked her wristwatch, “12 ish. Why?”

“Jeez, it’s lunchtime,” Eunmi giggled and slid back down.

“Wow, your jokes are lame as ever,” Jiyoon sighed and rolled her eyes, “Don’t tell me. You’re hungry aren’tch