Page 18

Baekhyun's POV 

After constantly tapping the end of my pencil, the eraser pops off and rolls onto the notebook. Great. I try to reattach it, however, it's no use. My eyes are glued onto the page because I have so much to catch up on today. However, I break my focus whenever I think I hear a rustling sound from next door. It's always almost nothing though. Maybe I'm just waiting for her to come home. I didn't show up to school today after what happened last night. She may say she doesn't hate me but I'm too embarrassed to show face. I've screwed up. Badly. Agitated at the thought, I slam my pencil onto the table and bury my face in my hands. 

"Ugh!" I miss her. Why did everything have to turn out this way? I look up and the suit from last night that I hung on my door is staring directly at me. From top to bottom, the suit was stained with marinara sauce from all the pasta plates Hanna poured on me yesterday. I always knew that breaking up with her would never gonna end pretty, but there goes my one good suit. I hate to admit when she's right but when Aerin told me I've been hurting Hanna, she hit it right on the point. A straight bullseye. 

What hurt the most about yesterday was accepting the reality that for the first time in the years we've known each other, we've brought out the worst versions in one another. The screen on my phone lights up to remind me that it's 7:00 pm. I was supposed to go pick up food for dinner. Wait, it's 7 and she's not home yet? Where could she be? I shake my head as I refocus on the task I was assigned earlier by my mother. I head downstairs and as I put on my shoes I hear laughter coming from outside. I peek from my window and I see her. Aerin! And she's smiling. I hadn't noticed until a minute later that a small smile formed on my face as well. She was laughing as she ran towards her house. I could tell she was amused at whatever she was up to because her face was slowly turning a tomato red from all the laughter. 

"Yah! That's not fair." I hear another voice coming from the left. It was Jongin. He chased after her to the front door of her home. At this point, my view is blocked by the limitations of my window. I wait for the sound of her door closing before standing up to leave. What was I supposed to buy? Seeing them together threw me off guard a bit. But I'm just glad she's laughing. Maybe Jongin will be good for her. And it's time I respect her wishes for space because that's what she wants. Does this mean it's really the end for us? 

Normal POV

I rush inside and hide my phone inside a colored vase without him seeing it. Jongin shuts the door and laughs. 

"You have nowhere to hide now." I turn around and throw my hands up in the air. "Huh? Where did it go?" I shrug my shoulders and giggle at him thinking he had finally gotten me. Jongin smirks at me while slowly putting his bag down to the side. I mimic his actions and toss mine behind the couch. 

"Beats me. I can always look for it later." Jongin shakes his head. As he slowly takes one step forward, I take one step back. The air is tense as it suddenly feels like a western showdown. 

"Maybe it's on your person." He's not gonna chase after me, is he? And before I could think about my next move, Jongin leaps towards me. At the last second, I dodge him as I take cover behind the couch. With no mercy, he doesn't even give me a second to catch my breath before he's hot on my trail again. 

"Ahhh!" I start to run for the kitchen. I'm trying to catch my breath but it's a lot harder when I can't help but laugh at the same time. I don't have time to turn around because I know he's right behind me. I circle back to the dining room and find myself in the living room again. Suddenly, I stop right by the couch. I don't hear his footsteps anymore. I turn around and he's nowhere to be seen. "...Jongin?" 

"Gotcha!" I face the direction of where his voice is coming from but it's too late. He pulls me onto the couch, and I'm stuck underneath him. Jongin doesn't hesitate to tickle me. I'm gasping for air trying to break free from his grasp in the middle of a laughing fit. 

"Okay, okay, I surrender!" Jongin throws his hands in the air like they were guns and pretends to blow the smoke from the muzzle before securing them in his pockets. He lends me his hand and helps me sit up from the couch. "I don't mind surrendering to a worthy opponent." I admitted. 

"You wouldn't have to if you were fast enough to outrun me. But alas, no one is." I scoff at his comment because I know he's probably only half-joking about that. "That and if you didn't take an unflattering candid photo of me and used it as your new wallpaper." I laugh remembering the photo I took of him earlier. On the way home, I caught him in the middle of a story. I meant it to be cute. I wanted to take a few photos to commemorate the day. But in reality,