For shiningbeasts

Scarlet Zinnia

Jongin had a habit of touching his lip. It just happened. It wasn’t because he was particularly nervous, excited, or any other type of feeling, he just did it. He couldn’t stop doing it either. His fingers just always seemed to find his bottom lip. In fact, if his friends hadn’t told him about it, or taken photographs as evidence, then he wouldn’t even know about it.

Jongin walked into the new school year, feeling refreshed from summer break. He had his friends by his side and was determined to make it another memorable year. As he walked down the hallways, a group of girls caught his eye. He hadn’t seen them around before, and judging by the other male eyes that were staring at them, he could tell that they were probably new. They had their backs facing towards him, so he only caught a glimpse of one of them.

He almost walked into one of the lockers if it had not been for his friend Kyungsoo yelling out his name.

“Yah! Jongin-ah! Are you just touching your lip out of habit or are you wiping drool off your face cause you saw the new girls…”

“They’re in our grade?”

“Yep. Strap yourself in for a new school year…it’s going to be a lot more beautiful…”

-KN-

Namjoo had a habit of playing with her hair. At first, she only did it when she was embarrassed, but after a while, it became something that she had to do. Just like how others shake their leg while they wait or are bored, (although you shouldn’t do that because apparently it symbolises losing money), Namjoo had to touch her hair. It was like her safety blanket; the thing that allowed her to have something to hold on to; the curtain which she could hide behind.

Namjoo was making a speech at the school assembly about joining the gardening club. She felt all eyes staring at her, some she could even feeling rolling because of how boring the assembly was and how they wanted to get it over and done with. She was trying as fast as she could to read the announcement, but someone in the front row was distracting her.

He had bright eyes and a wide smile, looking up at her as if fully concentrated. She kept glancing at him as she read her palm cards, but she couldn’t focus properly. She began to twirl her hair, and this calmed her down slightly so that she could finish reading what she had to.

As she stepped off the stage, the teacher announced the next item on the agenda.

“Kim Jongin, please come up to the stage and start your dance performance.”

Namjoo sat down at her seat and watched as the guy she had been looking at walk onto the stage.

So, that’s his name…

-KN-

Jongin had another habit of biting his straw. His mother found it extremely annoying, and always reprimanded him when he did it, but Jongin thought that there was a thrill associated with it. He liked making the space inside the straw so narrow that when he was drinking cola or another drink, he would have to try to slurp it up before it reached his mouth.

Jongin was sitting at the usual lunch table with his group of friends, collectively known as EXO. They had recently been discussing the intricacies of League of Legends when someone had caught Jongin’s eye. She was carrying her lunch tray and then sat down with her group of friends. The two groups usually sat at nearby tables, but never really paid any attention to each other.

“Yo! Kai! Kai! Jongin!”

“Yeah?”

“Are you up for a team game after school?”

“Yeah…sure….count me in…”

“What are you staring at man? You’ve almost chewed off the whole straw?”

Jongin directed his gaze back to his drink and found that it was indeed true. He had been biting so hard that it created a hole and some of the drink spilled out.

“Are you staring at Namjoo?”

Ahhh…so that’s her name…

-KN-

Namjoo had another habit of biting her lip. This one was only out of pure nervousness. After being called to the principal’s office numerous times, even though she knew that she had done nothing wrong, (she was in a lot of after school clubs), she always felt nervous when she was called, and always bit her bottom lip as the principal talked to her.

“Kim Namjoo haksaeng, please report to the principal’s office”

Namjoo stood up from her seat and quietly made her way over to the office. There was another student in there so she had to wait for her turn. She began to bite her lip until she felt someone sit next to her. It was Jongin. She never really spoke to him, but she knew of him. Everyone did.

“Why are you here?”

“I don’t know. You?”

“I probably got in trouble for something…”

Namjoo noticed that he said it with such ease, that a smile was playing on his lips. She found it enticing and couldn’t help but glance at them. She bit her lip even harder.

-KN-

Jongin also had a habit of covering his mouth when he smiles. Jongin smiles a lot. It’s those kind of smiles that reached his eyes and showed all of his teeth. All the girls fell for that smile. They always said that it made their hearts beat a little bit faster.

Jongin couldn’t help but smile whenever he looked at Namjoo. Her bubbly personality affected everyone around her, including him. There was one time in class that she had to recite a poem, but she didn’t do her homework and made it up on the spot. The teacher wasn’t very impressed, but everyone couldn’t help but laugh. Jonging tried to hold in his laughter by covering his mouth, but he couldn’t contain himself and just kept laughing. The teacher told him that he was holding up the class, so the two of them were sent outside of the room for the rest of the lesson.

They sat themselves against the wall. They had half an hour to kill, and they weren’t allowed to bring their bags, books, or phones. Namjoo was staring ahead, reading the posters on the wall, while Jongin just looked at her. HE found her very cute and endearing all at the same time. She felt his watchful eyes and looked back, both of them ending up having a staring contest. Jongin thought that her gaze was so intense, he lost the fight and immediately began to smile. His hands flew to his mouth and he tried to cover it. Namjoo pulled his hands away.

“Don’t cover it up. Someone might just be falling for it…”

He smiled even wider.

-KN-

Namjoo also had a habit of looking at the mirror. She always wanted to look good. Whether it be going to school, going to the supermarket or hanging out with her friends, Namjoo strived to look her best.

After getting punished together, Jongin and Namjoo ended up finding themselves bumping into each other more often. It might have been going to school in the morning, or going home or moving between classes, but they always saw each other at least twice a day.

On one of them, Jongin decided to follow Namjoo home. He found out that they lived on adjacent streets and thought he would try her route to go home. As she was walking, he watched her pull out one of those pocket mirrors. She was so engrossed in it that she almost bumped into a wall, if not for him grabbing her arm.

“What?”

“You could’ve gotten knocked over. I saved your life, Namjoo-yah…”

“Hey…”

“Hey yourself…”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m going to walk you home…”

“Okay…”

She opened the mirror again and looked at herself, but he yanked it out of her hands.

“Stop looking. You’re beautiful. In fact, if you keep looking, you might get run over or hit your face or something and then, you won’t be pretty. So stop looking in the mirror and watch out for objects in your path…”

“You think I’m beautiful?”

Jongin began to touch his lip.

“Yeah…”

Namjoo grabbed the end of her hair.

“Thanks…”

Jongin began to smile.

“Can I walk you home from now on?”

Namjoo bit her lip.

“I’d like that…”