“Jinyoung! Park Jinyoung!”

I snapped my fingers in front of his face and consciousness returned to his blank eyes. Removing his chin from his palms, he sat up and stretched his arms above his head with a wide silent yawn.

“Sheesh, I’ve been calling you for the past minute.” Pursing my lips, I bookmarked the page I’ve been revising before shutting the book and sliding it into my bag. “Why are you so out of sorts today?”

Cue the scenes of the boy tripping over nothing as he walked across the parade square; walking straight into the door of not one, but three classrooms; forgetting to zip up his fly after doing his businesses and causing a mini uproar with girls that saw his goods; and the inability to feed himself as his spoon bypassed his mouth, the dollop of porridge burning his thighs instead.

Jinyoung rubbed the nape of his neck, his eyes closed and a sigh escaped his lips.

“Want to tell me about it?” I probed, as I stacked his books up for him and pushed it towards him. “Is it to do with Suzy-sshi?”

The fact that I was able to say her name surprised me, as opposed to the stutter and the courage I had to muster up yester-evening to be able to do so.

“Y-Yeah…” He confessed, his chin back on his palms, eyes staring straight into mine. “I texted her last night but she hasn’t gotten back to me. And during the whole time at school today, she didn’t even look at me. Not even once.”

I tapped my chin as something stupid escaped my lips and I mentally cursed at myself.

“What was she doing last n– Oh.”

The boy’s brows rose, as confusion washed over his features.

“You know something, Mark-hyung…?”

I panicked, but I prayed that my expressions didn’t betray my inner turmoil as I smoothly (hopefully) replied with a “Um, nope.”.

He bought it and I sighed inwardly.

I can’t let him find out that I met her yesterday afternoon. The boy would throw a fit! And I most definitely can’t him know of my feelings.

My feelings and thoughts of her…

She lifted her head, the sudden movement causing her spectacles to slip off the ridge of her nose, and off her face. It clattered heart-wrenchingly on the pavement but neither of us cared.

My eyes took in her features for the first time, the atrocious thick-rimmed accessory removed, and somehow she looked like someone.

Someone that I know.

Her brown orbs shone under the twinkling stars and soft silvery moonlight as she gazed at me in shock, her body unmoving or stuck. gaped slightly and her eyelids fluttered shut slowly before beginning to blink rapidly.

She snatched up the spectacles from the ground and jammed it back onto her face. Gathering up her things and stuffing them into her bag, she shot up like a rocket and bowed to me. With a soft “Thank you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”, she spun on her heels and walked off. A few seconds later, she ran and I watched her disappear around the corner at the end of the canal; her mess of hazelnut-brown hair swishing behind her.

I didn’t even know I had been holding my breath until my lungs screamed for oxygen and I gasped for air like a fish out of water. Clutching my chest, my eyes darted around wildly as my mind tried to make sense of what I had seen.

“Sh-She looked so m-much like her.”

Bae Suzy looked so much like my dancing goddess.

I ruffled my hair in frustration as a heavy-duty pound shot through my head. Standing up, I swung my bag onto my shoulders and just as I was about to embark for home, my eyes caught sight of a metallic object half-hidden in the grass.

Picking it up, a small smile tugged at the corners of my lips and I tossed it into my bag.

“Hyung?”

“Hmm?” I placed my bag onto the study table and was about to zip it shut when Jinyoung unceremoniously stuffed a few of his books into my bag. “Hey!”

“Sorry hyung, but could you bring those home for me?” His hands were clasped together, and a pleading look formed on his face. His trademark aegyo puppy eyes completed the begging. “Pleaseeeeeee, pwetty please??”

“Tch. Fine.”

“Yay!” He clapped his hands in glee. “I’ll pack them properly for you.”

He then retrieved his books and began to rearrange the items in my bag. I whipped out my phone and groaned inwardly when Bambam texted me yet another photograph and this time, it was of Youngjae and his vandalised sleeping face. This boy and his pranks… Geez.

“Um, Mark-hyung? Since when do you bring hairspray to school?”

I lifted my head up and my eyes widened at the sight of the metallic object in Jinyoung’s hand. It was the can of hairspray that I found in the grass, and it definitely belonged to her. It was Suzy-sshi’s.

“W-Well, it’s not mine. I found it yesterday.”

“And you kept it?” His tone was doubtful. “Normal persons wouldn’t even touch it, much less keep it.”

“I-I thought that it might belong to someone.” I tried to keep my eyes on his, but it was difficult to maintain eye contact with him especially since the item was hers — the boy’s soon-to-be-girlfriend.

“Who would it belong to? It could belong to anyone! Unless you know someone who might own this…” He peered at me. “Where did you find it anyway?”

“Somewhere.” The word slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it and the boy’s narrowed eyes clearly showed his annoyance at where this conversation was going — nowhere. “And someone, alright?”

I didn’t know what came over me but I just didn’t feel like revealing the truth to him. It’s like a secret that only I know about her, about Bae Suzy. And I didn’t want to share it, not even with my best friend and potential boyfriend of the girl.

“Fine. It’s not like I really wanted or needed to know anyway.” The mood between us darkened as he quickened the packing and before long, he shoved the bag into my hands. “I’m leaving. See you tomorrow.”