Chapter 16 -Exchange

I stared at the screen for what felt like hours.

‘Your item (Naruto Uzumaki Kunai in Hand Mens White Anime T-Shirt) is marked as shipped’

This meant that I was supposed to contact Daehyun. But somehow, I didn’t want to. Chaerin’s words kept replying in my head and I became more conscience about the relationship Daehyun and I seemed to have. It wasn’t a relationship I could label though and I guess that was the hardest part. I didn’t know what to think, simply because I didn’t know what to think about Daehyun and his behavior.

And so I stared at the right bar of my laptop screen, contemplating whether I should contact him or not. He was online on Facebook chat, on his mobile. Or at least that’s what the green thick dot was indicating.

I clicked on his name. Doing so resulted in me opening our latest chat. My fingers rested on the keyboard, ready to type something. But I just didn’t know what to say, or how to begin even. Was that stupid?

I told him I would keep him up to date so it wasn’t like I would disturb him right? Should I say hi first? Should I just cut to the chase and tell him that the item has been shipped without the whole greeting thing? Why was I overthinking this?

I sighed when I realized that I was acting ridiculous and it shouldn’t matter what I would say, I should just let him know that the product had been shipped and that would be it. Still I closed my laptop after staring at the chat for a couple of seconds, deciding that contacting him wasn’t really necessary since the item would arrive anyway – with or without me telling him. No conversation would mean no possible further confusion about Jung Daehyun.

‘’You haven’t spoken to me recently, weren’t you supposed to keep me updated?’’ I jumped because of the sudden sound of his low, yet bright voice which I recognized immediately.

The scene was awfully familiar; it reminded of the scene with Chaerin around one week ago. It was both at the locker section and both got me startled to the point I had to recover from it.

I turned around, my hand on my chest, breathing out before responding to him. ‘’God, you scared me.’’ He seemed amused at this since a wide grin started to grace his lips.

‘’I seem to have that effect on you, don’t I?’’ I know he referred to that one time at Jea’s when I was about to drop a glass because of him. I decided to ignore his statement.

I just playfully rolled my eyes before turning to my locker, lazily putting - or throwing rather - my books from the previous class in, before scanning for the books I needed for the Math class I had after lunch break. I tried to do it quickly in order to get away from here as soon as possible, to get away from Daehyun as soon as possible. But in the hurry - and messiness - I wasn’t able to find the things I needed.

‘’Are you alright?’’ He asked when he noticed me growing desperate from my unorganized locker. I really needed to learn to keep that thing clean and organized. He took a step closer which led him to stand next to me. He was so close that I could smell his cologne, which smelled really nice. I noticed him eyeing my locker with a confused look on his face. He scratched the back of his neck, probably wondering how one could get their locker so messed up. I didn’t disagree.

‘’Yea I just… need to find something,’’ I answered after a little long silence.

‘’What are you looking for?’’ He asked while eyeing the inside of my locker carefully.

‘’Math,’’ I answered absent-mindedly while shoving multiple books aside. I groaned in annoyance and Daehyun just watched me in amusement. It made me wonder why he was still standing here instead of heading to the cafeteria to have his lunch break. Did he want to talk or something? He wasn’t going to bring up the fight, right? I was always clueless when it came to him which reminded me that I was also still clueless about what Daehyun had said in that library. Chaerin hadn’t cared to explain herself further that day and I hadn’t persisted because I knew she wouldn’t budge anyway. I was way too soft.

He gently pushed me aside, his touch reminding me of my dream, before glancing at my locker and swiftly taking out the Math book I was looking for the entire time. I just gave him this dumbfounded look while he, on the contrary, couldn’t hide his growing smile. ‘’You were looking for this right?’’ He asked, his cheeky grin growing wider.

‘’Yea… how could you find it this quickly?’’

‘’I just have a good eye for things,’’ he shrugged.

‘’Oh really? Also… my notebook and calculator then,’’ I joked good-naturedly while pointing at my locker. Apparently he didn’t notice that I was joking since he searched my locker, looking for the things I had mentioned. He found my calculator quick enough and handed it to me before grabbing multiple notebooks and scanning the subjects. He handed me my Math notebook, shoved multiple things aside in order to create space, put the other notebooks back and finally slammed my locker shut. The whole thing didn’t take him more than a minute, whereas I know I would be searching for it for at least five minutes. He turned around to face me.

‘’You really need to clean up your locker.’’

‘’I know, I know,’’ I sighed while stuffing my notebook in my bag. He just eyed me when I did.

‘’What is it, Daehyun?’’ I asked after I got everything in my bag and was ready to head to the cafeteria. I started to walk, assuming that he would follow after me if he had to say something. And he did.

‘’How is the order going? Did it get cancelled or something?’’ He had asked it with a glint of disappointment in his eyes and I felt bad for not letting him know because, apparently, it had been important to do so.

‘’No, it got shipped some days ago,’’ I tried to answer casually. I got nervous because of his constant eyes on me however and started to fiddle with a strand of my hair before tucking it behind my ear.

He said nothing, just stared at me with slightly narrowed eyes. ‘’You said you would keep me up to date…’’

‘’I forgot about it.’’ Truth was I didn’t. I knew very well that it had been shipped and the way he narrowed his eyes at me made it seem like he had known it too. Only he couldn’t, so I focused my attention on my - oh so interesting - bag, avoiding the look he was giving me.

‘’How long does it take for it to come to your house?’’ He asked while still, sort of, escorting me to the cafeteria. We were walking nearby the entrance and I noticed how it became more crowded and how people were eyeing us. Or him, rather.

‘’Uh, I think within two weeks or something,’’ I answered absent-mindedly while looking around. I tried to find out if either Chaerin or Jea were already seated in our spot, but our spot was empty. I guess they weren’t in the cafeteria yet. ‘’I’ll let you know when it arrives,’’ I said in an attempt to end this conversation slash escorting thingy.

I was about to walk away, to our spot, when Daehyun’s slim - and nice looking - fingers clenched around my upper arm, holding a quite tight yet gentle grip. It reminded me of the time he had hold onto me during Seokjin’s party.

‘’There is nobody at your table. You can sit with us.’’ I couldn’t help but to think that he had been watching Mean Girls because of his emphasize on the word can. That would be quite funny since it was a chick-flick movie. Moreover, I wondered how Daehyun knew where my table was located. I know I wasn’t supposed to look much into it, but somehow I did. And I couldn’t help but to wonder if his table had been paying attention to mine. Then again, I knew of his table too so maybe there wasn’t much to this after all. He let go of my arm and looked at me, waiting for my answer.

‘’Well… Chaerin and Jea-‘’

‘’I guess the guys won’t mind if they sit with us too, especially one guy in particular,’’ he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. I guess that he was referring to the whole Bang Yongguk, Chaerin matter. Or BangRin as Chaerin herself liked to call it.

I was hesitant but nodded nonetheless. Partly because I didn’t like the attention that had averted to us because we were one of the few people standing in the center, partly because he was right and both Jea and Chaerin wouldn’t mind to sit with them, especially the latter.

So I just followed him to the table where he and his friends usually sat. I noticed how not all of them were there yet. Only two of them, the smiling guy who had introduced himself as Moon Jongup that time at Jea’s and the youngest looking who was called Zeko? Zelo? I didn’t know exactly. I vaguely remembered how I had seen his Facebook and picked up that he was called differently than he was originally named.

I just stood there and looked at Daehyun who nudged me to have a seat. So I awkwardly did. The next thing Daehyun did made it more awkward, because he was about to leave me alone with his two friends. ‘’I’m going to get some lunch, do you want something?’’ His question was definitely meant for me since he was watching me intently, awaiting my answer. I just shook my head, ‘’No I’m fine,’’ I responded. I didn’t want him to pay for me and I had brought some cut fruits along with me. He just shrugged and walked away, getting his lunch.

There fell an awkward, and in my eyes painful, silence and I mentally cursed Daehyun for putting me in this position, even though it did make perfect sense for him to get some food.

‘’Park Aerin was it, right?’’ Moon Jongup suddenly asked. I was surprised that he had remembered my name. It had been over a little two months ago, after all. But then again, I knew all of their names too. ’’Yes,’’ I answered. Jongup just smiled, while nodding. It looked like he felt proud for remembering.

‘’So are you hyung’s girlfriend or something?’’ This guy Zeko or Zelo - or whatever - asked bluntly. I was quite taken aback by his sudden question and therefore it took me awhile to answer, or open my mouth even.

‘’I thought Daehyun hyung was dating Yu-‘’ Zelo's soft remark was interrupted by a nudge from Jongup who was now nervously smiling. ‘’Don’t make her feel uncomfortable Zelo,’’ Jongup said in my defense. So he was called Zelo, I mentally noted to myself. Both of them were smiling awkwardly and I actually found the sight quite funny.

‘’That’s okay. And no, I’m not Daehyun’s girlfriend actually. I’m just a…’’ I didn’t know what to call myself. Friend? Acquaintance? Schoolmate? Someone who ordered things for him?

‘’Just a friend,’’ I answered finally. I didn’t really view Daehyun as a friend, but apparently he had viewed me as a friend so it was okay in this situation to say that we were friends right?

Both of them nodded awkwardly and I was wondering what was taking Daehyun so long. Even though he wasn’t really taking long since it has been… three minutes since he left?

‘’Zelo, Aerin is the girl who had that awesome Naruto shirt on that day at Himchan hyung’s place, remember?’’ He asked excitedly.

‘’Oh yea, I remember! Do you watch a lot of anime’s?’’ His question was a rather pleasant one, since I could talk eagerly and hours about the shows I liked. I suddenly felt myself relaxing around them. As if a switch had been turned, the awkward atmosphere vanished and Jongup and Zelo started to talk about the anime’s they liked and I had done the same, they even recommended me to watch certain things.

Our fun conversation was interrupted by Daehyun who was clearing his throat in order to gain our attention. I hadn’t even noticed him, that’s how engrossed I was. He sat down beside me, putting his tray in front of him.

‘’I really liked that shirt you wore back then Aerin, where did you buy it from? I want one of my own!’’ Jongup smiled a wide smile, it definitely seemed like he was already comfortable with me and the same applied to Zelo who nodded excitedly in agreement.

‘’Actually, I ord-‘’ I got surprised from a sudden gentle pinch in my thigh. Daehyun’s hand was resting on it and my heart skipped a weird beat when I realized that his hand was still resting there after a couple of seconds. He looked at me with a faint smile and I became very startled from this whole idea of his hand casually resting on my thigh like that.

It was only then that I realized that Daehyun meant for me to lie since Jongup wasn’t supposed to know where I bought that shirt. Daehyun had already bought one for him, after all. I felt so stupid for almost ruining the surprise.

‘’I got it from some relative who lives in Japan a couple of years ago, it was a… limited edition. A very rare item so I got very lucky,’’ I lied. Jongup looked a little disappointed but smiled nonetheless. He always seemed to do so. Daehyun patted my thigh, as if I was his pet who did well, before withdrawing his hand. The whole situation felt weird and awkward and I looked around in order to avoid looking at Daehyun. That’s when I noticed Soojin who was eyeing me very intently. She was looking rather sad and I instantly felt bad for sitting with Daehyun. I really was a softie.

‘’Are you transferring to another table and leaving us behind Aerin?’’ A sudden familiar voice teased. I averted my attention away from Soojin and looked at Chaerin. Both Jea and Chaerin were giving me this certain teasing look before they casually sat down, without even being invited to do so. It only made me realize how much of an awkward person I was compared to the both of them. Then again, Jea was pretty familiar with these guys.

‘’I would never,’’ I joked while searching in my bag, avoiding the embarrassing looks they were giving me. I found the cut fruits I had brought with me and laid the plastic container that contained them on the table.

‘’Woaw… you actually brought something healthy Aerin, I’m very much impressed with you,’’ Chaerin teased.

‘’Only because my mother had insisted.’’

‘’Of course,’’ Jea said.

‘’What’s that supposed to mean?’’ I asked with a raised brow.

‘’You guys want to know how Aerin spends all her free time? Well, she’s always lying in bed watching shows on her laptop with tons of unhealthy snacks, practically rotting away in bed,’’ Chaerin chuckled.

‘’And you can’t drag her with you to do something else if she does! She never wants to join us when we’re going out,’’ Jea butted in, also laughing. I got quite embarrassed from their description of my idea of free time. It was true yes, but those guys could view me as this antisocial girl and I wasn’t that bad. I did go out, once in a while…

‘’That sounds like something I would do to pass time,’’ Jongup laughed. The sympathy for this boy kept increasing and increasing. The same applied to Zelo who nodded in agreement – again.

‘’Well that is quite boring, I didn’t expect you to be this boring girl Park Aerin.’’

Jung Daehyun did it again. He managed to make an comment again. I sat in complete silence not knowing what to say. Jea laughed good-naturedly because of Daehyun’s - seemingly innocent but I knew better - joke and Chaerin looked quite conflicted. It has reminded me of the previous week, when she had started to say vague things. I guess that she knew that remarks like this would get to me, certainly remarks like this from Jung Daehyun. I casually threw a piece of fruit in my mouth, acting as if I didn’t care at all. Both Jongup and Zelo shook their heads in disapproval because of Daehyun’s comment, which made me feel slightly better. I’ve known them for a little fifteen minutes now but they already seemed like angels to me.

‘’New company?’’ I heard Youngjae ask. He had popped up from nowhere. He glanced at me for a couple of seconds before sitting down.

‘’Where were you?’’ Daehyun asked with a raised eyebrow before taking a bite from his food.

‘’In the library. Yongguk and Himchan hyung are in there too in case you guys were wondering. They’re revising for some test, so they won’t be coming this break.’’

I immediately turned to look at Chaerin. She looked quite neutral. Like she already knew of this, which wouldn’t surprise me. She stood up abruptly, swinging her bag over her shoulder.

‘’I’m going to see Yongguk,’’ she announced before walking away. I looked at her retreating figure with surprised eyes. Chaerin had always been straight-forward but it surprised me how she wasn’t even making excuses to see him. If it were me, I would tell that I would go the restroom or something. The guys didn’t seem surprised though, so I guessed they knew that there was something going on between ‘BangRin’.

The talks continued after Chaerin’s departure and I was glad that the table wasn’t awkward. I was casually continuing my conversation with Jongup and Zelo before a sudden hand on my shoulder startled me. There was something with people startling me lately. I looked up and met eyes with Seokjin. What would he want?

The whole table looked at him, neutral. Except Daehyun, who rolled his eyes slightly. I wondered what the matter was between the two of them since I recalled Daehyun acting like this during Seokjin’s party too.

‘’Yea?’’ I asked Seokjin who was practically towering over me.

‘’Aerin about our assignment, we-‘’

‘’You want to discuss this now? We only have… seven minutes of lunch break left,’’ I interrupted jokingly while eyeing my watch. The rest of the table had mind their own business again. All except Jung Daehyun, who was watching Seokjin.

‘’No, but it has been a week and we still haven’t decided on a movie.’’

He was right about that. I wanted to speak to him about that too, but I hadn’t found the time. He was always sprinting out of class whenever the bell would ring. ‘’You are right,’’ I agreed.

‘’So… I thought: why don’t you give me your number so we can contact each other in the evening and decide on this thing, maybe even make an appointment to watch the movie together?’’ His expressions was a weird mixture of a teasing smirk and a goofy laugh, which was weird. Since I felt like I was watching a mix of the two types of Seokjin’s I had known. I quickly glanced over to Daehyun and recalled how Seokjin had this tendency of acting cool when around certain people, Daehyun being one of those people.

‘’I… uh sure,’’ I responded with faint doubt. ‘’Or you can add me on KakaoTalk? My account is-‘’

‘’Yea but I can also add you with your number, so that’s like killing two birds with one stone.’’

I just shrugged. Whatever he wanted I guess. I motioned for him to give me his phone. He did and I quickly added my number before giving him his expensive - newest on the market - device back.

‘’Alright, I’ll call you later.’’ I looked at him leaving, my eyes slightly narrowed, before shaking my head in amusement when I noticed my phone lightning up because of an incoming call from an unknown member. He was rather quick with calling, I thought before declining the call and saving his number. Seokjin was such a weird guy sometimes. Though he had been right: we needed to get started with this assignment. It wasn’t anything like me to slack and I wanted a high mark for this.

I grabbed the plastic container with some of the fruits still uneaten, shoved it in my bag and stood up. Ready to go to the restroom before I would go to Math class.

‘’Where are you going?’’ Jea asked with raised brows.

‘’I’m going to the restroom and head to class after, I’ll see you guys around,’’ I excused myself before walking away while waving.

I got out my phone, scrolling through the feeds on Facebook, while walking towards the nearest restroom. I was very close to it, only ten meters away, when the sound of his voice halted me. How could he have caught up with me this quickly?

‘’Wait.’’

‘’What is it?’’ Why would he follow me, or what for rather? I swear this guy was just so complicated and confusing.

‘’I think you should give me your number. That way you can keep me updated for that shirt.’’ He said it casually, like this wasn’t a weird request. I frowned at him.

‘’We have Facebook chat for that Daehyun,’’ I said while trying to make my way towards the restroom. I was still a bit irritated with his remark and therefore I wanted to avoid him. He stopped me though, by grabbing my arm. Something he tended to do often. A couple of guys walked past us and he let go of my arm before greeting them with a faint nod and smile.

‘’You could also Facebook chat with Jin, yet you gave him your number,’’ he countered after the boys were out of sight, his cocky smirk appearing when he said those words.

‘’I… yea, but maybe I want to keep contact with him through a more personal medium.’’ I noticed that I was unknowingly challenging Daehyun. For what reason, I didn’t know.

‘’Personal medium, please,’’ he scoffed. I’ve never seen him scoff before and the sight made me frown.

‘’Are you jealous or something?’’ I asked while holding in my breath, awaiting his response. I shouldn’t have asked this, because I knew that his response could affect me – again.

‘’Yes Aerin, I’m very jealous.’’

I stood there dumbfounded. He was still smirking and it made me confused. He was so straight-forward that I couldn’t help but to think that he was lying. I rolled my eyes and tried to walk away from him. The bell would ring any minute now and I just wanted to use the restroom and go to class, in peace.

He blocked me again, before speaking up: ‘’Why are you rolling your eyes all the time? Are you mad at me or something?’’

Yes answered a part of me, while the other part was telling me a no. It wasn’t like myself to be mad at him. Everything had been a joke, right? I wasn’t supposed to be the one who would become mad that easily, that had been a trait of Soojin, not a trait of mine. But yet, I was still mad… a little.

‘’No Daehyun, I’m not mad. Why would I be mad?’’ I lied with a faint forced smile.

‘’Alright… but seriously, all jokes aside. Can you give me your number?’’

So he had been joking, I knew it. Why would Daehyun be jealous? I sighed a long breath, knowing that he wouldn’t let me go unless I obeyed him. He handed me his phone and I quickly added my number. I was about to give it back when it buzzed and a message from KakaoTalk popped up. It was from a girl I didn’t know, Kim Jinah, and she had sent a: Hi Dae <3 <3 <3

‘’Here, satisfied? And you have a message,’’ I said curtly before handing his phone back. He looked at me, confusion written all over his face, and I fake smiled before brushing past him and finally entering the ladies restroom. I swear, Jung Daehyun was so weird. I didn’t know what he possibly could want from me and that was frustrating me to no end. I wasn’t up for his mind games.

An unknown call came the same time I heard the bell ring. That bell meant that I had only five minutes left. I had Daehyun’s number now and quickly saved it before glancing over to the girls doing their make-up and gossiping in front of the big mirrors. I went into one of the toilet cubicles and sighed while thinking about Daehyun and his confusing actions. The thing I noticed, once my mind was clear from Daehyun again, were the writings that took over the whole wall. I actually studied them for a while out of boredom. I wondered who the hell took the time to write in here.

I swear Kim Jongin is sooooooo kinggggg hot, !

I’m getting bullied and I can’t take it anymore, somebody please help!! - J

Who are the hottest guys in our school?

There was a whole list underneath it, all with different handwritings.

I think Byun Baekhyun is a real cutie! But he is already taken by Taeyeon :‘(

I scanned the list until my eye fell upon a familiar name.

JUNG DAEHYUN THOSE LIPS OH MY GOD, I WANT THEM ON ME, EVERYWHERE!!

Followed by a remark from somebody else

He’s taken, DaeNa remember? *cries*

DaeNa?