CHAPTER 13
♚ when you stop chasing the wrong things... ♚
▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Scrambled or sunny-side up?

I looked down at the egg I had removed from the refrigerator, contemplating over it. I had cereal yesterday, so the monotony of eating the same food twice in a row was inapplicable. I had yet to master the way of the sunny-side up to get it just right, so perhaps I should finally learn that? But it has been a while since I made scrambled eggs, I could have gotten rusty or something-

“Noona, you’re staring at the eggs again,” Dongjin said with a laugh. “It’s been a while since you did that…”

“Just reminiscing,” I said, reminiscing.

“You’re going to be late like before if you keep that up!”

... Right. That was why I had stopped making eggs during a school morning.

I arrived at the classroom right as the bell rung. I took my seat by Yooyoung and fixed my uniform and hair again. They had gotten slightly out of place from my run here.

“You should’ve been late – just to spite him,” Yooyoung told me while our homeroom teacher prattled on about something.

“… What are you talking about?”

I saw her surprise and could tell that she was about to explain her words, but then she stopped when realization set in… She smiled at me. “You’re pretty mean… You really won’t talk about him at all?”

I glanced at her with a raised brow.

She shook her head. “… I don’t like this. When is he going to win you back? The quicker, the better.”

My eyes shifted into a glare when she said that. “What?”

Yooyoung’s smile widened at my reaction. “I think he’s as stubborn as you. Want to make a bet? By lunch period, he’d have approached you and tried to get into your good graces again?”

“He won’t-…” I trailed off.

… He would. He had allowed me get by yesterday, but there was no way he’d let me go today.

“I’ll leave early.”

“Coward~!” Yooyoung mocked with an amused grin.

“Can’t be brave all the time.”

“I’m sor-“

“I get it! I know you’re sorry! You’re apologizing because you made a mistake – this entire thing is just one mistake – I know,” I said in exasperation.

Ren had followed me once lunch break began. He was behind me in the cafeteria line. He had taken my friends’ place at our usual table – the two nowhere to be seen. He was still following me after leaving the cafeteria.

And throughout it all he was constantly apologizing.

I opened the door to the girls’ bathroom and glared at him. “Will you follow me even if I go in here?”

“Some people mistake me for a girl,” he said with a small smile.

“Not when you’re in a guy’s uniform,” I said, slamming the door in his face.

I leaned on it and let out a deep breath, glad that I could no longer hear his voice-

“Then why haven’t you forgive me?” he said from the door.

I ignored him and went towards the sink, taking my small case that had my toothbrush and toothpaste. The three girls present stared at me. Before I could get to cleaning my teeth, one of them finally spoke up, “… You’ve been quite popular lately,” she said, unamused.

I stared at her from the mirror, waiting for her to continue. She was in the other section, but of the same year as me.

“You’ve been hanging around Ren a bit too much, wouldn’t you say?” Her irritation was clear in her tone. “He even sat with you alone during lunch.”

I raised an eyebrow at her, trying my best to control my laugh.

Why, of all the times when his group of fan girls harass me, it’s when I try to stay away from him? “You only notice now?” I asked, not hiding my snort. “I’m willing to bet I’m more close to him than you lot.”

This time, all of them were glaring me. Bad choice of words, I guess. “We noticed before, we’re not blind… but it was always you that chased after him. Not like he’d ever like you – so who cares, right?” She took a step towards me, her face only inches away from my own. “So what did you do?”

“… I’m just being me.”

My problem student behavior was what caused our relationship in the first place. It was the cause for the current rift in it too… I’m never going delinquent again.

“So you must think you’re so special that he chases after you?!” she exclaimed.

“She has every right to think that way, because she is!” we heard someone yell from outside.

I groaned and glared at the closed door. “You haven’t left?!”

The door opened and Ren came in as if it was perfectly normal. “You’re taking too long. I’ve come to fetch you.”

“I-You-!... This is the girls’ bathroom! What’s a member of the student council doing breaking the rules of mankind?!”

“I can always change the rules.”

“And make bathrooms co-ed?!”

He grabbed onto my arm and smiled at the three shocked girls. “Sorry, but I’ll be taking her now.”

I swiped my hand away from his grasp. “I still haven’t brushed my teeth-“

“Do it in the boys’ bathroom.”

“Just because you’re shameless, doesn’t mean I am!”

Ren sighed, as if I was a little kid throwing a tantrum. Which I’m not. He turned to the three girls and smiled sweetly at them. “… Leave.”

The temperature of the room seemed to have suddenly dropped.

They quickly obeyed and left us. Ren followed them to the door, then locked it once they were outside. He turned to me. “Hurry up. I don’t want to be in here any longer than need be.”

“You can leave whenever you want!” I bit out before finally taking hold of my toothbrush.

As I was gurgling, he suddenly spoke up. “… Does that happen often?”

“What?”

“Fan girls harassing you… I didn’t think they actually did that… you even got into a fight with one before-“

“This is only the second time,” I said, putting away my stuff. “They don’t mind me chasing after you – they do it a lot too. And I have a lot of valid excuses to spend time with you – detention, student council slavery…” I went towards him. “But don’t worry. It won’t happen again… if you stop following me-“

“I’m sor-“

“I know! How many times-?”

“Then why aren’t you saying I’m forgiven?”

I stood there, staring at him for a moment. “Are you a forgiving person?”

Ren nodded.

“Then forgive me for not being able to forgive you. Because right now…” I gestured to the empty bathroom. “I’d much rather be speaking with those three than be alone with you. I can’t forgive you if I still feel that way. Now stop blocking the door.”

“What do I have to do to get you to forgive me?”

“… Get out of the girls’ bathroom.”

“He knows where I live, damn it,” I muttered too Yooyoung as our teacher was passing out our assignments. It was the last period of the day, five minutes till the bell rang. Ren was going to harass me again, I just know it. “He knows what path I take home… He’ll probably even start following me once I get to the classroom door!”

“You can go out through the window,” she wisely said.

I glanced out the window.

“I’m kidding. Don’t. We’re on the second floor.”

I groaned and buried my head in my hands. “Why can’t he leave me alone?”

“Ah, Yooyoung. Mr. Gung said you had something to give to him before school ends?” the teacher said as he handed us our papers.

Yooyoung’s eyes widened. “Oh, right!” She stood up and faced me. “Don’t jump,” she said before leaving.

“I won’t.” The teacher frowned at me, but passed by anyway.

On cue, the bell rang and our teacher dismissed us. I had already had my bag packed and made a beeline for the exit, bumping into someone at the door. “Move-… Damn it!”

Ren was the person I had bumped into. Of course. He took hold of my wrist. “I’ll walk you home.”

“No,” I swiped my hand away and glared at him. “I can get home on my own.”

“I’ll come with you anyway-“

“If you’re not going to take my very obvious hint, let me tell it straight to your face – leave me alone!” I exclaimed angrily.

The whole class had turned silent.

I cursed inwardly, realizing that we were still in the classroom. This wasn’t my territory – it was his.

“Hey, Park… ease up a little, will you? Be glad Ren’s even offering.”

“Very few people can handle you. Take what you can get.”

“So mean… He’s just being nice to you.”

“Seems her good girl act lately was just a ruse…”

Ren’s eyes widened and he quickly shook his head, trying to calm our classmates down. “No, it’s not like that-!”

I turned my back to him to face my classmates. “What’s this?” I asked, smirking and crossing my arms. “I don’t remember speaking to any of you to make it appear like I want your approval on my personality. Badmouth me all you want – your opinions are insignificant.”

 I received several glares and hushed whispers at my words.

… This reminded me of my middle school and elementary years… back when I had no friends.

Knowing I’d be ignored tomorrow – like before ­– I my heel, but stopped midway when I saw that Ren was still blocking the door. “Out of-Hey!”

Ren pulled me by the shoulder to face the class again. He then placed a hand on my head and forced me to bow. He followed suite. “We apologize for that! Jinah didn’t mean what she said! She’s just really, really shy! Tough girl act, eh?” he said, turning to me with a grin.

I glared at him. “What are you talking about?”

He just laughed and turned to the class again. I looked up at them too, eyes widening when I noticed that they were no longer tense or glaring at me…

… They looked amused, like we were just a bunch of class clowns.

“Underneath that smug girl act, she’s actually really nice and sensitive-“

“What stranger are you describing?!”

This time, a few members of the class laughed.

“After a while, you realize that her rude remarks are really just terms of endearment!... I’m perfectly fine with the abuse!” he added, laughing.

This time, more members of the class laughed alongside him.

“Damn, secretary! Never knew you were a masochist!”

“Yooyoung always does make fun of her though, huh?”

“… I do quite like how you piss of the teachers almost daily.”

“If Ren likes her, she probably isn’t that bad!”

My eyes widened and I glanced at Ren. He was too busy smiling at the class.

… This guy…! I removed his hand from atop my head and quickly left the room without saying a word. As I was walking down the hallway filled with other students going home, I could hear him call my name. “Jinah! Wait up!”

Thankful for the crowded corridors, I ignored him and quickened my pace, not caring how I rude I was by pushing other students to get to the exit. I made it successfully and practically ran towards the gates. I heard his voice fade.

I was out of the gates, panting at my quick pace. I looked behind and didn’t see him. Relieved, I turned to the direction of my house-

“What the-?!”

“… I got here before you,” Ren announced.

I went pass him and began my walk home. He fell in step with me. “Stop following me.”

“I won’t.”

I quickened my pace, he easily caught up. I glanced at him briefly, scowling. “You heard what I said to our classmates, didn’t you? And I saw what you did!”

He nodded. “Yes, and…? There’s nothing wrong with me helping a friend out.”

“People like you don’t make friends with people like me!”

Ren took hold of my arm to keep me from walking. “Don’t say that,” he said, voice stern.

“The way the class reacted to my words – that was perfectly normal! It’s something that always happened to me before. The words you said… those belong to the nice and perfect people in class – complete opposites of who I am! Yooyoung is my friend, because she’s as rude and blunt as I am. Jason is my friend because my words don’t even process as insults in his mind.”

I pulled my hand away from his grasp… I’ve done that a lot lately. Funny how I used to be on cloud nine whenever he held my hand.

“But you… I don’t know why you stick with me. You aren’t like me… and you can’t put up with my behavior either. I can’t come up with any plausible reason as to why you want to be my friend!... other than the fact that you were forced…”

I gave him a perfect, fake smile.

“Which is why I want us to go back to how we were before – the way things should be.”

Ren looked down, a clear expression of hurt on his face. I winced and looked away, not wanting to see it. Muttering a good bye in dismissal, I quickly went pass him and began my walk home again.

He wasn’t going after me.

Good.

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀

END CHAP-

“Your name’s Park Jinah, right?”

I stopped in my tracks, my back to him.

“You always write something in that notebook of yours, you must really pay attention in class. You always style your hair into a ponytail or braid – a bit fashion conscious. You usually bring lunch boxes with you, but on some days you don’t, I suppose those are days when your mom isn’t around. Your textbooks are neat and look brand new, which means you obviously don’t use them much.”

I turned to him with a frown. “What…? No. Other than my name, you got nothing right.”

Ren smiled at me. “Then I’ll be sure to get something right on you tomorrow! Just you wait!” he said, walking backwards, waving at me in dismissal.

This… this was how we acted during the first days we met – but the other way around.

“What are you-?”

“See you tomorrow, Jinah!” he merely said, going in the opposite direction.

I stood there, unsure of what to make of his words… What is he planning?

When I realized my thoughts, I sighed and shook my head.

Just like always... He never fails to surprise me.

Despite how he had said about me being correct on him before, I could never really read what’s going on in his mind even up till now.

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀

END CHAPTER 13
♚ ... you give the right things a chance to catch you ♚

▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀

PREVIEW

Chapter 14

“The things you do for a girl, huh?” 

“So, since tomorrow’s Saturday… I’ll pick you up tomorrow at nine?” 

“I said I didn’t want to be your friend, remember?”
“Then let’s be more than friends.”

A/N: Role reversal time~! Hope you liked it. Much love to anyone who wants to comment and subsribe (: