Chapter 4

“I said; do you wanna have lunch with me?” Han repeats and I can only stare at him blankly.

“Yes, I heard what you said, but now I’m asking why? Why do you want to have lunch with me all of a sudden?” The defensiveness that plays in my tone of voice can only be described as my way of protecting myself from scavengers who prey on the innocent and the gullible, an I’m neither so I won’t simply accept an offer without some form of reasonable explanation for the impulsive offer.

“Can’t I just ask a pretty girl out for lunch without?” he simply replies and I rebuff at the statement. I’m not in the slightest bit interested in getting myself involved in any teenage love affairs

“I’m not interested. But thanks.” I say and abruptly turn to leave- having heard the teacher yell at us to “get going already” as the second bell went off a minute back- only to realize as I’m making my way to the schools tuck-shop near the cafeteria, that I’m being followed by Han, however oblivious and innocent he may be acting as he plays with the strap of his bag and walks with his attention diverted to the side like he doesn’t know I’m right in front of him.

I opt to ignore him and pick out my lunch for the day then join the line to go pay for it, glad to see- with a furtive glance back- that he’s gone off in another direction and had now joined his friends on the far end of the cafeteria.

I pay for my food and I’m about to leave the crowded scene to go to a more peaceful location outside on the school grounds, when I feel skinny arms slink their way around my arm to form a link as they meet around mine, and a soft head of hair lands on my shoulder.

“Rin,” I say in acknowledgement and she looks up at me from her position on my shoulder and gives me a kind but tired smile.

“I need some sleep.” She states and pulls me in closer to her, causing me to nearly spill my cola- how I wish they sold Iron Brew here- all over our shoes.

“Hey to you too... I was heading out to the field; do you want to join me?” I ask as I regain my balance from the jolt that her body caused when colliding into mine.

She nods without lifting her head off of my shoulder for even a second and I think she’s acting quite cute today. A tired Rin makes a whiney Rin- which also happens to be a cute Rin, from what I’ve experienced over the past months of being her friend.

Adjusting my bag to that we can walk properly in our current position, I wait for her to give me the go ahead before steadily making my way past all the classrooms and to the very back of the school where all the sports fields are located.

This has been my lunch pot on several occasions since I discovered it while wondering and I quite like being able to eat while I look across the great expanse of green grass that forms most of what little bit of nature we have in our concrete school.

Once we find a nice shady area under a tree, I untangle Ludiarin from me and place my bag down on the grassy ground. She does the same and we plunk ourselves down and begin to take out our food. I, without a doubt, bought a bunch of junk food from the tuck-shop and like always, Rin brought something healthy- though I can’t quite tell what it is because I still haven’t quite acquainted myself with Korean food- that would be surrendering completely to my parents desires and I’m not about to do that, even if it only food.

“Want some?” she asks me as he lifts her chopsticks full of noodles and points them in my direction. I graciously shake my head and deny her offer before stuffing my round face with potato chips. We eat in silence for a while before she feels she has to say something.”

“I saw Luhan staring at you today when I came into the cafeteria. Is there something going on between you two?” she asks I her usual uninterested tone and I watch her slurp down what remains of her food before I answer.

“I don’t know… Not on my part, no, but he seems to have taken a sudden interest in me.” And I don’t like it. This I don’t say out loud because I don’t know what she thinks of him and I’d hate for her to get any wrong impressions.

“I don’t like it.” She says as though reading my mind. Sometimes I feel like she and I have a lot more in common than we care to find out. “Don’t get involved with that guy. I can tell he’s gonna give you hectics.” Hectics, a word she uses to describe anything she associates with trouble and the feelings that come with it.

I can’t help but internally laugh whenever she uses that phrase while talking to me. She uses it with everyone and I think it’s just something that everyone else has had time to grow accustomed to but I, on the other hand, still find it funny. To this day I still don’t know why she replaces the word “trouble with the word “hectic” in its noun form. It’s weird and one day I fully intend on finding out why she does that. But that day clearly isn’t today because she stands from her place to my left and slings he bag over one shoulder, bending down to grab a stick of red licorice that I bought earlier.

“Hey, that’s mine!” I protest as she sticks it in and on the sugary coating glittered around the swirly sweet.

“I know, but you’re stingy so I don’t bother asking anymore.” She says and walks away from me, giving me a sly wink in place of a wave as she walks away.

“I’m not stingy…” I grudgingly mumble to myself as I look between my half-finished can of coke and a brownie that I saved for last from my stack of junk food.

“And that was my only one!” I want to shout in the direction that Ludiarin disappeared in but instead of a shout, my voice just barely falls short of a stuttered whisper when I see Han making his way I my direction looking devilishly like he’s up to something. I don’t bother making a move to get away but instead plant my arse deeper into the grass and look in the opposite direction to where the fields are.

“What do you want now?” I ask as I feel his shadow begin to loom over me with every step he takes towards me. I’m understandably baffles to hear his next words as he walks right past me like I just barely exist, not knowing quite what to think of his attitude as I watch him sit at the top of a red stand on the sunny field where the spectators usually sit during sports events of a lesser caliber at the school.

I suddenly feel flushed as I look at him lazing about in the sun as if he owns the world- his words as he walked past me not so long ago hitting my fluffy hair and penetrating through my thick skull and into my mushy brain like the sunrays burning my skin and causing my head to ache.

“Who says I’m here for you?” he had said in an ever-so –cocky tone…

But why do I care anyway?

He means nothing to me.

***