AN: I realised that my timeline for the story was a bit off, so I changed the first to chapters (minor), so that the day before was the friday before, because there are 5 days in a week, and so day 6 and day 7 was the weekend. That means that it was 12 days including the weekend before school term ends in the story. So, if there are any more errors with the timeline, just tell me and I'll fix it up. Thanks!

♥ Days Six + Seven ♥

(The Weekend)

Weekends were meant to be the salvation of every week, with restorative powers that allow people to get reenergized to face another week after that, but this particular weekend in Jaerim’s life was being spent reflecting on how his week ended up so horribly wrong. Within the span of a week, the girl he had liked for a year had spoken to him, said girl almost dated a jerk of a sunbae from the upper grade, he had given the girl of interest a bracelet (which he now has back on his desk because she dropped it in one of their conversations), almost confessed twice, beat up the jerk who tried to date her and ended up suspended from school. So yeah…Jaerim had gone through one hell of a week.

Jaerim threw the stress ball up at the ceiling as he lay down on his bed pondering over these thoughts, only to have the ball hit him square on the nose and roll over his eye, as if the universe was sending him a direct message that he managed to screw some things up quite a bit. Jaerim wasn’t sorry, though. That Jaemyung guy deserved it, but getting suspended from school isn’t one of his proudest moments. To his surprise though, when he had confessed what happened to his parents, his mother just gave him a warning that “violence never solved anything” and his father gave his shoulder a firm squeeze and a good pat on the back when his mother was gone, smiling. So, Jaerim wasn’t in trouble at home, but he never got the chance to talk to Soeun after the incident happened, and he didn’t know what was waiting for him back at school on Monday.

Jaerim thought back to the day before. He tried to pinpoint the moment when he looked at Soeun, when he looked at her before he had to go to the Principal’s office. He tried to decipher the look she gave him, but he couldn’t figure it out. Jaerim replays the whole scene over and over and over again.

The silence was deafening and time stopped. Jaerim was frozen and all he could think – all he could see was Soeun standing there, exasperated and feeling hurt. She composed herself and stood up a little bit straighter, and then crouched down to match Jaemyung’s level on the ground. He held himself up with his right hand while the other hand was alternating between trying to cover his bloody nose and rubbing the part where Jaerim had punched him. She looked into his eyes and proceeded with conviction.

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no. I don’t even like you. So, no, I will not and definitely never be your girlfriend.”

Soeun made her point clear by slapping the guy, matching the exact same place that Jaerim had punched inflicting greater pain on Jaemyung and making sure that it stung so much it would bring tears to his eyes.

She got up and her heels, grabbing a very stunned Jaerim by the arm and moving past the corner into a different part of the hallway. Soeun’s hand slid down his arm, and her fingers traced over his knuckles and fingers, evidence of the punch in the form of blood and the purple and blue of a bruise starting to form.

“Are you okay?”

There was so much concern in his eyes that it made her smile inside.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that? You’re the one with blood on your hands…”

She looked at him. And he looked at her right back. His eyes were shining with sincerity.

“If it’s you, it’s worth it.”

It was quiet. She didn’t know if she should ask him further about what he meant or if she should just brush it off. In the three seconds of awkward silence, Soeun opted for the latter and changed the topic, but not entirely. She was curious but she didn’t want to make it too obvious.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you punch him? Why did you give me a bracelet, which, I’m sorry, I lost…”

Jaerim opened his mouth to answer, but footstep rounded the corner and he wasn’t able to.

“Song Jaerim-ssi, please follow me to the principal’s office immediately.”

Jaerim gave Soeun doe eyes, trying to convey to her exactly how he felt, the answers to her questions, before complying and silently following the teacher. He was already past the corner, as her eyes trailed behind him. Jaerim didn’t manage to catch the way Soeun looked at him, eyes full of regret.

He was made to sit in a chair, directly in front of the principal. The principal leaned forward to examine him closely. Jaerim was handed an ice pack and a roll of bandage.

“Song Jaerim-ssi, do you know why you are here?”

He nodded curtly. “Yes, Sir.”

“It is against school rules to engage in any physical fights or confrontations.”

“Yes, Sir, I understand, but I have a very good reason why –“

“Yes, you may have a good reason, but your actions are still unacceptable. It is now procedure to follow the policy regarding these kind of incidents.”

“Sir, did you call my parents?”

He wasn’t asking because he was afraid of the consequences, he just wanted to know so he could prepare for their disappointed faces when they walked in to find their son in the middle of a school fight even before classes commenced.

“Yes, and your parents will be here shortly. I would like to inform you that as part of the disciplinary procedures, you will be suspended from school for the duration of today and next Monday, to reflect on your actions. You will then be required to attend school on Tuesday, but report to me at 8 o’clock exactly, or you will be written down for failure to follow procedure. Jaerim, you will also have to write a formal apology to Go Jaemyun as well as his parents, which I expect to have been written when you arrive on Monday.”

“What happens to Jaemyung? I was just helping Soeun. I know I was in the wrong for punching him, but Jaemyung is the one with a poor character.”

“We will speak to Go Jaemyung as well. Now, I want to know the reasons for you punching your sunbae and why you believe he is of poor character?”

Jaerim explained to him what Jaemyung had done, or was planning to do, and the principal nodded a few times throughout his story, and promising to give Jaemyung a disciplinary warning. However, since Jaemyung did not engage in the fight or retaliate, he will not be suspended. The situation was explained to Jaerim’s parents when they arrived and then they took Jaerim home.

Jaerim grabs the stress ball and throws it up one last time, sitting up and moving off the bed before it fell back down. He sighs and grabs the bracelet from his desk, the charms catching light in the room. He plans to go downstairs to help his mother clean the kitchen but his phone beeps indicating a new message.

Jaerim, is this you? I hope you don’t mind that I got your number. It’s Soeun, by the way. Ummm…I’m sorry that you got suspended because of me. I’ll talk to you when you get back on Tuesday.