The bad thing about me was that I liked to overthink and sweat over the smallest of stuffs. This clearly didn’t help me especially after what Krystal said to me the other day.

“Yah, Jung Haneul!” Sehun scolded me for the umpteenth time, bringing me back to earth.

“What is wrong with you? You’ve been awfully quiet these past few days.” He stated and searched for my eyes.

I couldn’t possibly tell him about Krystal, right? I mean, as far as I know, Krystal was an extended member of his special group of friends. And if I mentioned about Krystal, he would most likely have a sniff about Jongin. And that would be the last thing I wanted him to know–my feeling for Jongin, that is.

“Nothing. I’m just a little worked up for the exams.” I lied.

“Then, you should focus.” He ordered me as if he was my father or something.

Things between me and Sehun were pretty good. He was like the best guy friend I ever wanted. He could be so whiny at times but other than that he was very caring. I taught him English and, in return, he would help me in Math or Social Studies. Well, most of the times he had to ask his friends first (i.e. Yixing or Joonmyeon) before he could explain it to me but at least he tried.

— ✿ —

Sehun was heading for his lounge room and when he opened the door, he was greeted by his best friends–all 11 of them.

“Hey! Haven’t seen you in a while. Wanna join us?” Yixing asked as he did his Math papers together with Jongdae and Minseok.

“Haneul is waiting for me at the bench. I’m just taking my stuffs.” Sehun replied casually, not minding the curious (but a little unfriendly) stare from the guy at the corner.

“Yah! You’ve been spending too much time with that girl lately.” Chanyeol blurted out.

“Is there something that we need to know?” Baekhyun joined in and winked at Sehun.

“She’s a nice girl, and I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sehun chuckled and grabbed his stuffs.

“Catch y’all later!” Sehun exclaimed and bid his best friends goodbye.

Jongin sat there at the corner, processing every single thing he just heard. He didn’t look up when he heard his best friend walked in. He sort of knew that Sehun wouldn’t stay long in the lounge room, that Sehun would be spending time with Haneul–his Haneul.

Jongin didn’t know what he was feeling or why he was feeling that way. The only thing he knew was that Haneul and Sehun had been spending a lot of time together. Jongin initially thought that was good because that was how things were supposed to be. Haneul and Sehun, and him and Krystal. But why did he got all irked up and annoyed whenever he saw Sehun, his own best friend? Why was he feeling the need to go over to Haneul and mess with her feelings all over again just to make sure her eyes are only for him?

— ✿ —

“Hey, Kai!” Krystal greeted the guy and flashed him her prettiest smile.

Jongin just nodded in acknowledgement. His mood went downhill when the first thing he saw when he reached the canteen was Sehun and Haneul bickering as if they were having a lovers’ quarrel.

Krystal was a little shocked by the reaction she got but she was determined. Nobody had ever rejected her and Kim Jongin shouldn’t be an exception, she thought.

Krystal quickly plopped herself down next to Jongin while the guy’s best friends remained there as if nothing happened. You see, Krystal and the guys had history. That should explain why her existence was rarely acknowledged. But Krystal didn’t take it too personal, she had plenty of other friends to sit with anyway.

After a few other futile attempts to make Jongin look at her, Krystal finally decided to leave but an all-too-familiar pair stopped her midway.

— ✿ —

“I don’t know them, Sehun. You, go. I’ll be fine. Besides, I need to look for Joohyun, too.” I said desperately as I tried to free myself from Sehun’s grip which was dragging me towards the guys’ table.

“Joohyun is not even in school, Haneul. Stop finding excuses. Besides, you know Joonmyeon, Yixing, Minseok, Jongdae, Jongin, Tao and me. That’s practically half of everyone. You shouldn’t be scared. They don’t bite. Trust me.” Sehun lectured me while keeping his firm grip on my arm.

Oh my goodness. No, no, no. I’m not ready to face his friends. I’m not ready to face Jongin.

And, wait, what is Krystal doing there?

Sehun suddenly pushed me down; resulting in my rough landing on the chair next to a very tall guy whom I believed was called Chanyeol. Sehun casually sat next to me and started to unwrap his burger.

“Hey, guys. This is Haneul. I hope you don’t mind her sitting here because everywhere else is kinda occupied.” Sehun said in between his big bites on his burger.

This guy is impossible, I thought.

I did not dare to look so I just gave them a small bow. Oh, gosh, take me out of here, please.

“Nice to finally meeting you, Haneul. I’m Baekhyun.” A very chirpy guy next to Chanyeol greeted me. He even offered me his hand for a formal handshake.

“Nice to meet you, too.” I timidly shook his hand and flashed him a small but grateful smile.

“Yes, we’ve heard a lot about you. Our Sehun here doesn’t go out very often. Thanks for helping him with his social skills. I’m Chanyeol, by the way.” The tall guy next to me winked and grinned at me.

I nodded at him and blushed a little.

“Oh, shut up. My social skills are better than yours!” Sehun complained and smacked his friend’s head.

Everybody roared in laughter.

Well, thanks to Chanyeol and Baekhyun excessive talks, I didn’t feel all that nervous anymore. They were so funny that my stomach ached. Like seriously. I even almost forgot about Jongin (and Krystal, who was still sitting next to him).

“I’ll be going first.” Jongin announced and stood up, taking his tray with him.

That would be the first time I heard his voice ever since I arrived at the table. He didn’t even spare me a glance to acknowledge my presence–not that I paid attention to him, actually. He was too quiet that I almost forgot that he was there.

“But you’re not done eating.” Krystal enquired as she grabbed him by his arm, attempting to stop him from leaving the table–or her, for that matter.

“I lost my appetite.” He said and left.

Although he was saying it to everyone, I had a feeling that he was saying it to me.

Now, I felt bad. Not the guilty kind of bad, but the bad kind of bad. And I didn’t know why but as I stared at his back, the butterflies in my stomach returned. I hated moments like this, because it only made me realise that I actually have a feeling for him. And to make matter worse, I think I missed him. Yes, I missed Jongin.

Wait, wait, wait. Did Haneul actually say that she missed Jongin?

Are things starting to heat up? Uh oh.