Before anybody knew it, it was already Saturday. That means tomorrow the orientation period will be held. Junhee was busy preparing for the upcoming event, and she glad that Ahyoung helped her.

“Bring some jackets,” Ahyoung commanded. “I will bring one jacket, exactly.” Junhee walked to her wardrobe and took a jacket then showed it to her. “It’s thick enough.” Ahyoung clicked her tongue, “I said to you, one jacket won’t make your body warm enough.”

Junhee rolled her eyes, “Yes, Ma’am.” Rolling to her side, Ahyoung asked again. “Did you buy some drinks?”

“Yes, I did.” Junhee replied nonchalantly.

“How about bobble hat?”

“I bought it yesterday.”

“Shocks?”

“I had put it into my backpack.”

“Underwear?”

“Yah!”

Ahyoung laughed, “Just kidding.”

“You sounds like my mom, you know.” She zipped up her backpack and sat on the floor while leaning her back against the wall. “I miss her already.”

“Have you told her that you will go to mountain tomorrow?”

She nodded, “I have told her.” Junhee turned around and faced her bestfriend, “I don’t think I will do well, you know.”

Ahyoung raised an eyebrow, “Because...?”

“My partner is Jungkook. That’s serious problem.” She sighed, “I should not asked him to be my partner,”

“Why? That’s good!”

She shook her head firmly, “No, it will be tough for me. Especially when game couples.”

“Nah, it will be fun. Force him to do things like that,” Ahyoung giggled.

“That’s not as easy as you said!” she protested.

“Up to you, girl. You just nervous, that’s why.” Junhee crossed her arms and pretended to not listen. Shooking her head, Ahyoung stood up. “Then take a rest now, good bye, bae.”

When Ahyoung closed the door, Junhee rolled to side and covered her body with her blanket.

So for the next two days she will spend most of her tim with Jungkook.

And she touched her chest to check if-

Oh My God.

***

The next morning.

Actually she had been ready since ten minutes ago, but heck she couldn’t subside this weird feelings.

Is it nervous?

The atmosphere was soured when the door suddenly opened, made her turned in horror.

“Yah, what’s wrong with that face?” Hoseok laughed as he opened the door wider and let himself walked in.

She sighed, she thought it was Jungkook. “You scared me.”

Hoseok looked around and frowned, “I think it’s time to go. Why you still here then?”

Go downstairs and meet Jungkook?

“I will come after this,” she said with cheesy smile.

“Then I will bring your backpack-“

“No no, I can bring it by myself,” She blocked his way when he tried to take her backpack, but his hand long enough to reach it. He grinned in victory when he got her backpack and slung it on his shoulder. “See?”

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes.

“Go down quickly, Mr.Han is waiting too.” He reminded and then left after said his words.

It was her turn to let out a big sigh. How can it was so difficult to deal with?

It just a simple hiking with your partner to test your cohesiveness. Stop overthinking. She told herself.

But it wasn’t as easy as it said.

***

She reached the first floor and noticed that everyone waited for her. Putting a clumsy smile over her face, she walked over to the Han’s car and greeted them.

“H- hi.”

They turned around, and Ahyoung reacted first. “Hey! What made you so long?”

“Sorry, I got some problems.” From the corner of her eyes, she could see Jungkook wasn’t paying attention. He was putting his backpack into the trunk and hers too.

She gulped. She had to thank him.

She was about to approach him- but Hoseok suddenly call her.

“Junhee!” He walked towards her. He stopped and took out something from his pocket and handed it to her. “For you.”

It was a pair of gloves. She gasped, “Oh my God. I almost forget about it.”

“Just bring it with you,” he said.

“Thank you, sunbae.” She grinned.

“Go. Jungkook is waiting for you,” he pointed the car and she followed his direction. Yeah, seemed like he is waiting. She turned to him and waved, “I will go then.”

“Take care!”

***

They made it right before the group was about to leave.

“Whoops,” Junhee’s eyes widened as she realized it.

“Have a nice trip, kids!” Mr.Han waved.

“Thank you for the ride, Uncle.” Junhee smiled and then jogged, leaving Jungkook behind.

“Thank you, Uncle.” Jungkook ducked his head, and when he was about to leave, Mr.Han called him.

“Yes, Uncle?”

He gave him a warm smile as he said, “Take care, you two. And please keep an eye on her, Jungkook.” Jungkook replied with a nod and a small smile. Mr.Han the engine and then go.

Jungkook walked towards the bus and asked the teacher, “Is it our bus?”

The teacher sighed, “Yes, it is. Just thank God we didn’t leave you behind, kid. Go in, fast!”

Once he was inside, he noticed that the seats had full. Sighing, he continued walking and checked every seats just in case he would find an empty seat. He stopped on 8th rows when he saw no one there. Finally.

“That’s my seat,” out of nowhere, Junhee appeared. She pointed the left seat, “That’s mine. You could sit here,” then she pointed the right seat.

He let her to sit first and he sit afterwards. He placed his backpack under his seat and then put his earphone. Simple as that.

While in the other hand, someone was trying so hard to calm herself down. She felt it was so unfair that she was the only one who felt this way. Since they were in Mr.Han’s car, she was the only one who kept silence while he was chatting with Mr.Han. She was the only one who felt heat rushed up on her cheeks whenever he caught her watching from the rear view. And she was the only one who couldn’t sleep on this five hours trip because he was right beside her.

Darn it.

***

The one who seems so happy when the bus arrived was no other than Junhee. She walked carefully when she passed the sleeping Jungkook, so she won’t wake him up. She tiptoed to take out her backpack but she had hard time because everybody walked behind her and made her balance unstable.

She stepped aside and waited until they all got off from the bus. She tiptoed and tried once again but failed. She was on her 4th try when suddenly someone’s hand grabbed her backpack and bring it down.

She turned to side and gaped. Instinctively, she stepped aside. “T... thank you.”

That someone didn’t reply. He took his backpack and slung it onto his shoulder as he turned to her while raising his eyebrow, “Are you not leaving?”

“Y... yeah.” Junhee watched him got off first as she followed along. Now that she was thinking about it, she didn’t realize when Jungkook woke up. Suddenly he helped her to take out her backpack.

There was someone who distributing papers when they reached the gate. “That’s the rundown,” she said. From the rundown, they could know the details of their activity for two days.

“Five hours?!” Junhee couldn’t help but surprised when she found out that they have to walk about four hours to reach the basecamp.

“That’s why this club is named hiking club,” someone else commented.

Now she was regretting her decision to choose this club. She didn’t had such experience before, that’s why she wanted to try it this time. If only she didn’t attracted by their promotion...

“It’s not for human,” she murmured. She looked at Jungkook, who seems opposite with her reaction. Calm and relax.

“Everyone, attention please!” the commander said through the megaphone. “Please find your partner and we will go to the basecamp now. Make sure you guys always together, okay? If someone is missing, it will be your partner’s responsibility! Understand?”

“Yes!”

One pair went first, followed by the rest. Junhee watched them and her regret grew bigger when she noticed the declivity of ascent in front of them was about 45º.

She gawked.

 “Let’s go,” Jungkook’s voice bring her to reality. He walked ahead and she followed him lazily.

If only she could run away from this place...

***

They arrived at basecamp when the sun was about to set. Jungkook-Junhee was the last pair that arrived, which caused by Junhee –absolutely. She took her last step while panting, and her sweat were flowing swiftly. “Fi..nally..”

She wondered, how could the boy in front of her could act so relax and he didn’t seemed exhausted at all. If she recalled it, he didn’t even join any sports club in Junior High School.

“There you two!” Their friends turned with their ‘oh-finally’ expression as they saw the two walked nearer. Junhee could only showed her apologetic smile and then sat among them.

After making sure everyone had arrived, their seniors command them to prepare for dinner. The boys set the tent and the girls cooked.

Junhee placed her backpack down. She took off her jacket, changed her shoes and wore her sandals. It was when suddenly, someone approached her.

“Hey, Nam Junhee!”

She looked up to see a pretty girl standing in front of her. Her eyes brightened, “Jay!”

The girl grinned and hugged her friend tightly, “It’s been a long time, kiddo.”

Junhee chuckled, hugging her back. “That’s right. I didn’t know if you had came back from Canada.”

“Yeah, I have to come back quickly.” Jay released their hug and shrugged, “I couldn’t stay there too long. I have to study, anyway.”

“Did you bring something for me?” Junhee smirked.

“Yes, I did, Miss,” Jay rolled her eyes. “Let’s cook first and I will show you later. They wait for us.”

They approached the others, who was busy cooking for dinner. One of their seniors saw their arrival and gave them a task to collect the plates and glasses.

“Why you were here?” Junhee asked while walking around to collect.

“Myungsoo invited me to come. He was a senior here, for your information.”

“Oh...”

They had been collecting the girls’ plates and glasses, so now was the boys’ turn. Junhee turned to Jay, “Hey, I didn’t want to go to boys’ region.”

Jay raised her eyebrow, “Why? We have to collect theirs too.”

Junhee shook her head, “I didn’t want to, there were so many boys.”

“Fine, you wait here. I will collect theirs.”

As she saw her friend gone, Junhee walked towards a nearby tree to wait there. She laid her back on the stem and let out a sigh.

Her habit hadn’t been changed yet. She still tend to restrain herself from boys. Actually it’s okay if there was just one boy or two, or more, as long as she had known them. The problem is, it was hard for her to act normally without shaking in front of boys she hadn’t know before.

“Why you want to meet me here? Why we need to talk?”

If she wasn’t misheard, she heard his voice.

“I want to tell you something,”

This time, she heard a girl’s voice. But she had no idea whose voice it was.

“Go on,”

“First, I want to tell you that I joined this club because of you. I saw your registration letter and I decided to join this club too.” The girl stopped for a while to take a deep breath. “Because since I met you at class for the first time, I could feel my heart was beating when I saw you. I couldn’t even control myself from not looking at you at class. I always looking for a chance to be your partner when we got assignment. I always waited near the gate to see you coming and go home. I... I did all of that. Because I-“

The girl stopped talking when they heard a sound of cracked branch. Junhee who was standing right behind them winced because she just stomped on a fallen branch beneath her feet. She gulped, she couldn’t be discovered in situation like this.

They stood in silence for a while, until Jungkook spoke, “Go on,”

“Because I... like you.” The girl finished her sentence.

Junhee froze. This is the second time she heard a girl confessed to him. She couldn’t figure out how he responded the previous girl, but this time, she decided to stay, because she wanted to know his reaction.

“Don’t worry, I just wanted to let you know about my feelings. Nothing more.” The girl forced her smile when she noticed his unreadable expression. She played her fingers nervously, waited him to respond.

“Thank you for being honest to me,” he spoke up. “But I’m sorry, I had liked someone else.”

Both the girl in front of Jungkook and the girl behind the tree looked blank after hearing his astounding revelation. They didn’t move, letting their mind to process the news they just heard.

The cold and untouched Jeon Jungkook had liked someone else.

“Sorry, but I have to go, they sure need help to set the tent.”

He walked away, leaving two girls who had been hurt since a moment ago. Later, one of them crouched down and began sniffling. Sounds so fragile, and painful.

While the other, she just stared blankly, clutched onto the plates and the glasses on her hand. Later, tears began falling down slowly.

Finally, she got the answer of her question all this time. Why he avoided her, why he was so cold, why he couldn’t be touched, and why he reject all of confessions he got.

The answer is simple but painful at the same time; he had liked someone else.

Whoever she was, she must be his ‘real one’. She must be the one he stucked for a long time. She must be the one he wouldn’t forget. And she must be the one he loved with his whole heart.

Junhee placed the plates and the glasses down. She buried her face with her palms to hold back her tears.

How can it feels so hurt?

“Junhee?!” Jay’s eyes widened when she saw her friend crying like that. She crouched down beside her and touched her shoulder softly, “Are you okay?”

No, definitely no.

“What’s going on?” Jay asked worryingly. Junhee shook her head, yet she still unwilling to look up.

“Okay, wait here. I will bring the plates and glasses and come back.”

Jay came back with a bottle of mineral. She waited until Junhee stopped sniffling. She didn’t know the reason, but she could tell it was something serious.

“Drink it first,” she handed the bottle to Junhee. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and took the bottle, “Thank you.”

“Let’s go back to tent. We will talk there.”

***

They asked for permission to their seniors for not joining the bonfire. Jay explained that something had incurred. Fortunately, their seniors let them go –after seeing Junhee’s swollen eyes.

“Want to share with me?” Jay asked carefully when they reached their tent. She was afraid if she mention it, Junhee will cry again. She was worry seeing her friend like that.

“Or you can sleep first. People will asking you questions if they see your condition right now,” Jay added. She was about to leave, but Junhee’s words stopped her.

“I knew him. I knew Jeon Jungkook.”

“Jeon Jungkook? That handsome boy I had met before?”

Junhee nodded slowly, “Yes, him. I knew him.”

“How can?”

“Actually, he is my friend in Junior High School. And he is the boy I liked..” she confessed. “I didn’t know if the boy you talked about was him. I found it out later.”

“What’s wrong with you and him? Did he cause your tears?”

Junhee took a deep breath, and then she began tell about her long story.

“We met for the first time when I was the age of nine. I was visiting my grandma’s house at that time and playing at the park nearby. Later, I met him. I found that the boy was cute, but I didn’t know his name.

We met rather frequently when I visited my grandma. And one day, I found out that he was my grandma’s neighbour.

Four years later when I entered Junior High School, I surprised when I saw him attending the same school like me. But we didn’t talk for a year, since we were at different class and I still didn’t know his name yet.

It was second year, when I found out that he was my classmate. I checked the attendance list to find his name, and later my friend told me that he was the boy with name Jeon Jungkook.

Rumours about him spread through the class. That he was a cold boy who didn’t like to talk with girls. They were true. He didn’t even talk to me, until someday we were working together for assignment. I tried to talk with him, though he always replied me with short answer. I wasn’t giving up to make him talk to me because I did know he wasn’t as cold as they thought.

When I was trying to begin close with him, I-“

Junhee stopped, gulped, and continued, “I fell to him.”

“I denied it at first, but it was getting bigger from time to time. And my fear was, if he found out, he would avoid me. So, I was trying to keep it by myself. But at the end, I told my friend about my feelings because it was hard to keep everything inside without let it out.

Unfortunately, his deskmate was eavesdropping our conversations and he spread it through the class. I- I was afraid that he would change after he knew the truth. Because- because it was hard, approaching him, trying to get close with him until we became close, even he was taking initiative to talk to me first, even he joked to me sometimes, even he always stealing my note...

It was hard, Jay... and my fear was became true after that. He avoided me. He acted like I was invisible. He acted like we had never known each other. Until graduation, we didn’t even say a single word. Actually I was asking him to take a photo on the last day at school, but you know, he rejected me.”

Junhee let out a dry laugh and continued, “Just then, I realized. Since the beginning, I have no chance. And today, everything became clear. I, Nam Junhee, liking someone that never liked me back at the first place. My feeling wasn’t worth it from the beginning...”

Buried her face with both of her palms, the liquid from her eyes began falling.

“I wonder about his reasons. Why he was so cold? Why he couldn’t be touched? Why he was so mad to me and ignoring me all this time?

Did he dislike my behaviour? I had changed it! I turned to a shy person. Nam Junhee wasn’t a boyish girl like when she was ninth. She lost her braveness towards boys, because she distanced herself from them. She changed her old side since she realized that she liked him. She wanted him to like her. That’s why she changed, because she wanted him to see her...

But today, I heard his answers. He said that he liked someone else. That’s why he always cold to girls and avoiding me after knowing the truth...”

Jay embraced her, patting her back and let her to cry on her shoulder. Jay didn’t know if it would be this complex. Actually she noticed the cold side of Jungkook, even when they met for first time. He has that side that can’t be touched by anyone, especially girls. He has that kind of radar that make girls away from him.

“Junhee, listen to me,” Jay said softly. “Cry as much as you want to, but when you finished, make sure you wouldn’t cry for the same reason again, okay?”

The girl sobbed. All of her pain were flowing through her tears. All of her unspoken burden were spoken through the liquid from her eyes.

The problem is, she had never prepared to hear something like that from him. She thought that he was an innocent boy who didn’t even think about love even for a second. She thought that he just surprised when he knew that she liked him, that’s why he ignored her.

When she knew the truth, it brokes her so badly.

No, it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his fault for liking someone else. It wasn’t his fault for not liking her back.

It was her fault for thinking he would be.

Hey, I'm back! I'm sorry for making you wait :(

I have so many things to do (I don't have to explain) and I just finished it yesterday. And when I was uploading this chapter, my friends kept asking me to attend the meeting so I typed in rush >< (idk if there were grammar errors)

But still! I hope you like this chapter :)

Don't worry, this story won't end soon, it's still the beginning!

Thank you for waiting, bae<3

if you want to ask me anything, you can ask me on my ask.fm account -> ask.fm/AinunNisaF

T H A N K   Y O U ! ! !