Chapter 2
Leap of FaithThe Invitation
A/N: So I probably should of warned you guys that I'm kind of slow at updating. I like to take my time, but occasionally I take too long. oopsies. But yeah-- A slightly boring chapter? I think yes. Anywho- If it seems that Namjoo and Chanyeol are falling in love with each other too quickly, that's the point. Falling in love fast, leads to a quick romance, and one that isn't very long lasting- if I may add. So to make it clear, yes, I am indeed rushing their feelings for each other on purpose. It's all part of the plot (I added more to the description. The plot is explained a bit better in description 02). If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll gladly answer. :)
Namjoo sat down against one of the building pillars. A soft sigh escaped her lips as she gazed around, taking note that everyone had their own friends except for her. Oh, how she felt envious. To have a clique she could fit into was probably one of her biggest dreams. Growing up, she never really did have a large quantity of acquaintances. She was always just one of the girls who were cast aside in every school activity. In things ranging from sports to studying together, Namjoo realized, now that she thought of it-- that she had always been alone from the start.
Namjoo sighed shaking what seemed to be "quite depressing" thoughts out of her head. Instead of bathing in her self-pity, she attempted to distract herself with something else. What did people usually do to entertain themselves? Namjoo wasn't particularly in the mood for drawing at the moment. Besides, the idea that she'd have to go through the hassle of taking all of the materials out of her backpack made her feel in an even lesser mood to draw. She was much too lazy to do the action. She hummed in thought. Aha! She had an idea now.
The female pressed her lips into a firm line as she began patting her lap in a rhythmical way. It was like playing the drums, only, she was actually using her thighs. A nice beat came from the patting, and Namjoo began to bob her head along to the beat in appreciation. She had to admit, it was quite a "sick jam". Well, in her opinion, at least. When the thigh-patting and the head-bobbing became to get a little boring, Namjoo decided to add some words to spice things up. Most of the words she spewed were utter nonsense, but Namjoo didn't seem to mind. She was having what seemed to be the time of her life.
When she lifted her eyes up in the midst of her singing, she realized a few people were staring at her. A sneer was on most of their faces. Namjoo's singing faltered, and her hand and head movements died down as well. She felt her cheeks heat up, and she immediately reached her hand up, so that she could face palm at herself. How embarrassing. She shut her eyes, attempting to imagine how she looked like when she was having her one-woman-show jam session. A complete moron was all she could visualize.
"This is the reason why you don't have any friends." She muttered to herself, smacking her own arm in a scolding manner. Bad, bad. She heaved a sigh of frustration as she leaned her head back against the pillar. Instead of laying her head against it peacefully like she had hoped, she ended up banging her head instead. A low groan escaped her lips as she shut her eyes in agony from the impact. Her hand blindly reached up to touch the spot she had hurt.
Focused on the pain that was slowly beginning to subside, Namjoo became frozen when she heard a low chuckle. Did she hear correctly? She turned her head to the side, catching sight of Chanyeol who was stepping out from behind the pillar, now revealing himself. Her eye brows furrowed in confusion as she lowered her hand down, her attention now diverting fully on the tall male.
"Hey," He greeted, squatting down next to her. He turned slightly, dusting off the spot he planned on sitting on. Namjoo only stared on as he grunted and plopped himself to sit next to her.
"You're not going to say 'hey' back?" He asked, looking at her with a slight of his head. He watched as she swallowed the lump in , and he smiled slightly.
"Uh..." The female managed, her eyes blinking profusely. "Hey...?" If she seemed uninviting of his presence, she didn't intend to. She was just dumbstruck about the current situation. Moments earlier, she had been wallowing in her loneliness, and now.... Now she actually had someone accompanying her.
"You seem like you don't want me here." Chanyeol spoke, clutching his chest dramatically. Attempting to scramble back onto his feet, he added, "Sorry, I should've asked for permission to sit next to you first. I'll just go--" He shouldn't have just suddenly assumed that she wanted him to be around. He hoped he hadn't come off as rude or anything else that would leave a bad impression.
Namjoo's eyes widened, and she quickly gripped his arm. "No, no-- it's not that. It's just...." She frowned. What exactly was she trying to say? "You can sit here. It's fine." She mumbled, pulling him to his original position next to her.
Chanyeol stared at the female in surprise. "Is that so? Alright then." He smiled, now sitting in criss-cross next to her. He was glad that the female was actually alright with having him around. To be bothersome to her was the last of his plans.
Still lost in his own thoughts, his eyes drifted to Namjoo's hand that was still resting on his arm. Skinship. The female seemed to be comfortable with touch. Taking that into consideration, he supposed it would be easy to become more comfortable with her. People who were more open to skinship seemed to be easier to get along with. At least, in Chanyeol's opinion.
When the female realized she was still holding Chanyeol's wrist, she quickly let go. She listened to the male laugh at her when she apologized. She stayed quiet, taking a moment to recover from her embarrassment.
Finally lifting her eyes, she looked at him bashfully. "I was wondering," She started, "Why are you here?" Why did Chanyeol approach her once again? Sure, they had talked yesterday-- but when he asked to be "friends"... Was he really serious? She had only expected conversing with Chanyeol to be a one time thing. After all, people didn't usually take the time to get to know her. And when she showed Chanyeol her ridiculous art piece, she was positive that the male wouldn't want to talk to her again. She was a peculiar person.
"What am I doing here?" He repeated the question. Namjoo offered him a nod. A sly smile crept onto his lips as he answered, "Because I go to school here, duh. You go to school here too, Missy. How could you not know?" He teased, tapping her nose. He was aware that that wasn't what the female had meant, but he felt the need to give her that reply anyways.
Namjoo gave him a playful punch to the arm, rolling her eyes. "That's not what I meant." She felt at ease though, knowing that Chanyeol seemed comfortable enough to joke around with her. She supposed having him as a friend wouldn't be so bad.
"I know, I know." He replied nonchalantly. "But eh," He shrugged his shoulders, turning to look at the girl with a sheepish smile. "I'm here because we're friends now. Aren't we?"
"You were serious about being friends?" She asked, not believing him. "And even if you were, don't you have other people you should be hanging out with anyway? Where's Jongin?" She wondered, now looking around for the male who had stayed at home.
"Of course, I was serious. You weren't?" He asked jutting his lower lip. "Jongin's sick. He always is." He informed, pushing the girl's face to look towards him once again. Noticing the female's cheeks flush, he gave a gentle smile.
"N-No, I was serious too, but-- I guess I'm just surprised that... Forget it. I don't know what point I'm trying to make." She grumbled, now gazing into the male's eyes. opened slightly in awe. Park Chanyeol was really handsome. She thought he was handsome yesterday too, but now that she was seeing his face up close... He fit model status. Her eyes unintentionally darted towards his lips. Those nice, pink lips. Was this love at first sight? Oh, sorry. Not first sight-- second sight.
But wait-- What was she thinking? She shook her head vigorously, trying to take the odd thoughts out of her mind. Friends. They were just friends. They just met! It was too early to be developing feelings for one another. And to think she was staring at his lips already! Snap out of it, Namjoo!
"Hey, hey." Chanyeol spoke, snapping the female out of her thoughts. "Stop that-" The male was covering his face with one hand, and taking her hair out of his mouth with the other. Namjoo hadn't realized that in the act of shaking her head, she had been repeatedly whacking Chanyeol in the face with her hair. She quickly apologized, flipping her hair over her shoulder and out of the way.
"It's fine." He assured, giving her a firm pat to her head. He then proceeded to question why the female had been shaking her head in the first place, but Namjoo didn't offer much of a response. She simply shrugged his question off.
---
After quite a bit of time of bonding more with each other, the bell finally rang— signaling the students to make their way over to their first class. Weirdly enough, Namjoo had been the one who offered to walk Chanyeol to his class, although it should have been the other way around. The female claimed that girls were allowed to walk boys to their class too, but Chanyeol found it completely out of the norm.
"No way. If anything, it should be me walking you to your class." Chanyeol refused, standing unmoved in his spot. "You have Mr. Kwon first period, right? Not that I stalked you or anything..." He rubbed his nape as he trailed off. Namjoo gave a quirk of her brow, silently judging him.
"Uh-huh." She said, not believing him when he said he hadn't stalked her. She listened as he explained that he only knew about her first period class because he had often seen her entering Mr. Kwon's room. She finally gave into his reasoning, and confirmed that she did indeed have him first period.
After much bickering, Namjoo had finally allowed Chanyeol to walk her to her class. Although reluctant at first, she finally came to accept the offer when she realized she could be the one walking him to his class instead the next time.
"I don't believe in stereotypes." Namjoo told, when Chanyeol had said she was acting too much of a guy. "Besides, it's not like the action of accompanying someone is made for guys only." She reasoned with a bunch of exaggerated hand movements.
"Eh, I guess that's true." Chanyeol agreed. He talked no more, in hopes of avoiding Namjoo's long and deeply-thought-of arguments that followed after she stated her opinions.
When the duo had arrived at Namjoo's class, they exchanged goodbyes. Chanyeol waited for the female to enter the room, and he watched as before shutting the door behind her— she poked her head back out and waved a hand at him. He chuckled at her action, finding it quite cute. When she had finally disappeared on the other end of the wall, he finally headed to his own classroom next.
During his walk there, all he could think about was the female. She was really adorable. Smart too. In all honesty, she fit his ideal type. He'd see how things worked out though. He wasn't in a hurry to find a girlfriend anyway. Afterall, he had only gotten to know Namjoo so they could be friends. He didn't exactly expect her to be anything more.
Besides, he had all the time in the world, didn't he? So far, he was the only friend the female had. There was absolutely no need to rush into a relationship with her (if ever he wanted one).
---
"So, Namjoo," Chanyeol spoke, pulling a chair up and infront of Namjoo's desk. He sat down and propped his elbows on the polished wood as he stared at the female. "How would you feel about being a part of the group?"
It was last period once again, and the duo was finally reunited after a long duration of not being together. Last period, unfortunately, was their only class together, after all. The only benefit of having last period together was that their last period teacher happened to be lenient and often allowed people to converse with each other as long as they had their assignments finished on time. Luckily, Namjoo and Chanyeol often finished their work early, and therefore, had much time to talk— Hence, the reason why Chanyeol was beginning a conversation with Namjoo right now.
"The group?" Namjoo blinked at the last phrase of his sentence. What group could he possibly be talking about? Was there some group assignment she wasn't aware of? Was he starting a club? What exactly did he mean by the words, "the group"? She gave Chanyeol an unsure expression, and motioned for him to explain into further detail.
"My friend group. It consists of Jongin, Hayoung, and me." He clarified. "Want to be a part of it? We're looking for more people." He said, leaning closer. He was eager to hear whether or not the female would accept. He hoped she did, for it would be nice to have a person like her be a new addition. Namjoo was funny, nice, yet smart at the same time. Of course, the people Chanyeol hung out with were usually of a more serious level, but Chanyeol felt Namjoo somehow would be able to fit in too.
"Well..." She contemplated. To accept or not accept? She really wanted to. Earlier that day, she had been upset about not having her own group, and now she was finally being invited into one. She really didn't want to let this opportunity pass. "I want to be a part of it." She finally decided. She wanted to be a part of the group just for the experience. She wanted to see how things were like when she wasn't only in the company of herself.
"Yes!" Chanyeol yelled loudly, fist pumping into the air. The teacher had given him a warning look, and he smiled apologetically before diverting his gaze to Namjoo once again. He was awfully glad that the female had accepted his invitation. She seemed like a really cool person, and having her as a new addition to his group seemed to be a gift. Other than that, now that she was a permanent part of his group, he could get to know her much better and see whether the emotions he had been feeling earlier would blossom into something more.
"It's just... Would they be okay with me?" Namjoo asked nervously. The female was fully aware that she would be introduced to more people by joining, and she knew that people were capable of being rude. With that said, she didn't want to join the group and be treated in an unwelcoming manner by the other members. It would be very unpleasant if that were to happen.
"Of course they would!" Chanyeol told, though he himself, wasn't exactly sure. He knew Jongin adored the female though, so he most likely would be fine with having her around. But Hayoung? He wasn't sure how she'd react. He expected her to react positively though, for she was a nice person after all. And if she didn't? Well, he'd just beg her to bear with it.
"So, is it still a yes?" He asked, giving her the most charming smile he could manage. He noticed that the female seemed hesitant, but he was overcome with joy when she gave "Yes" as the reply nonetheless.
"Great!" He beamed, reaching out to mess up the female's hair. Namjoo swatted his hand away with a groan of disapproval. "Sorry." He laughed, only earning a glare in reply. "But anyway— You'll get to meet Hayoung tomorrow. Jongin too. He'll be here tomorrow, I'll make sure of it."
"Alright. Sounds good to me." The female grinned. She was already wriggling in her seat in anticipation. "I'm already excited." She breathed out.
"I can see that." The male commented, pointing at her that was wriggling in her seat uncontrollably. "But aren't you and Jongin pretty close already?"
Namjoo gave a small pout as she lightly jabbed him in the arm, "Well yeah, but... I think he only considers me as an acquaintance. Now I'm a member of the group. It'll be different now!" She explained, "And Hayoung? We've never talked. I'm the most worried about meeting her." Meeting other girls was always scary for Namjoo to think about, for some girls could be quite intimidating.
"Alright, alright." The male chuckled in understanding. "In that case, why don't you draw something? That'll take the excitement out of your mind." He urged. "You can be excited all you want when tomorrow comes."
The female only hummed in reply before taking out her notebook from yesterday— beginning to draw whatever came into mind. Chanyeol stayed seated infront of her, his eyes following her pencil's every move.
A/N: So I probably should of warned you guys that I'm kind of slow at updating. I like to take my time, but occasionally I take too long. oopsies. But yeah-- A slightly boring chapter? I think yes. Anywho- If it seems that Namjoo and Chanyeol are falling in love with each other too quickly, that's the point. Falling in love fast, leads to a quick romance, and one that isn't very long lasting- if I may add. So to make it clear, yes, I am indeed rushing their feelings for each other on purpose. It's all part of the plot (I added more to the description. The plot is explained a bit better in description 02). If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll gladly answer. :)
Notice! Forgot to add this to the a/n, but Bomi and Sehun might be making an appearance sooner than what I had originally stated, but I'm still not yet sure.
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