Part 9 ⧫ Conversance

con·ver·sance

/kən-ˈvər-sən(t)s/

noun

i. Having frequent or familiar association.

ii. Having knowledge or experience —used with.

_______

I learned two things: Baekhyun was smart — he just didn't use it and seemed to somehow prefer being stupid over being smart. He picked up everything perfectly fine, more easily than most even; leaving me considerably confused how he had scored a zero. He either had to be extremely lucky (though it would possibly count as unlucky) or actually knew all the answers and purposely choose the wrong answers. I couldn’t digest how anyone in the right mind would do the latter, so I brushed it off as him being extremely unlucky.

By the time I returned home from the library, it was already nearing five. The sun was beginning to set, dying the sky different shades of orange and red, as if it was on fire. Cold wind pulled at my cheeks and the familiar warmth of home was beyond relieving when I finally entered sheltered area.

The mouthwatering aroma of ddeokbokki was the last thing I needed to complete my day because I almost fell over the moment I smelled it. I hadn’t even realized how hungry I was until I smelt food. Almost tripping over the welcome mat as I attempted to kick off my boots, I stumbled into the apartment kitchen.

“Iseul,” my grandmother said without looking up from the pan. “Where were you?”

Teaching an idiot because he’s an idiot, didn’t seem to suffice as a proper answer, so I stuttered out, “Library?” It came out more like an unsure question than an answer, but thankfully my grandma didn’t say anything but throw me another glance.

Or so I thought.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously in my direction while stirring the ddeokbokki at the same time. One of the many things we differed from: she could multi-task and I couldn’t. “Do you have a boyfriend that I don’t know of, Han Iseul?”

Again, I almost choked on my own spit, which sent me into abrupt coughing, completely ruining the nonchalance I had been planning to fake. If the fact that she thought I was dating wasn’t bad enough, then the fact that I had technically been meeting with a guy was enough to make me want to hide in a corner and stay there.

“I seriously went to the library,” I managed out, voice sounding somewhat an octave about how it normally sounded. “I have books in my backpack.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I remembered that I had actually didn’t have a book in my backpack because I found Baekhyun right before I could grab my book. Oh my god, she isn’t going to check if there’s a book, is she? Before she could say anything, I shuffled towards the doorway to the living room. “Uh, I have to put my stuff away. I’ll come set up for dinner later. The ddeokbokki smells nice?”

Almost tripping over the welcome mat again, I hurried away from the kitchen before my grandmother could say something else that was choke-worthy.

The moment my bedroom door shut behind me, I pressed my hands to my face and let out the deep breath I had been holding in the whole time, relieved about being alone again. For some reason, my cheeks felt warm again, and this time, I was pretty sure that it wasn’t because the thermostat was turned too high.  

***

I was not a morning person.

Simple. I had to hit the snooze button at least five times every morning to be able to even be awake enough to sit up properly without collapsing back onto the pillow and falling back asleep. By the time I was dressed and washed up, it had been at least forty five minutes since the first time I hit the snooze button, and I was still half asleep and looking like a zombie. Probably worse.

It surprised even myself when I shot up the first time the alarm shrieked. It even surprised me more that I was more or less wide awake, a pretty good chunk of time before I normally got ready. As I pulled on my uniform, I tried to find a logical explanation for why I wasn’t groggy and about to collapse. What did I eat yesterday? Nothing special. What did I do yesterday? Nothing special. Why was I this awake?

By the time I arrived at school, I was more than half an hour early and the halls were practically bare. Practically no students milled around (I honestly didn’t blame them; there was something wrong with me coming to school this early -- something very wrong), and the only ones who were were the ones who seemed to be studying for something. Not even teachers where in sight -- I really was crazy, wasn’t I? Maybe I did have to back out from teaching Baekhyun, even if meant losing those credits. Maybe spending time with him really was killing my brain cells… and by a lot.

But on the serious side, I didn’t even know why I was here this early. No, I had no idea whatsoever why I was here early. Even if I had gotten up early, I had no idea what it was that propelled me to actually take the effort to go to school early too, when I could be just on my phone at home or reading. But something seemed to drag me towards the school.

Aimlessly, not sure where exactly I was heading, I turned down hallway after hallway, wishing class would start soon. Never again would I ever come this early I promised myself; I’d rather be sleeping. Whatever had gotten into today, I assured myself, would pass soon. As long as I stayed away from Baekhyun for a day and let my brain cells regenerate themselves I would be fine on Tuesday morning--

Or maybe not.

When I neared the area where homeroom was, I happened to crash into Byun Baekhyun.

Okay, that wasn’t even bad enough. Seeing his face was the worse part.

Kidding (his face wasn't that bad).

But seriously, what was the dumb*ss doing at school this early? I would expect him to be late daily, yet it was a good while before classes started. Responsibility and Byun Baekhyun were an impossible fit in the same sentence.

Before I could get the words out of my mouth or run away at the same time, Baekhyun spotted me. He had previously been talking to two girls whom seemed to be in the same class as me — I just couldn't remember which class we were in together. Baekhyun seemed to be completely oblivious to how close they were to him, just chatting away happily like he was having some everyday conversation with a friend, eyes crinkling into half moons at least once every fifteen seconds and laughing casually. I snorted inwardly; innocence. I never expected it from Byun Baekhyun. He seemed blindly oblivious of the glances they cast at him, as if he didn’t know anything at all. Obviously, he didn't -- but still. I scrutinized the scene for a second, then the thought occured that I should probably go before they saw me.

I was about to turn and run the other way when he shot up from his seat. "Iseul!" he called in such a loud tone that I flinched. I wasn't the only one, because the two girls looked pretty shocked. Oh my god, not now. I don't know you. Stay away from me, Byun Baekhyun.

Attempting to walk away didn't work, because he had already been making his way towards me and grabbed me by the wrist. "Iseul, wait."

I was aware of the two girls staring at me in surprise and somewhat horror. I figured that I could stare at Baekhyun with surprise and horror, because I wasn’t in the place to stare back at them in surprise and horror like I would have wanted to. I also estimated three seconds before that surprise and horror turned into glares, just like mine, that were directed at Baekhyun, would.

"What?" I tried in a deadpan voice, "What do you want?"

From the pocket of his uniform, he pulled out his phone. "Your number," he replied casually, unaware of the fact (or probably forgetting -- I wouldn’t put it past him, really) that there were two girls who were somewhat extremely pissed at me right behind us. "Seriously, if something happens liked what happened yesterday every weekend, then I'm so done. If I can call you, then it'll be easier. And can we not meet up at Gangdong next time? I hate having to sneak in the back. I keep on thinking I’m going to get caught again.”

It was now becoming a habit of me to choke on air. Is his IQ in single digits? How can anybody be that oblivious to the most basic of things?

"I don't have a phone," I muttered, shaking my wrist out of his grasp. It only made me feel a bit better. "We can just discuss it later, alright? As long as there's no misunderstanding, we should be good next Saturday so if you could just let me—"

"You have a phone. I used it to call Chanyeol when I was at your house, remember? And you had it with you yesterday. I saw it.”

Okay, that was when I flinched. I wasn't sure how Baekhyun did it, but he was so blindly oblivious of everything that it was at times somewhat cringeworthy. He didn't speak, either: he word vomitted. I was pretty aware of the livid glares that were being directed not-so-discretely in my direction, and I could almost hear the unspoken question: he’s been to your house? Desperately, I tried to convey the can-you-shut-up-now message with my ey