prompt #1

Italicized: thoughts

warning: contains mature language

it's been awhile! hope you all enjoy.

     Sunyoung doesn’t really know what to think when she starts noticing the way the mysterious girl in her English class would stare a bit too unabashedly at her from across the room. Lately, she's been trying her best not to look in the girl's general direction in fear of accidentally making eye contact with her. Truthfully, she had never payed much notice to the pretty sophomore due to the fact that the girl seemed perfectly content in keeping to herself during class. But as of recently, Sunyoung has found that the quiet girl is often at the forefront of her mind. Though Sunyoung knows very little about her, one thing she knows for sure is that she spends a lot of time with the school’s resident troublemaker, Jinri, and that alone did nothing to improve Sunyoung's perception of her. That's because earlier in the year, said girl had decided it was the appropriate time and place to flash an innocent student right in the middle of a halllway! And it wasn't just any student, either. He was probably the only warm-blooded male in the whole school who wouldn't appreciate being flashed on his way to class and that was none other than one of her closest friends, Lee Jinki. Jinki was known around the school for having a weak heart, so naturally when struck with the sight of a teenage girl's s, he passed out instantly. The worst part was that Jinri proceeded to walk away as if nothing had happened! It was just cruel. From then on, anyone that hung out with Choi Jinri made Sunyoung a bit wary to say the least.

     The end of class finally approaches. Sunyoung begins to pack up her books and while doing so, makes the mistake of looking in the direction of the mysterious girl and what she finds has her nearly choking on her spit. Still sitting nonchalantly in her chair, her desk completely devoid of any books or writing utensils, sat the mysterious girl. Staring straight at her. Crap, crap, crap! Diverting her eyes, Sunyoung quickly shoves the rest of her things into her backpack and speed walks to the door, successfully making it out of the room without combusting when all of a sudden she feels a warm body collide against her, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

     “Whoa, slow down, Sunyoung. You need to take a dump or something?” A tall boy asks with a teasing grin, his hands resting firmly on her shoulders to steady her.

     She looks up at him sharply. “No, Minho, I do not need to take a dump! I have to tell you something!”

     “Oh. What is it?” She grabs his arm and drags him down the hall. “Where are we going?” She doesn’t answer him until the two are sat down at their lunch table in the cafeteria, a safe distance, she deduces, from the English classroom.

     “You know that girl, Jung Soojung, right?” Sunyoung starts, looking at him expectantly.

     “Uh, yeah, I guess. She’s in my pre-calc class,” He answers absentmindedly. “Aren't we going to get lunch?”

     “No, just listen to me! I think she’s been staring at me lately,” Sunyoung discloses in a hushed voice.

     “Well, I mean, you’re a pretty girl, Sunyoung.” He mumbles, still eyeing the lunch line with worry. “Okay, the line is getting really long.”

     “Hey, guys.” Their friends, Key and Amber, greet the two of them casually, settling themselves down at the table.

     “You guys already got food?” Minho asks disbelievingly.

     “Yeah, we got in line right after the bell rang,” Amber says, looking proud. “You two should really hurry up. Last I heard the line started inside Class 2.” Upon hearing that, Minho’s face takes on a horrified expression. He shoots Sunyoung a menacing look before storming out of the cafeteria in the direction of the aforementioned room.

     “What was that about?” Key asks, amused, “He looked at you like a constipated frog just then; that can’t be good.”

     “Doesn’t matter, I have to tell you guys something.” Sunyoung leans in closer to their faces.

     “What’s up?” Amber asks through a mouthful of food.

     Sunyoung promptly leans away. “Uh… are either of you familiar with a girl named Jung Soojung?” They both make sounds of acknowledgement.

     “Yeah, Soojung; she’s in Year 2, right?” Key says, nodding to himself, “Doesn’t she hang out with that one girl that flashed Jinki that one time and nearly gave him a ?”

     “I did not get a !” A voice exclaims from behind them. Sunyoung feels the boy drop down heavily in the seat beside her and looks over at him to see his eyes narrowed at Key. “I was caught by surprise and fainted momentarily, that’s all! And I’ll have you know that all this teasing is getting really old. That incident happened months ago!” He admonishes, voice an abnormally high pitch.

     “Alright, Jinki,” Key says, his voice suddenly taking on a motherly tone, “I’m about to slowly reach down and grab a fry from my tray. Just tell me if I’m moving too fast. I don’t want to accidentally startle you into cardiac arrest.” Amber spits out the chocolate milk she was drinking and erupts into peals of laughter. Sunyoung attempts to contain her own giggles for the sake of the boy sitting next to her who did not look amused in the slightest. He grabs a napkin and harshly wipes off the choclate milk that had spewed onto his face. 

     “Here, you want fries?” Jinki suddenly asks. He grabs a handful of them from Key’s tray and hurls them at his face.

     Now it’s Jinki’s turn to laugh, his eyes twinkling in amusement at the scandalized expression on the boy's face. “I'm wearing makeup right now, you !” Key quickly takes out a pocket mirror from inside his bag and proceeds to carefully pluck flecks of potato skin from his face.

     “Guys, guys, can we get back to my story here?” Sunyoung cuts in.

     “Oh, right. What’s up, Sunyoung?” Amber asks, voice injected with mirth after the events that just took place.

     “I think she’s been staring at me lately. Just now, I caught her looking at me again. It was actually really creepy,” Sunyoung explains, clearly in distress.

     “Well, maybe she likes you or something,"  Amber suggests. picking up a fry that had landed on her hand and popping it into .

     “I highly doubt it. She’s hardly her type.”

     Sunyoung turns to Key, slightly miffed, “What do you mean, “I’m hardly her type?”” Wait, why do I sound so defensive? I don’t even like her!

     Still preoccupied with his reflection in the mirror, he answers offhandedly, “Oh, I don’t know. You’re like a fricken ray of sunshine, Sunyoung. And Soojung, she’s a Popsicle, cold and unfeeling, although she does seem to be a little rough around the edges, in my opinion, which is very un-Popsicle-like—“

     “What’s your point, Key?” Sunyoung interrupts, slightly put off.

     “Oh, right. My point is, someone like you would not fare well with someone like her. You’re just too different.” Sunyoung pauses at that. We do seem really different. She’d never be interested in someone like me. Wait, what?

     Amber notices her friend's lack of response and chooses that moment to speak up. “Okay, just because she seems cold to you doesn’t mean that’s who she really is. None of us actually know about her.”

     Key puts his hands up in mock surrender. “Look, all I’m saying is, Popsicles and sunshine do not go well together. Are you going to refute that, Amber?” Amber merely looks at him in exasperation.

     Jinki shakes his head at the two of them before turning to face Sunyoung. “I say you should make friends with her. Do some digging.”

     “Digging?” Sunyoung asks, slightly bewildered.

     “He means, find out whether or not she likes you,” Amber explains helpfully.

     “Do you want her to like you?” Key's question leaves her feeling like a bucket of ice cold water had suddenly been dumped over her head. All eyes are suddenly on her. Sunyoung looks around the table, eyes wide.

     “What? No! No way. She’s nowhere near my ideal type! In fact, she’s so far from it, that if my ideal type was a place she really needed to find, she’d need to call for help because… she got lost.” Oh my gosh, what?

     Key looks at her strangely. “Uh... okay then. In that case, I don’t even see why you need to befriend her. Just go up to her and tell her to stop being a creep. It’ll be quick and easy,” He says nonchalantly, examining his nails.

     “Don’t listen to him, Sunyoung. He’s the devil,” Amber butts in, jutting a finger in said boy’s direction, “Makes me wonder sometimes how Jinri’s less than angelic behavior hasn’t already lured him into becoming one of her disciples.”

     Key scoffs and takes out a nail filer from his bag. ”Please. If I hung out with Jinri, she’d be my equal and that’d be no fun. But you three…” He waves the filer around the table like a magic wand, “…are easy to control. To put it simply, all of you are my es.” They roll their eyes at him in unison.

     “Anyways, Sunyoung, go and talk to this girl,” Amber chooses to ignore the boy sitting next to her once again. “So what if she isn't your ideal type? A mystery is a mystery and she’s got question marks written all over her.”

     The bell rings, signifying the end of lunch. As her three friends get up to throw away their trash, Sunyoung stays rooted in her seat, mulling over Amber’s words in silence. On their way out of the cafeteria, Jinki hands Sunyoung an apple. She looks up at him curiously.

     “You were so focused on your crisis that you forgot to eat,” Jinki explains, and Sunyoung’s mouth forms an ‘o’ shape.

     “Wow, I didn’t even notice. Thanks, Jinki.” Sunyoung smiles appreciatively and takes the apple from his grasp, bringing him into a one-sided hug.

     He accepts it, hugging her back warmly. “Don’t mention it. You’re already so skinny. You really should eat more, you know.” They start walking down the hall toward their classes, Key and Amber bickering behind them.

     “It’s funny that you mention that, actually. Lately, I’ve been contouring my abs and—“

     “Guys!” Minho appears in front of them, panting heavily.

     “Oh my God,” Jinki’s eyes bulge out of his head at the sudden appearance of the tall boy and he clutches tightly to the front of his shirt.

     “Are you okay, Jinki?” Sunyoung asks, her eyes filled with worry.

     “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, he— he just came out of nowhere, you know?” Jinki rasps, pounding his chest fervently.

     Key looks on at the scene, unimpressed. “Oh, for crying out loud,” He shoves past Sunyoung and Jinki, who were still busy trying to get his pulse back to normal, and stands in front of the taller boy, hands planted firmly on his hips.  “Minho, where the hell have you been? And why are you breathing like that? You look like a gorilla.”

     “You guys won’t believe what I just saw,” Minho pants, putting his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Amber takes Sunyoung’s water bottle from the pocket of her backpack and hands it to him.

     He grabs it, gulping down a generous amount before giving it back to her. “Thanks, Am.”

     “No problem.” Amber promptly puts the bottle back in Sunyoung’s backpack, looking proud of herself .

     “Anyways,” Minho speaks, his voice returning back to normal, “I was waiting in line for lunch, right? I’m sitting at Mr. Cho’s desk, just listening to him lecture on and on about something really boring and I look out the window and guess who I saw.” They all look at him expectantly and Minho just stares back at them excitedly. After a few moments of absolute silence, Key finally speaks up.

     “Open your goddamned mouth already, Minho! Who was it?”

     Minho pouts. “You guys don’t want to guess first?” Key moves to slap him over the head but Minho moves away just in time, his hands up in self-defense. “Okay, okay, geez, sorry!” He mutters, thoroughly put off by Key's near act of agression. “There were two people, actually. Jinri and… Soojung.” They all swivel their heads in Sunyoung’s direction.

     “Oh,” Sunyoung mumbles lamely, not sure what to say. “What were they doing?”

     “I wasn’t sure at first, so I had to follow them!” Minho explains. “It was so weird, they were—“

     “Uh, guys,” Jinki interrupts, examining his wristwatch. Everyone turns to look at him. “We have approximately 15 seconds to get to class before we get locked out.” They all stare at each other for a few moments before simultaneously breaking out into a run in different directions.

     “, my class is on the other side of the school!” Amber cries, sprinting down the hallway.

     “Hah, my class is right here, es!” Key says, laughing maniacally, pointing to a classroom just five feet away.

     “ my balls, Key!” Amber's voice echoes from down the hallway. Everyone else just groans loudly in frustration; too busy trying to beat the bell than to come up with a rebuttal. Sunyoung turns a corner, racing toward her classroom that was just fifteen feet away. As she dives into the room, she lets out a little cheer when she manages to make it in before the bell rang. She looks up at the sound of light chuckles coming from around the room and smiles meekly at the floor, choosing to quietly make her way to her seat with her head bowed down in slight embarrasment.

     “Um… As I was saying, class, we will begin today’s lesson by first taking a look at—“

     She sighs wearily and takes out her textbook, flipping to a random page. Could Soojung really like me? Is that why she’s been staring at me so obviously, so that I could get the hint and approach her first? Do I even want a girl like Soojung crushing on me in the first place? I mean, from what I can tell, she’s quiet, really reserved, really good at speaking English, and I hate to agree with Key but… slightly Popsicle-ish. Oh, and gorgeous. In other words, not exactly what I had in mind. But she had to admit. There was something really intriguing about Soojung. She doesn’t know why she suddenly has an urge to get to know her, but she does. Not only that, but she'd get this warm feeling in the pit of her stomach at the prospect of Soojung being interested in someone like her. Whoa, wait; slow down, Sunyoung, you don’t even know what kind of interest that is yet. For all you know, she could be staring at you because your head is an interesting shape.

     Sunyoung rolls her eyes and shakes those thoughts away, choosing instead to contemplate on what Minho was in the process of revealing to them earlier. I wonder what she was doing with Jinri. Maybe I should ask her about it tomorrow when I finally talk to her. Use it as an icebreaker. “Hey, Soojung, so my friend noticed you and Jinri clearly going off campus during lunch time yesterday and out of curiosity, he followed you guys around basically all of lunch, and unfortunately for me, he didn’t have enough time to properly gossip about what you two were doing because as soon as he came back, fourth period was about to start! Talk about horrible timing, right? So, I was wondering if you could just elaborate on that for me.” She groans and drops her head unceremoniously onto her desk. All this thinking was giving her a headache. I just need to rest my eyes for a bit.

“Ms. Park?” Sunyoung’s head instantly shoots up at the sound of her teacher’s stern voice.

“Yes, Mrs. Kwon?” She asks, suddenly wide awake. Crap.

The middle aged woman stood at the front of the room, hands on her hips in a threatening stance. “What is my number one policy in this classroom?”

Sunyoung groans internally. “Pay attention or receive detention, ma’am,” She recites nervously, sitting up straighter in her seat.

“That is correct. I never thought I would see the day when I would have to warn you about this policy, Ms. Park. Now, may I suggest that you use that book for something other than a headrest?”

“Yes, Mrs. Kwon.” Did I just get called out by a teacher? But, I never get called out! 

Suddenly, the image of Soojung appears in her mind, as if providing an answer for her unusual change in behavior. 

Oh, this is going to be one bumpy ride.

Hey, guys! I apologize for the constant re-editing of this chapter. It's just the kind of writer that I am, so when I see something that could be worded better, I just have to fix it. I definitely have this greed to put out the best content possible, so hopefully you guys can bear with me because this will not be a one-time thing. Oh, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I don't know when the next one will be out, but just know that I'm doing my best to get it out to you, guys.

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