Chapter Twenty-One: 

Quality Time and Bickering

Nara, Bobby, Jinhwan and Chanwoo proceeded down the path of the hill to meet us. I felt like I just got caught committing a crime or something. I couldn't even look at them in the eye.

“What the hell happened to you guys? You look terrible.” Bobby eyed the faint dirt stains on our clothing. “You look like you just wrestled in straight up dirt.”

“I…. may have…. fell…” I explained slowly. “And kinda...sorta… rolled down the hill in the process.”

“And dragged me down with her like an idiot.” Hanbin interjected. He got up from the ground, dusting the grime off of his clothes.

Wow, is he trying to play victim right now? After what he just--- tried to do to me?!

“It was your fault for standing in my reach.” I argued in a sassy tone.

“What?” he scoffed. “You're crazy.”

“And you got overpowered by a girl aka me which is the sad part. If you were a real man, you would have caught me and prevented me from falling, but instead you just came right along with me.” I argued.

I was spewing bull out of my mouth. I'm embarrassed. I know it's originally not Hanbin’s fault but he started this argument by trying to play innocent. I will not go down without a fight.

He ran his hand through his hair, as he seemed to be getting annoyed by my statements.

“Wow, are you kidding me right now?” he said in a slightly angered tone. “What kind of airhead stands all the way at the edge of the hill?! There's a specific path to walk on up there for a reason.”

“Excuse you.” I glared at him. “Then you're an idiot for standing there too.”

Why is he trying act so brand new all of a sudden?

“Whatever.” he brushed me off and walked away.

Wow, is he mad at me? I was literally just joking around, why is he getting so upset about it?

“Geez guys, put away the claws.” Jinhwan said looking at the both of us.

“Yeah, unless you broke something from that fall, you guys are acting like drama queens.” Nara commented.

“It's not my fault she's so brainless.” Hanbin said turning his back to me. “It's common sense.”

I turned my back to him as well. Now I was mad. No, I'm not mad about him calling me an idiot and all that. I'm mad over the fact that he's purposely trying to start a problem with me. He literally went from 100 to 0 real quick.  It's stupid and childish.

“Uh… Jin, are you alright?” Chanwoo asked putting his hand on my shoulder.

“No, I'm not alright.” I replied with an attitude. I didn't mean to sound rude to Chanwoo but I was just so annoyed… I couldn't control it. I walked off alone down the path without them.

What's the deal? One moment he's cool then another moment he's prickly and being an for no reason. Could it just be because he's embarrassed about what happened and he's taking it out on me? Ugh I don't know.

But… why did he try to do that..

I pulled my fingers up towards my face, brushing them across my lips.

Our lips… they almost touched. Could he possibly…?

I took a deep breath and groaned out loud. This is driving me insane. What am I supposed to think now?!

I continued to dally along the narrow path staring out at the rushing water in the distance. I felt a hand fall upon my shoulder. I turned my head around to see Nara behind me.

“Jin.. are you okay? What's wrong?” She asked worriedly.

“I'm fine.” I replied giving her a half smile. “I just needed to clear my mind a little. That's all.”

The two of us sat down together on an empty bench along the way. A talk was unavoidable at this point so I decided to just let it all out now while I can.

“Did something happen between you guys while I was gone…?” Nara asked me. “Is there something I don't know?”

I hesitated to reply to her. I was with Nara, the girl I talk to about anything and everything, and I was hesitant to tell her about everything that's happened. What the hell is wrong with me? This isn't like me at all. I don't know why I'm being this way.

“I-- we--” I tried to speak but it just wouldn't come out. “I-- I don't know what to say.”

Nara sat there looking at me with a relaxed expression. “It's fine. You can tell me all about it whenever you're ready. There's no rush.” She smiled. “Although, I sort of have a feeling about what's going on.” She shot me a wink along with a giggle.

“Whatever that feeling is, bury it and burn it because you're probably wrong.” I got up from the bench and walked away first.

“I'm pretty sure my feeling is right!” She shouted out at me from behind.

***

After a painful, awkward, and silent ride back, I arrived back at home at around 9:30 pm. I unlocked the front door, opening it to find the living room empty.

“I'm home!” I announced my presence. Wow, I haven't been able to do that in a while. I walked over to the kitchen to find Yunhyeong standing over the stove, cooking up a storm. Donghyuk was sitting at the table, reading a magazine. He looked up, noticing me walking in.

“Oh, you're back already? How was hanging out with your friends?” He asked putting down his magazine. “Actually, what the hell happened to you? It looks like you just came back from farming crops.” he laughed while looking at the dirt stained clothes.

“Long story short, I had a bad day.” I replied taking off my bomber jacket and baseball cap. I took a seat at the table. “What are you cooking?” I asked Yunhyeong who seemed to be really focused. He's always like this every night. He loves to cook during late night for some reason. I recall he even made an online broadcast of himself before making stir-fry or some crap. He's honestly so strange.

“Pizza!!!!” He announced excitedly. “Hold on, it's almost done. You're going to be blown away when you take a bite.” he suddenly transferred his creation to a plate, then setting it in the middle of the table. It was a pizza made from a tortilla, smothered with cheese.  “Try it, you'll die.” he smiled proudly, anticipating our reactions. I grabbed a slice as the strands of melted white cheese seeped down. I took a bite out of it observing the taste carefully.

“A little salty… but good.” I gave him a thumbs up. His face looked rather disappointed at my reaction. He took a bite out of it himself.

“Hmm… maybe I shouldn't have added spam.” He said contemplating on the taste.

“It's fine.” Donghyuk assured his brother telling him to sit down.

Yunhyeong shrugged and sat down comfortably taking another bite of his creation.

“What the hell, what happened to you?” He asked noticing the dirt patches on my clothes. “Did you get into a fight?!” He threw his pizza down on the plate growing angry at the thought. “Who are the punks that did it?! I'll teach them a lesson!”

Oh yeah, I may have forgotten to mention that he is super overprotective… unfortunately.

“No, I didn't get into a fight.” I rolled my eyes. “I fell down in the dirt. That's all.”

“Well, you were always a clutz.” Donghyuk teased me. “I'm not surprised.”

Yunhyeong shook his head in judgement as his dark gray hair swayed in gently across his forehead. “Tsk, tsk. How embarrassing.”

“Hey, how does your hair look so silky and smooth?” I asked him.

“What do you mean?” He looked up at his bangs, getting a feel of his own hair. “Oh… who knows? I'm just naturally amazing.” He shrugged.

“Wait a minute…” I pushed out my chair, then walking over towards him. He tried to lean away as I got closer towards him.

“What are you doing...?” He let out a small laugh still trying to avoid me. I tried to grab onto him but he kept squirming around.

“Yah, stay still!” I yelled out reaching out for his head.

“No! Go away!” He fiddled around frantically hitting away my arms. We wrestled around with our hands until I was able to grab onto his hair. I tugged onto it hard pulling it towards my face. He yelled out in pain shouting at me to let go. I took a small whiff of his hair in my nose, confirming my suspicion.

“You little , did you use all of my conditioner?!” I let go of his hair, then smacking him in the arm.

He sat there smiling at me. “Heh heh…” He let out a small laugh, caught in his crime. “Maybe just a little bit?” he pinched his fingers together.

“Omg, that was my favorite conditioner… I can't believe you!” I grunted in frustration.

“I know but it made my hair so soft, I couldn't resist. I'll buy you a new one tomorrow, let's go to the mall.”

I was so annoyed. He's so annoying! Donghyuk just sat there laughing at us. Yep, just like old times. We bicker and fight non stop together. “Fine.” I rolled my eyes. I grabbed my coat and hat and proceeded up to my room.

I hopped in the shower after tossing my dirty clothes in my laundry hamper. That little head really did use all of my hair conditioner. I couldn't find it when I reached out for it. After my shower, I dried my hair and threw myself on my bed, staring up at the white ceiling. Yet again, another sleepless night will be bestowed upon me. I closed my eyes, yet the scene from earlier kept replaying over and over in my head. His lips growing closer and closer towards mine… I could almost taste--

My eyes shot wide open as I managed to catch myself from falling in a trance. I smacked myself in the face, trying to snap out of it.

“Jin, you stupid ! What are you thinking right now?!” I could feel my heart pumping at an intense rate. I was beginning to question myself more than ever. I put my hand over my chest, listening to my heart beat as it was beating an abnormal rate. I d onto it tightly, wishing it would slow down. I kicked my blanket into the air and screamed in frustration. God, why is my life so difficult right now?!

***

I stood with my head buried inside my locker, about to pass out from my lack of sleep. I only slept about 2 and a half hours. You have no idea how hard it was for me not to skip school and sleep in today. Donghyuk had to physically roll me out of bed. I wanted to die. Chanwoo was standing next to me, waiting to walk to class together.

“Are you okay Jin?” He asked with concern. “You look terrible.”

“Thanks Chanwoo. That makes me feel a lot better.” I replied grabbing my books out of my locker.

“Sorry.” He chuckled cutely. “Uh!” He uttered out looking in distance behind me. “Hyung!” He called out to the two boys walking down the hall from the distance. Chanwoo quickly ran over to greet Hanbin and Bobby, le