103 DAYS BEFORE

“You’re still talking to that guy?” Jiwon asks as I was looking for my necktie in my bedroom.

I roll my eyes at his question. “Yes, I am, and ‘that guy’ has a name, he’s your friend. I’m sure you know it.”

My older brother let out a small sigh. He’s been asking the same question over and over again for the past two weeks now that he knows I’ve started talking to one of his closest friends, Goo Junhoe ever since school has started.

“I’m just worried,"

I turned to him, who’s sitting on my vanity’s stool waiting for me to find my belonging, and gave him a look. “Gee, this is Junhoe we’re talking about. One of your pals. Besides, I’ve got no strings attached to him. We’re just friends.”

Jiwon looks at me and raises his brows. “You sure about so? Because you’ve been talking about him all week,” he teases.

I look at him, eyes wide. “Excuse me? The one that has been talking about him all week is you,”

He laughed seeing that he’s getting on my nerves. That’s what my brother likes to do.

“Just kidding, sis. Don’t be mad, all of your makeup will start to crease,”

I ignored him, knowing that what he wants is to see me get mad at half past seven in the morning.

“Found it!” I cheered as I found the necktie that is a part of the school’s uniform. I quickly put it on as I stand in front of the mirror.

I scan the sight of the mirror, making sure that I’m looking pleasant enough. “Okay, I’m going now!” I said as I wave goodbye to my brother who’s looking at me all confused.

“Wait, aren’t we going together?” he calls, running to catch up on me. “Uh, I have someone picking me up.” I said, brushing the topic off.

“Who?” Jiwon asks again right before I open the front door, revealing the answer to his question.

I smiled, seeing the sight in front of me.

“Hey, Areum,” Junhoe greets, and he smiled as he sees the person behind me. “Yo, Jiwon.”

“What are you doing here?” Jiwon asks impulsively, but in a calm tone. “Grabbing some breakfast.” Junhoe answers calmly.

My brother raises a brow at his friend. “Just kidding, I’m picking Areum up."

Jiwon looks at Junhoe suspiciously, scanning him from top to bottom. “Great, thanks dude, at least I can drive alone now.”

His answer definitely surprised me, but I didn't put much thought into it.

“Cool. I’ll see you at school, man. Don’t forget my notebook you borrowed.” Junhoe teases, and Jiwon hit him playfully. “Chill, asswipe. I still have one more page left to copy.” he responds.

“Alright man, as long as you don’t damage it. We’ll be going then.”

Junhoe smiled at me and cocked his head, signaling that we’re leaving now. We both walked outside, and I can spot his motorcycle parked right in front of the house, and it took me by surprise.

“Anything wrong?” he asked, seeing my reaction. “I… I’ve never…” I stuttered, kind of nervous. “You’ve never rode a motorcycle before?” he asks calmly, and I nod as a reply.

He lets out a chuckle. “You’ll be fine, I’m the safest motorcycle driver you’ll ever find in our school.” he reassured, remaining calm and collected. I smirked, letting him believe what he wants to believe.

Junhoe hopped on first and wore his full-face helmet (and god, I have to admit that this boy can definitely put on a trash bag and still look damn attractive in it). I nervously do what he did and tried to get comfy with the seat. He turned around to face me and handed me a helmet similar to what he’s wearing and I quickly put it on.

“All set?” he asked, turning around, back facing me now. “Uh, I think so.” I nervously replied. Still awkward with the whole motorcycle stuff and how to ride it, I placed my hands on Junhoe’s shoulders.

I can hear him click his tongue. “Not here,” he said, and he placed his hands on mine. 

He held onto them and moved them to his waist. “Here.”

“Don’t act like you’re awkward, I know you're liking this.” he teases, making me roll my eyes at him.

Truthfully, though? He was right.

* * *

We pulled by the students’ parking lot and I can already notice eyes on the both of us. But I was too focused on commanding my heart to stop beating so fast since the last fifteen minutes, so I ignored the stares.

Junhoe, again, was right, he was a safe and a careful driver. But of course, the whole experience of a motorcycle ride for the first time got me a little panicky.

“You know, we’ve reached our destination, so you can stop hugging me so tightly.” he said, making me snap out of my mind. “Just kidding, hug me more, I welcome you.”

I stopped holding onto him right away and hopped off the bike as Junhoe let out a chuckle. “Too shy to do it in school? It’s fine, I get it.”

It isn’t even eight in the morning and he’s made me roll my eyes for a hundred times already by his irrelevant comments and praises about himself.

But, well, it’s Goo Junhoe. He honestly has the right to think he’s all that, because he is all that.

I took off his helmet and he chuckled seeing me getting fussy with my hair. “What’s so funny?” I raised a brow, noticing that he’s endlessly grinning.

“You’re so cute.” he said, and I can’t help but smile by what he just said. He placed his hand on top of my head and pat it, slightly messing it up. “Come on, Areum-ah, you look good already, I’ll walk you to class.”

* * *

“Hey, did Junhoe pick you up and drove you to school this morning?” Seonyoung asked fussily, slightly whispering. I nodded, grinning like an idiot that I am. “Woah, I never thought our senior would be that sweet.”

“Ssh, someone’s mad,” Hyerin teased. These two girls are my bestest friends in school, and ever since they found out about me talking to Junhoe, they’ve never stopped finding opportunities to tease me.

Junhoe himself is one of the guys that girls in my school swoon over, but that doesn’t mean he’s one of those guys who just play around girls and not take things seriously. It’s quite hard to believe at a first sight, but he’s actually the top student of the school and has hold the title for three years, and as Seonyoung has said, he’s a senior; just a grade above us, so the typical girls who fancies him are the ones from our grade. Thus, the news of me and Junhoe getting closer had to be taken quite bitterly by those girls (as Hyerin has told me), especially by the fact that seeing the sight of Junhoe with a girl is actually a pretty rare occasion.

Okay, I know, I’m praising him too much now. But how can you not when a top student who also happens to be one of the top basketball players of the school starts talking to you? When I said he was all that, I mean that he was ALL that.

* * *

“Areum!” I heard a familiar voice call me as I was just on my way through the hallway making my way out after the go-home bell has rung.

I smiled as I turn around, and I see Junhoe walking towards me carrying a gym bag on his right shoulder. “There you are, I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Let’s grab some food after my training, hm?” he offers, doing his stupid smirk that he always does whenever he asks me to do something with him.

“But doesn’t your training finish at six?”