You woke up into the embrace of the sunlight slipping in through your window. You sat up, stretched and looked around the light salmon room. You sat up and turned to your digital clock and read 7:08 am, you found it strange. You never really wake up this early unless your father walks into your room and shakes you awake.

 

It was peaceful, you thought, which was very unusual. Your house is always jam-packed with racket that wouldn’t be so dulcet or mellifluous. “Odd,” You yawned. Later, you started to hear loud yells and shrieks, that you figured, came from downstairs. You smiled, as you thought that the normal flow of your home was back, and tried to go back to sleep.

 

 

Sheets of thick fabric layered on your figure as you watched your white ceiling. You weren’t able to fall asleep after waking up earlier. It was already 9 of the morning and you were too lazy to get your off your bed, so you decided to stay motionless till someone called for you.

 

Endless thoughts of the highlight of the preceding week came flowing in your mind; it was when Hyeri and a classmate made her ex-boyfriend jealous by walking around the campus with this intimate touching as they toyed on your phone. You passed by the ex’s orange Toyota Land Cruiser V8, which was parked in the high school department parking lot, then you heard loud honks. It must’ve been the ex, you thought, perhaps he was affected.

 

A few moments later, the two (Hyeri and your classmate) were still walking so close together that there weren’t any gaps between them. The car started to appear wherever you went; it passed by back and forth, as if it were in frenzy. You were really pissed off.

 

That night, you received a text message from Hyeri saying that her plan had work and the ex was affected. You asked how she could know about this and she replied with: “I had a friend in the car with them. He said that L.Joe pointed at me and Gongchan and said, ‘That’s Gongchan, the guy I was always so jealous with.’ Then he started pressing the horn, he wanted me to look.” She seemed very pleased with herself, since there were capitalized ‘HAHAHA’s and they seemed so endless.

 

In the inside, you were really happy yourself. You loved it when there’s jealousy in a past couple. You don’t really know why and when this obsession with love triangles started, but you wouldn’t care less.

 

Just then it struck you, you had a brilliant idea that you’re sure that Hyeri would love herself. You shot up off bed and headed downstairs, to the kitchen.

 

You didn’t find anybody there, both your brothers were off at school and your mother probably went to the market, therefore, leaving you unaccompanied.

 

You your heels and walked over to the white fridge, and looked for something to eat. Alas, there was nothing. Your shoulders drop as you let out a sigh of displeasure. You dragged your feet to a gray fridge just across the room to the white one and then looked. Still, nothing was there.

 

“Seriously. How can a house have no food,” You said, closing the fridge door as you walked away. In the end, you decided to skip breakfast for now and headed off to the bathroom. You’d be late if you didn’t prepare now.

 

Cold water ran down the holes of the showerhead and landed on your head and skin. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” You yelled, “SO COLD!!!” You hugged yourself before reaching for the soap and started your long, international concert.

 

 

It has been almost an hour since your concert started, and still, you haven’t exited your stage. You heard a knock on the door. You abruptly stopped and looked at it through the glass divider of the shower. You thought that someone had come inside your house to steal and kill you. My God! I don’t want to die! I’m not yet ready, you thought as you curled in to a ball at a corner of the shower area.

 

You started to mumble numerous prayers that you didn’t even knew you memorized. There came another knock, this time you didn’t keep your panicking to yourself. You started to whimper as you shivered.

 

“Yeojee ah?” It was your mother’s voice.

 

You shot up and stood straight. You cleared your throat, “Y-yes?” You responded; embarrassed with how you reacted to the sudden interruption.

 

“Are you alright in there? I heard you whimpering just now. You’re not hurt are you?”

 

“I’m fine. I’ll just finish up here,” You answered as you rinsed off.

 

 

“You scared me, okay?” You told your mother all-so-casually.

 

“Yeesh, you’re too paranoid,” Your mother said as she took the groceries out of the huge paper bags she had on the table.

 

“Not my fault. You’re daughter’s so beautiful that awful things might happen to her,” You rested your arm on the counter, and your chin on your hand while you took a bit out of the red, heart-shaped apple you held on your other hand.

 

“Father like daughter indeed,” She nodded her head.

 

You and your mother talked ever so casually that people around you mistake you as siblings. Your mother is still young; you’re just 20 years apart.

 

“What time is your class?”

 

Your eyebrows furrowed, and your face was like à>:|. This is so, because she would always ask, as though Wednesdays don’t occur every week.

 

“Mom, its Wednesday. Don’t you remember anything?” You asked annoyed.

 

“No,” She answered quite oppositely to how you asked.

 

“My class doesn’t start till 2:30 later.” You give up with the annoyance, there was no point anyways. She would always be like this.

 

“You should go up and prepare. I’ll start cooking now, so you can leave early.”

 

“So this is how much you don’t want me here.”

 

“You figured that out just now? How slow.”

 

“Aish~” You hissed as you headed upstairs.

 

 

Your school was quite far from your house that’s why you left an hour before class starts, plus it does take an hour to get to where you need to be.

 

You sit by the window at the very back of the van, you like it there. There are also people who get off at random stops and you the very back seat is the safest seat from all disruptions.

 

With earphones plugged in, mobile phone in hand, bag on laps, and back against the chair, you let your mind drift away to random places. Then, before you knew it, the idea that had struck you earlier came back and almost forgotten, came storming right back at you. You were all jumpy that the other passengers couldn’t help but to look at you, wondering what could be wrong.

 

 

“So, a rebound?” Hyeri asked with an eyebrow slightly higher than the other.

 

You nodded.

 

“I don’t know about this. Do you think he’s still affected?” Hyeri leans on the white picnic table.

 

“I don’t see why not. He was affected with your act last week, right?”

 

She nodded.

 

“A weeks never enough to change a person, no matter how much they’d like to.”

 

“But, Yeojee… Who would I act all sweet around with?!”

 

“I don’t know yet. But it’s the perfect plan. Don’t tell me you don’t like it,” You lightly smacked the table in excitement. “We’ll just have to find someone you could fling around with.”

 

“Ouch! That’s harsh,” A hand was placed on her chest as Hyeri expressed her ‘hurt’. “Rebound sounds a lot nicer than fling.”

 

“Sorry~ I’m just too excited.”

 

“Yeesh. I feel like you’re the one who broke up with him.”

 

“I just really want to see how he’d react.”

 

“But I go by this 3-month rule.”

 

“No matter how long that rule is, it doesn’t matter. You need a rebound, as in now.”

 

A familiar head of dirty blonde locks sat on one of the available chairs.  “Oh, hi~” Hyeri beamed at him.

 

“Hello~” He smiled back.

 

“Ah, Youngmin? You remember Yeojee, right?” Hyeri asked and Youngmin turned to look at you.

 

“Of course. It was last night when I met you,” He smiled brightly as his eyes turned into rainbows.

 

“Ehe,” You awkwardly chuckled. You weren’t good with these. Usually, you would be waiting for people to start talking to you before you’d become comfortable. And in this case, he doesn’t seem like all of the other people you’ve met and made friends with before. He just seems so awkward to you, to the point where you don’t know what to do.

 

He kept smiling before turning to Hyeri, “So, what’s up?”

 

“Well, Yeojee here has this insane plot,” Hyeri started.

 

“Huh? Can I hear of this ‘insane plot’ of yours?”

 

“She said that I have to act on this rebound thing. What did you call it?” Hyeri snapped at you. “It was something silly. Was it ‘Operation Rebound’?”

 

Hey, that was the most creative name I ever made up for this ‘project’, you thought. You can’t really say it to Hyeri since Youngmin was there.

 

“Ah, I can see where this is going to,” Youngmin awed. “Is she supposed to fling with a guy to make L.Joe jealous?” He directed at you.

 

You just plastered a small smile and nodded lightly.

 

“I am such a genius,” He confidently crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, do you have anyone you could act with?”

 

“That’s the problem to her oh-so-amazing idea.”

 

“Lucky for you, I know somebody who might just be interested.”

 

“Really? Who?”

 

“His name is Lee Jeongmin his in my class. His girlfriend just broke up with him earlier this week.”

 

“That’s perfect! We’ll hire him!”

 

“I thought you disliked this idea. Now, you’re engaging?”

 

Hyeri stopped and remembered all the things she said before. “I never said anything.”

 

“You didn’t. But you sounded pretty disapproving of your friend’s wonderful notion.”

 

“Aish! Fine, fine, I’m already caught anyways. It sounded stupid at first… But who knows.”

 

A moment of silence, they hadn’t noticed how long you have been tweaking your phone, and you were so into it, that you hadn’t noticed how Hyeri realized something. She took her wallet out of her bag and excused herself, saying she was hungry and was off to buy food… Leaving you alone with Youngmin.

 

You watched her retreating to the stalls, you pouted as you realized how the aura got heavier when she left. You looked at Youngmin and thought; perhaps he’s too pretty to be comfortable with. Then you shrugged it off and went back to your phone.

 

“So you two seem close,” You muttered loudly, which wasn’t really supposed to be but it just slipped out.

 

Youngmin turned his head to you in one swift movement. “Uh, that. I’m friends with her ex-boyfriend.”

 

“Oh,” You providently responded, not minding to look at him even for a bit. He must think I’m weird, you apprehended inside your head.

 

CRICK…

 

CRICK…

 

CRICK…

 

After a few minutes, you spotted Hyeri walking back with a handful of snacks and drinks.

 

“I’m back~” Hyeri cheerfully sat on her chair. “So, did you guys talk to each or something?”

 

“Y-yeah,” Youngmin scratched his head, as if he were saying ‘yeah, we talked a lot’.

 

“A bit,” You precipitously barged in slightly conveying an opposing tone to Youngmin’s statement.

 

“Ring, ring, ring, ring; ring ding, ding, ding,” Went your phone. You looked at your screen and instantly answered the call the moment you realized it was your father.

 

“Yes father?”

 

“I’ll be heading out now. Is your class over yet?”

 

“Our professor didn’t show up. I’m at the canteen area in the Science department.”

 

“I see. Then, I’ll be there to fetch you in a few minutes.”

 

“Of course, I’ll be waiting.”

 

You look at your phone; your father had just ended the call and is most probably on his way. “I’ll be leaving soon,” You told Hyeri.

 

 

“How was school, Yeojee?” You mother asked as he held the fork that pierced the steak near .

 

“Oh fine,” You shrugged. “The professor didn’t show up today,” You added as you sliced your steak.

 

“What was that subject supposed to be?” Your father queried.

 

“Biology,” You answered as you chomped on the thick meat.

 

“I see. Has that instructor started teaching?”

 

“She has. She told us that she had an appointment.”

 

“I see.”

 

The dinner turned silent, until later on that evening.