I’ve liked him as long as I could remember. But what can I do when his match made in heaven is desperately head over heels for him? Make a wish at 11:11, what else is there to do?

                                                      ———-

She really liked him. He was all she could talk about during our Calculus class. I wasn’t surprised that she liked him, in fact, I had assumed she had a crush on him the very moment she said she liked a certain someone. The truth was that every girl in our school was practically in love with him. It didn’t hurt that he was very good looking and polite, as well as having been graced with the perfect body.

You know, the usual.

I had to admit, if the two of them ended up together, they would be the greatest couple known to mankind. She was a very smart girl, mildly attractive, but had one of the best personalities for a girl. Lee Sung Kyung was probably the nicest person I had ever met in my entire life, hence the reason why her and Jaehyun would be absolutely perfect together.

Of course, it was only normal for me to say that yes, I too was obsessed with Jung Jaehyun. We had gotten along fairly well after he was in my Biology class my freshman year. I couldn’t have been happier that I had decided to double up in sciences that first year.

When Sung Kyung had told me just how much she liked him, I was immediately crushed. I had liked him ever since the end of my freshman year, when he invited me to his end of the year party. We always had a bit of a connection, but I tried to never think too much into it. After all, it would probably end up being a farce in the end.

I quietly accepted the fact that Jaehyun would be better off with Sung Kyung and encouraged her beyond belief. Truth be told, it was reality. They fit together so well that everyone in the year above me was surprised they weren’t dating by now.

That was another thing. Sung Kyung and Jaehyun were both seniors, graduating in about two months. Me? I was just another junior who happened to be relatively good friends with the two of them. Now, I became Sung Kyung ’s counselor in trying to persuade her to be more direct with the guy I really, really liked.

It’s great how life plays out, doesn’t it?

There were times when I felt like Jaehyun actually returned the feelings I felt. One time, my best friend Seoyun was taking a picture of me and three of my other friends when Jaehyun suddenly popped into the picture. He was actually best friends with one of the girls, so I immediately assumed he would be next to her. Instead, imagine my shock when I felt his hand on my waist and his cheek pressed up against my own.

But the moment ended too soon, as always.

The more I thought about me liking Jaehyun, the more I felt like I was betraying Sung Kyung. I had told Seoyun about it, and she said that I was a complete moron. Apparently by liking him longer, it gave me the right of way. But I didn’t feel morally sound doing that; I felt that Sung Kyung should be given the chance, not I.

As much as I hated doing so, I knew it was the only thing to do in a situation like this, whether I liked it or not.

                                                 —————

Jaehyun sat with us occasionally outside of the auditorium, considering how his closer friends sat less than fifteen feet away. But when he was bored of them, he’d migrate over to our group and sit next to Seoyun and me. That was actually exactly where we were now, with lunch nearly halfway over. My legs were crossed in front of me, my back propped up by the wall from behind. Jaehyun sat cross-legged between Seoyun and I, facing the rest of my friends.

I wasn’t even paying attention to what anything my friends were saying. Every once in a while, Jaehyun would hit me on the shoulder to get my attention as he asked me a question. The slightest bit of physical contact was enough to make me want to jump him.

But I couldn’t. As long as I knew Sung Kyung liked him, I could never turn on her like that. It wasn’t who I was.

“Y/N, damn it! When will you ever pay attention to anything I say?” Ten yelled, disturbing me from my idle state. I looked up at Ten, who was sitting a bit further up the stairs, waving his Calculus packet in the air.

“Sorry, I totally blanked.” I shook my head, trying to ignore the fact that Jaehyun was laughing quietly at my distress. “What did you say?”

Ten mumbled something to himself and threw the packet down. “I asked… do you want to help me with slope fields? I don’t remember what Mrs. Kim said about them.”

“That’s because you were sleeping.” A new voice entered our conversation. I looked up to see Sung Kyung standing over Jaehyun and I. My heart crashed when I saw the million watt smile Jaehyun sent to her, yet I still managed to show nothing on the outside.

“I don’t sleep, you liar.” Ten retorted, as the rest of us rolled our eyes. Ten was notorious for falling asleep during class.

I said nothing, but stood up and made my way through the maze of legs, arms and lunch bags on the ground. The moment I sat down besides Ten, I turned to see if Sung Kyung had taken my spot next to Jaehyun. Lo and behold, I was right. I tried to erase the image from my mind and turned back to my helpless friend besides me.

“I think you’d be better for Jaehyun.”

I looked up, shocked to see Ten staring down at me intently. Had I just heard him properly? Ten was one of his best friends and the fact that he had said that nearly terrified me. I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or if he enjoyed the effect it would have on me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I replied stiffly, stealing the packet from his hands.

Ten scoffed, retracting his arm to pull the paper from my reach. Knowing I was to sit here as he reprimanded me, I sighed and braced myself for the inevitable speech. “Sung Kyung’s his friend, a good friend and that’s about the only connection they have.” His voice had dropped to a low whisper, his mouth a mere centimeter from my ear. “When I asked if he was taking Sung Kyung to senior prom, he said maybe, if someone else said no to him first. He said Sung Kyung was great and all, but he didn’t really feel anything for her. So believe me when I say this. The two of you better get together and make babies one day because they’d be the greatest human beings seen by mankind.”

I immediately began coughing as the blush in my cheeks intensified. He did not just say that.

“So anyway!” Ten raised his voice, moving away from me. “Freaking listen to me! Damn it, I give up on you. I’m gonna go find Taeil. You .” With that said, he grabbed his backpack and stormed up the stairs, but not before turning back around and sending me his trademark smirk.

That idiot.

“You and Ten?” Seoyun smiled at me from her spot next to Jaehyun. I stuck my tongue out at her and threw an abandoned fork at her head. “So you don’t deny it then.”

“I’d rather get with Doyoung here first.” I joked, patting his knee. Instead of his usual retort, his eyes remained glued on his AP Biology notebook as he crammed to copy my work.

“I feel the there.” Jaehyun laughed as Doyoung replied with the a quick flick of the middle finger. “Wow, testy.”

Our group fell into a comfortable silence as I began humming to myself. My eyes unconsciously slid over to Sung Kyung and Jaehyun again as I saw the two immersed in their own conversation. I heard Seoyun cough lightly as I diverted my attention to her. When our eyes met, she leaned back a bit and pretended to gag behind the two-some.

I laughed to myself and stood up. At that moment, the bell rang as lunch unfortunately ended. Jaehyun stood up besides me and helped Sung Kyung up. I couldn’t help but smile as a blush formed on her cheeks as he held onto her hand.

This was why I couldn’t put myself in between them.

                                              —————

“Y/N! Y/N! Y/N, turn around you moron!” I spun around to see Seoyun hobbling towards me. I laughed aloud, realizing that the rumors were true. I had heard sometime during fourth block that Seoyun had fallen down the bleachers in our gym and broken her ankle.

She hadn’t responded to my texts, so I never knew if it was reality. After all, there was another Seoyun in our school. For rumors to get mixed up in the long run was not an uncommon error. “You seriously broke your ankle.” I laughed as soon as she was within a foot of me.

“Shut up.” She retorted, whacking me in the leg with one of her crutches. “You’re giving me a ride home since I can’t drive.”

“Sung Kyung can actually do that for you, if you want.”

What the hell was up with this boy popping up everywhere I went? I turned around, and sure enough, Sung Kyung and Jaehyun were walking towards the two of us. “No, it’s alright. I don’t want to put her through that trouble.”

“It’s actually no problem.” Sung Kyung replied, shrugging her shoulders. “She lives down the street, so it’s a bit more convenient for me than you. Plus, she’d have to walk a bit further down since you didn’t park on school property. So I’ll take her. It’s not a big deal.”

I agreed, shrugging my shoulders as Seoyun followed Sung Kyung. I wasn’t exactly quite positive what had just happened, just the fact that I was now standing alone with Jaehyun. His hands were shoved in his pockets, bracing himself from the cooler end of the winter breeze. “Can I actually hitch a ride? My car’s in the shop, that’s why I was with Sung Kyung. She was kinda supposed to give me a ride before I offered it to Seoyun. She seemed like she needed it more.”

I smiled at him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Sure.” I replied and began the walk down to the street off our school grounds. “Remind me again when to turn, because I don’t really remember. It’s been a while since I was at your house.”

“Of course. Knowing you, we’d probably get ridiculously lost and end up who knows where if I didn’t tell you where to go.”

I let out a mock scoff and shoved him away with my hand as we walked down the sidewalk together. “Wow, way to be offensive Jaehyun! I might as well not give you a ride home and just abandon you here to walk the rest of the distance.” I laughed.

“You know I mean it with love.” He replied, quickly grasping the hand I had pushed him with. I suddenly felt myself tugged closer to him, until I realized he was using me as an anchor to pull himself back onto the sidewalk I had just shoved him off.

“Whatever, Jung. Whatever.” I pulled my keys out of my pocket and pushed the unlock button as my car chirped happily. I got into the driver’s seat and settled as I waited for Jaehyun to get his full six foot frame into my Honda Element.

“I freaking love this car.” He sighed, tossing his backpack into the space between the front seats and the back row. “I actually have room to stretch out.” He feigned a cat stretch, as his long, jean-clad legs just barely fit into the foot space beneath the glove compartment.

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter