→ Chapter 006

When the frustration builds and she thinks she might explode, Mina takes a deep breath. She wanted to shout, have a tantrum and beat her hands on the ground like a toddler. She wanted to vent, let it all out but she couldn't, especially not in a packed school cafeteria.

Chanyeol sobbed like a baby beside her because Peizhi rejected him, sniffling and taking his anger out on the vinegar-smelling cucumber salad in front of him. Mina narrowed her eyes at his ludicrous state; He acted the same way when Jiyeon cheated on him but this? This was far, far worse.

"Girls come and go, Yeol, so don't feel discouraged." Mina tried to comfort him, but her best friend faced her with an unfazed expression, "You'll probably cry your heart out on another one soon." And that just earned her a death glare. Nevertheless, she continued, "But time will come and you'll finally accept that life is unfair. Trust me, you won't feel so ty then. Not everyone you'll like in your life will like you back."

"Can't you, like at least, make me feel better about it?" Chanyeol groaned, giving her a displeased frown. His salad long forgotten, he dangled his arms on the table and laid his head on the surface. That didn't seem to work, however, since Mina only insisted on her point— seldom did she change her mind anyway.

"It never worked, never will. I'll only you give the harsh truth, and that is you're not as attractive or charming as you thought you were." She added, a sly smile creeping up on her lips. The boy opposite her couldn't see her; his face was already buried in his elbow. Teasing Chanyeol was her guilty pleasure, but she figured this wasn't really the time to poke fun at him. (Who was she kidding? It was the most amusing thing she's ever witnessed.)

"Oh good lord, please shut up already. You're the worst, you know that?" He whined, though his words came out muffled. 

Mina couldn't help laughing this time. Chanyeol lifted his head slightly, peeking at her under the curtain of his colored bangs. His elbow covered most of his face, yet she knew he was more than annoyed. She had to stop this before he could get mad at her any further. She grabbed his face and called his name softly.

"Chanyeol," Mina looked at him and grinned. "You know that I was joking, right? You are the most attractive, charming boy at this school and any girl would be crazy to reject you. Look at you: you're tall, smart and popular. You're a good listener and you give great advice. You'll soon get a pretty girlfriend to take good care of you."

Her words managed to get Chanyeol to smile lightly. "So, why doesn't Peizhi like me back? I helped her with all of her pranks, and she helped me with all of mine too. I thought our relationship was going somewhere."

"If she said no, you should respect that. A girl can't like you just because you do her favors, Chanyeol."

She looked at his sullen expression and sighed. "But I can't stand looking at you like this, so I'll tell you a secret." This seemed to have grabbed her best friend's attention; he leaned forward, eyes curious. "But you have to swear you'll keep this between us. This isn't my secret, and I promised I wouldn't tell, and I feel bad for doing this, and this is your fault because you're moping like a desperate businessman who lost his real estate-"

Chanyeol tugged at her sleeve, cutting her off, and said, "Okay, I swear I won't tell anyone. Now cut to the chase."

She looked left and right, checking if someone was eavesdropping, then leaned and whispered, "Peizhi isn't straight."

If it was even possible, Chanyeol's eyes widened even more. His hand let go of her sleeve and he settled back into his seat, mouth open. It took him around a minute of processing —or rather, trying to process the new information before he said, "How did you know that?"

"I accidentally walked in on her kissing another girl one morning in the girls' bathroom stalls." Mina confessed, "She came to me the next day, begging me not to tell anyone as if I was shameless enough to do that. You know how most people who go here feel about gay people, and plus, why would I spill anyone's business to others anyway? So please, for once, keep that tongue of yours from spreading this around the school."

Chanyeol pressed his lips and dragged his two fingers along them in a zipping motion. "Yes, madam." He then tilted his head, a confused pout forming on his face, and wondered out loud, "But why did you tell me if you promised her you would keep it a secret? That's unlike you, you know, since it's unjust and immoral." 

Mina sneered at him, "You little , I told you it's because I didn't want to see you sulking. It's not immoral in this case."

Chanyeol only smirked, "This is payback for teasing me."

He didn't have time to keep taunting her; her hand was already aiming for his chest, slapping and hitting him. "Okay, sorry, I won't do that again." 

He perked up shortly after that, his eyebrows shooting up as if he remembered something important. "I forgot to tell you this: something weird happened when I was leaving the café Peizhi and I were at yesterday. I saw Byun Baekhyun going home. I think he was going home from school."

"And what's exactly weird about that?" Mina crossed her arms, puzzled.

"Two men were following him. It was obvious: they took every turn he took, and they kept their eyes on him all the time. I don't think he realized. It was really weird." Chanyeol let out an exhale, guiltiness washing over his features. "I wanted to intervene or tell him about it but the men were too big and I was too scared."

Mina furrowed her brows; Byun Baekhyun, a new resident at Seoul, was tailed by a couple of strangers for some reason that she ignored. Theories flooded her head about what it might be but they came to a dead end. She didn't know anything about the boy. She leaned back and looked around the cafeteria until her eyes fell on a red cloud surrounding a very, very visible ten— but honestly, she didn't really need it to know where Baekhyun was sitting: in the middle of the popular table, his hands flailing around as he recounted a story that seemed to grab the attention of everyone around him. 

The young girl took her last bite of her cheeseburger before marching to the exit of the cafeteria and dumping the leftovers in the trash bin. On her way back, she met the playful gaze of none other than Byun Baekhyun.

Mina opened her eyes as the boy in question marched towards her, his empty tray in his hands as well. She let her eyes trace slowly upward, past his expensive looking shoes, his tight-hugging pants, to his irritatingly broad chest leading to long arms ending in slender fingers, and then up to his face, peering at her.

The corners of his mouth twisted into a smirk, and she knew he caught her staring. She quickened her pace to hide her flared cheeks, but something odd stole her attention. A pink toothpick hung from his plump lips; dangling dangerously enough for her to notice it was in fact hers.

He flashed a mocking smile, moving the toothpick from side to side causing irritation to stir inside of her body. It was his way of challenging her, daring her to do something she shouldn’t do. It was taking every inch of self-control to prevent her of letting it all out: nails digging into her flesh, clenching her fists, biting her tongue… And the noticed it all.

Mina despised being put in situations where she couldn’t do anything. It drove her insane, how he carelessly toyed with her. Just who does he think he is? Mina closed her eyes for a brief moment and then left, not before catching a glimpse of his victorious grin.

She didn’t know how he did it, but the image of that grin stuck in her brain. He engraved it in her head in such a way that it was hard to concentrate throughout the last session of debate club.

She hated it.

“I’m sure you all got the news.” Mina declared, standing on the vast stage while the other club goers sat at the chairs, watching her intently, some with confusion, and some with blank eyes that seemed to say 'I already know'.

“So the club is just going to drop? Because of some stupid photography contest we’re not even sure about winning?” Kibum, a blunt sophomore, growled. The students turned to him, not really surprised by his behavior. He has always been like that: the first to speak up, the first to say no.

“I understand,” Mina sighed, looking just as appalled as he was, “But there’s nothing we can do.”

“What about the debate championship?” Irene asked from the back.

“You’ll have to do individual work, and when we finally gather again, we’ll have little to no work. Piece of cake.” Mina shrugged, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. She even twirled the stray hairs coming out from her braid for more effect, but she still couldn't hid