Chapter Three

It was silent.

He was expecting something – like a loud scream, exaggerated shriek, eerie screeching or anything along those lines, so when he only got the cold air hitting his cheeks and the warmth of somebody’s body beneath him, he felt like something was totally wrong. There were several scenes on his mind, one of them including a fainted girl, and other scenes that seemed much worst. But... he actually expected her to be cool and – he wasn’t sure... maybe he was hoping that Youngji could remember him?

Did I go too far?

“Hey,” he said, his voice shaky. “Are you okay?”

He felt the breathing, initially slow and strained, but then it went rapid and uncontrolled. Suddenly, he was pushed by a force and he felt his body jerking forcefully backward, so he d on the mattress and tightened his grip.

"Kim Jongdae?"

He heard a click, and then the room was suddenly dimly lit by the night lamp. He saw Youngji’s widened eyes, which was quickly turned into a confused stare.

“Kim Jongdae,” she muttered his name after the confirmation. “Care to tell me why you’re here?”

“How did you know that it’s me?”

“Your voice.”

He grinned. “I see,” he said. “Well I’m here because... I was lost?”

“I should buy that excuse? And are you this house owner’s friend or a ert – I’m so sorry for being blunt.”

“No and yes; I’m Chanyeol’s friend.” He chuckled before he repositioned his body, and sat comfortably on the bed. Youngji looked troubled though, so he asked, “Are you badly shaken?”

“What do you mean?” she asked back. Her fingers crawled towards the hem of her quilt before she subtly pulled it upward to cover her chest. Jongdae was still a man, and a man equal to the red code. No matter how much she felt like she wanted to just kick him and burn his body, she won’t do that. If her mother knew that she was treating a person that way, she would be the one who would get burned. “It was a bit surprising – just a bit.”

"Sorry,” Jongdae said, though, his tone seemed to be more amused than apologetic. Even from the dim light, he could see that Youngji’s wearing a long sleeved pyjama, and he was sure that he saw some messy bird nest there too. If the room had a better lightning, he would have seen Youngji's blush when she was trying to brush her messy hair. “Are you sure that you’re not too shocked or anything?”

“I can’t say that I’m used to having a male visitor during the night – in my bed, especially – but I’m not that terribly shaken. But I think that decreasing the proximity between us is a safe bet as for now, don’t you think so?” Youngji stated in her best, possible politeness. Sure, she was really – absolutely horrified and panicked when she had heard a male voice ringing in her ears, but she couldn’t just say that out loud in Jongdae’s face. Though, she was definitely not at ease to find that she was alone in her room with a guy. She was wearing a pyjama for God’s sake! That was very indecent of her to face somebody in that kind of outfit.

“Doesn’t this room have a brighter lamp?” Jongdae asked as he crawled backward, slowly making sure that he wasn’t gonna fall. He really couldn’t see anything that well, minus the outlines of a few objects. Once both of his feet hit the floor, he quickly stood up and stayed still. He waited for Youngji’s next words.

“Thank you,” she said. “Now Jongdae, do I owe you anything?”

“I thought I told you that I was lost?”

“I didn’t say that I was gonna buy that,” Youngji said, and the Jongdae heard the rustling sound of cloth. “Can you continue to walk straight and reach for the lamp switch?” she asked. Jongdae followed as instructed, and he was about to turn back to face her once the room was brightly lit when she continued to talk. “And please don’t turn backward,” she ordered. “Is it okay if you wait outside?” she asked another question. Jongdae didn’t answer, so she took that as a declination. Although she felt that it was a bit suspicious and inappropriate, she let it slid. It wasn’t like Jongdae was gonna do anything to her, right? But Jongdae said that he was biual, so he could be – she glared at him. “I will be in my bathroom, and please stay where you are.”

A few minutes after that, Youngji was quickly changed into a proper attire. “You can turn your back now,” she said. “We can head outside –“

“No,” Jongdae immediately said his disagreement.

Youngji raised a brow. “Why is that?”

“Stuffs.”

“I don’t think that it is a good thing to discuss matters in my bedroom,” Youngji said. “The atmosphere at the outside is more suitable for discussion –“

“I don’t think that you want to see the atmosphere at the outside,” Jongdae said. “They are drinking.”

Youngji kept shut before her lips broke into a thin smile. It didn’t look happy from Jongdae’s perspective, but he couldn’t say that it look sorrowful as well. He felt as if the smile carried more than one meaning, and it somehow hurt him to know that this girl in front of him could be closer to Chanyeol than he was.

“So Chanyeol could handle liquors now?”

“He still couldn’t,” Jongdae replied. “But Sehun and Jongin are teaching him to be a better drinker,” he said.

“Sehun and Jongin are still friends with him, I see,” Youngji said with a smile on her face. “So Jongdae, I’m actually expecting you to say that those two kids sent you here to scare me? Am I right?”

“You seem to know them well enough to say that,” Jongdae blurted out. He didn’t realize that he sounded like one of those groupies – again. He only felt the crazy embarrassment and the urge to cut himself into pieces when he saw Youngji’s widened eyes. Seriously, when did he become one of those overly jealous girls? He wasn’t one, technically, but he sure did act like one. “I’m sorry,” he said abruptly.

Youngji smiled. “It’s fine,” she assured him. Jongdae looked like a tomato which was about to explode, but she wasn’t gonna mention that. She learned a long time ago that one was very sensitive to his appearance. “Actually, Jongdae, I want to know if there’s anything that I could do to help you?”

“Do you still like Chanyeol?”

“What – oh my God, what?”

“Chanyeol,” Jongdae said the name exaggeratedly. “Do you still like him?”

“I didn’t realize that we’re going to talk about this, to be honest,” she said nervously. “Is this why those two kids sent you to scare me?”

“Well, actually Chanyeol’s girlfriend sent them, and they sent me, and I just happened to sit on your couch right now.”

“I’m supposed to laugh, right?” 

Jongdae was the one who laughed. “Damn, you’re so awkward! Just like –“ he immediately stopped. “Chanyeol.”

“I don’t think that I’m comfortable to reveal this kind of thing, but it seems like you need my answer desperately, so I’m gonna give you an evasive answer.”

“You don’t need to mention that it’s evasive.”

Youngji flashed a gracious smile. One that could turn Jongdae into a gentleman right away and dance with her in the suffocating tuxedo and dancing along to the ballroom routine. “I don’t like Chanyeol anymore.”

“Can you repeat that?”

“I don’t like him anymore.”

“With his name.”

“I don’t like Chanyeol anymore.”

“With his birth name.”

Youngji felt like glaring, but she restrained herself from doing that by adding the image of her raging mother on her mind. “I don’t like Park Chanyeol anymore.” Before Jongdae was about to ask for her to repeat it again, she quickly added a polite request: “I hope that it’s enough to convince you.”

“It is,” he said. “Actually, I want to ask you a favour.”

“I sincerely hope that it’s not something absurd.”

Jongdae laughter filled the room again. “Is this how you usually talk? Not even Chanyeol talks this way now.”

Youngji set an imaginary fire around Jongdae, while imagining an imaginary pair of hands pouring down the fuel to make the fire grow greater. Who was this indecent guy who suddenly broke into her room and then asked a personal question out of the blue? No wonder Chanyeol had ruined his manner – he was talking back to his mother just a while back, and that was like the deadliest sin in Youngji’s perspective. An elder was supposed to be respected, and their words were the law. 

“People around us shape our mannerism and personality, I guess,” Youngji said in a nonchalant tone. She was sure to hide the spitefulness in her words beneath the smile on her face. “It is really unfortunate that Chanyeol has chosen... well – a thing that he is used to encounter.”

Jongdae feigned a cough. “Back to the favour.”

“Yes?”

“I like Park Chanyeol.”

“Pardon me?”

“I like Park Chanyeol, and I dislike it that he has his girlfriend with him, so I’m asking you tips on how to hunt him down.”

“I didn’t hear anyone screaming last night,” Sehun said. “Are you sure that it really worked?’

“You guys must be really drunk,” Jongdae retorted.

“Chanyeol was the only one who got wasted though. Jongin and I were completely sober.”

“Must be your mind playing tricks,” Jongdae said while passing the school gate. Right from where he was situated, he could see Jooyeon and her group of friends. He compared himself to her, and even though he had this confidence that he was better in many fields, he didn’t know if he was on-par with her in the ‘Chanyeol type’ field. His shoulders immediately tensed, and he was immediately embarrassed to feel himself turning into one of those groupies who was far too obsessive.

“Can you tell me that my mind is playing tricks now too?” Sehun's question came as a whisper.

“What the hell are you talking – “

A pair walked through the school gate, and their appearance brought everyone else to shame. It was like one of those cringe-worthy scenes in dramas when superior figures walked by and everybody fawned over them. It was not as severe as that, but it was still as lame as that certain scene. Or maybe it was really Jongdae’s mind playing trick, because he saw how the imaginary heart-shaped frame formed when Chanyeol and Youngji came out from the same car. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Sehun and Jooyeon exchanging glances. Sehun’s was a troubled one, and Jooyeon’s leaned more to the raging one.

“Damn...” Sehun muttered.

“This is bad.”

Well, at least Jongdae got to express his feelings without having anything suspicious pointed at him.

“Morning,” Chanyeol murmured once he was in front of Jongdae and Sehun. “I dropped the ‘good’ part just in case.”

“Why don’t you accompany her while you’re at it?” Sehun asked mockingly. “She had only been here for a month, so I don’t really think that she could remember the locations and all.”

“If I don’t know you well, I would have thought that you’re very generous,” Chanyeol said in annoyance. “I have my own thoughts and judgements too, so don’t worry,” he stated in sorrow. “How’s Jooyeon doing?”

“Bad,” Jongdae muttered.

“Oh.” Chanyeol raised a brow. “So Jongdae, I’m sure that you’ve heard most of the stories from Sehun?”

“Pretty much. He left out many parts though.”

Sehun sighed. “If I wanna tell you everything, I will need like – a decade or something like that.” He averted his attention back at Chanyeol. “You gotta sort this out man. Your girl is mad.”

“I know.”

“You know?”

“Yeah.”

“And you did nothing?”

Chanyeol hesitated. “Well, I did try to seal this thing as a secret –“

“I mean, did you do anything to get rid of Youngji?’

Chanyeol clenched his fists. “She’s my mom’s guest, so it has nothing to do with me.”

“Surprise! It has everything to do with you – your relationship, to be precise. No girl would accept that another girl was living under the same roof as her boyfriend.” Sehun folded his arms while glaring at Chanyeol. “Don’t let Youngji to ruin your life again. You don't seem like you're very worried, to be frank.”

“Can I like, sprint to my class and leave you guys? I have to do the cleaning today,” Jongdae said in hurry as he waved at them and walked quickly towards the faculty room. First, he felt like he was constantly choking on something when he was hearing the discussion about Chanyeol’s relationship – God, he was turning into some jealous freak. Secondly, he wanted to encounter Youngji and ask a few things.

He was close to the faculty room when he heard the faint sound of an object cracking which was followed by the obnoxious laughter. His feet increased their speed automatically and then he reached the hall which was heading to the faculty room only to find Youngji standing in the middle of the hall. He was about to call for her when he saw her hand going up to her  hair before she lifted it – and then Jongdae saw yellow.

“They threw eggs at you?” he asked.

Youngji abruptly turned her back to face him, and then she smiled. The smile only lasted for a second though before it faded. “Yeah,” she muttered while using her fingers to make a few swift turns to flick the remaining sticky eggs away. There was nothing to be appreciated about it. She felt like she wanted to cry, but she wouldn’t do that for that would only put her in a dark light. She looked at where the group which was responsible for the mess was, and then she just stared into the empty space when she realized that they had left. “I thought this is high school?”

“It is.”

“Oh,” she said absent-mindedly. “I don’t remember having eggs thrown at me on my first day around two years ago. I assume that this is not some sort of cultural welcoming stuff as well?”

“You guessed it right.”

Youngji looked up and stared at the ceiling to contain her tears. She had always thought that crying was that thing that could turn her into a whiny, irrational person. One tears fell, and she won't be able to stob sobbing for at least an hour. Once she felt like she was composed enough to say a few words, she looked back at Jongdae and flashed a tiny smile. “Why are you here?” she asked, and she gasped once she realized something. “I’m so sorry if that sounded rude.”

“Park Chanyeol.”

“I” – she looked at somewhere but Jongdae – “don’t think that I could help you with that.”

“Is it really true that you guys don’t have anything hidden?”

“Positive,” she replied calmly.

“Then why are you not helping me?”

Youngji looked back at Jongdae, eyes staring monotonously at him. It was the very first time she gave someone that kind of stare. “Because he has a girlfriend.”

“You already broke their relationship.”

Youngji’s expression hardened and it was lucky that her hands were already gripping the straps of her backpack, because that would be a perfect excuse on why she was clenching her fists. “I didn’t intend to that.”

She swore that she didn't want to be caught amidst the draught, but it was actually more than that. Jongdae had no reason to know.

“I’ve been in love with him for two years –“

“I’m so sorry Jongdae, but I don’t think that this is the right time for you to –“

“And I can only stare at him when he’s with another girl. I know that it’s wrong for me to barge into the relationship, but could you at least help me to try?”

Youngii bit her lips in reluctance. “Jongdae –“

“Just trying. I just wanna try, for once. If this failed,” Jongdae stopped. “If this failed,” he repeated the last phrase in bitterness, “then I’m gonna give up.” 

“Do you really like Chanyeol?”

“Yes.”

"I honestly feel like I can't do this."

Jongdae stepped towards her, and that made her do a sudden reverse. "I will take the blame."

Youngji gave a dull chuckle while she continued to step backward. "I don't really think that this matter will only concern you, to be frank. I'm still not saying anything, though."

Jongdae turned his heels and walked away, but then he abruptly stopped and faced her. "The yolks are still there," he pointed out. "Still," he whispered, "I really wanna try."

She nodded before she said in doubts, “I’ll think about this, but please don’t expect too much.”

He left with a hopeful smile

Youngji decided that she would put a deep thought into it. If things were done rather blindly, everything would get worse. She closed her eyes before she headed towards the restroom. Whose hearts were gonna be spared, and whose would be sacrificed?

Sorry, Jongdae.