“You know we can still see you, right?”

Those amused-sounding words caused Park Chorong to slowly take a peek from behind her biology textbook, an item she was using to shield her entire face as she hesitantly walked along the busy hallways. She found herself meeting the eyes of her closest friend, immediately blushing from the sight of her mischievous grin.

“W-What are you talking about?”

“I’m assuming we’re in the presence of someone you’re trying to avoid… and perhaps they’re a particular person you bumped into last week?”

As expected of Son Naeun; her words merely confirmed the fact that there was absolutely nothing Park Chorong could hide from her.

The younger girl’s curiosity was at its peak, and there was no possible way for the other to avoid that specific topic any further.

She had no other choice but to surrender, now holding the book against her chest.

“Yes… she’s here.”

“Ah, so I’m looking for a girl.”

“Oh God.”

With intense concentration and determination, Naeun proceeded to scan around the hallway, observing each and every single face she came across.

Her gut instincts soon made her eyes linger on a group of chattering females in the distance, though the body languages of the involved made it seem more like an interrogation rather than a normal conversation. That became a huge, helpful clue for the curious student.

“Based off of your reaction from last week, I’m going to guess it’s the one in a black jacket.”

“Am I really that predictable…?”

“I just know you well… but I got to say, that jacket does look good on her.”

“Oh? I didn’t know you were into the ‘bad’ type.”

“Only the aesthetic, I guess. I’m not a fan of their -like tendencies.”

“Well, everything about them just… scares me.”

Just as those words left , Park Chorong found herself making eye-contact with one of the ‘negotiating’ students.

To make matters worse, the whole group soon followed suit and turned their heads to look their way-

Or more specifically, to stare directly at them.

She could feel her heart skip a beat as one of them point at her face, triggering her hand to anxiously grasp onto one of Naeun’s dangling arm.

“L-Let’s go, Naeun-ah.” she whispered desperately while turning her back towards the group of staring students, “We should probably head to class now.”

“But… they’re coming.”

“H-Huh?”

Exactly as what Naeun had warned, two girls could now be seen approaching them- including the one in a leather jacket.

However, despite of that student’s intense gaze, it was the other female who spoke up first, a bright smile arched out of her lips.

“Park Chorong?” she called out to Naeun in a light-hearted manner, realising her mistake the second she witnessed the girl glance at the other. “Ah, you’re Park Chorong. Sorry, I didn’t get to see your face clearly the last time we met… though technically that wasn’t a meeting.”

“Is there something you need from us?” Naeun boldly spoke up upon feeling the older girl’s tightening grip, a clear sign to how distressed she was. “We were just about to head to class, and I honestly think you guys should do the same.”

Being an observant person herself, Park Chorong’s stiff body language didn’t go unnoticed by Jung Eunji either.

She proceeded to flash out the brightest smile she could manage, an attempt to subside the uncomfortable tension. “Hey now, we don’t bite- right, Bomi?”

She turned to her best friend after hearing nothing but silence, finally realising how Bomi was behaving like a totally different person.

No longer was there a trace of confidence, and instead her pupils were darting everywhere other than the student whom she ran into the week before.

Such a sight became a cue for Eunji to deliver a violent nudge to her friend’s waist, successfulluy snapping the girl out of it yet also resulting her to unintentionally spit out a cuss before she frantically slapped her own mouth shut with one hand.

Son Naeun glanced at them both (with obvious judgement) before letting out a sigh, speaking up in a harsher tone than before. “Look, if you guys have nothing important to say, we’ll be taking our leave. I don’t think we even know each other, so please don’t waste our time any further than you already have.”

Such strong words were incredibly unusual to be coming out of Naeun’s mouth, as she was never the confrontational type.

Similarly to her closest friend, she was an introvert who would much rather avoid drama-

Or any form of human contact in general.

However, she was a loyal friend who’d risk it all for Park Chorong, even if it was to stand up against two tough-looking strangers by herself.

To protect the older was by far a greater priority of hers, and there was no way she was going to back down now.

It seemed like Son Naeun’s intimidation got to the other duo, as they were both staring back at her with quite a surprised expression.

Silence soon found its way to surround the group, with Eunji now staring at her best friend while Naeun and Chorong simply waited for a response.

It didn’t take long for the younger girl’s patience to drop to zero, resulting for her to grab hold of Chorong’s forearm to guide her away from the scene.

However, it was at that same exact moment when Yoon Bomi abruptly took a step forward, getting a hold of Chorong’s free arm.

It caused Chorong to let out a tiny wince of shock, her entire body flinching violently from the sudden physical contact.

Even Naeun was at a loss of words for a bit, her body frozen in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

With a final gulp and a sharp inhale, Bomi proceeded to shock all three of the girls further with her unexpected words.

It was stuck in her dry throat at first, though she ended up revealing her thoughts loud and clear.

She had just confessed to the student before her, with the five words ‘I love you, park Chorong’ echoing soundly throughout the hallway.

Considering the circumstances, the responses she received wasn’t that surprising.

Son Naeun stared back with widened eyes, seemingly doubting herself on whether if she had heard it correctly or not.

Jung Eunji restrained herself from pinching her glabella, already mentally preparing for the chat she would have to share with her friend later on.

Park Chorong, on the other hand, struggled to even breathe properly at first.

The timid female couldn’t be blamed when she struggled to react, taking extra time to process her absurd situation.

It was after an entire minute of silence that her lips finally parted themselves up, letting her fragile voice out and stammering a weak:

“I… I’m…

… I’m s-sorry…”