It was the last day of school before winter holidays. The usual end of term buzz was in the air, and everyone just seemed so excited. Including me. Ever since midterms and mathletes ended, I had been dying to have complete freedom for a few weeks where I could sleep late and not be pressured with homework. And go on vacation with my family.

 

I was on my way to the library to return some books when I saw a familiar, tall figure up ahead. It was Yeonjun. I was just about to call out to him when he turned around the corner and I realised he was walking with someone.

 

A girl with a high, dark brown ponytail in a maroon blazer.

 

 

Jisu?

 

 

 

It wasn't the first time I saw the two of them together at the library, so I really wondered what was going on between them. Were they actually seeing each other in secret?

 

But if they were, why were they hiding it?

 

 

I slid between one of the bookshelves as they took a seat at one of the desks in the far corner of the library. Both of them looked at ease, as if being together was the most normal thing in the world. Jisu was snacking on some biscuits and offered some to Yeonjun, who looked at her in a way that suggested Jisu wasn't normally the type to break rules and sneak snacks into the library.

 

My phone buzzed and Yeonjun's head snapped in my direction, his eyes squinted, trying to sus out who was behind the shelf. A bypassing junior brushed past me and into clear view, obviously not interested in whatever was going on here, so Yeonjun relaxed a little.

 

I crouched down just to be safe.

 

 

 

"Are you sure you're not going?"

Yeonjun's voice was so gentle. There was no sign of any teasing or jeering like how he would normally speak to us. He was patient and soft. He didn't seem like the playful, silly Yeonjun I knew, and it made me wonder if that was an act, or if the Yeonjun I knew was one.

 

Jisu shrugged as she penned some things into her school diary. "I know I promised you I would, but my parents would definitely ask questions."

 

Yeonjun leant forward, his eyes trained on whatever she was writing. "Just tell them you're with me."

 

"And that's supposed to help?"

Her voice was laced with playful sarcasm, but he finally broke a grin.

 

 

 

What was... that?

 

 

 

"What are you writing anyway?" Yeonjun asked, leaning forward even more and tilting his head to make sense of what was on her page. I shifted, trying to keep an eye on them from between the books, but they had gone quiet, and there was no way for me to see what Jisu was writing.

 

 

 

"Soojin?"

 

 

 

Oh, Taehyun. What perfect timing.

 

 

 

"Hey!" I stood up too quickly and was instantly slammed with lightheadedness. He reached out just in case I lost my footing and fell over, but I grabbed onto the shelf. "What are you doing here?"

 

Taehyun had a few books in his arms and I wasn't sure if he was returning or borrowing them. I caught sight of one of the titles. The Great Gatsby. He eyed my pile of books too, which had been left abandoned in an untidy heap on the floor.

 

"Returning and borrowing some books. You?"

 

 

Behind us, Yeonjun and Jisu had gone completely silent. I couldn't risk sneaking a glance at them, because my cover had already been blown. They would already know I was there. I had to come up with an excuse. Quick.

 

"Oh, me too."

 

"Yeah? What are you looking for?"

 

 

I grabbed the first book I saw. The Rainforest and its Inhabitants.

 

"Rainforests!" I held it up to him with a wide grin.

 

 

If he was confused, his amusement was way more obvious. "Is this for... a biology project?"

 

 

 

Before I could answer, someone had come up to our aisle.

 

"Oh, hey Yeonjun!" Taehyun greeted the senior with a small bow. "What a coincidence, we're all gathered here in the non-fiction aisle."

 

 

"What a lovely coincidence."

Yeonjun stared straight at me. He was smiling, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "A pleasant surprise too."

 

"Yeonjun?" I looked around, feigning ignorance. "What are you doing here?"

 

 

The corner of his lips curled up into a coy, enigmatic smirk as he stepped over and reached behind me for a book.

 

"Catching some deep sea animals." He answered. "Stealthy creatures."

 

 

 

 

 

I was absolutely certain that Yeonjun saw right through me, and it was unfair. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but he was clearly keeping secrets. Not just that, he was also lying straight to my face about not being close to Jisu.

 

 

He left after a while, and only after he did so, I felt like I could breathe. Taehyun didn't seem to notice it though, he walked with me back to the librarian's desk to sort out our books.

 

 

 

But as we headed off too, I turned around to look at the desk Yeonjun and Jisu were sitting at a moment ago.

 

 

 

It was empty. She was nowhere in sight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good thing we didn't have training after school that day, otherwise I might have confronted Jisu about earlier. It excited me to see that something was happening after all, but when the excitement passed, I felt a sense of being left in the dark, and I hated it. What was actually going on?

 

 

 

 

My last subject was maths. It was the best subject to have as a last class. Mr Hong gave us a 'free study' period, but he pretended not to notice if we weren't doing any work at all.

 

 

Kai was sleeping pretty soundly. That , because I wanted to chat, especially with the holidays and Christmas around the corner. And also with what happened earlier with Yeonjun and Jisu.

 

 

 

I was doodling in my notebook when Mr Hong called me up to his desk. I almost didn't hear him, the classroom was so noisy.

 

 

 

 

When I walked up to his desk, Mr. Hong was leaning back in his chair, and he seemed pleased. I was too! It was the end of a good semester, and he seemed to feel that way too.

 

 

"We didn't manage to chat about mathletes when it ended," he said while rummaging through his documents, probably looking for my file. "Do you want to take a seat?"

 

 

 

I pulled up my seat as he slid a piece of paper towards me. It was the list of teams for next year. I was surprised he had this sorted out already. A little too early, but maybe Mr Hong is just too organised.

 

 

"The current seniors would be gone next year and you will be rising to the junior class." He pointed at the three junior teams. I didn't see my name, but I did see Huening Kai there with Kang Taehyun, Lee Chaeryeong and even Shin Ryujin.

 

Whew, Kai's finally making it to mathletes. But huh, I had no idea. Maybe he haven't had the chance to bring it up yet.

 

 

 

"That's right, Mr Hong."

 

 

"You did great this year. Taehyun and Chaeryeong both said you were a great team player, so that's why I think..."

 

He slid his pen down to the sophomore teams. My name was at the top of one of the lists, as... team captain?

 

 

Mr Hong chuckled, probably noticing my confused expression.

 

 

 

 

"What do you say, would you lead one of the sophomore teams with your experience?"

 

 

 

"But, I didn't do really well this year. I don't think I'm..."

 

 

"No no no," Mr Hong answered, his eyebrows furrowing over in worry. "Look, you've done sophomore mathletes this year already, and you've got the experience that a team leader needs."

 

"What about my skills?" I answered, still unsure.

 

 

"A lot can change in a years' time, Soojin. A lot of work and improvement can be done, and you are on the way up. You might not see it, but I do."

 

 

 

 

This was why Mr Hong was my favourite teacher. He just had a way with words. He wanted us to succeed and he made sure not to leave any of his students behind. He was so thoughtful and genuinely encouraging.

 

Whenever he spoke to us, he always leant forward a little, his gaze never quite leaving ours. He had a natural charm as a teacher that made it easy for us to hear what he wanted to say. Also, the warm eagerness in his eyes made me feel at ease.

 

 

I agreed. I mean, why not? Mr Hong was probably right when he said a lot can change in a years' time. My grades were improving, albeit just slightly each time.

 

 

When we filed towards our bus after last period, Kai still didn't tell me about mathletes, but I decided to just forget about it until next term... after all, the holidays were finally here! The buses were always crowded on the last day of term, so we had to be quick if we wanted to make it on the first bus home.

 

 

 

I was officially a faster runner than Kai. He was panting by the time we reached the school gates, whereas I barely even broke a sweat. He noticed it too, because he was giving me a weird, incredulous look.

 

 

"Jisu and Dahyun made me into the woman I am today."

 

 

"They sure did." Kai answered, giving me a nudge. "Not bad, dude, you're finally good at something."

 

 

"Hey!" I shot back, not sure if I was supposed to be humoured or offended. Both, maybe. But Kai laughed with me.

 

 

He squinted past my shoulder, still a little breathless from our run before going, "Oh hey look, it's your brother and his groupie."

 

 

Soobin, Yeonjun and Yeji were headed our way. They were walking at a leisurely pace, as if they had all the time in the world to kill. Yeji was saying something and Soobin, listening real attentively, didn't notice how Yeonjun had spotted us and was waving. I didn't have to look at Kai to know he was waving back in an awkward, confused daze.

 

 

 

As we shuffled forward in line to board the bus, I noticed in the corner of my eye, that Yeonjun had left Soobin and Yeji behind, and was making a beeline towards us. He didn't look as smug as he had been at the library earlier, thankfully. His hair was ruffled up, probably from the number of times he would run his fingers through them while he struggled with his study materials. The afternoon sun was glaring straight into his face, forcing his gaze to the ground and his brows to pinch up in a slight frown.

 

 

Under the sunlight, I noticed how his natural dark hair had grown out to contrast with the light brown dye he had at the beginning of the year. It hit me then just how much time had passed when the beginning of the school year felt like yesterday.

 

 

There was an odd feeling I could never shake off. I blame the doubt that had been gnawing at me for a while now. The realisation that Yeonjun had become such a mystery to me. Do I really know who Choi Yeonjun is? He is my brother's best friend and he was always around. I just assumed that I would know him as well as I know Soobin. I knew that Yeonjun prefered romcoms to horror-thrillers, he liked puppies more than cats, he liked ice tea more than any other cold beverage... but there was still so much I didn't know.

 

 

He was a meter away now, safely within the perimeter of the bus' shadow, which meant he could grin coyly at us without the sun telling him not to. When our eyes met, I could only think of the way he looked at Jisu and spoke to her, and how natural and playful she seemed to be around him. I quickly looked away.

 

What are you hiding, Yeonjun?

 

 

When Kai tried to tell him to queue up like everyone else, Yeonjun pretended not to hear, instead he wedged himself between us and slung his arms over our shoulders.

 

 

"No way, my friends are cool but I cannot stand third-wheeling them for another second."

 

 

 

He paused, then squinted at us. "I'm not third-wheeling you two, am I?"

 

 

 

"What?! No, gross." I answered the same time Kai gagged.

 

 

 

I hadn't been able to meet his gaze again, but I could feel his eyes on me. He was probably grinning, thinking of someting witty and controversial to say to draw another reaction from us. Whatever he was thinking, he dismissed when we finally filed onto the bus. I boarded first, followed by Yeonjun and then Kai. The bus was almost already full, so I quickly slipped into our row.

 

 

Kai and Soojin's row.

 

 

 

The row Kai and Soojin always sat at.

 

 

 

I glared at Yeonjun when he slipped in right after me, leaving Kai to stand awkwardly in the aisle, looking for another person he could sit with before the few remaining spots were filled up.

 

What the heck? Just because I let him sit with me one time after mathletes, did he think he could sit there anytime he wanted? Gosh, he was so shameless.

 

 

 

Yeonjun got himself comfortable in Kai's seat, dropping his backpack on the ground in the small margin of space between us. He then looked up at Kai, who was still struggling to find a new seat.

 

 

 

"Huening, what are you doing, just sit anywhere." Yeonjun bobbed his head up to help Kai look. Kai's eyes widened before he crouched over.

 

 

"Oh ." The two boys said almost simultaneously.

 

 

 

"Why, why, why... w-what's wrong?" I asked, loosening my seatbelt to stand up and get a better view. Yeonjun tugged me back into my seat before I could, and to my horror, he slid halfway into my seat and Kai wedged himself into our row, fitting three people in two seats.

 

 

"No more seats?" I asked, and they nodded.

 

 

"Why don't we just catch the next bus?"

 

 

 

As if to answer my question, the bus whirred into action and began pulling away from the stop. In my fiery annoyance at Yeonjun, I didn't even notice that the bus had already been filled and was all ready to go. How on earth did the bus monitor let all of us on when there would be one idiot without a seat?

 

 

That idiot should've been Yeonjun but now it was all three of us. Especially Kai. He could barely keep him bum on the seat.

 

 

 

Yeonjun was cracking up so obnoxiously. "I can't believe this is happening. How did we get past the bus monitor?"

 

 

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

 

 

Kai's face was red from embarassment. The freshmen girls in our adjacent row were huddled against each other, staring and giggling at us.

 

 

 

Well, mostly at Kai.

 

 

 

"This is my worst nightmare." Kai groaned, turning to look at us. I must've looked a little too amused because he scowled and glanced at Yeonjun, who was shaking with laughter.

 

 

 

"Soojin, you're small, can't you just sit in his lap or something?"

 

 

 

Yeonjun knew Kai was only half serious, but he still grinned at me and gave his thighs a pat.

 

 

 

I made the mistake of glancing back at Yeonjun, because of the way he was staring at me.

 

 

I could be blind, but it almost looked like he actually wanted me to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A/N: HAHAHAH. Alright so the bus incident was actually based off a real life experience! Nobody sat in anybody's lap though. Thank goodness. We were all tiny. :D