The car ride to school is bittersweet, because I realize that this is my final lap—it’s my last hurrah! before I take the label of freshman all over again. While I take it in that this is my last-first-day-of-school, the nervous butterflies in my stomach have now evolved to jitters all around my body, and it’s not from the vanilla latte Seyoung graciously got me this morning.

 

I see Jungkook today after two months. Taken, unavailable Jungkook.

 

I breathe out a substantial sigh, and I run through a script I’ve practically encrypted in my head since last night. After consoling the twins yesterday, Taemi suggested I be very inquisitive when Jungkook starts telling me about his girlfriend. I need to ask how they got together, what he likes most about her, their fondest memory at camp, and so on. I need to get all the information I can pull out of him, so I can dump it in front of Taemi and Taehyung, have them make sense of it, and then prescribe me with next steps.

 

That mission aside though, I am beyond ecstatic to see Jungkook again. I can’t fathom it myself that I’ve lived—or rather, barely survived—without any communication from him. My family’s company’s great and I’ll love them for all eternity, but if I had to spend another summer and endure my mom’s afternoon exercise in those god-awful neon bike shorts again, I will lose it.

 

That’s why when I see my familiar-faced, black-haired, brown-eyed best friend in the cafeteria, I forget that there’s an entire school sitting inside, and I jump right into his arms.

 

“Jungkook!” I yelp as my shoes violently kick off the ground, and I create my own wind by trying to imitate Usain Bolt.

 

“Seri,” Jungkook says and hugs me when I’ve basically plummeted into his body. The cafeteria doesn’t break out into a concurrent ‘awwww’ like how dramatic high schoolers usually do when they see a similar sight, because they all know us to be longtime best friends.

 

When we part, I look up to his face; his chestnut eyes, the locks that are obviously outgrown to where a few strands obstruct his vision, and then… I just inhale. Because I’ve missed him so, so much.

 

My eyes travel to his neck, collarbones, then shoulders. He’s wearing his uniform but I notice that it’s changed from its previous, perfect fit to considerably tighter. Tossing soccer balls at kids and running around in cleats has served him well this summer.

 

, does that mean his girlfriend is built too? She’s probably so strong and so athletic with that line down her stomach; maybe that was the reason he chose her over me?

 

“Tell the truth, you did three face masks last night to liven up your skin?” Jungkook teases and nudges my cheek.

“Very wrong. I know your species just uses bar soap on your face and calls it a day, but don’t hate me for trying.”

 

“It looks nice, Seri,” Jungkook smiles, and I examine how his lips curl up; normally, when Jungkook gives me a smile, his eyes only focus on me, and they’re longing and emotional. I used to be uncomfortable by it, but then I realized it’s more a compliment than anything.

 

But this smile… it’s not the usual. He’s not into me anymore. I purse my lips, disappointed.

 

We get our trays of breakfast: I get sugar-free cereal and skim milk after reminding myself that his girlfriend probably has a body out of Maxim, and Jungkook gets fruit.

 

“You’re actually not as tan as I thought you were in your photo. You definitely put a filter on, didn’t you? Was it Nashville? I know it was Nashville,” I say when we seat in one of the few booths that are still open.

 

“Close, Valencia.” He twists his tightly-screwed water bottle off, and I see his veins pop out in doing so. If this life, eyeing and examining his every move, where I’m adjusting to my new crush, this is going to be exhausting.

 

“My tan lines are still ing crazy though. Our camp wear was this highlighter neon muscle tee, so each time I’m before the mirror, I look like ⅔ of Neapolitan ice cream.” The mention of him being makes me twitch, but I collect myself quickly—keep your ing cool.

 

“I literally sent you a care package with five SPF 150 spray bottles. I had to order them from this website entirely in Mandarin. Do you know how hard it was to copy and paste an entire website into that tiny Google Translate box?”

 

“A 13 year old told some kids that sun exposure would lead to instant skin cancer, so the entire 6 to 8 year old cohort stole my bottles. Sorry,” Jungkook pouts.

 

“At least they were put to use. Even if it was 13 year old bullies making little kids paranoid.” I supply, and he nods to agree.

 

“Soooo,” my voice trails off. “Talking about your Instagram pic.”

 

“Oh, right. Yuna.” He says, and it’s followed by a fond smirk.. Of course it’s some cute, strawberry bubble-gum name like Yuna. “She was a counselor too.”

 

“Yuna,” I repeat, “You didn’t mention her name, or her entirely, at all last night. You keeping her a secret?”

 

“She’s not a secret. I just thought it would be an awkward topic to talk with you.”

 

“So you’d rather your best friend find out through a Valencia filter on Instagram?” I sense the tension building in his face. “I’m really happy for you, Jungkook.”

 

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I really should’ve told you, it was pretty immature to just not say anything. I know you’d be happy for me.” Right when he finishes, a tool from the baseball team looms over him like a thick, muscular cloud and then gives him a compact pat on the back.

 

“Ya, Jungkook!” The guy says, his voice three octaves lower than Jungkook’s. “Congrats on the chick, and for finally getting out of the friend zone. Very few actually make it to the other side, bro.” He winks at me, and I roll my eyes.

 

“Hey, celebratory shots with me this weekend, yea?” The guy continues before turning on his heels and cooly walking away from that typical jock shoulder sway. There’s going to be a party this weekend by a senior notorious for her annual back-to-school party.

 

“Yuna’s going to that, so hopefully, you guys will meet then. I’ve told her a lot about you,” Jungkook says, and his tone now is more weightless than before.

 

“You’re bringing her to our high school party?” I repeat again. That would be a huge debut, meaning this might be more serious than I thought. “Where is she from?”

 

“She’s about an hour and a half North from us, which isn’t too bad. I forget the name of the city, but she says it’s all grass and deer.”

 

“That’s still a bit away, how often are you going to see each other?”

 

“We’re aiming for every weekend,” he answers, and I instantaneously lose my appetite.

 

Every weekend. So does that mean that the weekday, the 8AM to 5PM weekday of doing homework and going to after school club meetings, are dedicated to me, while the free, open weekends are for this Yuna? That just isn’t fair.

 

“Wow, that’s really often,” I’m able to let out.

 

“Oh, yeah. But it helps that she’s in college, so she has a bit more flexibility in her time than us, you know?” Jungkook casually says, and I stop the urge to literally hurl.

 

“Excuse me—what?!” I exclaim, but the students around are too enthralled in their summer catch-ups that no one pays me attention. “She’s in ing college?! Is that even legal! I thought the max age at your camp was 17!”

 

“Calm down,” Jungkook furrows his brows, in panic, and swiftly looks around to see if anyone’s overheard. “She skipped a grade, so we’re both 17—okay?”

 

This girl is a real-life, modern Barbie: intelligent to have skipped a grade, athletic to be a soccer player. There were probably a bunch more reasons why that 8 year crush was blown to smithereens.

 

“Wow,” I don’t even hold back how thoroughly impressed I am. “She sounds.. great, Jungkook. I really can’t wait to meet her.”

 

“Yeah, I can’t wait either!” I look at Jungkook; his tone is filled with genuine enthusiasm, and I sense that he’s actually so happy to be talking about his new girlfriend. Jungkook goes on about this story of their ‘first date’ ziplining, and I listen attentively how it was Jungkook chickening out and Yuna was his savior.

 

I watch as his eyes twinkle at the sound of her name, his cheeks reddening at the thought of her. And all this time, I just wished he was talking about me instead.

 

I’m a terrible human being.

 

“Seri?” Jungkook’s voice whips me back from my Sunken Place of thoughts. “Did I bore you or something?”

 

“Oh, no, no! I’m so sorry,” I profusely apologize. “I just.. uh, blanked for a little bit. I was just... thinking about all the packing I have to help Seyoung with after school! That’s just what I’ve been doing for the past few days, so.”

 

“Oh, no problem. How is she anyways?”

 

“She’s good. Became more health-conscious, so each time she drinks a milk tea, she’d track it in a fitness app. Also has been spending an irrational amount of her allowance on avocado.”

 

“That sounds very… American,” Jungkook supplies and I give him a look saying ‘I know right!’.

 

--

 

“This girl is literally perfect,” I enunciate, adding dramatic hand gestures just so my message is extra clear. “She’s 17 but in college cause she’s a ing genius, she plays soccer so her thighs are probably so built and toned and beautiful. And to top it all off… her name is YUNA. Like the actual ice princess--ice QUEEN, Yuna. How can I compete?!”

 

“Wow,” Taehyung whistles. “You really sealed it with that last one. She’s got it all, you can’t even touch her, I’m sorry, it’s hopeless!”

 

“Tae!” Taemi shouts, aghast, and throws a punch, and not one of those dainty, light ones, at her brother. “He’s kidding—he’s kidding. You said she’s coming up for the party this weekend?”

 

“Yeah, and they have plans to see each other every weekend.”

 

“Damn. That’s kind of unfair.” Taehyung says through his munching of apple slices.

 

“That’s what I said!” I yelp and throw my face in my palms. “I can’t compete. She seems too good. I can’t do anything, you guys.”

 

“Seems, you don’t know,” Taemi tries to assure me by stretching out and caressing my wrist. “What I’ll say for sure is that you must make the most of your weekdays with him. Weekends may be out of the picture, but hey, you have 5 days to convince him back to you versus 2 with a long-distance-ish girlfriend.”

 

“It’s just like—I’m literally limited. We have school the whole day and by the time we get to hang out, it’ll be 30 minutes together before it’s nighttime!”

 

“You’ll make it work. You could still go to the movies, go to the park,” Taehyung adds, and I shrug.

 

It doesn’t take long before the lunch bell annoyingly blares through the cafeteria. Before we depart to our own classes, Taemi catches up to me before I leave out the door.

 

“Hang out with him tonight,” she proposes. “Do something he likes, whatever that may be.”

 

“He likes to play basketball…,” I whisper then bite my lip, because I’m a mere 5’4 that only gets 2 inches off the ground when I jump. “I though. That’s why we’ve never played together and I force him to play badminton with me.”

 

“Then play basketball with him. Show him that effort,” Taemi says and gives me a squeeze on the arm before leaving off. I catch sight of her (gorgeous) boyfriend waiting for her at the end of the hallway, and my heart flutters seeing them interlock arms. I see the infatuation in Henri's eyes when he catches a glimpse at Taemi, and now, I’m more determined than ever. Jungkook’s going to look at me just like that, sooner or later.