"Ugh, I hate rounds!" I declared one evening in the library. The already-annoyed librarian shot me a scandalized look at my loud outburst. I smiled sheepishly and leaned in whispering. "I mean, they're boring."

"Then don't go," Jinyoung suggested. We had spent the last two hours studying in a corner of the library. Or at least... trying to study. No, we were not kissing. I refuse to become one of those disgusting couples. Our time mostly consisted of Jinyoung trying to work for 2 minutes and then he would throw his pen in frustration complaining that he couldn't concentrate. I would argue that he shouldn't be complaining that when he hasn't even tried to focus. He would complain that I was too condemnatory for my own good (in a teasing way, of course) but I'd still demand an apology from him and we'd go back to studying happily. And then, the cycle would repeat itself.

These frequent interruptions weren't the only thing that was keeping me from getting anything done. I'd catch myself staring at him (when he wasn't looking). I'd closely observe the little crease that appears between his brows when he was thinking hard. How he chewed his pencil when he was doing a calculation. Or how his cheeks were slightly raised that added to his perfect features. Don't blame me. I just have a very handsome boyfriend.

As I've said, we haven't got much work done.

"I can't skip them." I sighed deeply. "Madame Jung would know if I did that, plus, Junmyun's also not here-"

"Why isn't he here?" He asked.

, Mirae, you thickhead. I almost slapped my forehead. I mean, okay, Jinyoung knew about Junmyun's secret but I still didn't want to remind him and tell him about the whole lawsuit that was going on these days, for which Junmyun had to attend the hearings. "Um, he's sick, I guess." I stuttered trying to cover up his absence. Either Jinyoung didn't notice my hesitance or chose to ignore it, I couldn't tell.

"Well, do you want to come with me? God knows, you wouldn't be able to get even one assignment done without me nagging you." I proposed.

"I haven't had any assignment done even with you nagging me." Jinyoung pointed out, amused.

I grinned. "True. So?"

"Nah, I think I'll pass. Haven't got enough energy left to wander around this whole place for nothing. But are you afraid of doing 'em alone, if you are then I'll come with you?"

Nothing? That's harsh, ain't I going to be with you?

Brushing off all hard feelings, I shook my head. I'm probably just overreacting, both of us are really tired anyway "No. I'm okay doing them alone anyway. Besides, I do need to get away from you if I want some work done later." I chuckled, swinging my bag on my shoulder.

Jinyoung raised a thick eyebrow. "So you're planning to lock yourself in a room whose location will be unknown to me after rounds?"

"Exactly," I joked before winking at him.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head, and removed my bag from my shoulder. "I'll take it back. See you in the common room later."

I leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. "Bye."

Massaging my temples because my headache was starting to get worse, I began from the second floor though I doubt that people would hit the usual snogging spots this early. I love my duties but having to do this alone can be burdensome sometimes. If there's any moment where I regret being prefect, it's the embarrassing moment when I walk in to a snogging couple, and instead of walking away quickly, I have to break them apart and punish them. No wonder prefects were never popular.

I turned a corner and found Chanyeol halfway down the corridor with his eyes trained on a large poster-like sheet. A small smile made its way on his face though the minute I approached him, he quickly shoved the poster in his pockets once he noticed me but his eye still held that focused glaze. Since the past few weeks, things had returned to normal between us. Yumi was right, it did happen. Though I wouldn't lie that sometimes when he's standing too close, my stupid mind starts wondering about that night but on the whole, the situation was under control.

"What was that?" I asked, nodding at where the poster had disappeared to.

"Nothing," Chanyeol replied quickly.

I highly suspect that. You can't trust this boy so much. But if he didn't want to tell me, then there was no way I could get it out of him. "So, what were you doing here?"

"Wondering if you'd like company seeing your usual partner-in-crime is currently fighting a lost battle." He grinned.

I rolled my eyes at the double meaning of his mocking remark. "So, were you waiting for me here or something?"

"Mirae." He sighed audibly. "Why do you always think that I'm stalking you?"

"Well, then, how did you know I'd be here?" I defended.

"Actually I was pretty much on my way to the library to look for you." He replied smugly.

I narrowed my eyes. "How did you know I was in the library?"

"You're always in the library."

Damn, that makes sense.

"Is that a yes to wanting company, then?" He continued pleasantly.

"I suppose," I muttered in a low voice.

To get over my concerns about the load of homework I'd left behind, I asked in hopes to hear a comforting response. "Don't tell me you're already done with all the work?"

Chanyeol answered easily. "Okay, I won't tell you."

I stopped in my tracks. "Wait, are you saying you are done?"

"Do you want to know or not?" He smirked.

I huffed in annoyance, whined. "How do you do that?!"

"I offered to tutor you, remember?"

Rolling my eyes, I answered, "And I'm still passing on that."  I'd rather die than ask him for help and inflate his already extra large-sized ego.

"Well, I'm sure you were behind for completely different reasons," Chanyeol suggested, shooting me a crooked grin, his manner was laced with mischief. "I may not have known for sure that you were in the library, but I did hear Jinyoung telling his friends that he was going to the library."

"Actually, we were studying, I'll let you know," I cleared, but my traitorous cheeks were giving me away.

"Sure you were." He nodded pleasantly but one look at his face told me he didn't believe it one bit.

"Anyway." I pointed out. "I'm not discussing that with you."

"Okay." He replied. After a minute or so of silence, he asked. "All right, new topic?"

"Please."

"So, well...I've been thinking that we've been friends for---what, more than 4 months, right?"

"I guess." I agreed, not knowing what was coming next.

"So, don't you think it's time we knew a little more about each other?" He asked facing me fully.

I broke into laughter. "If Jinyoung had asked that, then it would have made sense cause he wasn't around...but you, well we've been studying in the same class and living in the same common room for years. What else do you need to know about me more than you already do?"

"Well, you might have noticed, we wasted these 'years' by only bickering and shouting at the other at the top of our lungs. At least, I know that's what you did." He shrugged his shoulder.

Okay, that shut me up really well.

"So, all in all, I only know how higher you can scream and which prank ticks you off the most, that's all, Mirae." He completed innocently, successfully persuading me in giving into his little game.

I huffed. "Fine. Fire away."

He grinned at my defeat. "What do your parents do?"

Oh, that is a pretty safe question. "My father is a dentist and my mother used to be a kindergarten teacher but she dropped out a few years back."

Chanyeol nodded. He might already know this. "And you don't have any other siblings besides your charming sister?"

"Unfortunately, yes," I responded as we trekked on the stairs to the third floor. "Or fortunately because that's fewer people to hate me."

He didn't laugh at that. Instead, just threw me a solemn look. Suddenly feeling a little awkward, I quickly asked. "What about you?"

"My mother has an Italian restaurant and my father has his live cafe. Plus, I have an elder sister."

"Oh, nice. I think I've seen your sister though." I retorted.

"She's the one who mostly drops or picks me up at the station. You must have seen her there." I nodded at his answer.

"Should we move on to favorite colors?" Chanyeol suggested, a smile gracing his face. "Mine's black."

"I like orange." I contemplated. "But I look like a clown when I wear orange. So for clothes, I like blue or purple."

"Not green?" He prompted.

"If I wear green, I would most likely look like a tree because my hair is really light-colored," I answered quickly.

"Right, of course." He was shaking his head. "Honestly, Mirae, only you could make a simple question like 'what's your favorite color' so complicated!" He laughed.

I laughed too. "Okay, now my turn to ask. "What was your first detention? and why?"

"That's two questions."

"Just shut up and answer."

"Fine--the second week of school. Baekhyun and I had let off crackers in the Chemistry classroom. Madame Jung made us organize her desk for her as detention."

"Hey, I remember that! The crackers were really disturbing. And I can't believe you picked Madame Jung's class out of all the teachers." I scrunched my nose at the memory of the blue and green crackers in the beginning of term. God, that gifted me a headache for a whole day!

"Well, to be fair, we didn't know she was such a hard at that point of our young lives." He defended. "So, it's my turn, your first detention?"

Hmm...that's easy. "Never had one," I smirked proudly.

Chanyeol stopped abruptly with horror written all over his face. For a minute, I actually thought that something really terrifying happened. "What?"

I hit his arm vexedly. "Hey don't look so surprised! It's a good thing. That's why they call it detention."

"Yes, but...okay. That's my mission for the rest of the year."

I raised my eyebrows. "To get me in detention?'

Chanyeol nodded a determined firm nod that should scare me.

"Good luck."

"I'm actually very good at it." He promised me.

Honestly, I should be worried about that. But aloud I said, "I'm not worried," refusing to admit otherwise to him. "First time you played football?"

"When I was five. I played with my father and Yoora Noona." A small smile appeared on his lips at the childhood memory.

"And you've been hooked ever since?" 

"Sort of," Chanyeol said. "First time you've been drunk?"

"Aren't you going to ask me about the first time I played football?" I joked.

He grinned at my question. "No, I was there to witness your brilliant skills. You were bloody awful."

I would have been very, very offended if it wasn't so painfully true. Even the simple task of shooting a goal was a strenuous job and I was embarrassed at landing on my that I'd swore that day, never to touch the pitch again, The memory of making fun of myself in the first P.E class is going to haunt till my last day. If not, Chanyeol and Baekhyun will never let me see the end of it. I'm sure they will always be there to remind for a good laugh.

"On your birthday; to answer your question about being drunk." Thank god, I didn't need to say 'never' or he would have declared me the most boring person in school.

"That was hardly being drunk." Chanyeol scoffed taking away all my happiness.

Rolling my eyes, I came across one fact that one can never please Chanyeol. I'm not even going to try next time. I refrained myself from saying: So, one's not drunk until they end up kissing their friend, in your dictionary?

"So, first time you smoked?" I cast him a sideways glance as I pushed another classroom's door.

He frowned at me. "I don't like smoking."

A sigh of relief left my system. "Finally! I've found one good thing about you."

He grinned from ear to ear. "Proud of me?"

"Very much."

"First time you rode a motorbike?" He shot back.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Uhh...never?"

"No wonder we've never been friends before." Chanyeol sighed dramatically. "I'll just add that to the list, shall I?

"What list?"

"List of things I'm going to help you accomplish by the end of the year."

"The other being getting detention?" I asked, confused.

"Making you ride a motorbike and get you drunk really bad."

"That's never going to happen." I clicked my tongue. Thankfully I have enough control over my conscience to ever let that happen.

"We'll see."

I was busy praying that all of the things would never actually happen when he shot his next question. "First friend? That you remember?"

I smiled. "Oh, I remember it very well. Oh Sehun."

He gasped loudly, his eyes wide in astonishment. "You've known him since that long?"

I just nodded.

"No wonder you've always..." He trailed away, deciding against whatever he was about to say.

"What?"

"Nothing." He shook his head.

I gasped as a wave of stinging pain hit my head again. I slowed down and grabbed my forehead trying to regulate my rapid breaths, my fingers pressing hard on the skull.

"What is it?" Chanyeol asked.

"Just my head. Never mind."

"Aren't you having a lot of those lately?" He sounded concerned.

"It's okay," I assured him. "First kiss." I asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, so now we're getting to the good stuff, eh?" He teased me with a wink. "Well, I'll have to think really, really far back--"

"Oh, shut up. I know you're not that much of a player as you want everyone to think." I retorted.

He flashed me a winning smile. "Why? Keeping tabs on all my dates, miss?"

"Gross, of course not." I scrunched my nose disapprovingly. "You're really bad at answering questions, you know?"

"Kim Sae-ron." He replied, a self-assured smirk playing on his lips.

My lower jaw almost hit the ground, emitting a shocked gasp. "Didn't she graduate two years ago?"

"Yep."

I turned to face him completely. "You kissed someone two years older than you?!"

"Impressed?"

"I don't know," I muttered with a small frown. Why does he get to experience such a lucky, dreamy experience for a first kiss? That's damn unfair. "I swear I heard someone say that she's currently training to be a model."

"That's right."

I was horrified and bitter and dismayed at the same time, don't know if it's possible to feel so much at one moment. "So, basically your first kiss was a model,  two years older than you?"

"Yeah." 

I wish I could wipe away that arrogant smirk from his perfectly causal face. 

"Don't look so worried." He patted my head with a sympathetic look. "She wasn't a model back then, was she? Though she was still popular."

I shooed away his head, still very jealous.

Chanyeol laughed heartily at my childish action. "It was great, actually. She was still attracted to me even though she knew my age, I was almost 15 by then. Our kiss wasn't very long but I wouldn't call it a peck also-"

"Okay." I interrupted hurriedly. "I just asked who your first kiss was. I don't need a description."

"All right, your turn." Chanyeol shot me a sly, knowing look. "I know Jinyoung's your first boyfriend but I'm sure he isn't the first guy you've kissed."

"Why? Keeping tabs on all my dates?" I copied his words from before though he was right. I was so nervous even at the simple prospect of holding hands with Jinyoung. And I just freaked out at the kiss, I know I'm weird just like that.

"Clearly not. If I had, I wouldn't have been asking you, huh?" A cheeky grin replaced his features.

"I'm not telling you."

"Yes, you are."

"I don't have to."

"Yes you do, that's how the game works, Mirae, come on." He protested.

I sighed deeply. I know I'm violating the rules but telling him means allowing him to tease the out of me for the rest of my pitiful life. Why did I even ask this question in the first place, I should have known he would have asked back.  "I can't believe what I'm about to do," I muttered mostly to myself, bracing myself by holding a large breath. "Seo Minhyuk."

Chanyeol looked at me with as much horror as he had when I told him I hadn't been in detention. "No, it wasn't." He declared, refusing to accept, shaking his head disbelievably. "Not him Mirae, you could do better." 

Seo Minhyuk was our batch mate, from the Arts Department. He is honestly the dumbest person I have ever met and will probably ever meet my entire life. In our early years, he was known for his stupidity and dense head. People used to laugh at his brainless remarks. One more thing that I hate to say; he also looks like a rat and I mean it. So you can see why the surprise was just.

"What do you mean. Of course, it was him." I shot back indignantly. "I think I would know that."

"You snogged Seo Minhyunk ?" He asked incredulously.

"We didn't snog. It was merely a peck." I explained with a heavy heart. "And it wasn't even a real kiss! Yumi had dragged me into playing spin-the-bottle in the first year. They dared me to kiss him."

"Sorry I missed that game." He replied quickly, almost involunatarily, but winced when I glared at him. "No, I'm serious, I meant--uh-- actually I've forgotten what I meant, you've really distracted me with this Minhyuk business." Signs of alarm were still there.

"See? It wasn't wrong of me to be jealous of you on your first kiss."

"I suppose." A grin jumped up on his face at that. "Well, spin-the-bottle doesn't count, it's just a damn game. Who was your second kiss?"

"Jinyoung."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Wait, you kissed Minhyuk and then didn't kiss anyone for the next three years?"

"Well, would you?" I answered dryly. "I was highly traumatized."

Chanyeol smirked at me. "Good point. I think, after him, anyone would be a fabulous kisser. Though maybe he isn't that bad. To be honest, I was afraid at first that you were going to say Sehun." He ended with a chuckle.

I stopped dead in my tracks so quickly that Chanyeol had already taken a few steps forward when he realized I wasn't walking beside him. He turned around and his half-smirk froze when he caught sight of the deep frown and offended look in my narrowed eyes. I felt my blood rushing at his impertinent and insolent answer, who is he assume such things about Sehun and I. The nerve of this boy!

"Mirae--I just. Sorry...I didn't mean- It was just joke.." he stuttered, looking around.

"Just because we're friends, you think you can joke about him?" I demanded resentfully, while fixing him with an rritated glare. "Why is everything a joke to you? How could you even say that about Sehun and I?"

"I wasn't..."

 "Do you seriously think I find it funny?" I folded my arms, my jaw slacked.

"It wasn't my fault that he said all that stuff about you!" Chanyeol retorted angrily. My outrageous demeanor was taken aback at the sudden outburst. Why is he bringing up that day? I thought we'd moved on?

"That's not--I didn't even say that!" I insisted.

"But that's why you are angry at me!" Chanyeol's pained expression held as much exasperation as mine had as he snapped at me, his hands moving in the air. "That's why you blew up at me at the end of last term and before the match. All you do is blame me!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I mean, yes, I did say all that to Chanyeol after freshly splitting up with Sehun but that wasn't even what we were talking about right now. He was getting the wrong meaning, I wasn't mad at him about that day anymore. But on a second note, I don't think he knows that. Something about this exchange tells me that his mind is still stuck on that day and somehwere in the back of his mind, he holds himself guilty for what happened with Sehun and I. But if I'm stll getting so worked up about it, have I truly moved on from it? Not sure of what to do, I hurriedly turned around and started towards the next corridor.

Chanyeol released an strangled noise behind me, catching my wrist and whirled me around to face him. "You can't just walk away like that. We need to talk."

I stared at him for a minute before sighing. He looked helpless. My shouldders slumping,  I walked over and sat down against one wall of the corridor. He also slid beside me on the cold floor.

"I know it wasn't your fault." I confessed quietly.

Chanyeol nodded a little. "And I know you don't find it funny. I didn't mean to give you that impression. I just, well, I..."

"You what?" I tilted my face towards him. 

"Some of the stuff I did to Sehun was stupid, I agree. The bullying, the teasing... but not all of it."

I thought about it for a second and realized that I could live with that.

"Okay."

"Okay..." Chanyeol repeated, his brows furrowed confusedly.

"Okay as in your explanation is acceptable." I explained.

Chanyeol looked at me wearily. "Is it?"

"Yes, why?"

"It's just that you've never become un-angry...so quickly." He smiled a little. "It usually takes a week."

I smiled in return. "I'm working on that. I didn't mean anything I said to you right now. Or last year."

He beamed. "Good. I can't stand when you're angry at me."

I glanced at him and found him supporting the sweetest smile ever. I returned the smile with equal ingenuity. We sat there in the dark quietly for some time, rounds were totally forgotten.

"Can I ask you something?" He finally questioned. This time, it certainly didn't feel like he was continuing the game. And that's why I was filled with greater anticipation.

"Anything."

"What do you want to do in your life?"

I was not expecting that. To be honest, I was hoping he wouldn't bring up the kiss again. "Where did that come from?"

Chanyeol smiled slightly. "Just answer me."

I was suddenly filled with passion as I laid out my plans for him. "I've always wanted to be a lawyer. And I've already looked up in a few colleges. Though I have selected Seoul National University. They have the best Law professors. Plus, I'm already working hard to get a scholarship.  hope I can manage one."

"That's my girl."

 He whispered so inaudibly that I could hardly catch that. But I did. I was expecting him to correct himself about the 'my girl' thing but he didn't. He was looking at me with something very different in his eyes. Maybe it was the way they were twinkling brightly in the darkness.  I kept looking in those deep orbs before he snapped me out of it.

"I'm jealous, though."

"Why?"

"Because my life is caught between my mother's wishes and mine."

 For once, I felt something towards him. Sympathy, I recognized. And this was a very rare feeling when it comes to Chanyeol. "What do you want to do?"

"You're not going to like it." 

"Still." I pouted.

As if something had suddenly taken over him, he shook his head refusing to say anymore. He stood, grabbed my hand, and pulled me up too.

"Let's get over with the rounds."

"Stop dodging and tell me."

"I will when it's time for you to know."

I wonder when that time will come. 

I was thinking of a way to squeeze the information out of him when we entered another classroom. I jumped a little when I noticed a couple, probably having the best make-out session of their lives. Which I'm sure could have led to something more intimate if we hadn't barged in.

Chanyeol eyed me questioningly as we exchanged a glance. I cleared my throat loudly. I'm sure they heard me but didn't make a move to break apart.

Huffing in annoyance, I knocked on the wooden desk as loudly as I could. That worked. They were breathing heavily when they separated and I tilted my head putting on my most lethal look.

The younger boy glared at me, blazing fire. "What's your prob-"

I didn't give him a chance to complete it. Holding my index finger in the air, I silenced him. Then, I flicked my raised finger, pointing towards the door, and said one single word.  "Out."

The girl opened to protest but she quickly closed it after witnessing the intimidating authority in my eyes. I decided to spare one more word. "Now."

They didn't need more telling and hurried outside. I called after them. "I better not catch you anywhere else. Back to your dorms."

I heaved a sigh of relief and stretched my body. Hearing a few claps, I remembered that Chanyeol had been standing there too.

"Woah. You know, you scared me for a moment there too!" He commented, surprised.

I smiled. "Why?"

"You'd make a wonderful head girl one day, Mirae. I mean it. Anybody would surrender when you look at them that way. Your authority is stunning."

I smiled genuinely. "Thanks. It means a lot."

Just as we started to start from the top floor, a sharp pain again made it's way back to my stupid head. I was, once again, forced to stop. Painful twinges propagated through my entire being.  felt my vision go blurry. Grabbing my head, a loud gasp emitted from my mouth  and I immediately felt Chanyeol's arms around me, holding me from tumbling.

"Are you alright?" His tone was dripping with worry.

I was in no condition to answer but I still managed to nod a little. My hands gripped at my hair to stop the increasing pain. I seriously have no idea what's going on with me, it's kinda scary.

Earning no proper reply, he announced, "That's it. You're going to the hospital wing."

"No, later." I groaned.

His grip around me became tighter as he started shaking me. "Mirae, I'm taking you there right now."

And that's it. When Park Chanyeol has set his mind on something, I don't think any force in this world can stop him. So there I was, still writhing in pain, while he dragged me to the other corner of the campus, his gaze firmly fixed on his way. The hospital wing was just a small branch consisting of two rooms only. I have rarely been there because, to be honest the most frequent patients were the injured  football team players. Definitely not someone with a plan, old headache.

"What time is it?" I managed to ask.

He glanced at his watch. "12:30"

I jerked him backward. "What? We should have been done with rounds by 11! You know what? I suggest we go back to the common-"

He rolled his eyes and again pulled me towards our dreaded destination. Stubborn boy.

"But Chanyeol, do you seriously think there's going to be a doctor at this hour?"

He nodded his head briskly. "There's always a nurse on duty."

I sighed in annoyance.

As he pushed open the doors, the half-slept nurse woke up with a jerk. Chanyeol ushered me to sit on the plush chairs while he talked with the nurse. I smiled and closed my eyes, resting my head on the softback. I don't tink I have laid down and relaxed for a long time. Even at night, I'm mostly falling asleep in my study chair. I suddenly missed my bed. In a matter of a few seconds, the nurse came to investigate with a warm smile on her face.

"What was the last meal you had, honey?" She asked as I sat up.

"Umm... lunch?" I racked my brains.

They gasped and the nurse fixed me with a stern look. "What about dinner?"

"I was helping one of the teachers in grading the papers," I answered.

Chanyeol shook his head disapprovingly. The nurse said, "Now dear, there's your answer. You looked stressed too. Your eyes are dead, if you don't eat properly, how do you expect to be healthy..."

As she went on and on, Chanyeol in the background was laughing silently at the stern scolding. I narrowed my eyes at him for landing me in this situation. Finally, the nurse stopped babbling and brought syrup. 

"It's a head tonic. I won't give you pills because you haven't eaten. Come on, dear, drink this."

I eyed the bottle suspiciously. Chanyeol took the small bottle and shoved it in my hand forcefully. I sighed and gulped the sweet syrup down in one go. 

She smiled brightly. "You'll feel better. It's a headache but you've got your boyfriend worrying like it's something fatal."

My head whipped in his direction and just in time to notice that he, too, was caught by surprise but his shock quickly dissolved in humor. He rolled his eyes sarcastically and chuckled silently, holding his stomach to dramatize the whole situation. A small smile appeared on my lips too. Perhaps, he was expecting me or I was expecting him to correct the nurse but, very weirdly enough, none of us bothered to tell her that she was wrong.

It was after that when a thought suddenly occurred to me. And sure enough, the nurse confirmed my fears.

"Make sure you immediately go to bed after you leave. It's a mild sedative. You'll feel sleepy after this dose."

"But I have work to do!" I complained indignantly.

"What did I say just now? Don't overwork yourself."

"I told you it's-"

Chanyeol stepped forward and interrupted. "I'll make sure she sleeps." He affirmed determinedly. 

Without listening to another word I had to say, he grabbed my hand and pulled towards the door. Seriously this boy needs to learn the difference between a toy and a human being.

"Oh, and dear?" The nurse called. I turned around.

"I suggest you get your eyesight checked too. You know, just in case."

I gulped down the image forming inside my brain of how stupid I'd probably look in spectacles. "Okay."

I decided against protesting to work in front of Chanyeol. He doesn't need to know what happens inside my room. I'll be a good girl and tell him that I'm going to sleep and-

"Don't even think of working in bed. I'm going to ask Yumi." He threatened.

"Hey, that's not fair!" I whined.

"You're going to kill yourself one day, Mirae." He commented stubbornly.

I rolled my eyes. But to my annoyance, I didn't even have to try working. Because, the moment I reached the common room, after ditching the rounds, another of his brilliant suggestions. I knew the tonic had started kicking up because all I wanted to do was hit the bed. After a sleepy thanks to Chanyeol, I fell into sweet dreams.

---

The next day started as a nuisance to say the least. First, even though I had slept right away, I still didn't get much sleep. So I was crabby when I woke up and had a slight headache which worsened when I realized halfway through my shower that I hadn't done any of my homework from the day before. Consequently, I skipped breakfast to complete Geography homework, my first lesson of the day. While I was working on it, Jinyoung descended in the common room. Spotting me, he immediately came over and asked what held me so late last night.

"Look, I'm really sorry about that, but I have to complete this in-" I looked at my watch- " twenty minutes, and since Geography usually takes me an hour so I'm going to need a miracle to complete t."

He frowned at me, slightly irritated. "What happened?" He asked again.

Brushing my hair out of my eyes with an annoyed sigh. "What did I just-"

"Yeah, I heard you." Jinyoung said snappishly. "but I think you'll be okay skipping out on homework for once in your life."

"I'm sorry." I tried to sound sincere despite my short-circuited temper. "But I really need to complete this." I hope he gets the urgency in my tone.

He massaged his temples and sighed. "See you in free period, then?"

I hesitated. "I still have History to do too, and I'll try to get it done in the break."

Jinyoung raised his eyebrows, looking sourly. "Okay, I'll see you--- sometime. Maybe. If you can work me into your schedule.

I frowned at him. "Come on, Jinyoung, that's not fair."

"Oh, isn't it? Because I was under the impression that when you're dating someone, you're generally supposed to spend time with them."

"Well, I'm not going to be with you every waking second, if that's what you want," I said, frustrated. I have a life too!

"I'm didn't say that! I -"

He paused for a while. Then with a curt nod, he strode to the door and went out of sight and a wave immediately washed over me. I am orrible girlfriend, ain't I? Maybe I was too mean with him. I stared at his back and then remembered my homework waiting for me. I worked on it for ffteen more minutes before deciding it was a lost cause and rushed off to the first class. On my way, I tried to convince myself that it was okay to skip homework for once (just as Jinyoung had advised). Though my guilt heightened when I lost track of my way and ended at the cafeteria, therefore, resulting in my arrival being total of twenty minutes late in class. It was a rather dramatic entry, my breath was short from running.

"Sorry professor." I cried out in between my heavy breaths.

He raised his eyebrows sternly. I cursed at myself for almost missing the class of the worst teacher ever. I hurriedly excused mumbling an apology, slipped in the last bench. Not even two minutes had passed when, Chanyeol from nowhere slipped his essay on my desk. I looked up at him before I realized that he was offering me to copy his homework. I smiled at how he didn't even know what was going on my mind... but still somehow knew.

I shook my head and leaned in to whisper, "Thanks, but I don't think I have time to copy."

"Suit yourself." He shrugged. "he isn't going to let you off so easily though."

And he was right. Because the next minute our professor announced to bring our essays. When he reached my desk, I excused sheepishly, "Uh, I didn't get a chance to complete mine, sir."

"Indeed, Miss Kang? Well, if you could stop by my office after class." 

"Of course." This can't be good.

---

"I can't believe he gave me detention!" I said for the third time that day on my way for lunch. I was disappointed to see my clean record finally broken. "I mean, he knows I'm a good student, he could have given me a grace period, but no! And he's still making me do the homework!"

"Welcome to the realm of being normal." Baekhyun teased.

I sighed. "How many times do I have to say it? Not getting detention isn't abnormal."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm so proud of you." Yumi patted my head.

Chanyeol piped, "I'm impressed, Mirae. You managed to get yourself in one without my help."

I glared at him while he grinned back. We settled in our seats and were slurping the black bean soup when I started to feel Jinyoung's absence. He didn't hang out with us after that little argument today in the morning. My eyes ran over the hall when I spotted him havng lunch with his other mates. I decided to talk to him after I have something in my stomach.

"I miss football practices." Baekhyun pouted. 

"Same." Chanyeol backed up while others (except me) nodded sadly like they were grieving someone's death.

"Hey, tell me one thing." I turned towards the trio for the question I had been meaning to ask for a long time. "Who was the commentator in the last match? Because, I swear, even though I didn't watch it but I know every little detail about what happened. His voice is extraordinarily loud."

They all nodded in agreement. "He's our friend. From Arts group." Baekhyun said.

Junmyun smiled and added, "I really like his running commentary. The best thing is that he is very honest. I mean, commentators are supposed to be neutral and poised but his opinions are very biased. He's either shouting suggestions to the players or dissing the rival team."

"Half of the time, Madame Jung has to snatch the microphone from his hand because he starts swearing like crazy when the match becomes too exciting." Chanyeol joked.

I chuckled. This guy is surely very interesting. "Yeah, I noticed."

Baekhyun asked. "Want me to introduce you?" When I half-shrugged, he stood up from his chair and waved his hand over to someone the other side of the hall. 

"Jongdae! Yah, Kim Jongdae! Come here."

I turned around to see who it was when I saw a short guy coming towards us with a largest smile I might have ever seen. I raised my eyebrows. "He's so..." I trailed away not quite finding the right word.

"Tiny?" Yumi suggested, laughing.

"Exactly," I replied as we all burst into a fit of laughter. "I mean, no offense, but that much amount of voice cannot be generated from that small body, it's impossible."

"One of the many wonders of this world, I know." Chanyeol grinned.

The minute he reached our table, the four of them did some weird handshake which I didn't get at all. Boys, I thought inwardly rolling my eyes. After he was done with their rituals, he turned towards us. Junmyun did the honors of introducing me to this Jongdae guy.

He gasped in surprise as we shook hands. "Oh you're a prefect, right?"

I nodded. "Yes. And you're the commentator?"

He smiled widely and nodded quickly. Aww...he's cute. "Wow, I've heard about you from my classmates."

I laughed uncertainly. "Umm...what?"

 "Oh no, not bad stuff. I wanted to meet you because they talked so much about you-" He pointed at the trio " But I was actually afraid of you before today. I mean, you look dominating."

Baekhyun laughed right in his face. "Oh, she's anything but that."

I narrowed my eyes at him and cleared my throat. "Actually I can be very dominating." Then I turned towards Jongdae and smiled. "But only where needed."

I nodded. "You did a pretty good job at the last match."

Jongdae nodded graciously and I could tell he was used to this compliment. "Almost lost my job that day. But they can't find anyone better so I know they wouldn't kick me out."

In only a period of a few seconds, I discovered that his smile was pretty contagious. It's impossible not to smile back when he's smiling at you with an intensity so high. He radiated a certain energy  guess we all needed. The boys got off together pretty well and Yumi and I were doubled with laughter on their hilarious stories.

 We were exiting the hall when Jinyoung called me from a distance. The others went ahead and I, very nervously, waited to hear him out. 

"Look, I'm sorry for getting mad earlier." He started. "I just-"

"No, it's okay," I assured him. "I'm sorry for over reacting. I shouldn't have."

"So, we're good then?" He asked unsurely.

"Yeah."

After a few minutes, he commented, brushing my cheek. "You look really tired."

"Yeah, I slept very late last night. Plus, I had a headache last night too." I said.

His eyebrows furrowed. "Get it checked."

"Hmm... I did. Chanyeol made me-" I trailed off not knowing how complete this sentence. "So, uh, last night--"

"Wait, you were with him last night?" Jinyoung said, dropping my hand. "That's what you were doing?"

"No! Well yes, he did come with me on rounds for a bit-"

But I soon realized saying that was a grave mistake. "You said you were fine doing them alone." He accused.

", Jinyoung, you don't understand-"

"Don't bother explaining. I get it." He said scathingly and turned to his friends abruptly.

"You don't get anything." I shot back. 

"You hung out with him but you don't have enough time for me, do you?"

"You know what, Jinyoung? If you were so keen on spending time with me, you could have accompanied me on rounds last night." I accused him.

He opened his mouth. And closed it again. After a few minutes of tense silence, he spoke, "Maybe it's time you learned how to sort out your priorities."

Why is he acting like a girl?!

---

Please let me know your thoughts about this chapter through your comments! I wanted to make this one light and simple, focusing mainly on the leads. Even though the two of them played this game to know each other, more than that, I wanted my readers to connect with the main leads. Know more about their lives and hobbies. I hope you guys enjoyed it!

Thank you so much for choosing my book. If you got any queries, don't hesitate to fire away. Love you guys! 

P.s I gave Chen a cameo appearance because our happy dino dad enlisted today!! ❤️😭