Chapter 10

At about 3:00AM, the two called it a night and went to their respective rooms.

“Yoori-ah! Yoori, get up!” Taeyong shook her shoulder, “Don’t you have a 9:00AM class today?” he asked frantically.

Yoori rubbed her eyes and her head throbbed a little. She was used to pulling all-nighters so this shouldn’t have been a problem. It just so happened that she didn’t wake up early today. “What time is it?” she moaned.

“It’s quarter to 9. Go, get dressed. I’ll wait for you. Yuta and Jaehyun are already gone.” He kindly advised as he exited her room.

Lee Taeyong stood as Yoori’s older brother more than her cousin because Yoori was an only child and Taeyong’s family would often visit. Yoori, Taeyong, and Taeyong’s older sister were cousins, leaning more to siblings. They’d always play together and get in trouble together too. When Taeyong’s sister got a job in a different city, it was just Yoori and Taeyong. The three of them would catch up when Taeyong’s sister visited, but that wasn’t very often.

In her class, Yoori sat next to Jaehyun who had covered for her when the professor took attendance and said that she was just in the bathroom. Since they sat at the back of the class, the professor didn’t doubt it and Yoori had no trouble sneaking into the room later.

“Cutting it real close.” Jaehyun remarked.

“I’m sorry. Thanks for covering for me.” Yoori meekly smiled. “Did Yuta make it?” she referred to the other if Yuta made it to his class on time.

“Yeah, barely. You were both just as bad.” Jaehyun chuckled.

“Alright, pair work for today!” the professor declared. “Finish the activity before the end of the period and submit it.”

This was the class where your seatmate is automatically your partner in these kind of things.

The students were all handed one piece of paper with the instructions and questions for the pairs to share.

Jaehyun had went ahead and split the work between them so they could both work well within the time given. As expected, Jaehyun finished his half first and turned to his partner to see if she needed any help. He slightly turned to Yoori, without making it too obvious that he was already finished so he wouldn’t pressure her into working unreasonably quickly. He mostly just used his peripheral view to look at her working. He got so into it, he noticed her long lashes and how her lips moved when she was re-reading the question. He watched her scribbling down the answers on a clean sheet of paper.

“Hey, what’d you do for item 4? Our answers should match.” she suddenly turned to Jaehyun, which incidentally made him flinch and re-direct his gaze. He awkwardly cleared his throat and paid attention to the former’s question.

At lunch, Yoori found Yuta and Taeyong already eating at a table. Jaehyun was off talking to the professor because he asked the former to remain.

“So did you guys finish your work last night?” Taeyong curiously inquired as he took a bite of his sandwich.

“Hm? We just got started last night.” Yuta explained. He stretched and yawned, obviously still sleepy.

“Yeah, it’s a week’s worth of work. We’re bound to finish by Friday.” Yoori added sadly.

Taeyong let out a little laugh after noticing that the two were already so stressed out because of the assigned work, “I’m sure you guys can do it! Ask for Jaehyun’s help if you need it. He’ll be happy to help.”

“Happy to help with what?” Jaehyun suddenly appeared, holding his soda and a packet of cookies. He sat down and looked at the people around him.

“I thought you had girls asking you out to lunch or something?” Yuta snarled.

“What, and miss out on having lunch with the same people I see everyday from the moment I wake up in the morning?” Jaehyun answered sarcastically and smiled smugly.

“If I know you correctly, the right girl just hasn’t asked you. That’s why you still have lunch with us.” Taeyong, the all-knowing, raised his eyebrow at Jaehyun.

Yoori waited for Jaehyun’s response. He just laughed nervously and said, “Shut up and eat, Taeyong.”

Yuta and Taeyong were the first to leave the table because they needed to go to their next class. Yoori and Jaehyun were left on the table; Jaehyun finishing his cookies and Yoori just not wanting to leave yet because she didn’t want to seem rude, plus her class was still in a few minutes.

As she sat, she noticed that some girls were eyeing her and whispering to each other. Yoori felt anxious so she tugged at her clothes and kept touching her face to see if there was something off with how she looked like which made them look and whisper. After a while, she gave up and asked for Jaehyun’s help, “Hey, is there something on my face?” she turned her face and let the guy scan it.

“What are you talking about? There’s nothing there.” Jaehyun ate the last bite of his cookies.

“Well, I don’t know if I’m being paranoid but I think the girls from the other table are talking about me. They keep looking in my direction and whispering.” Yoori scratched her head.

Jaehyun tilted his head and looked at the table Yoori had pointed out and instantly realized what Yoori was talking about.

He sighed, “They’re from one of my classes.”

Yoori formed an “Aah” with and nodded, “Why are they looking at me though?”

“They asked me to lunch but I panicked and told them I had a girlfriend.” Jaehyun rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment. “They probably think it’s you.” He awkwardly looked at Yoori.

Yoori just blinked, “Should I go and tell them it’s not me?” she gently asked.

Jaehyun chuckled, “You don’t need to do that.”

“You really should just think about going out with one of them. They look pretty!” Yoori wasn’t sure about what had come out of . She just didn’t want to be offensive or anything. She genuinely thought the girls looked pretty and she just saw the way they looked at Jaehyun.

“You think I should?” Jaehyun asked as if asking for affirmation although he clearly heard what Yoori said.

Yoori looked at him and innocently nodded.

Jaehyun looked down but forced a smile for Yoori, “I’ll see you home later, Yoori.” He said and took off for his next class.

Yoori on the other hand, made her way to her class too. She found Youngho already sitting at their usual spot.

A/N: Hi, sorry I keep taking so long to update :( . Hope you guys still enjoy reading though! I'm going to do my best to continue with the story too! :D