Mi Jin met Sungyeol at the bus stop. This time, she couldn’t even be bothered to move away. Anyway, she had an existence of air around most people. She need not waste her efforts.

“You okay?” he inquired.

Mi Jin looked up at him in complete surprise.

“About yesterday’s incident.” He reminded.

Pressing her lips tightly together, she looked at Sungyeol. She felt a gush of unknown warmness crept up her heart. With that, a small smile tugged on the edge of her lips. 

“I-I am feeling better. Thanks for your concern.” She said as she tried to suppress her happiness.

“Then how about Jieun?” he asked.

Mi Jin’s face fell at his question following that.

“I don’t know.” She mumbled as she quickly boarded the bus which came just in time.

 

∞

 

 “Mi Jin-ah, sorry. I didn’t mean it. Will you forgive me?” Jieun apologized as she did some aegyo.

Mi Jin looked up at her cousin for quite some time. She saw remorse in her eyes with a glint of innocence in them. With a soft sigh, she gave in.

“I forgive you.” She said.

Forgive and forget, she wanted to be able to do so.

Jieun jumped into the air a little before breaking into a wide grin.

“Thank you, my dearest cousin! I love you~” She sang as she held her hands dramatically.

Mi Jin smiled at Jieun’s cuteness as she gazed at her.

“Sometimes, I wish I were you.” Mi Jin thought in her heart silently.

There is always someone on Earth that we wish to be at certain point of time. We just don’t want to be us. It may be because we hate our lives, or perhaps because we wish to try living the lives of others just for fun. There could be many reasons behind it. However, we just need to bear this in mind: It is impossible. Fantasy remains as fantasy. People don’t switch souls in reality.

The two girls sat on bed for their usual heart-to-heart talk session. Mi Jin remained silent as she watched Jieun continue blabbering on and on. She has always been more of a listener between the two. After all, her life was boring and she saw no point in boring her cousin out. She listened attentively to Jieun talk about how her friends playing the dirtiest trick on another guy, how they sneaked out to party all night in town and others. Sometimes, she would zone out and imagine. Imagining herself doing whatever she said was fun by itself.

“Mi Jin-ah, how about you?” Jieun paused and asked.

Mi Jin snapped out of her thoughts as she looked up at her cousin. She searched her brain for the most interesting thing that happened to her in the past week.

 “Sungyeol-shi asked me whether you were fine that day.” She spoke.  

“What?! Like seriously?” she sat up straight, almost spitting her drink out.

Mi Jin nodded.

“Woah. You guys are on talking terms?” Jieun questioned and Mijin thought she appeared to be seemingly nervous.

“Not really. I just happened to see him at the bus stop after school.” She explained calmly.

Mi Jin saw Jieun broke into a relief smile.

She was not the least happy with her reaction.

“What do you think of him?” Mi Jin inquired.

“Who? Sungyeol?” Jieun asked with a quizzical look.

She nodded, once more.

“Hmmm… He’s a nice guy.” Jieun answered smartly with a satisfied smile.

“What’s with being ‘nice’ again?” Mi Jin thought in silence.

At that point, she felt her heart acting strangely.

∞

 

That day, Jieun was absent from school because her father returned from overseas. He could only stay in Korea for a day before flying off to another country for business meeting. Therefore, Jieun decided to ditch school. She had informed Mi Jin beforehand to help her take notes in class so that she could catch up. Of course, Mi Jin agreed to her request. She had no reason to refuse.

“Oh.” Mi Jin muttered when she saw Sungyeol sitting on the bench.

Spinning on her heel, she was about to escape.

“Mi Jin?” he called out.

She could feel her heart racing inside her as she turned to face him.

“You may sit here. I’m almost done eating.” He said.

Nodding, she joined him on the bench. She shifted awkwardly as she straightened the ends of her skirt.

“Lunching alone?” he asked the obvious.

Mi Jin nodded as she picked up her lunch box.

“Why didn’t Jieun come to school today?” he asked casually.

 “Umm…Jieun’s father came back from overseas so she wanted to keep him accompanied before he go overseas again.” She summarized the reason as she stuffed more rice into .

There was an awkward silence.

“Do you mind if I ask you something?” Mi Jin asked as she kept her lunch box away.

“Go ahead.” Sungyeol answered with an arched brow.

“Why do you always ask me about Jieun?” she posed the question which had been in her mind the moment she sat down.

Sungyeol took the liberty to ponder for a minute or two before answering, “Just because.”

Mi Jin was not at all satisfied with his answer.

“I’ll return to class first.” He informed as he stood up.

His slender body blocked the sunlight for a brief moment before moving away. Mi Jin continued to sit on the bench.

“I can’t believe we just sat together for 15 minutes.” She registered in her mind.

“And why didn’t he leave when he was done a long time ago?” she questioned.

Many possibilities crossed her mind and she couldn’t help but laugh at herself. Sungyeol made her look so absurd even before her own self. Sighing, she hurried to class before the bell rang. Being late is one of her taboo in life. She respected appointment timings and deadlines. Or perhaps, she was just afraid to breach them because she knew she most probably wouldn’t be given the leeway out. Unlike others.

 

∞

 

Mi Jin watched the leaves fall with her hand outstretched. She had watched female leads in dramas do that and she wanted to try it too. Of course, she ensured no one was around. She did not want to be regarded as a quiet freak that plays with dead fallen leaves in school. She felt the semi-decomposed matter brush past her fingers as they fell with the pull of gravity. It was interesting to be put in the shoes’ of the female leads. Mi Jin closed her eyes and imagined how she was waiting for her lover to return after many, many years…

“What are you doing?” Someone asked.

Mi Jin opened her eyes immediately, retracted her hand and hid it behind her back. It was Sungyeol standing before her. Nervous, she turned about and was about to run off. It was quite an embarrassing scene and she didn’t know how else to react.

“Catching leaves.” He said.

She stopped walking.

“It seems interesting.” He added and she smiled unknowingly.

 “Y-You can try… Putting yourself in the shoes of others to experience the unordinary.” She said, back-facing him.

“I will.” He promised and her face flushed red.

Her heart told her something that day.

∞

 

Mi Jin boarded the bus and staggered with the weight before her. She had cleared her under desk of all the books because of some cleaning exercise in school. It was quite a lot to handle for her. Mi Jin eyed an empty seat at the back of the bus. However, she stopped when she realized it was Sungyeol sitting on the seat beside it. He looked out of the window after glancing up for a brief moment. Turning about, she held onto the handle and balanced herself.

“Did he see me just now?” she thought nervously.

Halfway during the bumpy ride, a shadow appeared beside her. She glanced to her left and realized it was Sungyeol. There were two vacant seats now. He glanced over to the seats before looking straight as a signal for her to sit. Mi Jin lowered her head nervously and was completely taken aback. Then, the bus suddenly jerked forward. She decided not to be stubborn any further lest her books find their way to the ground. Sitting on where Sungyeol was seated previously, she looked up. He was still standing.

“S-Sungyeol-shi, want to sit together?” she whispered softly. 

He looked down at her and claimed the seat beside her upon her request. 

The two sat together in silence.

“I tried catching leaves already.” He started.

She cocked her head to the side in amusement.

“It’s boring.” He remarked and she laughed.

Silence filled the air soon.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking this but why aren’t you friends with Jieun’s group?” Sungyeol asked.

“I want to make my own friends.” She replied him.

He did not say anything else.

“Lee Sungyeol, why must you always talk about Jieun with me?!” She snapped in her mind.

“I heard you.” He said.

She flinched a little as she looked to him.

“Me too.” He replied and alighted at his stop.

“We are similar on this.” She concluded.

 ∞

 

Mi Jin did not know why she would bump into Sungyeol every now and then. She would like to use affinity as the right reason but it seemed weird. After all, they attended the same school, same class and even took bus from the same bus stop. It was right to see one another that often, she realized. That fact had effectively knocked down her reasoning of her having affinity with Sungyeol.

Once in a while, Sungyeol would come up to her and initiate short conversations. However, most of the time, he wouldn’t. They would just stand apart as if they were strangers. Mi Jin couldn’t help but wonder whether they were considered friends already. He was confusing her and she was confusing herself too. There was once he popped up from nowhere after class and complimented that her doodles was cute. From that day onwards, Mi Jin noticed she doodled in class more frequently. However, he never did that again.

Mi Jin changed her hair tie to a navy blue one and skipped her way to the bus stop. She halted to an abrupt stop when she saw the scene before her. It was Jieun and Sungyeol, sitting comfortably at the bus stop blenchers. From afar, she could tell they were enjoying each other’s company. They were chatting and laughing merrily away. Mi Jin felt her heart tighten. Sungyeol was never that at ease around her. It seemed like he enjoyed Jieun’s companion a lot more than hers.

She felt stupid. All the while, Sungyeol talked to her only because she was Jieun’s cousin. He was merely using her to get near to Jieun. It was all her wishful and naïve thinking that maybe he might like the ordinary her. She forgot that all guys liked popular and pretty girls, like Jieun. And Lee Sungyeol was also a normal guy. Mi Jin witnessed Sungyeol hold Jieun’s hand and guided her on the bus.  A droplet of tear fell out on its own accord and Mi Jin brushed it away roughly. The bus drove off with the couple on it but Mi Jin remained standing at the bus stop.

She was late for class for the first time.

“Ringgggg!!!” The school bell rang loudly.

“Why were you late?” Sungyeol asked.

Mi Jin did not answer him. Instead, she stood up and left the classroom.

“Mi Jin?” Sungyeol called out as he ran after her.

She began to run and he started to give chase.

 “Hey.” Sungyeol panted as he gripped her shoulder.

He caught her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he stepped before her.

She clenched her fists to suppress those tears.

“Nothing.”

“You’re lying.”

“Why do you care? Are we friends?”

Silence.

“Then what am I to you, Lee Sungyeol?”

“A tool for you to get my cousin? A place to get first-hand information? You know, I thought you were an ordinary like me who is satisfied with the current. Who knows you have such motive? You’re not ordinary, Sungyeol. You’re scary. And I should have known better than to…” She paused and realized she had broken down into tears.

“Stop. What are you talking about?!” He exclaimed.

“What do you think I’m talking about?” she challenged.

 “Wait a minute. I think you’ve got everything wrong.” He began but was cut off shortly.

“What did I get wrong?! I saw everything and you are telling me this bullsh-”

“Mi Jin-ah, I want you to hear me out first. Please. I have never used you as a tool or whatsoever to woo Jieun. In the first place, I’m not the least interested in her. Secondly, Jieun and I are only friends. Nothing more, nothing less.” He explained anxiously.

“You held her hand in the morning.” She rebutted.

“She slipped and injured her foot slightly so I had to help her up the bus. You can verify that with her!” He clarified.

“You always asked me about her since before.” She pointed out.

“T-That’s because I don’t know what else to converse with you…” He admitted and lowered his gaze.

“S-Seriously?” she asked in disbelief.

“I swear to the heavens.” He said and held three fingers up.

She broke into a slight smile and felt slightly relieved at his words.

Then, her words replayed in her own mind and she realized how embarrassing she acted just now.

“S-Sorry, Sungyeol. I got too carried away.” She apologized.

“You’re not ordinary, Sungyeol. You’re scary.” Mi Jin heard him mimicking her.

Without a second thought, she slapped his arm in retaliation. He chuckled and she laughed along. The two were about to return to class when Sungyeol spoke, “You didn’t complete your sentence just now.”

She blushed madly, knowing what he meant so she started to feign ignorance.

“You must be hallucinating.” Mi Jin pretended.

“And I should have known better than to…” He repeated her same exact words with a slight smirk.

She bit her lips nervously as he glanced down at her in anticipation.

“And I should have known better than to… than to...” she stuttered.

“ 'Love you', right?” he finished.

Mi Jin’s eyes widened as her lips parted. He knew.

“Love you too.” He quickly confessed.

With a swift swipe, he swept her into his arms. His body warmth radiated to her body, causing her to heat up even more. Blood rushed to her face and for a moment, she forgot to breathe.

“W-when?” she choked out in his embrace.

“Since the start.” He said with a blissful smile.

A joyous tear slipped from Mi Jin’s teary eyes as her lips hitched up into a smile, like his.

 

 ∞

She is a grass strand in the meadow; He has a three-leaved clover in his possession with effect from now.

 

Author's Note:
Hello guys!
To be honest... For this two-shot, I did not have the entire story planned out before I started writing. It's actually the concept of being ordinary which inspired and urged me to start writing this one. Frankly speaking, I think it did not turn out very well to make an interesting read. :X However, like what I said, I just wanted to release some emotions through this piece of writing. So I am truly thankful to all subscribers, and especially commenters who showered me love. Thank you so much. I hope to see more comments, if possible. <3
Okay, it's getting late and my eyes are getting droopy already so I'm turning in.
Hope all of you have enjoyed reading 'Grass Strand in the Meadow'. (: