So Much For Comfort
Without a Trace
L.joe got up for the day and got ready in front of the mirror. When he was ready to go, he looked at his nightstand and cringed. "How exactly am I supposed to give that back?" He wondered for a bit, but then shrugged it off for now, grabbed his lunch, and left for school.
When he arrived, Chunji was waiting for him. He put an arm around his shoulders and they walked in together. "So, did you get enough sleep? You look like a panda."
L.joe yawned and thought back to yesterday's events. "I wish. Maybe about three and a half hours. I can tell you right now I'm taking a nap right when I get home."
"That's great, really, it is, don't get me wrong, but you need to buy me a soda after school." Chunji declared.
"And why would I do that?" L.joe raised an eyebrow.
"Becauuse!" He whined back. "I am openly supporting you in your search for true love, obviously, so I am your savior and you need to repay me."
L.joe didn't say anything and just stared at him. What the hell was he going on about? "If you're done talking, I would like to keep calm for now."
"Why?"
"Because I have a presentation next class, that's why." He rubbed his temples. "So much pressure."
The day had come, where he and Saejin were finally done with their project and presenting it to the class and handing it in. They finished two days ago, and were prepared. Well, the stuff was prepared, L.joe's mental state wasn't.
It wasn't that he was nervous about his grade, it was definitely A worthy. It was that he hated presenting in front of people. Like a phobia. He would always get red in the face and stutter. The whole presenting thing didn't hit him till just now, either, which made everything worse.
Plus, he didn't want to show Saejin that side of him.
"Hyung!" Ricky called from the other side of the room. He had CAP by his side, and they noticed his pale face. "Aw, don't feel bad, you'll do great! You always do!" He encouraged, two thumbs up.
"It's not like you're doing it alone either." CAP reminded him.
That's right, Saejin was right by his side, presenting the same thing. He looked up and nervously smiled. "Thanks." With one more big sigh, he rose and turned to them. "Let's go to class and get this thing done."
CAP made a confused face towards Ricky, who in turn just shrugged.
When they reached the room, Saejin was eyeing the poster board they created, happy with the turnout. She looked up and made eye contact with L.joe, who sat next to her.
Ricky and CAP dejectedly went to sit with their own groups, who asked them questions about their weekend and such.
"Ready to get this over with?" Saejin tightly smiled.
"Huh?" L.joe was caught out of his trance for a bit and muttered. "Yeah."
"Ah, all that hard work, and we're finally done." She put the poster in her lap and grinned. "I think it came out nice, don't you?" She turned and saw L.joe staring into space and waved a hand over his eyes. "Hey, you okay?"
L.joe said nothing. Not ignoring her, just not paying attention.
Saejin furrowed her brows. "Byunghun?"
He jumped in his seat, taken aback. "Huh? Sorry, did you say something?"
She frowned in concern. "Are you okay? You look pretty pale.. Should we go to the nurse?"
"No." He shook his head immediately. "I'm fine." He didn't want to appear vulnerable. "I'll be okay, don't worry about me." He nervously smiled, wondering if he could carry out his word.
The teacher clapped and brought everyone to attention. All right. Presentations. Points. Grade. Do well. Yada-yada-yada. Ricky's group first.
"What?!" He jumped up in protest.
"No complaining, just do what I say." Ms. Song sat down, and got out her clipboard, ready to go. "Well? Get up there and show the class what you guys got done."
Ricky hung his head and slouched up there and stayed like that for the whole of the presentation, at least getting L.joe to crack a smile for once.
Next up, to L.joe's chagrin, was his group. He gulped and used every ounce of determination he had to stand in front of the class. Once he was actually up there, he shuddered and looked at his two friends in the back, smiling and encouraging. So he nodded.
Saejin started, the words practically flowing out of like she had been practicing all night. When it came to L.joe's turn, he blanked, gaping.
"Well, uh.." He started, but couldn't finish. How he wanted to still be seated. He gulped again for the umpteenth time, trying to figure out what to say.
When she didn't hear anything, Saejin turned towards him, biting her lip. She had to think of something. Fast.
"Some of her other works showed different sides of society..." She went on, speaking his part for him. To his relief, she talked for the rest of the time. He didn't realize they were done until be heard clapping.
"Thank you, put that board on the table over there." Ms. Song wrote words down, and noticed something was off. "Byunghun, if you need a breather, you can sit outside the classroom and get a drink." She offered.
Saejin raised her hand. "I'll go with him."
Ms. Song agreed, and she walked him out the door.
After L.joe got a drink, he breathed heavy, trying to calm down, telling himself it was over. He went out the hallway to the stairs an sat down on the first two steps, putting his head in his hands, leaning on the wall.
Saejin looked around, and quietly sat next to him. "So, you're fine, huh?" She lightly joked.
He didn't say anything, just groaned, ashamed of what he must have looked like.
"I didn't know you had stage fright." She commented.
"It isn't stage fright." L.joe said back.
"You know, it's totally fine to. Nothing's wrong with it." She told him as-a-matter-of-factly. "It's no something to be ashamed of. Everyone has at least a little bit."
He shook his head. "But it's not little. Aish!" He messed up his hair.
Saejin looked down, and rubbed his back soothingly. "Hey, it's fine. There was no harm done, anyway. We still did kick- on that project." But he wasn't paying attention.
"I.." He started. "Actually, it's always been a problem for me. Presenting in front of people." He played with his hands. "I don't know. I just get so nervous and really don't want to embarrass myself, but that's exactly what happens." He spilled. "It's probably, the worst thing about me. Whenever I get in front of crowds, I just loose it. It's just always been there,and I can't ever see, to calm down." He hung his head in shame.
Listening to his story, Saejin payed attention to every detail. Sitting there like that in silence with no one else around, the silence just became louder.
Without thinking twice about it, Saejin put her arm around L.joe's slumped shoulders and squeezed. He was taken by surprise and looked at her.
"If you're worried that people think you're pathetic, you're wrong." She told him, looking ahead, then back at him, looking straight in his eyes. "Just because of one simple flaw, no one's going to look down on you. Everyone has them. For example, it might be common to some, but I am deathly afraid of clowns, not scared, but deathly afraid." She shared. "Like, I can't even look at a picture or anything."
"Really?" He asked.
Saejin nodded. "Yep. I got made fun of all the time back home for it, but it's true." She grinned at him. "If it means anything, you're still a pretty cool guy in my book."
He didn't blink. R-really? The tip of his ears started to pink up uncontrollably at her words and touch. He looked down again.
Saejin noticed and misinterpreted, thinking he was getting sick again. "Do you need another drink of water?"
"Sure." He nodded and stood up, giving her a crooked smile that made Saejin's own heart squeeze a bit. "Let's go back to the classroom. They might think we left for another reason, if you know what I- yah!"
Saejin rushed down and smacked his arm before going down the hall. "So much for comfort."
FOR YOUR INFORMATIN, THERE IS CURRENTLY A TORNADO WARNING FOR MY CITY RIGHT NOW
THATS HOW MUCH I VALUE AND LOVE YOU GUYS <3
so cheesy!!
p.s. your guy's comments for the last chapter made me laugh ^^
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