Partners
Without a Trace
The next morning going to school was like any other day. Saejin woke up, got ready, packed her lunch, and headed out the door. It wouldn't take her long either. When the time came for her to leave the house, her parents were still sleeping out in the living room after organizing stuff all night. Not to mention her dad was still looking into the burglary case they moved for. She left a note on the table and left for the bus.
She got to school with minutes to spare, so she just put her head on her arms on top of her desk and closed her eyes for a moment.
Ricky put his arm around Byunghun's shoulders and he led his friend into the classroom. They were laughing at a joke CAP said with people outside pushed their way in before they were late. Byunghun glanced over at Saejin's desk.
After their little encounter in the library, he noticed that, yeah, he looked over in her direction more than he used to. But that wasn't out of feelings, it was more like curiosity.
And he had felt stupid for stuttering like that in front of her. For some reason, he was more nervous asking her one little question than asking his parents for something.
The three boys sat down and started talking about video games and vacations when they heard the teacher get up from her desk to start the lesson. Byunghun saw that Saejin still had her head down. Maybe she was sleeping. He took a piece of paper, rolled it up, and threw it at her.
It hit her head and she woke up, startled. She felt the back of her head and wondered if it was just a dream. Or the teacher hit her. Which she probably didn't.
Byunghun bit his lip to stop from smiling at how ridiculous she looked.
"Yah, what was that?" Ricky asked, looking ahead. "Ms. Song probably thinks that I threw that! I mean, look at her!" He pointed to the front.
Sure enough, their teacher was glaring in his direction. Ricky could only lean back away from her. CAP just rolled his eyes and waited for everything to be quiet for once.
Ms. Song flattened the papers in her hands and started to pass them out by desks. Saejin, still groggy, yawned and thanked Ms. Song as she took the paper full of instructions and looked at it.
Literature History Project
"Since stories start from somewhere, I'm sure you'll find this interesting. This project is for you to get more of a depth in understanding as to what you are studying in this class. You can't just read stories and expect to know what the author is talking about all the time. You can expect to ask questions like 'where did this character come from?' Or 'Why did the author do what he or she did?' This is the kind of things that students today need to figure out." Ms. Song explained, walking back to the front and turning around to face the class.
"But why?" Ricky groaned.
"Shut up, Changhyun." The teacher sighed. "Anyway, this project is something for partners or groups of three. With your class, there'll be four groups of three, and two groups of two."
Ricky stood up and grabbed CAP and Byunghun's arms. "I call these two! Write it down! They're my partners!" He announced a little too loudly.
The teacher rolled her eyes. "Too bad, Changhyun. You're picking numbers from a hat." Ricky pouted and reluctantly sat back down to cross his arms. "The numbers go from one to six. If you get a five or a six, you're in one of the group of twos." She took a small basket and passed it around the class. After everyone picked a number, Saejin gave it back to Ms. Song. "Check your numbers and when I call your name, raise your hand and I'll write you down." She grabbed her pen and paper and called out numbers. "Three!"
Ricky raised his hand along with a girl and a boy who looked extremely happy and about to fall off their seats. Ricky dug his face into CAP's arm and faked sobbing.
CAP was in a group with two other boys who didn't look all that bad. So he was cool with it.
Finally, the last two numbers were being called. "Five!"
Saejin gulped and raised her hand. Maybe she would make a friend this time around! So, she was pretty excited. But she found it strange that the girls in the class were whining and demanding a change.
Ms. Song started to write. "Song Saejin and Lee Byunghun. Okay, six!"
Saejin blinked. Did she hear right? Lee Byunghun? Wasn't that the guy who came to the library? She looked behind her and like expected, Byunghun was looking at her with lifted eyebrows. She turned back around and waited for what came next.
"This will only be a two week project since it's the beginning of the semester and I'm going easy on you." Then blah, blah, blah, more instructions, "Today, you're only meeting with your partners and picking an author. This is about the writers people, not the books! And your time begins.. Now." She clicked her pen on her desk and went to work.
Byunghun didn't even have to be asked. He got up from his seat in a blink. His two friends were left speechless as to why they were abandoning them so easily.
Saejin heard the chair next to her slide on the floor. "Nice meeting you again." Byunghun told her.
"Same to you.." She said a little awkwardly. Honestly, she was hoping for a partner who was a girl, but she couldn't think that way. This guy seemed nice enough.
They sat there in complete silence for a while, trying to figure out where to get started.
Saejin spoke first as she looked at the authors they could choose to look up. "How about Jane Austen? She's pretty influential."
Byunghun just shrugged. "I guess so. I don't really have a preference."
"Jane Austen it is." Saejin wrote down on the paper. Then their names and the date. "Then, where should we work?"
"We could do something after school. Or go to one of our houses." He answered. "We could always go to my-" but then he stopped. Did Saejin even know how rich he was? What if she found out and became a crazy after finding out? He liked having someone normal besides his five friends around.
"My what?"
"What? Oh! I was saying go to my.. Favorite restaurant!"
Saejin scratched her head. "I guess it's possible to do homework in a restaurant. I wouldn't really know."
"Well, the ice cream shop across the street. We could go there. That is, after we get books from the library or something. That would make things a whole lot easier."
She smiled a bit before looking back down to the paper.
Byunghun looked around to CAP and Ricky. Both of them were looking at each other and exchanging glances at Byunghun. Ricky was basically being consumed and CAP was getting stares from his group. Turns out his group wasn't so sane after all. Byunghun inwardly laughed at their misery, but he smiled to let them know. The two in the back scowled as they were pulled back into their own partners.
"So, I guess that's it." Saejin put down her pencil and pushed the paper to the edge of the desk. She put her head back down to take another nap.
"What? You didn't get enough sleep?" Byunghun asked.
Saejin kept her eyes shut. "Not an hour. But don't worry, it won't affect the project." She shifted to get more comfortable.
Suddenly, Byunghun got hit with a paper ball that fell on the floor next to his feet. He looked back and saw Ricky eyeing him. He picked up the note to unfold it. 'Getting chummy with the new girl?' Byunghun rolled his eyes and threw it back at Ricky.
"What the-?"
"CHANGHYUN SHUT UP!" Ms. Song yelled. "Aish! So early in the morning." Ricky was literally shaking in his chair. How could they have a teacher this mean and scary?
The class got over and everyone started to pack up to get to the next class.
"Um, Saejin-ssi!" Byunghun grabbed lightly into Saejin's arm. She lifted her head and met his eyes. "Should we exchange numbers? I mean, after school or something? You know, make communicating easier."
She nodded and got out a piece of paper and scribbled down some numbers and handed it to him. "Just call or text me and I'll just save yours."
"Alright, see ya."
"Bye!" She smiled shyly and walked out of the room.
Byunghun looked back down at the paper again. Well, that whole class was a bit awkward.
Ricky came up behind him and pushed him. "Yah! You abandon us and run to her? What's the big deal?" He whined. "Geez, at least your partner is actually normal."
"You got her number, huh?" CAP smirked and gave a knowing smile.
"For the purpose of the project!"
"Uh huh." CAP's expression didn't change nor did his tone of voice. It was kind of creeping Byunghun out. He just backed away and left the room, the two boys right on his trail.
And it didn't stop there. At lunch, Ricky told the rest about how much of a traitor Byunghun was for running away from them and leaving them to die. CAP was still smirking.
"Was she hot?" Chunji asked bluntly, earning glares. "What? It's a legitimate question!"
Byunghun rolled his eyes. CAP answered for him by nodding his head with a weird smile on his face. "And, he asked for her number."
At this, the rest of the table stopped what they were doing. Niel coughed, trying to get the water out from the other tube. "Like, her phone number?!"
"Oh yeah. And, he asked her first."
"The fu-?"
"You little.." Chunji grabbed Byunghun to give him a noogie. "I knew you'd come around some day. Was just a matter of time!" He started pinching his cheeks. "Aw, guys, he got his first number from a girl! How sweet is that?"
Byunghun pushed him away. "Yah! It's because we're partners! If it was anyone else, I'd ask for theirs too!"
His friends raised their eyebrows at the same time at him. "What's her name? Maybe we know who she is." Niel asked, looking around the room for anyone new.
"She's Song Saejin." Ricky answered. "I don't know if she eats here. I don't think she's made any friends yet."
"Maybe we could invite her." Changjo innocently asked, shrugging. "Hyung's gotta get to know her somehow."
"Not you too." Byunghun groaned. If he could trust anyone, it was the maknae. His hopes were gone.
After school, Saejin got on the bus to get home. When her phone beeped, she apologized to the other passengers and checked her phone.
She got a message. 'Don't just look at the number, save it. -Lee Byunghun.'
Saejin sighed as his sarcasm and did as he said.
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