After having dinner with Seyoon and Kai, Baekhyun, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol accompanied Sehun to the bus stop.

“I wonder if Seyoon is alright…” said Kyungsoo.

“I am worried about her too,” said Sehun.

“What are you worrying about? I’m sure that Seyoon could handle it,” said Baekhyun.

“But what if something happen again?” said Kyungsoo.

“What could possibly happen? It is not as if it is the first time that someone confesses his feelings to Seyoon,” said Baekhyun.

“Exactly…that’s what we’re talking about. Just remembering that guy who confessed to Seyoon when we were in middle school,” Kyungsoo.

“I neither like that guy nor Luhan,” said Chanyeol.

“It is not as if Kai would be there to protect her again, if you know what I mean,” said Kyungsoo.

“Besides, Kai still doesn’t know that Luhan asked Seyoon out,” said Sehun.

“Ahh…about that…”

“What about it, Baekhyun?” said Chanyeol as he raised his eyebrow. “You didn’t tell him, do you?”

“No! No! But it is Luhan that is involved here. Naturally, gossip would spread around as fast as machine gun. He heard it from some of our classmates.”

“What did he say?” asked Kyungsoo.

“Well, he looked pretty shocked but I think he could handle it. It is different now than when we were still in middle school. I mean, Kai’s world doesn’t just revolve around his friends anymore. Krystal is with him now. I don’t think he would interfere in Seyoon’s personal relationship,” said Baekhyun.

“So, it is up to us now to look after Seyoon in case something happen in the future,” said Kyungsoo. Sehun, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol nodded in confirmation.

 

~*~

Kai opened his eyes only to be met with a couple of enthusiastic eyes. It was not only that their eyes were directly staring at each other. Their faces were too close to make the young boy flushed in red. “Ahh!” Kai got up from his bed.

“HAHA! I told you he’ll be scared. HAHA!” said Baekhyun who was laughing so hard at the foot side of Kai’s bed.

“I’m sorry. We thought we should surprise you,” said Kyungsoo whose face was also tinted red when he drew his head closer to Kai.

“Hey, what are you still doing there? Get dress immediately. Your mom has prepared breakfast for us,” said Sehun who just entered Kai’s room.

When Kai was going down, he heard laughter coming from the dining room. His heart suddenly beat rapidly when he heard the voice of someone he wasn’t able to see for almost a month because of their school vacation.

“Kai! Hu…GHYUYI…rry…HFDGLSP…up!” said Chanyeol who was sitting beside Seyoon, talking with his mouth full.

“Annyeong!” Seyoon greeted him with a smile.

“Annyeong~,” Kai greeted shyly. It had been a month since he last saw his friends. But if there was someone he probably missed the most, even if he doesn’t admit it, it was Seyoon. After all, out of all his friends, Seyoon was the only one who was out of the country during the vacation. Ever since he met Seyoon, it was that one month vacation that he was first separated from her for a long time.

“Grab your seats and start eating breakfast. It’s your first day as third years in middle school. It should be fun!” said Mr. Kim.

“Look Kai, Chanyeol’s parents gave us boxes of oranges,” said Mrs. Kim as she entered the kitchen, holding a pitcher of fresh-squeezed orange juice.

“Thank you!” said Kai to Chanyeol.

“No problem! It is freshly harvested from our hometown. Hurry up! We came so early here just to pick you up,” said Chanyeol.

“Ey, if only I knew, you were here to see Seyoon not me,” Kai whispered to Chanyeol.

“Of course! It’s been a month since the last time I saw Seyoon. Why wouldn’t I miss her? Right, Seyoon?”

She nodded at Chanyeol. "In America, all I did was to stay at home for the whole month. My brother was too busy in school. And my parents were busy with their business. That’s why I was really excited to go back here,” she said to them smiling.

“Don’t worry. Next vacation, I’ll tell your mom that you’ll be staying with us,” said Mr. Kim.

“How about us Mr. Kim?” asked Chanyeol.

“Don’t worry. If your parents approved, we’ll bring you along,” said Mr. Kim.

Kai didn’t notice that he was observing Seyoon all this time as a simple smile formed in his face. Everything seemed to be in fast motion except for Seyoon. He only got out of his trance when Seyoon smiled at him. He suddenly revert his gaze somewhere else after having eye contact with her which confused Seyoon.

On their way to the bus stop, Seyoon noticed that Kai was walking alone behind them. So she decided to walk with him. “Kai,” Kai shifted his head towards Seyoon who was walking beside him. “During breakfast a while ago, I noticed you gaze somewhere else when I looked at you, are you avoiding me or something?” she asked him.

“Avoiding you? Why would I be avoiding you? Hehe…” Kai said nervously.

“Then why are you avoiding my gaze like right now,” said Seyoon. Kai was obviously avoiding her eye contact even when they were talking side by side. “Don’t tell me you don’t miss me after not seeing each other for a month?” she .

“Huh?” Kai’s face turned red because of Seyoon’s question. ‘Why would she ask such question? And how would I answer it? If I say I miss him, what would she think? If I say I don’t, she might be upset. Ah, silly Seyoon,’ thought Kai.

“Haha, you don’t have to answer it. I’m just joking,” she said smiling before she walked ahead with Kyungsoo.

Kai couldn’t contain the smile forming on his lips. But he also noticed something different to Seyoon. It was like she’s different. The way she talked to him right now and her joke, she was not the demure girl he met last year. Just the way she talked to Kyungsoo and the rest of the boys, she seemed more comfortable with them now. ‘She seemed more mature…’ Kai thought.

“Kai, what are you still doing there?” Chanyeol called him from the door bus.

---

“I wish we’re in the same class again,” said Kyungsoo. The six went near a giant bulletin board at the center of the hallway. Since it was still early, there are still few students in the hallway. They were able to have a full glimpse of the list of the students per section.

“There’s my name!” shouted Baekhyun, who saw his name first on the board.

“My name is there too!” said Kyungsoo.

“Ah, I saw my name. Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, we’re on the same class!” said Seyoon happily.

“I saw my name. We’re in the same section too,” said Sehun.

They looked at Kai and Chanyeol who were obviously nervous standing behind them. Chanyeol clasped his hands tightly, whispering chants and prayers. “Please…please…”

The two looked at the board. “That’s my name!” Chanyeol shouted happily when he saw his name.

“See, I knew you would be included,” said Baekhyun to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol gave him a tight hug. “Thank you for knocking me off when I fell asleep while studying. Kyungsoo, thank you for giving me midnight snacks,” he said to both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun.

“Kai, I don’t see your name,” said Sehun.

Kai looked desperate as he looked for his name on the list. “Don’t worry. If my name is there, it is impossible that yours is not included,” said Chanyeol.

“But…” Kai was nervous not seeing his name on any of the sections. If only he listened to Seyoon during their tutorial time. If only he copied notes neatly on his notebook. If only…if only he studies well, he might be included in the same section as his friends. But no matter where he looked, his name was not there.

Suddenly, Seyoon noticed something. At the bottommost part of the list, a name seemed to be covered by the tape that pasted the paper to the board. When Seyoon tried to lift it up a little, she was surprised. “Kai! Your name is here! It’s here!” she shouted. The boys went to look for it, and she was right. Kai’s name was at the bottommost list of the top 40 students.

Kai’s face lightened up with a sign of relief as he saw his name. He held both of Seyoon’s hands. “Thank you for teaching me after school!” he said as he pulled Seyoon in a hug. “Kamsahamnida!”

Chanyeol, who couldn’t stand the situation, also joined the hug. “What are you doing?” asked Kai.

“Why? You’re my friends. I’m so happy that we’re in the same section!” he said happily.

“Ahh…you two are squeezing me,” said Seyoon.

“I think you hugged her enough,” said Sehun.

“Sorry,” said Kai and Chanyeol as they broke from the hug.

“Let’s go to our room. I wonder who would be my seatmate for this year,” said Baekhyun.

“Let’s go Seyoon!” said Chanyeol, wishing that he and Seyoon would be seatmate. He’s been seatmates with Baekhyun ever since primary school. He really wished a change of seatmate for this year. And he’s resolution, it would be Seyoon.

“I’m sorry guys but the teacher said she wanted to see me before class. You just go ahead,” said Seyoon.

After talking with her teacher in the faculty room, Seyoon was on her way to her classroom when she noticed the student in front of her dropped his handkerchief. “Excuse me? Excuse me?” she called repeatedly. It took a while before the student noticed that someone was calling him.

“Aa..aa..are you…you..tal..ta..talking to me?” he stuttered as he turned around facing her.

“You seemed to drop this,” said Seyoon as she handed him the handkerchief. However, when Seyoon almost touched the student’s hand, he suddenly withdrawn it nervously. “Is this not yours?” she asked again.

“So..so..sor..sorry,” he said as he grabbed the handkerchief and ran away until Seyoon couldn’t see his shadows anymore.

Seyoon was shocked for a moment seeing that student ran away from her as if she scared him like hell. For just a few glimpse of him, Seyoon knew that he was not as fragile as he acted. He possessed very intense-looking eyes despite him wearing those thick eye-glasses. And he seemed too tall to be scared to someone as short as her.

Leaving the incident aside, she went to her classroom located at the uppermost floor of the middle school building. When she went inside, she saw a vacant seat ready for her beside Kai. “Seyoon, here,” Kai called her.

Chanyeol was sulking when he saw Seyoon sat beside Kai. He couldn’t do anything. After all, he lost in their manly game to choose their seating assignment. If only he won first in rock-paper-scissor, he would be able to choose his seatmate. In the end, he was seating beside Kyungsoo at the back of Kai and Seyoon’s seats while Baekhyun and Sehun were seating in front. Another thing that pissed him off was that Baekhyun didn't choose him to be his seatmate. He must be tired of seating with him too, he thought.

“What did you talk about with the teacher in the faculty room?” asked Kai.

“Well, they say I have high grades. However, I still need to have some extra-curricular activities. Since I just transferred here last year, I still don’t have any club to join to. But now, I am required to join at least one club,” she said to them.

 “Well, we have a lot of clubs here in school. I am a member of the dance club together with Sehun,” said Kai.

“But, I really don’t know how to dance. Besides, I just like watching people dance but not performing the dance myself.”

“How about joining the glee club? Kyungsoo and I were part of it,” said Baekhyun.

“Or, for novelty, you could join home economics club where Kyungsoo was a member of. He is also a member of the student council like Sehun,” said Kai.

“I didn’t know that Kyungsoo was a member of a lot of clubs,” Seyoon said.

“Well, I just have a lot of interests. I am not the only one who is a member of a lot of clubs. Sehun is a member of the dance club, student council, and the sports club.” Kyungsoo replied.

“How about you Chanyeol, aren’t you a member of any club?” asked Seyoon.

“Me? Haha! For the record, I am a member of the coolest club in school. I am just a member of the music club. Well, you may think we’re similar to glee club but we’re not. We actually play a lot of musical instruments. In fact, I am part of the classical band, as well as the rock band,” Chanyeol boasted happily.

“Ey, it is not only you who was the member of that club. I am the vocalist of their band,” said Baekhyun.

“Really? That’s great!” said Seyoon.

“So, whose club are you going to join?” asked Kai.

“Uhm…I really don’t know. All of your clubs seemed interesting.”

“If you want, we can tour you to the different clubs after class,” said Kyungsoo.

“That would be great! Thank you so much,” she replied.

~*~

 

The next day, Kai and Seyoon walked to the school without any companion. In Kai’s opinion, there’s a probability that Chanyeol overslept again after having their dinner at their place plus their dorm meeting last night. He had no choice but to walk with Seyoon to school with just the two of them.

In front of the school, there seemed to be a very unlikely sight. No, for Kai, it was a very unlikely person waiting for them to arrive. “Seyoon!” Luhan shouted when he saw Seyoon and Kai coming towards the entrance gate. He looked at Kai who was intensely staring at him. “Oh, hi Kai!” he said as he gave him the smile that Kai hated the most.

Seyoon just walked past by him towards the entrance without looking back, leaving Luhan and Kai behind. “Aren’t you going after her?” asked Kai.

“Me? No. I don’t want her to be intimidated by me. I’ll just wait until she gets comfortable with my presence,” Luhan replied confidently.

Kai tried to pull a smirk on his face. “Tsk.” No matter how much he wanted to ask Luhan if he was serious on asking Seyoon out, but he couldn’t. As much as he wanted to walk past the border line, he couldn’t and wouldn’t. He didn’t want to interfere in Seyoon’s personal affairs. After all, he was the one who asked Seyoon in the first place about not interfering in each other’s business. No matter how much he wanted to protect Seyoon like what he did when they were in middle school, he knew he couldn’t anymore.

While thinking of Seyoon and Luhan Kai didn’t notice that Krystal already arrived. Krystal, who was used of walking with Kai to the school, was confused why Kai was still standing in front of Luhan and seemed not noticing her presence. But she couldn’t greet him or call his name since their relationship was still concealed to everyone. She just walked to the school without Kai.

“Oh, I think someone was waiting for you,” said Luhan, who noticed Krystal walking towards the school.

“Huh?” Kai asked curiously.

“Never mind. Why don’t we walk together? After all, we’re classmates,” he said as he placed his arm on Kai’s shoulder.

“Leave me alone. I could walk to the school without a companion,” Kai said as he left Luhan standing in front of the gate. ‘Someday, I’ll get to you,’ Kai thought.