Shady Girl - Sistar

Chapter 19: Dirty.

Friday evenings are always a blessing from the higher ups. It has always been my favourite day of the week, regardless of the classes for the day.

Every Friday, hardly any homework is given or even none at all, sometimes. Students are let out early as it is the day allotted for various extra-curricular activities. On the contrary, other students who don’t belong to any clubs just immediately go to study hall or just straight to home.

Though as much as I’d want to follow suit with the rest, I can’t for I have a part time job.

I wasn’t complaining though. I enjoy my job, I work with nice people, and I earn a fairly good amount of money, even though I have several day-offs. The least I could do is just be thankful for my current lifestyle, which is way easier than the one I used to have.

But I digress. Friday evenings are usually for fun. After work, you get to go out into the lively streets of Seoul and have the time of your life—like for example, going out with your family and friends.

Though even if I wanted to, once again, I can’t for I have neither.

Thinking about it, I do have quite a few friends—Haeri, Sehun, Soyeol, and Tao. Haeri’s probably in the study hall while Soyeol’s out in the arcade. Tao, on the other hand, has Wushu practice, leaving Sehun the only one available. I would’ve asked Sehun out for a breather, but the kid has his day off today and he said he wants to rest for he has been working for the whole week—must be tough for him, seeing as he’s not used to tiring his body out with work.

Then there’s Jongmi and Kai. I already tried hanging out with both—if you can even call it as hanging out. Anyway, both of them share the same attributes such as the ability to make their friends comfortable and not awkward. Though their personalities are a tad different, both of them are refreshing and nice in their own different ways, rendering me no room for doubts about their sibling relationship. I admire people like those and if given the chance, it would be nice to go out with either one of them again.

But I couldn’t simply do that. I might’ve said that it’s nice to hang out with either one of them again, but I think the situation’s a bit complicated. I’m not really sure how though, I can just feel it. I just know that the negativity that I could feel with Jongmi was still there, but not as much as it used to be though. 

Besides, the two of them are in college. They might as well be busy with their evening classes.

After cleaning up the last table, I trudged over the front door and switched the ‘open’ sign to its opposite with a sigh. The restaurant closed early tonight but since I don’t have anyone to go out with, might as well just go home. Lu Han won’t be going home until later tonight so there’s pretty much nothing to do but sleep.

After making sure that the whole restaurant’s cleaned up, I quickly went to the back room and changed back into my school uniform. Upon closing my locker, I began to notice a clacking noise from behind me and saw Baekhyun and Chanyeol-oppa hurrying around here and there with few suitcases in their hands. I stopped in my tracks and stared at them curiously. “What are you two doing?”

“Oh Jaera!” Baekhyun-oppa called, raising his head from his luggage onto me. “You’re heading back now, right?”

“Yeah, I guess.” I answered, a bit unsure. “What’s with all the bags though?”

“Well, Baekhyun and I are going on a short vacation this weekend and our flight’s tonight.” Chanyeol-oppa said, locking the last suitcase whilst Baekhyun-oppa checked every piece. “We’re running late now, actually.”

“I could see that.” I said, snickering at their distressed state, causing for Baekhyun-oppa to give Chanyeol-oppa a glare.

“It’s his entire fault for not packing earlier.” Baekhyun-oppa scoffed, pursing his lips at Chanyeol-oppa before walking over to me. “He even forgot to unplug all our appliances back at the condo! Can you believe it?!”

“It’s not like I did it on purpose!” Chanyeol-oppa defended himself as I watched the two of them in amusement.

“So what do you want me to do?” I asked, eyeing the bronze key that Baekhyun-oppa dropped on the palm of my hand. “What’s this for?”

“About that Jaera, can you do us a huge favour? We’re neighbours, right?” Baekhyun-oppa said, batting his eyelashes at me as I just stared at him in amusement. Baekhyun-oppa might be a guy but he sure can act more girly than a girl. “We can’t go back to our place just to unplug all the appliances or else we’ll miss our flight, and we wouldn’t possibly want that.”

“I think I even left the AC on…” Chanyeol-oppa admitted, smiling sheepishly at me and receiving a light slap from his lover.

“So you’re planning to make our money go down the drain with all the electric bills? You’re really irresponsible, ugh.” Baekhyun-oppa hissed, rubbing his temples in frustration as a low chuckle slipped off from my mouth.

“Sure, just unplugging the appliances and turning off the AC right?” I said, giving them a smile as Baekhyun and Chanyeol-oppa nodded.

“Can you do that? We promise we’ll bring you lots of souvenirs after we get back from our trip!”

“Yeah, I think I can do that.” I said, clutching the key in my hand before keeping it in my blazer’s pocket. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You’re such a lifesaver, Jaera! I wouldn’t know what to do without you!” Baekhyun-oppa squealed, tackling me into a tight hug as I just chuckled. “Thank you so much!”

“Sure, it’s the least I could do for you guys.” I chuckled, letting go of Baekhyun-oppa as I saw Chanyeol-oppa smiling at me in delight. “Oppa, be careful next time though. You wouldn’t want Baekhyun-oppa to go berserk on you.”

“I know, I know.” Chanyeol-oppa said, his shoulders slumped as he dragged their luggage out into the streets. Baekhyun-oppa didn’t even lay a single finger on each of their bags as he continued to bore his scary gaze on Chanyeol-oppa’s back. “Lesson learned.”

As soon as the three of us were out, Baekhyun-oppa locked the backdoor and jogged towards us on the side street. He then hailed a cab and ushered for Chanyeol-oppa to load their things in the compartment to which the latter couldn’t do anything but just sigh.

“Since we won’t be here for the weekend, just take the day off and rest. I already informed the others as well.” Baekhyun-oppa said as I nodded. “We’ll be back by Sunday so enjoy your weekend, okay?”

I nodded in understanding as the trunk cover dropped back with a loud thud. Baekhyun and Chanyeol-oppa entered the cab and gave the driver the airport’s directions before turning to me. I grinned at them and waved goodbye as they did the same. “Enjoy your trip! Don’t forget my souvenir!”

“Take care on your way back, okay? Bye!” Baekhyun and Chanyeol-oppa waved their arms through the window as I watched the cab zoom off into the main road and eventually disappearing from my range of sight.

I went to the bus station afterwards, deciding to call it a day and head home. Seeing as all the seats are full, I clutched my bag straps with my bare hands and breathed heavily, standing just beside the doors while watching the night streets of Seoul pass by before my own eyes.

Most people nowadays have already dropped the thick clothing and went for a thinner attire. The night wasn’t cold but it wasn’t hot either. The wind was just in a fairly moderate temperature but I’m guessing that it’s beginning to get warm. I assume that by next week, some students would start wearing their summer uniforms. I, as well, will drop the mustard yellow blazer and just wear our white polo adorned with a dark blue ribbon with yellow stars studded on it. Summer was fast approaching and soon, our long awaited summer break would eventually come.

No wonder Baekhyun and Chanyeol-oppa are going on an early vacation. The restaurant usually gets jam packed with teenagers when summer comes.

I was quickly brought back to reality upon seeing the bus arriving at the familiar streets of Apgujeong-dong. I got off from the bus station and decided to walk at a moderate pace, cherishing the serene night ahead of me.

As I neared the condominium building, my eyes unconsciously darted towards the other side where the old apartment that I used to live in is. It was still the same as how it was when I was still there. The metal railings are still rusted, the white exterior still looks old, and the building itself still looks rotten. I searched for the window of my old room and noticed that the lights were on. The new tenant’s probably in.

A feeling of relief washed through me as I arrived at the condominium building, and entered the elevator. I’m a bit glad I moved here, not because this place’s luxurious—I’m not really the fancy type of person—but because the apartment building looked like it could break down any moment.

As soon as I reached the fourth floor, I looked over the glass windows present in the hallway and saw the lights of my old room turn off. “Good night new tenant-ssi. I hope you don’t get irritated by the dripping faucet every night.”

Pulling out the bronze key from my blazer’s pocket, I pushed it inside the keyhole and entered Baekhyun and Chanyeol-oppa’s unit, room 419. I was expec