A/N : Do you guys all remember the math exam that Minah took in Chapter 22? I sure hope so, because Kris spent a lot of time tutoring her!! & Hopefully you guys still remember the day when Myungsoo approached Minah during lunch and called her nasty names. That was… Chapter 12.  And lastly, I hope you guys remember the weekend! Drunk Minah + Kris dinner date.

 

If none of this is clicking for you guys, please go read it again, to refresh your memories. Well, you don’t HAVE to, but feel free to do so if you wannnaaa~  (: Kthx bai! Enjoy!

 

 

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Minah woke with a start. Her room was dark, and so was the sky outside. Small bolts of pain shot through her head as she sat up. Groaning, she reached around for her phone blindly, but soon remembered that she had left it in her purse the night before.

 

Minah found he phone and unlocked it to see the time. She was still feeling groggy, so Minah completely forgot about the alarm clock that was sitting right next to her. It was only 5 am. She still had two hours before she had to go to school.

 

‘I should probably get back to sleep,’ she thought.

 

Suddenly, Minah remembered some of what had happened last night at dinner.

 

 

He suddenly leaned forward. “So.”

“Hummmmmm?” Minah slurred.

“Anyone you like?”

Minah squinted at Kris. “Mmmmmm….” She suddenly grinned and raised her arm. She pointed at Kris sloppily.  “You!”

Kris raised his eyebrows, and his eyes widened. “Me?” he asked, surprised.

Minah nodded vigorously. “Yep! Aaand… and… Lay and Suho and Bacon and Chanyeol and Sehun and Tao and Luhannie and Taeyeon and Suho and Lay and Junhyun and Chanyeol and Kai and Chen and Kyungsoo and Xiumin… and… and.. and…” she scratched her head. “I feel like I’m missing a lot of people. Who am I missin’? Oh whatever! I like you all!” she smiled and spread her arms out wide. “I love you all this much!”

“Oh.” Kris said simply.  “Anyone you’re interested in?” he asked again, rewording his sentence. “Romantically?”

Minah frowned at Kris, then broke into a wide grin. “Why you wanna know, eh? Hoping it’s you, Krissy?”

 

 

Minah’s head dropped into her palms. ‘Ohmygosh..’ she thought. ‘How embarrassing! Now he probably thinks I’m a retard or something…’

 

She frowned as she continued to think. What else had happened last night? She remembered going to eat dinner with him… eating their meal… trying to pay… drinking wine… and then waking up. Aside from that small snippet of drunken conversation she had just remembered, Minah knew nothing else.

 

Minah had so many questions swirling through her head… How did she get home? Did Hayoung see her last night? What did she and Kris talk about? Just what exactly had happened? Why couldn’t she remember?

 

It was a terrifying feeling, not knowing exactly what had been going on the day before. It was like a piece of her memory had been removed…

 

Minah lifted her head and flew out of the bed. She made sure to move quietly, though, so that she wouldn’t wake Hayoung, who was probably sleeping in her room. Minah rushed to the restroom and splashed her face with cold water repeatedly, trying to forget her embarrassing conversation with Kris.

 

It did not work. When Minah lifted her head from the sink, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her face was blood red. And she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

 

‘Oh thank god I didn’t answer that question honestly…’ Minah thought. ‘That would have been bad... Who knows what would have happened...’

 

She groaned again. Now he’d about it for life… probably. She could feel another blush building up. How would she have replied to his last question anyway…?

 

Minah laughed nervously at her reflection. “I wouldn’t have!” she cried out loud. “Because I don’t like anyone! I don’t!”

 

She suddenly frowned into the mirror. “I’m just still feeling the effects from the wine last night. I’m not acting totally sane right now. When I sober up again, I’ll stop acting like a confused lovesick maiden. There’s nothing to be confused over, anyway! Come on, Minah. This whole time you’ve managed to keep your head in check. Why are you suddenly losing it?”

 

She sighed and stared at herself in the mirror. “Okay… I have officially gone insane. I’m speaking to myself. Through a mirror. I think I need more sleep…”

 

Minah flopped back under the covers. She closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep.

 

After remembering her embarrassing actions and reliving the memory many times, she finally difted off to sleep.

 

Her alarm rang half an hour later.

 

Minah prepared for school and left.

 

 

She entered Calculus, and her eyes instantly locked with Kris’s. He sent her an amused smile, and Minah lowered her head, her cheeks burning up again. She ran to an empty seat and sat down, not noticing the weird looks she was receiving from the nearby students.

 

From the back corner of the room, Kris shifted in his seat and raised his eyebrows. Why was she acting so strange? She didn’t even greet him… Did she remember what had happened when she had been drunk?! Did she remember his questions?! She couldn’t possibly remember… right?!

 

Math passed slowly. Both Kris and Minah were immersed in their own thoughts. Though the whole situation wouldn’t seem like a big deal to normal people, it was definitely huge for Minah. She wasn’t used to showing her weak side to anyone. And especially not her drunk side. Minah could not remember all of their conversation, either, which only made her even more embarrassed. What if she had accidentally revealed something crazy to him? What if she said dirty things?

 

Minah tried her best to remember last night’s full conversation. Though she tried with all her might, nothing new came back. She remembered nothing, save the last two questions he had asked. Those two alone were embarrassing enough. Minah could not imagine how the other questions must’ve been like…

 

And why the heck had he been asking her questions, anyway?! That sadistic sicko! Taking advantage of her while she was drunk… Minah buried her head in her hands and groaned, earning her more odd looks from the students sitting around her.

 

Suddenly, a loud voice jolted her back to reality.

 

“I’m afraid we’ve had a case of cheating,” Mr. Lee boomed. “As a result, this student will receive a zero on the test and will face possible suspension.”

 

Minah raised her eyebrows. Who’d be dumb enough to cheat on an exam? It was an exam, of all things! The punishment for cheating on a test this huge was crazy!

 

“Jung Minah,” Mr. Lee announced. “Please stand.”

 

Everyone turned to look at her. Some students began to snigger.

 

Minah stood. “W-What?” she stuttered in surprise. “What?”

 

“You’ve been caught cheating,” Mr. Lee enunciated. “Cheating.”

 

“Wha—No I didn’t cheat! Who told you I had been cheating?!”

 

“It was an anonymous tip,” the teacher admitted. “But there’s enough evidence to support the claim.”

 

“Like what?” a voice growled. From the back of the room, Kris stood up, glaring at Mr. Lee defiantly. “Minah didn’t cheat.”

 

“Well, er, she has improved considerably within two days,” the older man explained. “Unrealistic, unless she was cheating.”

 

“It’s not unrealistic if she had a tutor,” Kris defended.

 

“And I did…” Minah said softly. “I didn’t cheat. I swear.”

 

Mr. Lee cleared his throat. “The truth is, I’ve gotten more than one note from my students. I received several, all of them claiming that she was cheating.”

 

“But she wasn’t,” Kris insisted. “She didn’t cheat. I know because I tutored her.”

 

A small gasp went around the room as students comprehended what Kris had said. He had what? Tutored her? Why in the world had he tutored her?

 

“I taught her what to expect on exams like these. I taught her formulas and problem solving tips and the material she didn’t understand. That’s why she improved so much. Minah. Didn’t. Cheat.” He emphasized on the last three words.

 

“Well… But—“ Mr. Lee began. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

 

“Mr. Lee,” Kris interrupted, walking down the stairs for dramatic effect. He approached the teacher slowly. “Do you want to make an enemy out of me?”

 

The calculus teacher paled. All the students were dead silent. Minah listened to the terrifying conversation, wishing to speak but not wanting to interrupt Kris.

 

“N-No, of course not,” Mr. Lee stuttered.

 

“Then I suggest you let it go,” Kris threatened. “Or who knows what I’ll do. I can destroy your life.”

 

“B-But I cannot just let a student go after cheating,” Mr. Lee replied nervously.

 

Kris gritted his teeth. “I already told you. Minah didn’t cheat.” He glared at Mr. Lee and slowly turned his head to the side. “She didn’t.”  

 

“Alright.. I understand,” Mr. Lee murmured.

 

Kris gave the teacher a dry smile and began to walk back up the stairs.

 

“Thank you, Kris,” Minah said gratefully as he passed. “I didn’t cheat, you know.”

 

“I know you didn’t,” he replied, patting her on the head as he continued up. “I know.”

 

 

Math passed smoothly after that. In English, Minah told Taeyeon everything, and the two gasped and groaned together. Taeyeon tried to help Minah recover her memory, but with no success.

 

“I could thump you on the head,” Taeyeon suggested. “Maybe it’ll stir something.”

 

“Go for it,” Minah sighed.

 

The thumping did not help rebuild her lost memory.

 

 

At snack, the trio continued to talk about Minah’s problem.

 

“Maybe nothing happened,” Junhyun murmured. “Maybe nothing at all, and you’re overreacting.”

 

“Or maybe EVERYTHING happened!” Minah moaned. “That’d mean that I told him everything! Imagine how embarrassing that’d be for me!”

 

“Wait a minute…” Taeyeon suddenly said. “Minah. What kind of secrets are you harboring that you don’t want Kris to know? Cause… not much goes on in your life that’s super secretive, no offense.”

 

“I don’t know,” Minah admitted. “I just… What if I told him something I didn’t mean? Or what if I told him something I don’t want him to know?”

 

“Like a confession?” Taeyeon mused.

 

“I… Yeah,” Minah sighed. “Something like that.”

 

“A confession?!” Junhyun boomed. “About who?! You like someone, Minah?!”

 

“No, I… I don’t know!” she responded honestly. “I really don’t know.”

 

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Taeyeon questioned. “How can you not know if you like someone?”

 

“And who is it?” Junhyun added.

 

“Because… this feeling is completely foreign to me,” Minah replied slowly. “I’ve had mini crushes on cute guys in my elementary or middle school classes before.. but this is different. It feels completely different and I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

 

Minah bit her lip uncertainly. “And it’s so obvious… You guys know who he is… But I don’t know. Maybe I don’t like him. Or maybe I do. Argh, I’m so confused! It’s like, when he smiles my heart will suddenly clench up, and when I see him and talk to him, I feel happy… but I shouldn’t be feeling this way, I think. I mean, it’s not right.. right?”

 

“Girl, you like him,” Taeyeon and Junhyun nodded. “You aren’t even unsure about it, you just think you are. But your heart definitely likes him.”

 

Junhyun smiled at his girlfriend. “That’s deep, baby.”

 

“Not even,” Taeyeon scoffed, smacking him lightly on the arm. “This is nothing,” she winked.

 

Taeyeon turned to Minah and smiled slyly. “Correct me if I’m wrong…. But is it… Chanyeol?”  

 

Minah shook her head.

 

“Baekhyun?” Junhyun asked, a mile playing at his lips.

 

Minah shook her head again.

 

“I knew it,” Taeyeon muttered happily. “I so knew it.”

 

She looked at Junhyun, and the two cried together in unison. “IT’S KRIS!!!!”

 

“Shhh!!” Minah whispered, lifting a finger to her lips. “People might hear!” She bit her lips and slowly nodded. “But yeah… It’s Kris.”

 

“Ohmygosh!!!!” Taeyeon squealed. “Yes!!! I knew it!”

 

“Now we can finally make them get together!” Junhyun laughed. “Finally!”

 

“Wait!!” Minah cried. “Please don’t tell anyone, though! I’m still not sure! It’s probably just my mind playing tricks on me!”

 

“No, I’m sure you like him, Minah,” Taeyeon grinned. “And who do you think we are? Of course we won’t tell!”

 

“Pinky promise,” Junhyun swore, lifting up his pinky. Minah hooked her pinky with his. “Pinky promise.”

 

The bell rang, and the three ran to class.

 

The students performed a lab in chemistry, so Minah did not get a chance to talk to Kris. It was probably a good thing, though, because she had no idea what she’d say to him. Minah was obviously grateful that he had defended her earlier, but there was still the issue of Sunday night… And she had just confessed to her friends of a possible crush for the first time… Oh man.

 

At lunch, the trio met with EXO again. Minah and Kris both tried their best to act normal. Neither of them mentioned the dinner date. When the bell rang, everyone stood up to go to their fifth period.

 

 

Kris grabbed Minah’s arm as she was about to leave.

 

“Hey,” he said. “Can we talk afterschool?”

 

“Um,” Minah said awkwardly. “About what?”

 

“About Sunday,” Kris replied bluntly. He shot her his best ‘smolder’. “Please?”

 

Minah could feel her heart beat faster when he made that expression. “Okay,” she agreed. “Where?”

 

“Mrs. Zhang’s café?” he suggested. His hand was still grasping her wrist.

 

“Okay,” Minah agreed again.

 

“See you later, then.”

 

“S-See you,” Minah stammered. “And thank you for today..”

 

Kris nodded and smiled. He released her arm, and the two went to class.  

 

 

 

 

 

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So... I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while... I've been super busy. I still am! But I managed to finish this chapter today! Please don't kill me for the super late update. 

 

 

Suuuuper tired. Gotta get ready for SAT class now. Bye :(