Chapter Seven: First Confession

The wind was blowing softly and almost noiselessly. Hyunsik leaned on his elbows on the ledge of the rooftop. He closed his eyes and let the wind ruffle his otherwise neat black hair. The dark sweater that’s been hugging his body rather uncomfortably a while ago in the steamy room seemed to get loose.

“Something wrong, Hyunsik?”

Hyunsik’s eyes snapped open and he turned to see Minhyuk leaning against the door. The older boy nonchalantly put his hands behind his head and joined the younger at the ledge.

“M-Minhyuk hyung…” Hyunsik stuttered in surprise. He regained his posture and asked casually, “How’s Ilsoon?”

Minhyuk took a deep breath before responding. “Hmm… She’s fine. But why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Hyunsik lowered his head to hide his reddening face. “Erm… I figured I wouldn’t bother her, since there are already a lot of people in the room.”

Minhyuk tilted his head and caught Hyunsik biting his bottom lip. The older boy smirked. “Tell me what it is, Hyunsik.”

Hyunsik looked up with a confused face. Minhyuk leaned on his back and elbows. The wind blew against his brown hair, and even to fellow males, he was a breath-taking view. Then he turned his head towards the younger boy.

“You like her, don’t you?”

Hyunsik was taken aback. “Eh? Wh-who?”

“Who else? Jung Ilsoon.”

Hyunsik took a step back, but he could no longer hide his cherry-tomato face. “Wh-what are you saying?”

“Your face says it all, my friend,” said Minhyuk with a chuckle. “Seriously, Hyunsik, do you think I’m that dense?”

“Well, the other boys are kind of dense, and I figured you’d be, too,” muttered Hyunsik. “H-how did you know?”

Minhyuk tapped his forehead. “Sixth sense?” When Hyunsik gave him a look, he laughed. “Just kidding. I had this feeling in the bookstore the first time you saw her. It was like seeing a new Hyunsik.”

Hyunsik scowled, but it melted off quickly as he went back against the ledge. He lowered his chin on his arms and blew a raspberry. Minhyuk walked over to him and clamped a hand on his shoulder. Hyunsik trusted this hyung more than anyone, and he felt obliged to talk to him about it.

“It’s true. I think I have a crush,” Hyunsik said softly. He averted his gaze and stared at his hands. “She had that first impression on me that I really liked. I like strong girls who can take care of themselves. But what really had me was the fact that she looked a lot like Ilhoon.”

Minhyuk’s eyebrows rose. Hyunsik realized what he said and quickly shook his head. “I mean—No! Not in that sense. It’s just that I was attracted to her because she looked a lot like what Ilhoon did last Christmas. Remember when we all dressed up as girls last Christmas? I told myself, if there ever were a girl close to looking like this, I’d fall in love with her.”

Minhyuk nodded, understanding. He let out a mock sigh of relief. “Woah, good. For a second there I thought you were—”

“I’m not gay! And  don’t like Ilhoon,” blurted Hyunsik. Minhyuk sniggered and waved a hand dismissively.

“Alright, fine,” said Minhyuk, still smirking. Then a serious expression fell on his face. “But seriously, I didn’t think you’d be one to go for physical attributes.”

Hyunsik shook his head. “I’m not. But that was my first impression on her. Of course I got to know her a bit, since she’s been hanging with us all the time. I began to notice the smallest things about her, and how much I liked them. Like how she brushes her bangs off her face, or how she walks, or how gentle she could actually be. She doesn’t give that first impression, and I liked it. She’s kind of paradoxical, isn’t she?”

While he was talking, Hyunsik didn’t notice the unconscious smile creeping up his face and the flush of color getting darker on his cheeks. But Minhyuk did. I’m never going to let him forget about this, he thought with a mischievous grin.

“Well, good luck on that, I guess,” said Minhyuk dismissively. “I’m not really good in that department, but it sure is good to know you trust me enough to tell me what you feel.” The brown-haired boy tucked his hands in his pockets and walked back to the door. Hyunsik looked after him, and then turned to the sky.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Talent Day had fallen on the Thursday after the field trip, so of course classes resumed on Friday. Ilsoon, who was still feeling a little feverish, stayed at home with her mother while her twin went to school.

“Take notes for me, okay?” Ilsoon reminded him. Ilhoon muttered something about not having a notebook before leaving.

In the classroom, he, along with Hyunsik, Sungjae, and Peniel, kept an eye out for the girls who knocked Ilsoon down. Eunkwang had given them a brief description of what he remembered, and the boys immediately knew who he was talking about.

When Soohyun and Chaerin entered the room, their eyes automatically flitted to the corner where the four boys usually sat. What met them were four pairs of evil eyes. The girls averted their gazes and quickly sat down beside each other, whispering among themselves.

Ilhoon got up, and Hyunsik felt that he knew what he was thinking. He grabbed Ilhoon’s wrist firmly and said, “Don’t do it. You’ll get in worse trouble.”

“Nobody gets away with hurting my sister,” growled Ilhoon. “Nobody.”

Hyunsik kept a firm grip on Ilhoon’s wrist. “Don’t act rashly.”

“I’ll just talk to them, just to make sure things are clear.”

Hyunsik let him go and Ilhoon approached the two girls. At the sight of Ilhoon coming toward them, Chaerin broke out into a blush, but Soohyun gulped.

“Ilhoon-ssi—”

Ilhoon cut Chaerin off even before she could begin. “I want to make things clear here. You mess with my sister; you get on my bad side. You get on my bad side, and you’re out of my groups’ radar. You get me?”

Chaerin bit her lip. “I didn’t do it! Soohyun did it! She’s the one who pushed Ilsoon first!”

Soohyun’s mouth dropped in horror. “You hit her first! How dare you accuse me?”

As the two girls bickered, Ilhoon shrugged and turned away. Peniel gave him a hi-five as he sat down and the teacher came in. He took one look at the Soohyun and Chaerin and said,

“Ms. Byun, Ms. Seo, you may continue your argument outside, and you may come in once you’re done discussing.”

Soohyun and Chaerin quieted down, but neither girl made an attempt to talk to the other all throughout the class. Ilhoon grinned smugly.

That’ll teach you of messing with my Soonie.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The following week, Ilsoon was well enough to attend school. She gave her re-entry slip to the Office and entered her classroom with Ilhoon. Almost immediately, their three other friends bombarded her with questions.

“How do you feel?”

“Are you okay already?”

“Do you have food?”

Ilsoon chuckled. “Here you go, Sungjae. It’s an extra sandwich. My mom accidentally packed me two. And guys, chill out: I’m fine now.”

The boys relaxed and chatted with her. Hyunsik seemed a bit withdrawn, but thankfully no one noticed. He made the mistake of glancing across the room, and met eyes with Soohyun and Chaerin. The two girls were whispering among themselves, but when Hyunsik raised an eyebrow, they stopped. Then they stood up and made their way to the group.

Peniel noticed them first. He tapped Ilsoon’s shoulder and pointed. When Ilsoon turned, she stiffened with fright. Before she could utter a word, Soohyun spoke.

“Ilsoon-ssi, we wanted to talk to you,” she said. She glanced at the boys around Ilsoon. “Err, in private.”

Ilhoon got up and stood like a bodyguard behind Ilsoon. “Whatever it is you want to say, I’m pretty sure we’d like to hear it too. You can say what you want right here, or never mind.”

Soohyun glanced at Chaerin, then gulped and continued. “W-we just wanted to apologize, Ilsoon-ssi. We hope you weren’t badly injured.”

Ilhoon was about to in, but Ilsoon held up a hand to stop him. Then she smiled at the two girls. “It’s almost traumatizing, to tell you the truth. I didn’t know there really are queen bees that are bent on making the new girl’s life miserable in real life. But if you’re the typical queen bees, don’t think that I’m your typical new girl, because this new girl won’t let you get your way. Are we clear?”

That’s my girl, thought Ilhoon proudly. The girls nodded and waddled back to their seats. Sungjae punched a fist into the air and grinned. Ilsoon looked pretty pleased with herself as she sat down. Just then, someone’s phone beeped. Ilsoon gasped and took hers out of her pocket. Whatever the message was, it got her excited. The boys could all see her eyes sparkling as she thumbed in a reply.

“Who was that?” asked Sungjae. He tried peeking at her phone, but Ilsoon held the device away with a smirk.

“You’ll find out in due time,” she said cheekily. She whipped away from the boys, hitting Sungjae’s nose with her hair (he was leaning in pretty close).

Peniel, Hyunsik and Sungjae tried peeking over Ilsoon’s shoulder, but to no avail. Ilhoon had taken one look at her face and seemed to have gotten what she meant.

“Be wary of Jung Ilsoon when she gives out that statement,” said Ilhoon with a grin. The three boys raised their eyebrows at him, but the bassist merely shrugged and turned towards the front, just as the teacher was getting in the room.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-