On Monday, Jaejoong didn’t show up at school. At first I thought he would come late as he usually does, but by morning recess he was nowhere in sight. We did talk during the weekend however he never mentioned anything about skipping school. Maybe he was unwell. I was sure he was going to call me sooner or later so I just continued with my school activities. It wasn’t like I was feeling lonely anymore. I had my friends back. I could suffice a day without my fake boyfriend.

            “Do you know what happened to Jaejoong?” Hana asked. She wasn’t the first one today. A couple of girls have asked me as well. In a fortnight, his fan girls weren’t tormenting me anymore. Sohee and Danseol tended to avoid me when they saw me. Maybe among these girls, one of them truly cared about Jaejoong. Hana definitely did. And I had to admit that I was concerned for him as well.

            “He didn’t tell me he was going to be absent today.” I told Hana. “Maybe he’s feeling unwell. Don’t worry I’ll check up on him.” I assured her.

            “What kind of girlfriend are you?” Jaemi insulted. She hadn’t been bullying me like the other fan girls but that didn’t mean she didn’t give me a sour expression every time she laid eyes on me. “You don’t even know what’s happened to him. Do you even care about him at all?”

            “I do.” I stammered. “I’m just waiting for him to call me so I can ask him.”

            “What?!” Jaemi looked horrified. “So all this time, only Jaejoong has been calling you? You never called him back?”

            “I…” I stuttered. I’ve never been in a relationship before so how was I supposed to know. I scowled inside.

            Hana turned to her friend. “Minni just got a phone recently so she still doesn’t know how to use it properly yet.”

            “How old fashioned.” Jaemi threw another offense.

            “Let me borrow your phone.” Hana said. I gave it to her and she played with it for a while before handing it back. “Now talk.”

            To Jaejoong? What do I do? What do I say? “But Hana.” I panicked.

            “Look! There’s Changmin and Junsu. I need to talk to both of them.” Hana stated and dragged her friend away, completely ignoring me in the process.

            “Hello?” I heard Jaejoong’s voice on the line and froze.

            Then I took a deep breath in and began. “Hi.”

            “What’s the matter sweet pea?” I could hear a smile in his words.

            I chuckled awkwardly. “Sweet pea? Seriously?”

            “I know you miss me.”

            I scoffed at his arrogance. “More like your fan girls are missing you.”

            “Just tell them I’m sick.”

            “I did.”

            “Alright then I don’t see what the problem is. I’ll hang up now.”

            “Wait!” I said immediately. I could hear silence on the other end. The call hasn’t ended yet. “Are you alright?” I didn’t want to be intrusive so just making sure he was fine was all I could ask for.

            “I’m fine Minni. Don’t worry about me. Just take good care of yourself.”

            “You’re not actually sick right?”

            “Nope.”

            I felt myself exhale. “That’s good to hear.”

            “I wanted to skip the weekly tests today.”

            I pursed my lips. “That’s not good to hear.”

            “I don’t see the purpose in doing them.”

            I was saddened to hear that. “What about your future?”

            “What about you?”

            “What about me?”

            “Would you kiss me if I do those tests?” He challenged.

            “I…” I faltered and thought about it. A thought came to mind. I was going to push him to his limits. “If you can get full marks on the test, then I’ll kiss you.”

            Jaejoong thought about it. “What if I get more than one perfect score?”

            “One perfect score equals to one kiss.” I explained the conditions. There was no way he was going to get it. He’s been at the bottom of the class for as long as I can remember. I smiled a little. At the very least, his grades would improve. “Deal?”

            “Deal.” Jaejoong said.

            “Lunch is almost over. I’ll talk to you later.”

            Jaejoong sighed on the other end. “Are you all by yourself at the moment?”

            I looked around. I was on the edge of the biology bushes on my own. “Yes. How’d you know?”

            “Typical.” Jaejoong muttered. “I’m going to leave you alone too. Bye bye sweet pea.” And he hung up.

            I sighed. So far, the test results for today were pretty good. I’ve got two tests with full marks so far. I was hoping that my psychology and biology marks were going to be just as good. I was sure that Jaejoong wasn’t capable of getting perfect scores until later. Hopefully, never.

            “Minni, what are you doing here?” I looked up to see Yunho approaching me. “It’s almost class time.”

            “I was just going to head back.” I said standing up. “What are you doing here? Where are Kimmi and Yoochun?”

            Yunho paused for a moment. “I thought that I should go looking for you since you weren’t with us.”

            I smiled. “How thoughtful.”

            “Let’s go.” Yunho exclaimed.

            “Let’s go.”

            In the far distance, Kimmi and Yoochun rushed to us. “I saw Yunho walk off and followed after him.” She breathed in and out when she reached us. “Who was on the phone?” She turned to Yunho and asked.

            Yunho faltered a little but it was minuscule. “He was just an old friend.”

            Yoochun turned to Kimmi. “Stop acting like you’re his girlfriend. It’s obvious you aren’t.” Kimmi gave him a deadly look and Yoochun rushed away. “Come, let’s get to class. I’ll race you captain.” He was obviously referring to Yunho.

            Yunho laughed a little and accelerated.

            “I thought Yoochun would be awkward around you now.” I admitted. Those who confessed tend to act shy around those they loved.

            “That retard was pranking on me.” Kimmi growled a response. “He wanted to play with my feelings.”

            I was astounded to hear that but I didn’t say anything.

            “Can you believe it? He rocked up to my house on Sunday and confessed that he was just joking with me?” Kimmi said rashly.

            “Let me guess. You decided to beat him to pulp for being so ridiculous?”

            Kimmi shook her head and laughed with relief. “I didn’t do anything. I felt happier to hear that he was joking. I mean, I would have lost a good friend if he seriously liked me.”

            “He would’ve lost someone special as well.” I gave her a cheesy look.

            Kimmi nudged me a little. “Don’t tease me about it.”

            But I was honestly speaking the truth.

                        “Why aren’t you with Minni?” Jaejoong scolded through the phone. “I thought you loved her?”

            “I had a meeting before and I just met up with Kimmi and Yoochun now.” Yunho was on the other line.

            “Yunho.” Jaejoong tried to clarify himself. “You know that Minni is in danger. She needs to be with someone at all times. I don’t mind even if Kimmi was the only one next to her. Just one person, that’s all.”

            “I know.” Yunho stated. “I’m going to look for her right now.”

            “She’s near the biology forest.” Jaejoong said and hung up. It was frustrating, looking out for someone all the time, but he couldn’t help himself. Especially when it was someone like Minni. He couldn’t watch her getting tormented knowing that she would willingly accept it.

            If he didn’t start playing around with her, he would’ve have never brought her into such a dangerous position. But then, he wouldn’t have ever discovered how good-hearted she really was. To him, Minni was just the overachieving student who never bragged about it. She kept a quiet profile at school so she never interested him.

            It was the day they had cleaning duties together that he decided to goof around with her. Just for the sake of wasting time, he thought he would . She never said anything and she never had an interest in him so it was okay. At first. And then he hurt her. He looked to his right hand, the hand that had struck her.

            Minni had taken the pain for Hana. It wasn’t Yunho or even Junsu who had stopped him but Minni. Minni protected her. And Jaejoong learned very quickly from then that she protected everyone else. Now, because he took an interest in her, she was being sabotaged by most of the girls at school. That was why he had to keep her beside him. That was the real reason he made her his girlfriend. A girl like her only cared for others, she didn’t deserve to be hated.

            But right now, she was in serious danger because of him.

            Angry, Jaejoong slammed his hands on the top of a cabinet, rattling the items that sat on it. One of them was a photo of a woman who looked similar to him. She was very plain with warm brown eyes that were softer than Narin’s. Her hair was jet black and beautifully straight but full. Jaejoong spotted it immediately and held it in his hand. “Mum.” He began, his voice sounded vulnerable. “I’m home. Did you miss me?”

            The woman just stared at him, smiling sweetly. “Please help me make father not angry at me. I don’t want him to be angry at me.” His voice quivered a little at the thought of what he was going to do next. “Please mum, help me do the right thing.”

            Jaejoong pulled out a note from his pocket that Narin had given him earlier. He dialled the number and called, whilst placing the photograph of his mother down softly.

            “Hello?” The gruff voice sounded very stern and professional on the other end.

            “Hi father. I’m back home now.” Jaejoong gulped as quietly as possible. “I’m waiting for you to return. I need to talk to you.”

            “Jaejoong.” The man’s voice hinted shock.

            “Yes father. It’s Kim Jaejoong.”

            “I’ll be back in three days.” His father said. “I have a lot to say as well.”

            His father hung up just as Narin opened the door and let herself into his old bedroom. “The man in the basement is waking up.” She said.

            Jaejoong nodded once. “Get the chloroform ready. I’ll do a little interrogation and then I’ll knock him out again.”

                        “What did you get?” Changmin asked me.

            I couldn’t help but wear an outstretched grin. “Here you can see it yourself.” I chirped as I handed him my test paper.

            “100 percent!” Changmin yelled at the top of his lungs.

            “Shhh.” I quickly said. I didn’t expect him to burst it out like that. But it was too late anyways. The whole class stared at me. Nervously, I looked away from them and eyed Changmin’s paper. He had a score of 96. “You got a great score as well.” I beamed at him.

            Changmin pouted sadly.

            “Tell me, did you try your very best Changmin?” I asked.

            “Of course I did.” He muttered.

            “Then you have got nothing to be sad about. Even if I got a perfect score like this, if I didn’t put 100 percent effort into it, I wouldn’t be happy with my score either.”

            Changmin eyed me. “Are you trying to make me feel better?”

            “Of course I’m trying to make you feel better.” I exclaimed. “You deserve to be happy with this score, even if it was a zero, because you gave it your all. I’ll be happy for you if you can’t be happy for yourself.”

            Changmin laughed cutely, showing uneven eyes. “Now you’re trying to steal my happiness?”

            “How can I when you’re smiling at me right now?” I brightened as the boy realised what I had said. Even if he tried to suppress his happiness, he wouldn’t be able to.

            “You’re really something.” Changmin said softly. His content look was so gentle that I stopped to admire how mature he seemed to be. The bell rang at that moment and we both started packing up.

            “Want me to walk you to your next class?” Changmin offered.

            “Sure. Why not?” I agreed. Jaejoong sounded annoyed to hear I was alone so I should just surround myself with all my friends just to keep him satisfied.    Surprisingly, Yunho was at the door as well. “I came to walk to with you to biology class.”

            “Cool, let’s walk together.” I exclaimed. Changmin and Yunho looked at each other for a moment and then they both nodded at me. On either side of me, they walked.

            “So did you get any full marks today?” Yunho asked.

            “Yes.” I said happily.

            Yunho beamed at me proudly. “I’ve got 2 perfect scores today.” He boasted.

            “That’s great to hear.” I congratulated him.

            Changmin squeezed his lips together. “Seeing that you guys got such good marks, I’m guessing the tests last week must have been really easy.”

            Yunho nodded agreeing with him. “I overheard the teachers saying that they were going to make some easy tests so most of the students could past their last year.”

            “Well I’m just glad that I tried my best.” I said. I could feel Changmin lightening up at the idea. Even though he didn’t get a perfect score, he was content with the fact that he gave it his all.

            The biology test went by too quickly. I finished the test during the time given and went through the test again and again, checking that I didn’t make any careless mistakes.

            After the test, Ms. Oh handed out last week’s test papers. I was glad to get another perfect score. Yunho showed me his paper, signalling that he got the same marks as me. He held out a hand and I high-fived him. Kimmi told me that she bet her record so far and I congratulated her for that. Yoochun who was just satisfied with just a pass, was flabbergasted to receive a score over 80.   

            Ms. Oh cleared over the heated discussion shared between the students. I quickly turned to the front to listen. Slowly, the students heard their teacher’s voice and silenced themselves.

            Ms. Oh smiled as a thank you and began. “I know that the tests last week were very easy and most of you are very satisfied with your marks, but I was looking for 100 percent from each and everyone of you.” Her voice hinted humour in her last phrase. “I congratulate each and everyone though because you have obtained your best mark so far for the year. We won’t let something this easy happen again.” Some laughter could be heard from the group of students.

            “I would like to especially congratulate those who actually got full marks.”

            “Tell us who got full marks!” Yoochun roared and our peers echoed his request. Yoochun smiled at Kimmi. “Don’t worry, she’s not going to say your name.” He whispered to her. Kimmi froze in position and blushed but quickly elbowed him softly, jerking him back to his seat.

            “Those who have achieved the highest marks in this class are Yunho and Minni of course.” Ms. Oh announced. I could hear a loud applause behind me; even chairs were squeaking against the floor as some students stood up to give us a standing ovation. Ms. Oh then added. “And Jaejoong.”

            Our class immediately turned silent. Everyone seemed to be frozen in position. I was utterly shocked as well. Jaejoong got full marks? This seemed like a nightmare. My pulse raced at the thought that I had to kiss him now. I reeled my head to look behind me. Jaejoong’s desk was empty so all eyes were me. I was his ‘girlfriend’ after all. I turned back to my test paper and fumbled with it. Since when did he get so smart?

            “I know that you are all probably thinking that Jaejoong cheated his way through but I assure you he didn’t.” Ms. Oh explained. “His answers varied from Minni and Yunho’s answers.” She was greeted with silence still. “Well, I hope everyone continues to do well in this week’s test as well.” She added awkwardly just before the final school bell rang.

            “You can leave first.” I told my friends. “I’ll meet you at the school gates.” I had to be certain that all this was true.

            “I’ll wait outside the room.” Yunho said.

            “No don’t worry, I’ll be quick.”

            Yunho gave me a worried look. “Are you sure?”

            I nodded and Yunho left. I approached the teacher. “Ms. Oh.”

            “I was meaning to ask how you did it.”

            “Did what?”

            Ms. Oh laughed a little. “How did you manage to turn Jaejoong into a complete nerd?”
            “I… don’t know. I don’t think I did anything.” I tried to think of what I could have possibly done but nothing came to mind. “Is this all a joke?” I blurted. “He didn’t tell you to joke with me or something?”

            Ms. Oh shook her head. “I asked his other teachers. He got perfect scores for all this classes.”

            “What?” I panicked. Jaejoong had five classes. Five perfect scores meant five kisses!

            “All the teachers said that his answers were very detailed.” Ms. Oh. “Even I admit that he did extremely well in this test despite it being so easy. He included unnecessary information, yes, but those information really supported his answers.”

            My stomach felt hollow and my pulse was racing. I owed him five kisses! That was all I could think about.

            “Minni, you look pale. Are you alright?” The teacher asked.

            I came back to reality. “Yes. I’ll take my leave now.” I bowed low and left.

            I trudged back to my locker and stared at it for a while. A slight fragrance emitted from its hinges, gradually relaxing me. I opened the door and the smell of roses hit me hard. On the top shelf of my locker was a bunch of a dozen red roses. I just stared at it as if I didn’t know what to do with it.

            Then I felt a tap on my left shoulder. I turned to the left, only to see an empty corridor. Feeling fooled, I turned to the right, only to be face to face with Jaejoong. My heart skipped a beat at that moment. With our noses being an inch apart, this was a perfect opportunity to kiss him.

            I leaned in swiftly, my lips brushed against his ever so lightly but a sudden pain hit my nose. Jaejoong and I pulled away instantly and held our noses in place. “Owww..” He yelped. “What were you trying to do? Break my nose?”

            I looked at him. I hit his nose. I hurt my own nose. I have got to be the worse kisser ever. His angry complaints seemed to show that he was alright though. “I’ll count that as a kiss.”

            “What? A kiss?” Jaejoong lifted an eyebrow.

            “Our lips touched. Good enough.” I tried to back myself up. “You’re going to get four more anyways.”

            “Really?” Jaejoong voice suddenly turned sly and greasy.

            I pointed at him demanding an honest answer. “Did you cheat in any way?”

            “Wow I actually got full marks for all my tests last week?” Jaejoong ask. “I never knew that sucrose was made up of the two sugar monosaccharaides, glucose and frucrose. I never thought that a discriminant greater than zero would result in 2 solutions. Or that there was a statue of two brothers, one from the North and one from the South built to commemorate the tragedy of the Korean war. And that…”

            “Okay smartypants.” I cut him short. “You’re getting your four kisses, alright?”

            “Five?” Jaejoong bargained. “How can you call what you did earlier a kiss?”

            “Four.”

            “Five.”

            “Four.”

            “Five.”

            “Four.”

            “I’ll have to show you how to kiss you properly, or else my four kisses will be wasted.” He leaned in and I backed away.

            “Five kisses.” I gave in due to panic. He chuckled and I gave him a fierce look. “Are you happy now?”

            Jaejoong now rested his chin on my shoulder. “Very.” He mumbled. “Thank you.” He sounded so tired, even the way his arms locked around my waist from behind me seemed lethargic.

            “Good.” I crooned taking in a deep breath of a floral rosy scent. And I let him stay like that for a while. 

AN:

Another update for my lovely readers. 

I hope you enjoyed it. 

I know this chapter feels a bit fast-paced because all of a sudden Minni has to kiss Jaejoong but there are 5 KISSES!

How am I going to fit all five kisses in this story... I'll consider it a challenge.

Please comment on what you think of my story, subscribe if you love my story or upvote if you think my story deserves one.

I'll try to update again soon ;)

whitedreamm