Chapter 5
Quicksand
Jaekyung lied down on the couch once again as Jongin scaled the stairs and brought her school uniform back down with him. She mumbled a "thanks" before heaving her body towards the bathroom to change.
As she re-entered the living room, she was met with a groggy-faced Kyungsoo. "Good morning," he said sleepily.
"Morning to you, too." she replied.
"You know, Jaekyung, you're really bipolar sometimes." Jongin walked towards them, holding a very red apple.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she eyed him.
"That," he waved his hands in the air.
She huffed out in anger, but at that moment Jaekyung felt something. Something was a little off, and she could feel it. "Oppa, do you feel that?" she asked Kyungsoo.
"Feel what?"
"This... this weird air around us."
"No, wae?"
"Nothing, just ignore it." she sighed in defeat.
Was she really the only one who could sense this anomaly floating around? It seemed almost tangible... but Jaekyung couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was. So, she chose to ignore it altogether.
"Well, I guess we should just leave for school soon. Jongin, go home first and get your bag, then come back here. Chanyeol's walking with us, too." Kyungsoo declared.
Jongin nodded and ran off to his house, taking a chunk out of the apple. Chanyeol also appeared in the doorway, and they gave each other a high five.
"Hey, hey, hey guys! How's this weather for ya? The breeze is so nice~ Ah~" he spun around in circles like a madman.
"Yah, Park Chanyeol, you'll disturb the neighbors..." Jaekyung motioned for him to stop and come inside, all the while laughing.
"Aww, but I was just having fun."
"I know. Now just come inside, you idiot." she repeated.
"Arasso, arasso."
--
The four teenagers strolled lazily towards the school building which was just a few blocks away. Winter brought with her a cold draft though, so Jaekyung had to hug her jacket closer to her body. Jongin noticed this quickly and stripped off his hoodie to give to her.
"Oh no it's ok, Kai opp-" Jaekyung began, but stopped herself.
She hadn't called him Kai for the longest time.
Smiling sheepishly, she continued. "Like I was saying, keep it! You'll be cold if you give it to me."
"I'm colder just watching you. Put it on," he turned away from her so that she couldn't see him blushing.
"Oppa, don't be stupid. Wear it!" she repeated, smacking his arm lightly.
"Mm, fine, but if you're cold again, don't ask me for my jacket." he kidded.
"Yah! You two slowpoke love birds, hurry up!" Kyungsoo called from ahead.
"Don't call us that!" The two screamed in unison, catching up.
--
Jaekyung sat down in her seat. Chanyeol was to her right, Kyungsoo to her left, Jongin behind. She looked at the empty seat that lie in front of her and sighed.
That used to be Baekhyun's seat... she thought.
She immediately began working on her warm-up question of the day, blocking out all thoughts of Baekhyun so that she wouldn't begin sobbing.
--
"Hey." a voice said. The body of the person was blocking the whiteboard, so Jaekyung looked up to tell him to move out of the way.
"If you would move out of the way, I'd appreciate it." she said coldly.
The boy sat down in the seat that belonged to Baekhyun; Jaekyung emitted a low growl, similar to that of a wolf, from the bottom of . She glared at him with shoulders hunched. "What do you want?" she gritted her teeth.
"You're really pretty, Jaekyung. Would you like to be my girlfriend?" the boy asked suddenly, smiling.
Now it was Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and Jongin's turn to be defensive. The three looked at Jaekyung's tense body and all exchanged a look of, "She can handle it."
"No."
"What?"
"I said, no." she emphasized sternly.
"Why not?"
"One, I don't even know your name-"
"I'm Joonmyun, Kim Joonmyun." he interrupted her.
"I don't care what you are! Don't interrupt me either," she said under her breath, "and two, if you didn't already know, I was dating Byun Baekhyun."
"...Oh, the dead one?"
Silence.
Jaekyung couldn't see anything but red streaks. Murder, murder is what she saw. "Don't.. say that about him." she begged, almost snapping her pencil in half.
Chanyeol saw that she was almost on the verge of crying, so he took her right hand in his left. "Jaekyung, don't cry, okay? Baekhyun is still here; he's always here." he tried to comfort her.
"Dude, what do you mean 'he's still here'? The guy's dead!" Joonmyun repeated.
"Leave, before I rip your throat out." Jaekyung clenched her free fist.
"Fine, fine, geez. But this won't be the last time, Cha Jaekyung. When I spot a pretty girl, I don't give up." He returned to his original seat on the other side of the room.
"...Bastard," Jaekyung swore under her breath.
Jaekyung's fist remained tightly closed until her long fingernails eventually broke her palm's skin and blood began running out of the wounds. She opened her trembling hand and looked down at the drops of blood staining her worksheet and desk. As the drops increased in number, Jaekyung lifted her right index finger and traced a name in the pool of liquid.
It read:
Kim Joonmyun.
--
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