FIRST CLASS

CHANYEOL HAS A GIRLFRIEND

Jaewoong glanced at her lime green watch for what seemed like the fiftieth time. She let out an airy sigh, hugging her binder close to her chest.

It was so strange; Chanyeol was hardly ever late.

But she waited restlessly, out in the outer great hall with her uniform still neatly on. The springtime air breezed in and out of the greater outdoor hall, sunlight streaming down. Most of the students had cleared by now, all dividing into their separate private tutors and study halls. 

Jaewoong sighed, fingers rubbing at her temples while contemplating. It had been two weeks since she officially noticed Chanyeol. They’d been best friends for 14 years, and he hadn’t had that kind of appeal until he kissed her. It was out of the blue, out of anger on his 18^th birthday, but Jaewoong couldn’t shake it.  Embarrassed, she quickly pushed the memory away as she felt her heart beat faster and warmth rush to her cheeks. Jaewoong let out a huff of determination.

She would be telling Chanyeol how she really felt; how her heart fluttered slightly at the sight of him, how she wanted to touch his smiling face, how he invaded all of her thoughts—

With a flourish, Chanyeol finally arrived, hair blown in all directions from running. “Jaewoong!” he shouted as he almost reached her. “I’m so sorry! I forgot to tell you—“

Despite her nerves, Jaewoong rolled her eyes, voice playfully aggravated as she hollered back, “You forgot to text me for AN HOUR?!” She crossed her arms as Chanyeol cautiously crept closer to her. It was hard to not crack into a grin at his hilariously serious and scared face. He was also still in his navy uniform, looking tall and handsome in such a his well-fitted cut.

“I’m sorry, I had to tutor and I totally forgot—“ he started, but was stopped short at Jaewoong’s look. Although he towered over her in height and build, she still scared the living balls out of him.

A skeptic shadow crossed Jaewoong's face. “Tutor me, Yeol, I'm almost failing calculus!” She started walking away in a joking manner, but Chanyeol was close by her side.

Her best friend ran a hand through his already-mussed hair. “I’m sorry!” he whined. His puppy dog face was followed by a signature happy virus smile. “Frozen yogurt can cheer you up, I bet!”

She scoffed, but couldn’t help but to reveal a smile. “It better be the god damn 32 ounce size, or I’m not forgiving you!”

After handing her a mega-sized frozen yogurt at a nearby cafe, Chanyeol reached over to pet her hair over the café table. “Hey!” she exclaimed and managed a scornful look. “I’m still mad at you.” She was lying, of course, but felt so embarrassed about telling him the truth that she was scrambling for anything else to talk about. The way his eyes looked at her inquisitively made her nearly want to faint.

They’d been best friends for fourteen years, and how had she just noticed him?

“Come on, Jaewoong!” Chanyeol said in a playful tone. “I’ve waited for you hundreds of times, probably for hundreds of hours; mostly because you always lose track of time with your endeavors with male friends.” He said the last few words dirtily, eyebrows wiggling humorously.

Jaewoong laughed. “Psh, yeah right! My last ‘endeavor’ with a ‘male friend’ was when Mr. Park scolded me about my test on World History!” Across from her, he stuck out his tongue. “But who were you tutoring anyway? About what?”

He looked down, a bright pink spoon digging into their shared yogurt. “Uh, it’s just a classmate who needed some Advanced Calc help.” Looking up to meet her eyes, he smiled widely again. “So what did you want to talk about?”

Jaewoong felt the blood rush to her face. He was so good looking and handsome and sweet. She just had to tell him. As embarrassed as she felt, there was a tiny part of her that knew there was a tiny part of him that liked her too. She took a silent, deep breath, saying, “Chanyeol, I think I—“

“Chanyeol!” shouted a pair of voices, interrupting to Jaewoong’s half-relief/half-horror. “Jaewoong!” It was Suho and Baekhyun, both still in their uniforms also. They galloped to their table, fro-yo in hand, beaming at their two friends. “Chanyeol! I heard! I’m so happy for you!” Baekhyun congratulated much to Jaewoong’s utter confusion. Chanyeol looked away, rubbing his neck in the way he did when he was embarrassed.

“Yeah! Finally now, right Jaewoong?” asked Suho. His angelic smile reached his eyes. Jaewoong glanced over at Chanyeol, who just stared at the table once more.

“Um, what?” Jaewoong questioned. “What are you guys talking about?” Her confused eyes glanced back to the embarrassed face.  “Chanyeol?”

Baekhyun and Suho’s eyes nearly popped out. “You didn’t hear?!”

“About what?” Chanyeol sunk down lower in his chair at Jaewoong’s pointed question.

“Chanyeol asked his girlfriend to be official today!” Baekhyun said, voice close to a shout. “You didn’t know!?”

Jaewoong felt a tear in her heart. It wasn’t an absolute shattering or a colossal, arteries-disconnected kind of wound, but a clean, clear cut rip. Chanyeol smiled at her shyly and goofily with the expectation of her to jump up and scream.

Jaewoong managed to high-five him, beaming and hitting him on the shoulder. Baekhyun and Suho congratulated Chanyeol more and retreated back to another table to let Jaewoong and Chanyeol alone.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” she asked with as much enthusiasm she could muster. She hoped he thought her eyes were shining with excitement when they were actually brimmed in tears.

“I was going to today, but Hyunnie and Suho kind of spoiled it,” he admitted, shrugging and smiling. He hadn’t looked so happy in a long time. Jaewoong felt another clean cut rip, and her head spun slightly.

“What’s her name?” asked Jaewoong. She thought of all the girls in their classes. A list of perfect classmates rose in her mind. It’s for the better, she thought to herself. I don’t deserve him, I guess.

Just at that moment, Chanyeol’s cellphone buzzed, his eyes flashing with unhidden excitement as he saw the caller ID. He walked away with an apologetic “one-minute” and turned to the window. By the way he smiled modestly and spread his shoulders in a stretch automatically notified Jaewoong that the other line was his girlfriend. Chanyeol turned again, saying hastily, “Sorry, Jae, I have to go! Text me tonight, kay?”

Jaewoong smiled again and waved at the sight of his retreating back.

Oh, how timing betrayed her.

-

Kai, shirtless, stared at himself in the mirror quizzically. Cocking his head slightly to the side, he leaned closer and examined his face. “I just don’t get it, Sehun, I’m a freaking god. Do you see this mastery of musculature?” He turned again, flexing in front of the mirror. “Why don’t girls like me anymore?”

Sehun looked up from his cellphone with a giggling laugh. “Probably ‘cause you’ve already dated like every girl out there in Daechun High. I feel like you’re not really a ‘rarity’ anymore,” he added. Laughing even harder when Kai turned to tackle him, Sehun put his hands and arms up in defense. Kai already knocked him upside the head playfully with an “aish!”

“Why, though?” asked Sehun, after Kai went back to inspecting himself in the mirror, fixing his hair with a gravelly expression. “Feeling insecure about yourself lately?”

Kai shot Sehun’s grin another glare and slipped on a shirt. “I want a girlfriend. Kris is dating another girl.”

“Ohhh, so this is about Kris,” Sehun responded with annoyance. “I don’t know how another “girlfriend” is gonna fix that.”

“Maybe I’ll actually date her,” Kai mused, oblivious to Sehun’s irritation. “I think that might be a good investment.”

“I think that you might officially be an ,” Sehun snorted.

Kai shrugged him off. “Anyway, I know Kris is having a Spring party soon, and I need a date pronto.”

"Your grudge with that Chinese man is not healthy," Sehun sighed, turning his attention back to his cellphone screen. “Any girl would fall to her knees begging if you asked, no problem.” The disinterest in his voice was easy to detect, but Kai ignored it as usual.

“But that’s not impressive!” Kai contemplated. The friend slung an arm around Sehun and peeked over his slender shoulder. “Help me! I need a plan! Who are you texting that’s more important than me?”

Sehun out right ignored Kai’s playful whining. “I can’t think of anything ‘impressive’ unless you go there with the queen of England. And if you want a hot girl, you’ve already blown through those, sorry to say.”

“Wow, Sehun, someone’s bitter!” Kai teased and pinched his sharp nose to Sehun’s indignation. He fell back onto the bed with his hands on his forehead. “Whatever. I’ll think of something.”

"You know, we only have a school year 'til we're out of here, Kai. Does Kris, or anything about high school really matter anymore?" '

Kai sat up. "Someone's been getting deep in their philosophy class."

"If that's how you want to spend your last year," he sighed. At Kai's silence (he was admiring himself in the mirror again), Sehun got up from glancing at his phone yet again. “Well, I’m going to grab dinner; I’ll be back later!”

“Wait, what? Without me again?” complained Kai. Sehun was looking down at his phone screen with fingers flying over the keyboard and didn’t bother a response. “Psh, fine. I guess I’ll find a new best friend,” he joked, feigning the hurt in his voice. Sehun just rolled his eyes at the drama queen, and slipped out.

Kai rose from the bed soon after, feet wandering down to the elevator and onto the street. Maybe Eunhee from Stats class? She’s cute.

…Have I dated her already?

.

Maybe Sehun was right. I already blew through all the hot girls.

Kai physically shrugged that thought off, still contemplating in his head. Kris will be knocked out by this girl. She’ll look like IU and Kim Taehee, with the body of Lee Hyori.

, I don’t even care. All ladies love me anyway; I’ll just invade a girls’ high school and choose someone.

 He raised his head, absent-mindedly reading the store-signs to find a restaurant for dinner. Does Kris have a cute sister?

Haha, no, that’d be too mean. And I don’t want to date anyone related to Kris. Gross.

His long strides kept pulling him down the street, past the rush-hour traffic.

Damn, I need some better friends. I’ll look so ing creepy just eating by myself. God, Sehun. And his texting buddy.

Suddenly, someone’s forehead stung his chin hard. As Kai recoiled, he heard a girl yelp and a crash of an electronic on the busy street. Kai closed his eyes, cringing at the horrible crushing noise of a probable smart phone and car tire meeting on the rough cement.

“God, watch where you’re ing going!” yelled the girl, a red mark blazing on her forehead. She looked pretty in Kai’s eyes, especially the sharp ends to her eyes. Her familiar navy-and-white Daechun uniform was crinkled with use. She looked familiar herself; maybe from his Biology class? He hadn’t dated her before, and he doubted Kris had. He opened his mouth to apologize charmingly, but was abruptly cut off.

“Did you hear me? Go get my cellphone off the ing pavement!”