It's Obvious
Let Me In
The school day ended and the six of you met up at the lockers as usual.
“Ugh, I really don’t want to go for those extra classes.” Chanyeol groaned as he walked with the others towards you.
“Who would?” Kai agreed. “But it isn’t like he have a choice.”
You heard their voices as they approached you and looked up. “What extra classes are you talking about?”
“Maths and Science classes.” Chanyeol rolled his eyes.
“What for?”
Kai shrugged, “They said that just because we’re in an Arts school doesn’t mean it’s an excuse for us to not do well for those subjects.”
“So the teachers arranged these extra classes for all the seniors and it’s compulsory that we attend them,” Chanyeol groaned again.
“Just skip them,” You nonchalantly said. “Since when did you listen to school rules, oppa?”
Chanyeol chuckled. “That’s true. But this time, I really can’t.”
“Because…?” You prompted him to continue.
“If we don’t get at least a B for the non Arts subjects, they won’t let us graduate.” Xiumin said before Chanyeol replied.
“That’s not a matter for me since I’m not even graduating this year,” Chen chuckled.
“But I don’t think you’d want to retake those classes either, now would you?” Baekhyun said and Chen just shrugged in response.
“So when are these classes?” You asked as you shut your locker.
“They start today. And we have them like every alternate days.” Chen said. Chanyeol started complaining again and Kai joined in.
You watched as your friends whined like little kids who dropped their lollipops onto the dirty ground and couldn’t help but laugh at the scene.
Suddenly, you realised that since Minyoung wasn’t here, you’d have to go home alone. “So I guess that means I’ll have to go home alone, huh?”
Baekhyun looked over to your direction when he heard you say that. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said. “You can stay in school and wait for us or something.”
“What time do you guys end?”
Baekhyun looked at the watch on his wrist. “We have two classes later so we end 3 hours later.”
You gawked. “3 hours?! I’ll just see you guys at home.”
The boys laughed at your response.
“Or you could go to Minyoung’s,” Baekhyun suggested. “At least you won’t be alone.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. I have things to pass her anyway.” You said as you remembered about the few worksheets that you took from your classes to pass to Minyoung.
“Maybe we’ll just go over to Minyoung’s after we’re done.” Baekhyun said.
Just then, the bell rang and the boys sighed.
“Well, gotta go.” Baekhyun said as he said goodbye to you. “Take care on the way to Minyoung’s okay? Call me if anything happens.”
“Will do,” you nodded. “Bye, Oppas!”
“Bye Minyoung.”
“See ya’ later.”
“Take care!”
You watched as the boys (especially Kai and Chanyeol) dragged themselves to their extra classes.
Chen looked back at you and waved with a smile. You did the same in response. When the boys were out of sight, you turned to go.
*
You were about to really leave the school then, but you decided to take a detour to the washroom before making your way over to Minyoung’s.
After your washroom visit, you were walking towards the gates of the school when you felt someone’s presence beside you.
You looked up and noticed that it was Luhan.
“Uhm, hi,” Luhan awkwardly greeted you with a small smile.
“Hi.” You said. “What do you want?”
“Uh, nothing,” He says. “I just wanted to say that I’m looking forward to performing with you again.”
You stopped walking. “Are you really?” You narrowed your eyes at him. “Speaking of that, why the hell did you even say yes to Mrs Lee?”
Luhan gulped. “Because I wanted to. I mean, I wanted to sing with you again.”
“But we aren’t getting any grades from this performance. Why would you want to sing with me?”
Luhan cringed a little at the harshness of your voice. “I’m sorry about that, I really am.”
“Yeah? Well I don’t believe you.”
He sighed and looked down at his feet.
“If you don’t want perform for the concert, then I’ll just tell Mrs Lee.” Luhan offered.
“I’ll do the performance with you,” You said.
You saw the corners of Luhan’s lips curved up a little and he opened his mouth to say something but you interrupted. “But that doesn’t mean I’m happy with it.”
At an instant, Luhan’s smile turned upside down.
You your heel and left Luhan standing alone at the school gates. He sighed as he watched you storm out of the school grounds.
*
“Coming!” A voice called from inside the house.
The door to the house soon opened and you were greeted with a middle-aged woman.
“Good afternoon, Mrs Cho.” You greeted with a small bow.
“Oh, Haerin!” She smiled as she opened the door wider. “Come on in. Minyoung’s upstairs.”
“Thank you.” You entered the familiar house and walked up the stairs.
You knocked three times on the bedroom door and waited for a response.
“Come in!”
You opened the door and entered. “Hey,” You greeted your best friend.
“Haerin!” She attacked you with a hug.
“How are you feeling?” You asked as returned the hug.
“Better than this morning. I just had a really bad headache, that’s all.” She said. “Are you here just to pass me my homework?”
“Yeah but not only that.” You replied as you took a seat on her bed. “The boys have extra lessons now,” you chortled. “So I guess I can stay here and do whatever.”
“Extra lessons?” Minyoung laughed along. “What for?”
You shrugged, “Maths, Science. All those. They said that their teachers said they wouldn’t be able to graduate if they don’t get at least a B for the final exams.”
“That’s stupid!” Minyoung said. “I bet the teachers are just using that as a threat. I doubt they’ll actually make them retain if they don’t get a B.”
“Hmm,” You tapped your chin. “I guess so. But that isn’t our problem.”
“So, anything else happened today?”
You sighed, and Minyoung’s eyebrows furrowed. “What happened?” She asked.
Without a word, you took out the disc and the lyrics from your bag and handed them to Minyoung.
“What’s this?” She stared confusingly at the items.
“I have to sing this song with Luhan for the Anniversay concert.” You groaned.
Minyoung stared at you with an expression that seemed to say Are you serious?
“I’m not kidding,” You said.
“Have you heard the song yet?” Minyoung asked.
“No, not yet.”
Minyoung took the disc out of the casing and inserted it into the player. She pressed play and waited for the song to start.
The two of you followed the lyrics written on the paper as the song played and cringed a little as you listened to the song.
It was such a happy and sweet song about two people who were just realizing their love for each other. And that was definitely the opposite of what your situation was with Luhan.
When the song ended, Minyoung turned to look at you with a look filled with pity and worry.
“What’s the look for?” You asked when you noticed it.
“Nothing,” She said. “It’s just that, will you be okay doing this?”
“No,” You truthfully said. “But it’s not like I have a choice, right?”
“Why not? Don’t the teachers usually ask your opinion on this first?”
“Yeah, Mrs Lee did. But she assumed we were still a couple and said that it shouldn’t be a problem for us.” You sighed. “Besides, he said yes before I could say anything at all.”
“What a jerk!”
“I know.” You sighed. “But the song is kind of nice, don’t you think?”
“It is, but it doesn’t exactly suit you, you know what I mean?” She said and you just nodded, knowing fully well what she was talking about. “But it would’ve suit you better if you sang it with someone else,” Minyoung muttered.
“What did you say?” You furrowed your eyebrows when you heard her soft voice.
“Nothing,” Minyoung knowingly smiled.
There was a long comfortable silence before Minyoung broke it with a sudden question.
“Say, what do you think about Chen?”
“Chen?”
“Yeah, you know, our handsome friend who has pretty high cheekbones?” Minyoung chuckled.
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
“Don’t know? How can you not? We’ve known the boy long enough for you to give your opinion about him,” Minyoung said. She definitely wasn’t going to back down and give up easily.
You chuckled. “Well, I guess he’s nice, just like you said he would be,” you said.
“What else?” She prompted.
You lay on the bed beside Minyoung in silence as you thought about the said boy.
“He’s handsome. Has an amazing voice.” You said as a small smile started to appear on your face. “I like how the ends of his lips are curved up like he’s always smiling.”
“I also like how his cheekbones are really defined, you know? Like you can totally see that he has high cheekbones. And how his ears kind of sticks out,” You continued to say.
“I kind of like how he’s always trying to get me to talk, you know? But at the same time, I feel kind of scared.”
“Scared?”
"I know I've opened up to him a little now ever since that day but I still can't help it." You shrugged. “I know Chen’s a nice guy, but maybe he’s too nice? I don’t know.”
Minyoung smiled a little, knowing what you were talking about.
“I get it.” She said. “I think Chen’s a nice guy too. A genuinely nice guy.”
There was another silence.
“Why don’t you give him a chance?” Minyoung asked. She was the second person to ask you to give Chen a chance. “To be your boyfriend,” She continued.
You sat up and stared at her.
“What’s with that look?” Minyoung asked. “Can't you tell? The boy obviously likes you, Haerin.”
Does he? You thought. “I-I can’t.” You said. “Not after Luhan…”
Minyoung softened. “Look, I know you’re still not okay about the whole Luhan thing,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean that all the other guys out there are the same as the ones you’ve dated.”
Deep inside, you knew what she said made sense but you couldn’t bring yourself to admit it.
“I don’t know, Minyoung,” You sighed.
“Just think about it, okay?” Minyoung said. “I honestly think that Chen is a great guy. Someone who will really take care of you this time.”
“But just because he’s nice doesn’t mean he’ll wait around for you until you finally realize that he isn’t like the other boys you’ve dated.” Minyoung continued to say. “If you make him wait for too long, he might not be there anymore.”
She has a point. You thought and sighed. “I’ll think about it.”
Just then, you heard the voices from downstairs which you recognized to be the guys.
“Speak of the devil,” Minyoung snickered.
“Hey girls!” Chanyeol opened the bedroom door without knocking on it and greeted the two of you with a huge grin.
“You seem happier than earlier,” You remarked.
“Of course! I couldn’t wait to get out of the class.” Chanyeol groaned for the hundred time that day. “Listening to the teacher go on and on for so long was hell.”
“He’s kidding,” Baekhyun came out from behind the tall boy. “He was sleeping throughout both classes.”
Chanyeol smiled his signature smile and chuckled.
Soon, the rest of the boys entered Minyoung’s bedroom and Chen was the last one to enter.
Almost as soon as he stepped into the room, his eyes locked onto yours and he greeted you with a smile.
“Hey,” he said but he kept his eyes on you.
“Hi,” You smiled back.
His eyes were still on yours and you turned away to avoid his gaze but your eyes met Minyoung’s eyes and she winked at you. “I told you he likes you!” she whispered into your ear.
You rolled your eyes, “Whatever,” you mouthed back to your friend.
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