bow.

“I can’t believe that you made me get out of bed for this.” Camille shook her head at him and had to repeatedly stop herself to smack her boyfriend. She wasn’t sure if she should be mad or happy with the blonde male that convinced her to dress up when everyone else were mostly asleep on a Sunday morning.

Her eyes barely adjusted to her surroundings that still resembled the night. Her boyfriend brought her to a rooftop where there was already a fabric draped on the floor, looking like a picnic. If she was fully awake, she would have been gushing over the preparation but she was too snappy for being waken up so early in the morning.

“What? I think it’s romantic. It will be our first sunrise together.” He said with a shrug.

She couldn’t believe he thought it was romantic when she was freezing her off as the jacket she brought wasn’t enough to drive away the cold. Her body shivered against the cold seeping on her skin.

She sighed and wrapped her jacket closer to her body. It didn’t help lessen the cold.

“I brought hot chocolate and this.” Luckily he had the sense to be prepared and poured hot chocolate on the thermos cup and handed it to her. After that, he took something from the bag he brought with him and showed a blue scarf that was identical to the one he was wearing.

Camille had barely registered what he wore but the scarf got her attention. It was a couple scarf, she realized. An unconscious smile rose from her lips when he arranged the scarf around her neck, warming her a bit better.

Her boyfriend kneeled in front of her and wrapped the blue scarf around her neck. He fiddled with the scarf until he was satisfied and settled behind her, covering her with his body while they sat close. She couldn’t help but lean back and savor the warmth coming from his body.

It felt nice except she won’t admit it out loud. She was still grumpy from the early wake up call.

She closed her eyes for a moment, still keeping her hands around the small cup to warm her hands. “Tell me why again why I said yes to you after rejecting you?”

“My smile?” He had the nerve to be cheeky.

“Dork~” She chuckled and sipped at the hot chocolate steaming from her cup.

It would be a lie if Camille said that she didn’t know why she said yes to her boyfriend. Everything was still fresh in her memory, but she liked to play with him. It makes up for the bad times.

With the whole student body present at the bonfire, Camille stood frozen on her spot as she watched Onew go down on one knee and asked her the last thing she expected to hear.

Not when she saw Luna with him just a couple of minutes ago.

“Camille, will you be my girlfriend?”

He looked so adorable, blushing madly as he asked Camille.

As much as Camille wanted to say yes, it was unfair for Onew’s real feelings. These feelings of his weren't real.

She knew Jill had somehow slipped a potion on Onew’s food or something. These emotions were not natural. Lee Jinki likes Luna, not her... not regular Camille.

What she saw was real. It’s reality.

This was wrong in so many ways.

One last look at the hopeful male and she convinced herself that she needed to end this before things get more complicated.

“I can’t. I-I’m sorry.” She said before leaving him speechless in front of the student body.

She ran away as fast as her legs could. She just said no to Onew in front of the whole student body. It was pure humiliation and she couldn’t bear to see the look on everyone’s faces. No matter what her reason was, she would be seen as the bad one. To everyone, to openly say no was harsh.

Numerous people called her name but she didn’t dare look back. Her chest felt tight, making it hard to breathe and still, she ran. She ran like her life depended on it.

She winced at when her knees met the hard pavement. It was enough to force her to look at her surroundings.

Looking around, she found herself in front of a convenience store, a couple of blocks away from school. Her fingers clutched at her shirt where her heart was beating frantically. She had never run this hard before. 

Damn it! What was going on?

No one kisses a girl and then confess to another?!

“Still cold?” Her boyfriend asked, snapping her out of the memory, pressing his hands on her cheeks to warm her up. She blushed and shyly smiled. They were still fairly new in this relationship and there were still times that she was shy about some things. Having his hand on her face never fails to raise her heart rate and make her blush.

She shook her head and raised the cup to her lips. The sweetness of chocolate spread in and she hummed in appreciation. “The chocolate and the new scarf helps.”, she answered.

“Just the chocolate and the scarf?” He was fishing for a compliment and Camille ignored this. The blonde knew too well that it wasn’t the only thing making her warm. Ever since they became an item, he had become more playful. She might appear to hate it but she loved it. It was nice to smile and laugh about the silliest things. With him around, a smile was always on her lips.

“Yup.” She played back.

She couldn’t see his expression but she bet he was pouting. “meanie.”

Camille laughed, making the chilly morning warmer.

As they waited for the sun to show up, Camille remembered the aftermath of that big rejection in front of the whole student body. She didn’t think she would survive the day knowing that she said no to the guy she liked. But during that time, she thought it was the right thing.

“Mhil!! What the hell is wrong with you?!” That was the first thing her friends exclaimed when they saw her hanging around the tree by the soccer field. Camille was the first one to seek refuge under the tree. She couldn’t handle the weird looks she was getting from the other students.

It first day of the week after the big incident at the bonfire event and Camille experience first-hand what it felt like to be some sort of celebrity. And it didn’t stop there. Even when she entered her classroom, her classmates were looking at her like she was a new specimen.

“Uh... freaked out?!” She said while concentrating on a sandwich she luckily brought from home. She couldn’t stand being the target of every student back at the cafeteria. It was really weird like the twilight zone.

“How could you freak out?! He confessed! IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!” Jill exclaimed. She and the rest of their group surrounded Camille, giving her no room for escape if she decided to run away.

Camille didn’t like the look her friends were giving her. As if it was her fault that the senior student confessed to her.

 “It’s clearly impossible for sunbae to like me. I saw her with Luna before the bonfire event.”  Camille sighed and opted to tell her reason. She looked down and leaned back on the tree bark, trying not to act she’s still affected of the whole thing. She had the whole weekend to digest everything. “They were pretty cosy with each other...”

“How cosy are we talking about?” Dani leaned forward with a brow raised.

The heartbroken girl pursed her lips together and looked at her friend. “REAL cosy.” She replied.

“That doesn’t sound right. I was sure...” Jill trailed off, unable to accept what her friend was telling her.

“Sure of what? Did you do something Jill?”

Jill shook her head. “I didn’t.” She raised her hands in surrender. “I don’t have any more of the potion. Remember I poured the whole thing by accident?”

The rest of the girls nodded, remembering how troublesome the whole thing was.

“And even if I want to, I promised to make things right. I want to be a good friend to you Camille. Meddling would only make things worse. I don’t want that.” She said truthfully.

“Good.”

Camille was relieved that she got one thing cleared up. There was no magic potion involved but why did he asked her to be his girlfriend when he’d been smooching with Luna earlier?

What is exactly going on?

The only way to find out was from Onew himself but Camille wasn’t ready to ask. Needless to say, she was acting like a coward. She was scared to hear the truth.

But the problem with guys like Onew is that they’re pretty persistent. She discovered this little fact when he surprised her yet again with a confession. And like the first time, she said no.

Still, Onew didn’t stop until he got what he wanted.

For the rest of the week, he hasn’t stop hounding Camille, doing numerous public confessions that has Camille shaking her head.

“I won’t stop confessing until you’re convinced that I’m serious.” He said and reply, she would respond, “Good Luck then.”

Camille just found out how determined Onew can be. Every day, he would just come out of nowhere and confess all over again. It was sweet, embarrassing, and confusing at the same time. She wanted to say yes but she couldn’t understand why he’ s still acting like this.

One time while he confessed to her again when she was on her way to the library, she got fed up and tiredly looked at him. She looked like she wanted to rip his hair out for being so damn tenacious. “When will you stop?”

“Until you say yes. I’m serious.” He was smiling that stupid smile of his that always got the female population’s heart racing, hers included.

She blushed and glared. She didn’t like the nice feeling in her heart knowing that there was another girl. “Go away sunbae. You have Luna, so go away!” She stomped away and changed her mind about going to the library. Her mood was ruined and she was sure Jinki would just hound her until she goes crazy.

After school, she went ahead of her friends, leaving them a message with an apology. She just wasn’t feeling like the best company today. She was trying to avoid the looks she was receiving ever since that day at the festival and she was mentally tired. All she wanted was some peace of mind.

The female student passed by the school gate and didn’t notice a male student not from her school waiting for her. Only when he spoke did she stop.

“Tough week?” Jonghyun asked.

She immediately stopped and looked back to see the rebel male smirking at him as he was leaning by the school gate, ignoring the interested looks from other girls in her school.

Shrugging her shoulders, she forced a timid smile. “You could say that. “

“Is this have something to do with the rumor I’m hearing? The thing back at the festival with a certain someone? And the continuous confessions he’s making for the past week?”

She chuckled and started walking again. It’s been a weird week for her. “Maybe.”

Jonghyun followed her, matching her pace and walked beside her. Camille didn’t ask why he was following her. Once Jonghyun decides something, he’ll do it; she learned it when he wanted to meet her and kidnapped her.

“So tell me...Why are you rejecting him?