Chapter 4

“Are you sure it’s okay to sit here?”

“Of course, we’re in a library,”

“I’m not blind. I’m saying that those girls might come and terrorize you again,”

“Let them, I don’t care that much,”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“I’m much more scared of seeing my mother’s face when she sees a bad mark on my report card.”

This hell-hole called high school might have student bullies as their demons, but nothing beats the anxiety and fear bubbling inside of you when a mother’s wrath befalls you. Compared to a demanding parent, those girls are pretty much nothing, granted they are quite bothering.

Sehun snorted at your statement. “Says the girl who nearly cried when they bullied her last week,”

“I was in my period, give me a break,” you rolled your eyes at him. “I was having a particularly rough day, so I couldn’t help but to feel a little emotional,”

“Excuses.” Sehun teased you, kicking your foot under the table.

Hissing, you tried to kick back, only to miss and ended up kicking thin air. Sehun stifled a laugh, pretending to read when he caught the librarian staring at you two, which you picked up as well. Clearing your throat, you tried to put your focus back on your task, leaning in closer to your book. You looked up to glance at Sehun’s smug smile, not even trying to hide the joy he’s feeling. When you thought that working with Sehun would be a problem, you didn’t expect it would be this kind of problem.

“I prefer your cold-hearted persona compared to this moronic act of yours,” you whispered, muttering almost whilst glaring at the male sitting across you. “You’re just like a child,”

“A child?” Sehun suddenly sat straight as to fix his posture, an offended tone in his voice. “I’m not acting like a child,”

“I could put you in a first grader’s class, and I wouldn’t be able to tell a difference between you and the kids,” you told him heatedly, putting your book down to lean closer to him.

“Oh, yeah? Then what are you, my nanny?” he jeered, leaning closer as well as he started to get fired up along with you.

“You want me to be?” you taunted, eyes narrowed into slits.

Sehun scoffed, smirking at you. “You have no idea what kind of pup you’re dealing with,”

Mirroring his smirk, you taunted with a soft yet firm, “Try me.”

And with that, you stood up on your seat, picked up your book, and whacked it on Sehun’s head, causing a thud sound to emit upon contact. Sehun winced, a look of surprise on his face as he watched you gracefully yet haughtily walked out of the library. Clicking his tongue—although a grin was stuck on his face—Sehun tidied up his side of the desk and rushed out to catch up with you. After that whole ordeal at the hall, you and Sehun have agreed to meet up in less crowded places after school, for both your sakes, so it was a win-win situation on both parts. However, today was one of the odds, since you were cut on time and needed to go to the library for another subject anyway.

Whether it be alone or in the eyes of the public, you’ve discovered that Sehun is such a brat. A quite pleasant one, but nevertheless a brat. You’re not sure why he chose to show this side of him to you, although you feel quite grateful and appreciative of him being open to you, basically indirectly saying that he regards you as a closer friend, but there’s a very apparent downfall to this. If you had the option to pick which side you’d like to see from him, his bratty side wouldn’t be your first choice. However, since you two sort of match with each other in terms of chemistry, neither of you bother each other too much.

However, you surprisingly had the honor to discover another side of Oh Sehun today.

You were having Chemistry for the day, and right when you all were busy wearing your lab coats, your teacher announced, “Alright, class. I want you to make groups of three, and then proceed to go to the stations I’ve prepared for today’s experiment,” your chemistry teacher instructed, pointing at the tables with chemistry kits neatly lined up in each table.

The students quickly stormed to take the best seats whilst gathering group members. Some immediately got their group together, while some wandered around. Since you were standing close to one of your closer group of friends, you immediately asked them if they wanted to be in a group together.

“Wanna group?” you asked casually, pointing at the empty station at the back.

“Sure,” the girl agreed, and the other quickly nodded.

With that set, the three of you took your chosen table and waited for the others to finish grouping with each other, loud arguments and footsteps being heard. You can already the see the concerned look of the teacher as the kids move about close to the precious and fragile equipment lying around the room. As you looked around, your eyes suddenly caught a familiar pair of orbs.

… Is it just me, or does Sehun look upset at me.

Sehun was sitting a few tables away from you at the front, and you could tell that he looks unhappy, even with one eye closed. When you showed him you confused look, Sehun pointed at his table, either trying to invite you to join him, or saying that your should already be sitting on his table. Based on his sour expression, it’s probably the second guess. While keeping your gaze at him, you pointed at Jongin who’s sitting right beside him and the small crowd of student still trying to persuade both of them—mostly just Jongin—to join their group instead, implying that he has lots of options.

“Three,” you could read Sehun’s lips, pointing at himself, Jongin, and then the empty chair on his other side to show that the group still lacks one other member.

Coincidentally, you caught Jongin’s eyes as well—since the male was basically watching the two of you having a silent exchange—and the guy just shrugged at you with a seemingly tired smile. You’re guessing that he’s saying that he’s letting Sehun make the decision.

Well, it’s not like you’re going to leave your groupmates just for him. “Pick them!” you mouthed back at him, pointing at the boys that are still standing idly on several parts of the lab. If he’s reluctant to get the noisy girls, then he should be okay with the others.  

You could almost hear Sehun’s groan from afar. “You!” he pointed sternly at you with a heated scowl to match, saying that you’re the only one he wants to recruit.

While this might swoon a few people, you’re not particularly fond of the way he’s angrily inviting you. The fact that the ice prince wants to be in the same group is you lost its charm. “NO!” you responded with an equally heated glare, standing up to assert your point.

This whole scene is quite funny to watch since the both of you are fighting without using your voices, just silent and angry whispers with violent body language. Jongin is practically watching the best show he’s ever seen.

“Is everybody settled? You all better take your seats, because I’m going to list down all of you before we