Eighty

Paper Heart

"How did that even get into my locker without me noticing?" Wendy muttered, half talking to herself, half distracting Seulgi from the class they were currently in.

"Who knows? I don't. You don't either. So what's the point in asking?" The older responded, resting her chin on her hand as she propped her elbow on her desk, her gaze staying stuck to the teacher in an attempt to concentrate.

"Do you think they left it in there before the weekend? I don't remember if I checked my locker before I went home on Friday." The Canadian continued, ignoring her friend's obvious attempts to actually learn something.

"Wendy. Honestly. They might have. Or they put it in some other time. Maybe your secret admirer is a wizard and simply zapped the note into your locker." The taller replied sarcastically, narrowing her eyes a bit.

"I wonder if they're in any of my classes. They could be in this very class right now and I wouldn't even know." The shorter kept on going, her friend letting out a sigh.

"You're not listening to me, are you? You know, it's a little rude to have a one-sided conversation like this with someone." Seulgi said, finally diverting her gaze from the teacher, throwing a glance at the girl next to her.

"How long could this have been going on already? I mean from their note it seemed like they were pretty sure what they felt. It must've been some time then, right?" The younger rambled on, to which the older groaned, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Wendy, please." Seulgi pleaded, a light touch of drama entering her voice, something that finally managed to catch her friend's attention, who turned to her with eyebrows raised as if she hadn't even noticed the other girl was there this whole time.

"What? I'm just really curious about this whole secret admirer thing. I mean, who does that? Why did they do it? Besides the obvious reasons, of course." Wendy spoke excitedly, her friend's gaze following the movements of her eyebrows.

"I don't know, but I doubt making your eyebrows dance will bring you any closer to the truth." Seulgi commented with a snort, earning a glare from the Canadian.

"I'm serious, Seulgi. I really want to know who did it and why. It's already driving me insane." The shorter announced with a pout, which the taller raised an eyebrow at in response.

"I don't think you're going to find out though." The older spoke after a short, seemingly rare moment of silence in between Wendy's rambling, the younger frowning at the other's words.

"Why would you say that? Do you think I don't have the skills to figure it out?" The Canadian questioned, tilting her head a bit as she narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"I don't think it's a matter of skill. In a situation like this, I think it's nearly impossible to find out who did it and why. That is, unless they want you to know, of course." Seulgi shrugged, to which Wendy sighed.

"You're probably right." The shorter muttered in defeat, realizing the other was probably right, considering she didn't even know how the note got into her locker, she had no idea if it was even possible to find out who did it and what their intentions were.

"Aren't I always?" Came the taller's reply along with a smirk, which Wendy responded to by lightly smacking her friend's arm, turning her attention to the teacher afterwards, trying to make the most of her remaining time in class.

____________________________________________________________________________

After class, Wendy headed to her locker, followed by a complaining Seulgi, who was apparently tired out by Wendy and classes, mostly Wendy though, at least that's what she claimed. 

"Oh come on, I'm not walking that fast. Stop exaggerating." The Canadian responded to her friend's whining, who somehow managed to visibly raise an eyebrow at her even though they were almost running at this point.

"Really? Not that fast? Wendy, I didn't even know your legs could carry you this quick. I mean, they're not that long.." The taller started, being completely ignored by the shorter as they had reached their destination.

Wendy yanked open her locker, her eyes quickly scanning the contents, finding nothing had changed. No new note. The girl let out a sigh, unsure what she had really been expecting.

"Why the long face? Did your admirer not leave you anything else? Come on, give them some time to breathe in between sending you love letters." Seulgi commented, earning a shove from the slightly disappointed girl.

"I didn't really expect it anyway. I just wondered. Guess this won't bring me any closer to figuring out who it is." Wendy replied, narrowing her eyes as she once again went over the facts of the situation in her head.

"Oh god, you're really going to try, huh? Well, I'm off. Good luck. Don't say I didn't tell you if you end up being unable to find them." The older said, having checked her watch for the time, she gave her younger friend a small wave before wandering off, leaving Wendy alone to ponder.

When would the next message arrive? Would there even be more? Was this one message all she would get? Did that mean she would never find out who actually left it for her? Wendy's mind was flooded with questions, causing her to sigh as she put her earphones in, turning on her music. A small smile pulling at her lips as her favourite song came on. Paper Heart. She chuckled lightly to herself, realizing the slight irony in the song relating to the situation. Humming along with the song, Wendy closed her locker, taking off towards home.

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Wendy arrived early the next morning, immediately checking her locker, but there was no new message. This occurrance repeated itself the next morning, and the morning after that. Slowly, the Canadian started to lose hope that her admirer would contact her again. Maybe she had misunderstood. Maybe this was just supposed to be a one-time occurance from the start, even if she had hoped it wasn't. With this thought in mind, Wendy decided to stop coming to school early, instead resuming her usual routine of arriving just a bit before her first class started.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Wendy entered the classroom, a little tired, as she hadn't slept that well the previous night. It took a moment for her to realize the class appeared just a bit fuller than it had been for the past few days. She wondered why, that was, until she remembered a bunch of people had been away because of illness. The flu. Unfortunately, one of the faces she hadn't seen since last week was once again at Seulgi's side. Soojung. The girl waved at her when she saw her looking, followed by the girl next to her who had only just noticed Wendy entering the room. The Canadian waved back with a small smile, moving towards the seat she had been occupying ever since Soojung had first taken the one next to Seulgi, the one she used to have.

Eventhough class started soon after, Wendy wasn't paying attention. Instead, she was thinking about what had happened since she had discovered the note in her locker. She wondered why the person had done it, especially if it was going to be just a one-time thing. Why leave a message like that? Why so suddenly? Did she do something to make them do it, but only once? Did she maybe do something to make them stop? Had this been some kind of moment of passion for whoever left the note and had it now passed? Would that fabled day the person promised to tell her ever come at all? 

After what seemed a lot shorter than usual, class ended. Wendy got up, looking in the direction of Seulgi's seat, wanting to signal for lunch plans, but the girl had already vanished. Probably went off to eat with Soojung and her friends, the Canadian thought to herself, a short huff leaving her lips. She couldn't help but feel a little replaced. As much as they joked about it, it did actually bother her, even if she probably wouldn't admit that. It was a bit childish to be jealous a friend found someone else to spend time with, right? Maybe she was being a little clingy. She shouldn't be and she shouldn't want to control who her friends hang out with and when. Wendy nodded to herself at the thought as she made her way outside. She had actually had the same thought a few times over the past weeks. It had become a sort of routine every time she got a little annoyed about it. Just forget it. It's no big deal. Seulgi is still her friend, of course. 

"Hey, where's Seulgi?" Joohyun's voice interrupted Wendy's thoughts, making her realize she had reached the benches and Joohyun and Sooyoung were already there.

"Seulgi? Oh, she's probably off somewhere, hanging out with Soojung." The Canadian answered, shrugging as she sat down, taking her lunch out of her bag as Joohyun eyed her.

"Oh right, she's back. Ran into her and Min earlier this morning." Joohyun replied, nodding to herself as she watched the younger girl eat her lunch, not getting much of a response out of her.

"What's up with you? Are you afraid she's going to steal Seulgi away from you?" Sooyoung chimed in, a teasing grin showing on her face, which Wendy eyed disapprovingly.

"Oh please. Seulgi can hang out with whoever she wants. It's nice she has other friends too. And it's nice for Soojung too. Everybody wins." The shortest of the three responded.

"Right. Everybody wins. Except you." Sooyoung commented, chuckling to herself as she moved out of Wendy's reach as her friend attempted to smack her on the arm.

"Let me live, will you? I just want to eat my lunch in peace for once." The Canadian said, pouting lightly as she looked at her lunch pitifully, Sooyoung raising an eyebrow at her.

"What's wrong? Still nothing new from your secret admirer?" Joohyun asked, her head slightly tilted as she looked at Wendy, noticing the girl was a lot less energized than usual.

"It's not that bad. I mean, it happens, I guess? I'm a little disappointed but I'll get over it. I don't think they'll leave another note." The shortest announced with a sigh.

"Eh, you never know. Maybe they're just trying to come up with something to write. These secret admirer things work in mysterious ways, remember that." Joohyun replied with a shrug.

Wendy copied the older girl's movements, staring at her lunch for a bit before deciding to eat it, knowing full and well she would regret it later if she didn't. A hungry Wendy was a grumpy Wendy. A grumpy Wendy wasn't all that fun to be or to be around. For everyone's sake, it was better to just eat, even if she didn't feel like it now. 

After the three had finished their food, they headed to Wendy's locker as usual, Joohyun and Sooyoung having brought the conversation to the possibility of them hanging out as a group in the weekend, as to avoid bringing up the missing secret admirer. Entering the combination to her locker, Wendy wondered if Seulgi would even agree to something like that, or if she maybe already made plans with Soojung and her friends. After pausing for a second, the Canadian shrugged, thinking to herself that she could ask Seulgi in her next class, she opened the door to her locker.

"What the--?!" Wendy exclaimed in shock after what appeared to be an avalanche of small paper creatures fell from her locker, forming a small pile on the floor on top of what appeared to be a larger, folded piece of paper.

The Canadian blinked a few times before realizing what had just happened, bending down and digging into the pile of miniature birds, finding the note hidden within. She quickly unfolded it, her eyes wide as they scanned the piece of paper, once again meeting familiar English words in the same slightly sloppy handwriting as the other note had been written in.

Wendy Son,

Do you know why I fold these paper cranes?
Do you know what the meaning behind them is?
It is said that if someone were to fold a thousand, 
They will be granted one wish.
That's why I give them to you,
So maybe you'll hear my wish and grant it.
Son Seunghwan, 
Please hear my wish.
My wish is for you to be mine,
Even if I am not worthy, 
Even if I am still a coward,
Even if I cannot show myself yet.
I'm sorry for testing your patience,
I'm sorry for being scared.
I promise I'll one day show myself,
Then you can decide whether you want to grant my wish or not.

-A secret admirer

She reread it three times, her eyes wandering over her name written on the paper as if wanting to make sure this was really for her. Even if this was the second note she had received, it was still hard to believe. Even if she had been waiting for another message from this same person, she hadn't actually expected one, it seemed. 

"A thousand, huh? That's ambitious." Sooyoung's voice interrupted Wendy's thoughts, her eyes flying to the words mentioned by her younger friend immediately before flickering to the pile of paper creatures, which were attached to the note she had dug up from it by a thread.

Quickly, the girl pulled the thread up, starting to count the birds one by one, bringing up the hand holding the note to shush Sooyoung when she got to number twenty. Thirty. Fourty. Fifty. Sixty. There were sixty birds attached to this note. Along with the other twenty that made--

"Eighty? Wow, they're already almost a tenth of the way there." Joohyun said, apparently having counted along with Wendy, who nodded subconsciously as she stared at the figures on the string. 

"That's cool and all that they made sixty birds but now you have to clean sixty birds before class. Good luck with that." Sooyoung cut in, reminding her friends they didn't have all the time in the world.

"Class is starting in-- Five minutes?! Oh my god!" Wendy exclaimed in shock, hurriedly stuffing the thread back into her locker along with the note, quickly switching the material she had in her bag for the material she needed for next class.

"Have fun in class!" Sooyoung called after the Canadian as she ran off to class, having to momentarily pause her thoughts on the situation though she would surely have something to think about for a while.

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author's note:

Somehow, this one turned out even longer than the last one. Sorry about that. I'm not sure if it annoys people or not since I've only seen some positive comments on the length. I guess I owe it to you guys though considering I made you wait for a bit. I apologize for that at least. I'll try to be quicker with my next update.

Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoy the update. I actually had half of this written down already but I ran into a little writer's block as to what to do with the second half. But, clearly, I've decided. I also have most of the next chapter planned out already so that probably (?) means I will be able to write that soon. 

Thanks for reading. Hope you guys like it and see you next time!

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FanReveluv
#1
Chapter 5: sweet story of first love and all those crazy things we do for love thanks for this precious gift
katia_97
#2
Chapter 5: Every once in awhile I come back to reread this UwU ♡
saida_spriteu #3
Chapter 5: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/860351/5'>A Thousand</a></span>
Yaasss!!!! Glad I found this! Everything was so sweet and precious, and even though I already know who the admirer was, I was still anticipating their appearance! Same as Wendy! It was thrilling for me and I feel curious and nervous like the latter through out the whole story. Seriously, the paper cranes? The letters? It was so cute and so lovely :') thank you for writing this author-nim. I hope you'll always take care and hope thay you'll have a good day too!!!! :D
NamyuLover #4
Chapter 5: i'm about 5 years late, but it's still such a good read. adorable and lovely :]
zhurae
#5
Chapter 5: AAAA so cute uwu
poplarbear #6
Chapter 5: SWEEET
jjae96
#7
this is adorable. now i wanna make paper cranes.
chchcn #8
Chapter 5: The dumb bear could be this sweet? Wow good job deulgi :D
cobwebsenpai
#9
Chapter 5: aw man just discovered this and binge read it... SO GOOD
thequietone
16 streak #10
Chapter 5: This is soo cute and fluffy ! My wenseul heart is screaming ahhh! I love each of the letters it shows really her character and how scared Seul is. Thank you author nimm