Chapter 13

Though he was the Student Body President – and a model student too at that -, he wasn’t one who loved the school. Sure, studying is important to him. But that didn’t necessarily mean he loved the school. If it weren’t for the upcoming big event at the school this weekend, he wouldn’t scheduled his committee and the other senior students to come on a day which the school had actually set as extra holiday. But the school won’t decorate itself.

Despite his not-so-enthused feeling of going to school, though, he strangely looked forward to be there when the thought of a certain someone popped in his head. He looked forward to pushing some buttons in her to make her annoyed as usual and to make her reveal that one secret he was convinced to be true.

The seniors were groaning at first for coming to school, but once they met their friends, all complaints flew out the window. Though they had to do some cleaning, painting, decorating, setting up booths – basically, work – they didn’t mind much once they mingled with their friends in cliques. Everyone was scattered around the school doing the work they had volunteered to do. But most of them were in the school’s indoor basketball court. Some were mopping the floor while others were busy with the decoration: cutting, hanging the banners, and painting letters on other banners.

The basketball competition’s PIC was explaining something to Sehun, who was crossing his arms, regarding the rundown and whatnot. But from time to time, he glanced over the guy’s shoulder at the girl behind him who was so focused on coloring the banner with a brush. Her brows met in the middle and her tongue was poking out a bit as the brush came in contact with the banner. Feeling amused, one corner of his lips quirked upward a bit seeing that expression on her face.

“…so after that-,” the basketball PIC stopped talking when he realized the blonde guy was looking somewhere else. “Err, President?” He tried. “Sehun-ssi?” He was going to follow Sehun’s gaze, but before he could do so, the said president turned his attention back to him.

“I’m listening. Continue on,” Sehun simply said.

“Oh..kay..,” the PIC lifted an eyebrow before his eyes darted back to the stapled papers he was holding. “So,” he started again, but though he was really listening, Sehun’s gaze went back to Yeojin.

This time Yeojin was laughing whilst still painting. One of his brows arched upon landing his gaze on the guy beside her. He recognized him as the one from the running club who seemed to have a crush on her.

Obvious much.

He mused in his mind as he smirked a bit. But his gaze was sharp as if he tried to bore a hole on the guy’s head.

He was tearing his eyes away from the pair, but he took a second glance on two girls. They were part of his student council. The ones who were looking down on Yeojin. They were carrying a bucket of paint each as they slowly approached her from behind. Sehun slightly cocked his head to one side and a frown grazed his face when his brain clicked knowing what they were planning to do.

“MVP!”

Yeojin flinched at the mention of the nickname she wasn’t proud of. Her hand stopped painting the letter as she heaved out a sigh rolling her eyes. Jongdae glanced behind his shoulder at the blonde guy who was surprisingly staring at him right in his eyes coldly. He shuddered and quickly looked away.

“Well, someone’s jealous,” Jongdae commented.

“What?” Yeojin asked frowning a little.

Jongdae just chuckled shaking his head before pursing his lips. “Mmmm… You’re not…dating him, right?” He hesitantly asked raising an eyebrow.

“I-”

“MVP!”

She clicked her tongue and stood up turning around when she was surprised to find two of the council members standing there with mouth agape and whose shirts were stained with splatters of paint. She could also see some splatters on their faces. Jongdae seemed to belatedly realize it too and he tried to hold his snicker. Yeojin gasped at the sight. “Are you o-“

“Kwon Yeojin!”

She flinched again when Sehun called her by her full name. She looked at him with an agitated look, but Sehun’s gaze remained unfazed. He beckoned her to come to him with a nod. Trying hard to press the urge to roll her eyes, she reluctantly walked to him.

“What now?” She asked him crossing her arms when she was standing in front of him.

Sehun had been ordering her around today. She was finally feeling a little happy with the latest job – or more like a chore – he asked her to do, especially with someone like Jongdae beside her who kept on telling her jokes to drive away her annoyance and boredom. But Mr. I’m-A-Cold-Student-President just had to snatch away her little happiness. Again.

“Go help somewhere else,” he stated. “There are already too many people helping here. It’s too crowded,” he added, his face betraying no emotion.

Her jaw dropped in disbelief. “What?! Are you even kidding me?” Her frustration won over her patience for this guy. Had it not for the presence of another guy beside Sehun who had been watching them interact silently, she was sure she would strangle him.

“Go look for your friend – what’s her name? Sunny? Sunhee? – Whatever just go help her, chat with her or something,” he waved his hand dismissively and Yeojin blinked confusedly, her anger was doused a bit. Well, it wasn’t such a bad order to follow after all.

Sehun sighed and rolled his eyes at her lack of response before placing his hands on her shoulders to turn her away and lightly push her. “Go,” he said shooing her away and she glared at him shortly before walking out of the court.

Once she was out of the court, Sehun directed his attention back on the two girls who were fussing over the paint that had splashed over them. They were ready to splashed Yeojin with the paint in the buckets but were too startled by Sehun’s calling Yeojin that their hands abruptly pulled back the bucket of paint causing themselves to be splashed with the paints instead.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Sehun told the basketball PIC and immediately walked towards the two girls not giving the PIC a chance to even reply to him.

The girls were gritting their teeth and glaring at Jongdae who was laughing and pointing a finger at them. One of them was extending her hand to grab him by the collar, but she stopped herself when she realized Sehun standing in front of her. Both girls lowered their heads as if they were kids afraid of being scolded by their dad. Even Jongdae pursed his lips to stifle his laughter when he saw him.

Sehun silently looked at two of his council members from their heads to toes, raising an eyebrow. “Those paints are not free, you know,” he stated emotionlessly. “They cost money. So if you want to decorate your shirt with them, you better pay,” he said it so blandly, but at the same time mockingly. Jongdae snorted at that. “Go do something helpful,” he commanded and they nodded and walked away.

“Oh!” Sehun stopped them when they were about to walk past him. “You’re my council members, so I expect you to do better than bullying someone else.” Both girls tensed at that. “And one more thing,” he leaned closer to whisper to them, “don’t even think of doing anything to her. I’m the only allowed to bully her.” One of them looked at him with a look of confusion and agitation at the same time, but she didn’t retort. Sehun just raised a brow at her and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Do you have something to say?”

“No,” the girl answered looking away.

“Good.” He gestured for them to leave and they did.

Once they left, Sehun looked back at the still-snickering Jongdae. “And you,” he directed at him.

The said guy stopped chuckling almost immediately, raised his brows innocently, and pointed at himself. “Me?”

“Yeah. You. Stop flirting when you’re working.” With that he turned to walk back to the PIC leaving the confused and baffled Jongdae.

“Hellooo~,” she waved a hand in front of her friend’s face. “Earth to Yeojin?” She snapped her fingers this time, and it worked like magic.

“Huh?” Yeojin shook her head and looked at Sunhee sitting beside her who was laughing. “What did you say?”

Sunhee continued to laugh seeing her friend’s blank look. “I was saying that it was actually nice that he apologized to you.”

“O-oh!” Yeojin rubbed the nape of her neck a little embarrassed. “Yeah… I guess,” Yeojin shrugged.

Sunhee’s laughter gradually died down, but the smile didn’t leave her face. “What were you thinking?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Yeojin looked at her friend innocently with rounded eyes.

“You were spacing out, silly!” Sunhee giggled. “What were you thinking?”

“Oh. Nothing,” she mumbled lowering her head. She was mentally slapped herself because that didn’t sound convincing even to her.

“You seriously think you can lie to your best friend?” Sunhee shook her head amused.

Yeojin let out a breathy chuckle as she gazed back at the running tracks in front of her. They were resting on one of the benches in the track and field stadium. After gladly being shooed away by Mr. President, she found Sunhee picking up trashes scattered around the track and field stadium along with some of their classmates. She helped her whilst telling her everything about the chuseok mayhem, scolding her afterwards for telling Kai of her problem, but thanking her later for doing the exact same thing.

“I was just…,” she trailed off as she saw some of her classmates running around joking with each other on the running track. Seeing that, she was suddenly reminded of why she loved running in the first place which prompted her to join the running club at school.

It was because she was so determined on beating a certain long-legged creature in running. She remembered how that person always won over her and how she always complained of it saying that it was unfair because he had long legs. Since then, she practiced to run fast.

Sunhee’s laughter snapped her out of her daze again. “You’re doing it again. If you don’t wanna tell me, fine,” her friend nudged her. “But please stop spacing out,” Sunhee chuckled.

“Sorry,” Yeojin mumbled grinning sheepishly while scratching the back of her ear.

“That’s okay,” Sunhee smiled. A comfortable silence fell afterwards before Sunhee spoke again, “So… you guys are good now?”

It didn’t take telepathy to know what she was talking about. “Well… Yeah,” Yeojin shrugged. “Sort of,” she added after a pause. “He still acted cold, but not as cold as before.” Sunhee raised her brows not understanding what she meant. “I know. It’s confusing. I can’t really explain it. It’s like he’s still the same cold Kris – which I’m surprisingly glad of because it will be awkward if he immediately changes into the Yifan I used to know -, but at the same time I feel like whatever wall was there between us is not there anymore. And at least, now I don’t feel like I’m the only one battling Sehun.”

Sunhee nodded silently. “So, you guys are good,” she simply concluded after her friends long ramble.

“Yeah,” Yeojin snorted at her friend’s reaction. “Guess so.”

“Hey guys!” One of their classmates called out while passing in front of them. “Aren’t you going home?” She asked adjusting the strap of her bag. “It’s going to be a looong day tomorrow,” she said with tinge of complaint.

“Yeah~,” Sunhee nodded.

“Tell me about it,” Yeojin added.

“I’m going now. You guys should go home too and rest. Bye! See you guys tomorrow!” Their classmate waved.

Sunhee stood up soon after. “She’s right. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day for sure.” She then turned to look at Yeojin who was still sitting down. “Want a ride home – oh wait! You have a personal driver now, don’t you?” Sunhee teased feigning a surprised look.

Yeojin chuckled rolling her eyes. “Wow! Thank you so much for the offer, best friend!” She teased back with sarcasm. “And no. I’m not going home with Sehun.”

“Sehun? Oh! You mean your boyfriend. So, he’s your personal driver? I meant Mr. Ahn when I said personal driver,” Sunhee continued to making Yeojin gawk at her.

“Oh shut up!” She pushed her lightly and her friend just laughed.

“Okay. Okay.” She stopped down a bit to give Yeojin a little hug and Yeojin smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. See you!”

Yeojin’s eyes went back to the running track lying in front of her. She sighed as she silently watched the senior students leaving the field and the stadium one by one. Her gaze lingered on the running track and a smile grazed her face.

“Wohoo!” Yifan jumped up and down pumping his fists in the air. “I win again! You lose! You lose!” He poked out his tongue while pointing a finger at her who just arrived at the top of the hill with little Lin trailing behind her.

“This isn’t fair!” Little Yeojin complained her hands on her knees supporting her as she still panted.

“Yeah! This isn’t fair!” Lin copied the older girl.

“You had long legs, that’s why you won!” Yeojin crossed her arms and pouted and Lin copied her again making the older boy laugh.

“That and you both are just too slow,” he laughed ruffling the girls’ hairs.

“No! We’re not slow! You’re just an abnormally tall giant!” She mocked pouting even more.

“Well then, you better make your legs grow longer. Until then…,” Kris started walking backward, “you can’t catch me!” With that he ran down the hill while the girls groaned and chased after him.

“Ya! I’ll run faster than you do! You’ll see!” Yeojin shouted as she ran with the gleeful Lin beside her.

Yeojin smiled at the memory and she got up from the bench descending the stairs of the stadium. She was about to enter the school building, but when she looked back at the running track, she felt the urge to run on it. Biting down her lip, she pushed away the urge.

“I thought you said running is not your passion.” A voice startled her when she turned back around to walk inside.

She clicked her tongue seeing Sehun approached her. She didn’t reply knowing that he was just trying to push her buttons.

“Running away from the urge to run, huh?” He asked and her eyes were slightly widened. He smirked at seeing that.

“No. I’m actually running now.” Sehun cocked an eyebrow at her statement. “Away. From you,” she added and he snorted a chuckle.

She walked ahead passing him but was then stopped as he pulled on her upper arm. Annoyed, she whipped her head to look at him.

“Let’s run,” he calmly suggested nodding to the running track.

“What?!”

One corner of his lips twitched upward. “Oh don’t tell me you don’t wanna run.” Yeojin opened to retort, but Sehun beat her to it. “Your eyes say you wanna run. They did too during our track and field audition.”

Yeojin scoffed to the side and yanked her hand away from his grip. “So now you’re acting like you know me, huh?”

“No. But I know the look in your eyes,” he stated and she blinked surprised. “Besides,” he continued as he walked backwards toward the running track, “running might help you relieve some stress.”

Yeojin couldn’t help but to scoff again and be sarcastic about this. “What? Did my eyes say that too?”

“No. Your face does.”

Yeojin’s jaw dropped before she rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Whatever! I’m out of here.”

“What? Scared of losing against me?”

“What? No. I just don’t want to play any more game with you. I’m out,” she turned to walk away.

“I guess you’re not the fastest female runner here after all,” he taunted.

Yeojin stopped in her steps and closed her eyes taking a deep breath. It disturbed her how this guy always knew which button to push on to annoy her.

Just walk away, Yeojin. Walk away. She told herself taking another step.

“Oh? So you’re that kind of person, huh? Quitting before even trying? Or are you a slowpoke?”

Yeojin groaned before turning around and walked to the running track where he was. “I am not!” Sehun smirked at this knowing he had won.

“Whatever you say,” he said as he started jogging backward. “Slowpoke,” he added for good measure.

Her jaw dropped in disbelief. “You. Did. Not. Just say that,” she pointed at him and he just shrugged turning to run facing forward.

“Ya! Oh Sehun!”

Without much thinking, she let her feet jogged on the running track. It had been pretty long since the last time she ran here. She hadn’t attended the running club lately too. Feeling her legs moved a little faster than walking felt great.

Maybe this isn’t so bad. She started picking up her pace after only a few seconds, determined to beat the crap out of the guy. And before long, she was already running beside Sehun.

“See you at the finish line, slowpoke!” She taunted surprisingly laughing as she ran past him.

“Oh, we’re on!” Sehun grinned and picked up his pace.

Yeojin’s feet moved faster and she felt her whole legs getting lighter as they did so. She closed her eyes feeling the wind brushed through her hair and kissed her face. The refreshing wind strengthened her excitement and she picked up her pace again.

She felt like she was free. Free from all the stress of being a senior student. Free from the bigger stress of being a wife. For once, she’s just… Yeojin. She let her feet moved as her mind traveled somewhere else. She hated to admit it, but Sehun was right. This did relieve her of some stress.

Everything had been pretty good between Kris and her. But she would be lying if she said her heart was okay. Sure she had forgiven Kris for what he said. But her heart was scarred. And then, she discovered that what Kris said was indeed true. Now her heart was burdened with guilt.

Yeojin opened her eyes and pushed her thoughts away. She saw the finish line ahead. Seeing Sehun not far away behind almost catching her up, she ran even faster. A few steps away, Yeojin passed the finish line first. Sehun panted and walked to field of grass surrounded by the track before plopping down to the ground.

She jumped up and down, twirled around, and ran around a bit. “I won! I won!” She shouted for joy like a little kid genuinely happy. “How’s that for a slowpoke, huh?!” She laughed.

Seeing her childish behavior, Sehun couldn’t help but to let out a little laugh as he lowered and shook his head. He looked up still letting out a breathy chuckle only to find her having stopped laughing and gawking at hi

He too stopped laughing and quirked an eyebrow. “What?”

“You just laughed,” she replied in a deadpan.

“So?”

“You just laughed,” she repeated again.

Sehun rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I just laughed. So?”

“Oh. My. Gosh. You just laughed,” Yeojin started to grin. She looked like a little girl who just discovered something new. Sehun now just sighed closing his eyes. “Oh Sehun just laughed!” She squealed clapping her hands. “This must be a miracle!” She laughed now teasing him.

“I’m a human,” he deadpanned. “Of course I can laugh.” He laid his back down on the grass, closing his eyes.

Yeojin approached him still laughing and lay down on the grass beside him. A breathy chuckle still escaped her lips as she panted and closed her eyes too.

Well this is nice. She thought to herself.

She heaved out a breath before opening her eyes and turning to look at the guy lying beside her. It might not be that much evident, but she could see the corners of his lips quirking upward a bit into a small smile.

“Hey…,” she called out above a whisper.

Sehun slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at her. The genuine smile on her face caught him by surprise, and in that second he felt his heart skipped a beat.

“Thanks,” she said with another smile. He wanted to ask her for what, but his words died in his throat. She tore her gaze away from him and looked up at the sky whose color slowly changed. “Thanks for telling me to run.” She paused. “And for saving me from being drenched in paint,” she added as an after-thought.

Sehun was surprised she had figured it out and was going to deny it, but decided against it. “Just a friendly reminder,” he said instead as he looked up at the sky too, “sometimes…you shouldn’t just stay still when people step on you. Sometimes, you gotta stand up for yourself and show them what you can do.”

“Wow!” She chuckled. “Friendly reminder, huh? Are we buddies now?” She joked.

“Don’t get too excited, buddy,” he smirked looking at her. “This is just for today.”

“Whatever.” She looked up again. “Thanks though.” She smiled and Sehun couldn’t help but to smile along.

They fell silent for quite awhile watching the sky blushing just like Sehun’s cheeks-

Wait. What? Why are my cheeks heating up? Sehun awkwardly cleared his throat and looked away.

Yeojin was sure that she disliked Sehun. But she didn’t know why right then and there she felt…comfortable lying beside him.

A breathy chuckle suddenly escaped her lips and Sehun abruptly turned his head to look at her.

“What?”

“I still can’t believe that I just witnessed the cold Student President of Jaesan High School laughed.”

Sehun scoffed looking away. But his heart and mind wondered too. I can’t believe that I laughed because of you.

Sorry I didn't get a chance to post this last week :)

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