The next morning, Jimin was forcibly woken up when Irene yanked her blankets away in one swift move.

“Kim Jimin,” she barked, “please have some discipline. You have now, let’s see, 19 minutes and 30 seconds until we’re leaving to pick up Yunhyeong’s sister before class.”

“Good morning, love,” chirped Joy from across the room, where she was busy putting on mascara in front of the full-length mirror. “Eunjin got here early this morning, and I’m bringing her to all my classes today.”

Jimin groaned and flipped over to bury her face in the pillow. She wanted nothing more than to savor a few more seconds of bliss before leaving her dream world behind.

“Maybe,” Irene said, “you would be able to wake up if you went to bed at a normal time. When did you get back last night?”

Jimin didn’t have to look up to know that Irene was staring at her with reproach. Another reason to go back to sleep: she wouldn’t have to face her friends’ questioning. She felt ashamed to respond to their concern with a lie. But the less people she told, the faster she would be able to put it all behind her.

“Uhhh I was talking to Hanbin,” she said, hoping that Irene would just be happy that the two of them were being friendly and stop inquiring further.

“Oh!” Irene was surprised, just as she expected. “Well, that’s good. But remember to go to sleep early. You need to take care of your health to do well in anything.”

Jimin took advantage of the moment to slip into the bathroom before anyone could think of more things to be curious about. There was nothing to feel guilty about, right? She wasn’t lying to her friends, exactly.

When they walked to breakfast, Jimin was still struggling to wake up. The sun seemed unusually bright today, making it even more difficult to keep her eyes open. Every time she yawned, tears clouded her vision. She grabbed onto Irene and Joy as guides.

“It’s the first time I’m meeting them,” Irene said slowly. “I know Bobby from my Bio class, but the rest of them don’t know me yet.”

It was the first time Jimin heard her sounding so nervous. “Don’t worry! I only say good things about you. I told them all how gorgeous and smart my roommate is.”

Irene laughed and pushed her off, “Oh stop flattering me. I bet you complain all the time about how I’m nag you like an ajumma.”

When the three girls reached the dining hall, Yunhyeong was already waiting on the steps. Standing next to him was a petit girl wearing tiny denim shorts and a light pink crop top. Her jet-black hair was cut in a bob and a row of wispy bangs veiled her forehead.

“Hey!” Junhyeong shouted cheerfully. “I was worried you guy weren’t coming.”

“So sorry to be late! It took a while to get Jimin out of bed,” apologized Joy with a sneaky glance at Jimin. Jimin was just about to glare back when she noticed the younger girl staring at her intently.

“No worries. This is my little sister, Eunjin. Eunjin, this is Joy, she’ll be taking you around today.” Joy smiled brightly as Eunjin shook her hand. “This is Jimin. You’ll be staying in her room.” Eunjin held out her tiny hand, and after a pause, Jimin took hold of it. Their palms only touched for half a second, but Eunjin’s gigantic round eyes lingered on her face for a few moments after her icy hands let go. “Uhhh, this is, Irene? Is it?” Yunhyeong ventured uncertainly.

“Hi yes I’m Irene. Nice to meet you!” Irene stuttered and smiled awkwardly. She shook hands with Yunhyeong, who gave her another one of his signature grins, and with Eunjin, who smirked slightly.

“Hanbin’s still asleep because he went to bed really late last night. The rest of the boys are coming soon. Jinhwan had a little, let’s say, ‘accident’ this morning.” Before she could wonder what he meant by this, a jumble of noisy arguing came from behind her.

“Why did you push me, you jerk?” snarled Jinhwan.

“You shouldn’t have skated over my foot!! Be thanking the lord you didn’t crush my precious toes…” Mino was just as indignant.

“Just relaxxx…Yelling at each other never solved anything,” Taehyun drawled languidly and plumped his hair with both hands.

“Shut up!!” screamed both Jinhwan and Mino simultaneously before glaring at each other. Suddenly, they both stopped when they saw the group in front of them. Mino looked at Irene with his mouth slightly open. Jinhwan, on the other hand, glowered disbelievingly at Bobby, who had already walked over to Eunjin.

“My lady,” he said and did a grand bow. “I’m B-O-B-B-Y, Bobby. I’ll be at your service for the next two weeks. And, with your satisfaction, I’ll serve your every need and want for the rest of your life,” Bobby winked and waited for Eunjin’s reaction.

She scoffed and looked at Yunhyeong, “This is your friend?”

Bobby’s face flushed red, and he stepped back uncertainly. He had always succeeded in his wacky but direct way with girls. For some reason, they seemed to appreciate his remarkable self-confidence.

“Don’t mind him, he’s just weird like that. I’m Jinhwan, remember me?” Jinhwan took the chance to advance into the gap.

“Nope. And I don’t mean to,” said Eunjin without looking at him. Yunhyeong cleared his throat uncomfortably without looking at his friends. The two guys were looking down at their shifting feet. Irene was giving Eunjin dirty looks, and Mino was still staring at Irene with his mouth open.

“Oh my god! I’m just kidding,” suddenly Eunjin burst out in giggles and covered with her hand. Her voice filled with warmth when she spoke again, “Did I get you? You totally fell for it! So cute.” She bumped Bobby playfully while beaming at Jinhwan.

“Whattt??” Bobby snapped his head up and stared bewilderedly at first Yunhyeong, then Eunjin. He couldn’t seem to comprehend what had just happened.

“I just wanted to see how you would react,” Eunjin said innocently. “Did I scare you?”

“Ohhh of-course not!” Bobby regained his goofy smile as soon as he saw her cute expression. “I knew the whole time that there’s no way a girl like you would act like that for real.”

“Me too. I never doubted for a second,” joined in Jinhwan as he rushed to her side.

“So what are we eating for breakfast, oppa?” Eunjin chirped and hooked her arms in Jinhwan’s.

“Hey wait for me!” Bobby ran to her other side. Eunjin floated through the dining hall doors with her two body-guards flanking each side, leaving behind the rest of their friends to roll their eyes in irritation.

“Wow, you sure got lucky with a sister like that,” said Irene finally to Yunhyeong.

He let out a huge sigh in response, “No one can control her. She only needs to blink once and my parents would bend over backwards and present her their kidney. Honestly, I can’t tell if she’s a psycho or a genius.”

“I read somewhere that serial killers and the most successful people are the same type,” murmured Taehyun all of a sudden, scaring Mino out of his reverie. He looked around in confusion as if he had just woken up from a long nap in a different place from where he fell asleep.

“She’s definitely the serial killer type, then. She’s already trampled the hearts of hundreds of pitiful lovesick schoolboys.”

“Love?” Mino squeaked.

“Mino, are you okay?” Joy asked gently as she tapped his shoulder. Irene looked at Jimin as if you ask, is he always like this? She shrugged and rolled her eyes. She had always thought that Mino was kind of spazzy.

“I-I’m fine,” whispered Mino, still staring at Irene.

The rest of them finally decided to just ignore him and walked into the dining hall. Junhyeong took the lead and started briefing Irene on Eunjin’s living habits. Joy started asking Donghyuk, who had been silent all morning, about the upcoming dance exhibition. Taehyun pointedly lectured on about the benefits of eyebrow shaping to Jimin, who pretended to listen and not be offended.

           *****

Mino was in love. So this was what it feels like to fall deep into someone else’s soul, he thought dreamily. How was it possible that he had only met her after all this time at school? Actually, the better question was, where had she been the rest of his life? Ughhhh, he thought, I could have saved so much time browsing at all these girls if I knew that I could have so easily found someone so perfect.

He started planning for their first date. Is she the type of girl who would want to go to a restaurant? Maybe he should just invite her to his dorm. Just when he was feeling overwhelmed with choices, he suddenly had the most brilliant idea. He should invite her to his soccer game! Mino chuckled at his brilliance. He was most confident on the field. It was the perfect chance to show her his handsome, manly side…. Perfect.

*****

When Jimin walked into math class that day, Hanbin was already there. They greeted at each other awkwardly. It was strange to know that less than 12 hours ago, they both couldn’t stand the other’s presence. Hanbin now shares a secret with her. Something that she can’t, wouldn’t, tell anyone else. They weren’t yet friends, exactly. It was more the kind of respect between allies that was so rare in a school where everyone was constantly competing to be the best.

“I heard you slept in this morning,” she said.

“Yeah Jinhwan tried to wake me up but I kicked him in the face,” he grumbled while rubbing his eyes.

Just when she was about to respond, her phone buzzed on the desk. Seeing the name, she felt a sense of dread drop into her stomach.

Sehun: Jimin we need to talk.

Her phone buzzed again.

Sehun: I’m really sorry about what happened.

Sehun: Jimin please let me explain to you.

Sehun: You know how much you mean to me.

“Jimin? Are you okay?” Hanbin asked with concern.

“Huh? Yeah I’m fine…” She was saved from further conversation by the arrival of Ms. Sandara Park, who looked even more angry than usual.

Even though she didn’t tell Hanbin that Sehun was texting her, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Why did he want to talk? Is it that he felt really sorry for what he did? She didn’t understand how someone could completely change his mind the morning after.

“Jimin? Did you get the answer?” She was suddenly pulled out her reverie by Hanbin’s voice. She looked down at the math problems that they were supposed to be working on together.

“No…I’m really sorry, can you please explain it again?” She heard Hanbin sigh and start to write down his steps on her worksheet. Pay attention, she told herself. This is what she should be focusing on, not some stupid boy that had barely given her the time of day before. Jimin ignored the uncomfortable outline of her phone pressing into her leg in her back pocket.

*****

“Where can I get some water?” Eunjin said that day at lunch as she twirled her pasta disinterestedly with her fork.

“I’ll get it!” Bobby dropped his fork and jumped up before anyone else could react.

“I’ll go too!” yelled Jinhwan, knocking over his chair in the race against Bobby.

When the dust had settled, Hanbin looked at the empty spots on the table and realized, “Does anyone know where Mino is?”

“He ditched me after gym to go back to his room,” Taehyun said slowly and went straight back to slurping his soup.

“That’s strange, he never goes back to his room during the ––“ Yunhyeong stopped in the middle of his sentence as his big eyes turned even rounder in the direction of the entrance. “Who is that?”

They all turned to where he was looking at, but all they saw was a giant dog. Well, a person dressed in a giant Snoopy suit. Snoopy walked into the room and advanced purposefully in their direction. He marched straight up to their table, stopping with his stomach a few inches away from Irene’s petrified face. The suit started vibrating and emitting a drone of muffled noises. Finally, the hands reached up and yanked off Snoopy’s head, revealing the boy inside.

“Irene, will you come to my soccer game tomorrow?” gasped Mino, who then attempted to wink. A droplet of sweat dribbled into his eye, forcing him to wipe at his face furiously with his paw glove.

Hushed giggles could be heard from around the cafeteria as everyone present strained their ears to hear her response. Irene just gaped at him in astonishment. Never in her life had she been so caught off guard. She was used to planning everything to the minute detail so that it all happened the way she wanted.

Finally, she started laughing. “Is this a joke?”  she said almost hysterically. “Do you think it’s funny? I hate boys like you, Song Min Ho. What did I ever do to make you want to humiliate me!” She pushed him away from her chair and stormed out of the now silent cafeteria.

Mino stared at her back, then collapsed into her empty chair.

“I’ll go see if she’s okay,” whispered Joy to Donghyuk before escaping from the table.

“Dude, what the hell was that?” said Yunhyeong incredulously.

“I-I just wanted to get her attention. I thought she would think that I’m creative…” Mino muttered miserably.

“Snoopy though??”

“Isn’t our school mascot a dog? I thought it was in spirit since I’m inviting her to a soccer game.”

“WOLF. Who told you it’s a dog? It’s a wolf!” cried Yunhyeong in exasperation. “How stupid can you get? And that’s why you tried to scare her with Snoopy? Why are all my friends like this with girls.”

“What?” Now it was Mino’s chance to be shocked. “But Jinhwan told me before that it was a dog!”

“I think that’s the problem, Mino,” said Hanbin from the side. “It’s understandable why Irene would have misunderstood if you came shaking your at her in a dog costume…, “ he stopped quickly, seeing Mino’s face.

“The reason all of you fail at getting girls is because you want it too badly and you do dumb stuff like this. Do you ever think from their perspective what they want in a guy?” said Donghyuk angrily, for what was probably the second sound he’d made all day.

“What makes you such an expert!” Mino yelled back. “You haven’t even had your first kiss yet.”

“Song Min Ho!” Donghyuk bellowed, standing up so fast he knocked his chair over. “I told you not to tell anyone, you traitor.”

“Stop!” Jimin screamed, pulling Mino’s arm down before he could stand up too. She was not going to let them get in a fight with the whole cafeteria as witnesses.

“Yunhyeong,” she said, “take Donghyuk with you.” Yunhyeong nodded and dragged Donghyuk away by his ears.

“Mino, you’re coming with me.” Mino was just about to argue when she slammed her fist down on the table. “Now! Hanbin, help me grab his other arm.”

“Don’t forget Snoopy!” said Taehyun as he shoved the head in Mino’s hands at the last minute. Mino reluctantly grabbed the dog and followed Jimin out of the cafeteria through the other doors, cursing at Hanbin the whole way down the stairs as he tried to see over his stuffed belly.

*****

When Bobby and Jinhwan finally arrived back at the table, the only two left were Eunjin and Taehyun. The girl was staring angrily at her uneaten pasta, and the boy seemed oblivious that anything was wrong.

“What happened? Where did everyone go?” asked Bobby in bewilderment.

“What happened? Why did it take you so long?” snapped Eunjin before storming out the room.

“Don’t look at me. All I said was that she should consider getting her eyebrows reshaped. It makes her look mean,” said Taehyun nonchalantly as he continued to sip his soup.

“I told you we should have come back earlier!” snarled Jinhwan.

“You were the one who was arguing with me about who gets to hold the water,” argued Bobby. Jinhwan heaved a gigantic sigh and threw the cup full of water at Bobby before walking out of the room in Eunjin’s footsteps.

*****

Later that night, Jimin couldn’t wait to go to bed. She had spent the rest of the afternoon convincing Irene that Mino was probably not trying to be mean to her. She almost made Mino cry before he agreed to apologize. But she couldn’t stop him from running away immediately after saying that he was sorry. Hanbin left to go watch after Mino, and she, Joy, and Irene finally went back to their rooms to go to sleep early.

She felt less like a high school student and more like a kindergarten teacher. I’ve never experienced so much drama in my life, she thought as she stepped into her room. Really, no matter where you are and how mature you seem, there are always little misunderstandings that blow out of proportion.

“What’s that?” cried Joy, pointing to Jimin’s desk. Standing in the middle was a big vase filled with red roses. “Who would send you flowers? Is it Sehun? Oh my god you didn’t tell me anything was going on.”

“Nothing’s going on,” Jimin said firmly and walked over to snatch the card out of the flowers.

I’m sorry.

The card was unsigned, but she knew who it was. Jimin picked up the vase with the intention to throw it out the open window. But then, she changed her mind. Jimin set the vase down gently on the table and pushed it into the top left corner of her desk. She stared at the mass of deep, unblemished red for a second, then went into her room and crawled in bed.

Hi to my readers! I feel terrible for not updating even though I kept saying that I was writing the story. I have been working on it, just very slowly as it's been a crazy few weeks! I've just started my internship and although it's been an amazing time I haven't had much time to write here. I hope you haven't forgotten this story and will continue to comment, upvote, subscribe! Let me know what you think of the progress <3