The Real You || Jung Sungchan

Chapter 11

Sungchan:

After lunch, we had our fifth period which was gym. We changed into our gym uniforms and went to the gym. Usually we would go to the field and play soccer or dodgeball, but today we were just practicing our throwing. I was tall enough to see where Miyoung was and she was practicing with Minji. Kyungmi kept looking over at them with a jealous look on her face and I just laughed. Why are they so desperate to be her friend? What's the point in being friends for someone just because they're pretty? I'm not at all saying that Miyoung has "pretty privilege" because she really doesn't, but maybe that's the mindset of other people. I just kept practicing with my classmate, who also couldn't keep their eyes off of Miyoung. I threw the ball far away so they would have to run away and look away from Miyoung. She didn't smile once during the whole thing. She also looked like she wanted to hit Minji with the ball because of how hard she was throwing it and how weak Minji is. She also threw the ball far away so she could go after it. That's when she turned towards me and we made eye contact. We held the eye contact for a good minute until both of our partners came back.

Since I was new to the class, I was on cleanup duty. Our teacher volunteered Miyoung to help me, but all of the guys in our class did it instead. Kyungmi and Minji were on both sides of Miyoung, holding her arms. I can't see her face right now, but I can tell that she doesn't like it at all. Since there were a lot of guys, I just left them to do the rest of it and they didn't even noticed. I ran to the locker room and got dressed back into my school uniform as quick as possible so I can be in the classroom before Miyoung. Once I finished, I ran to my classroom and she was already there. I sighed and walked to my seat, where it had a bottle of peach tea on it. I sat down and grabbed the drink, smiling and putting it in my bag.

"I had two of them. I didn't need two." Miyoung says, I nod. Even though I bought both of them, I still took it because she gave it to me.

Then we had our last three classes for the day. I stayed in my seat as I watched Miyoung quickly grab all of her stuff and run out of the room. Kyungmi and Minji were also trying to catch up to Miyoung, but she was running really fast. How can she run that fast? Maybe she played some sports or something. I was impressed at how fast she ran that I didn't notice that she left her keychain on the table. She probably dropped it on accident while she was running away from everyone. I grabbed the keychain and put it in my pocket. Then my friends came inside the classroom and look disappointed when Miyoung wasn't there.

"Where'd she go?" Jaeho asks, I shrug my shoulders and get up from my seat.

"Where are you going? We don't have a lesson today." Chanyoung asks.

"I'm going to the library." I tell them and they pretend to throw up. I hit them lightly and laugh with them. We say our goodbyes and leave the classroom. They go to the gym and I make my way towards the library.

Luckily, I remember the exact spot where Miyoung was so I wanted to get there early to make sure that nobody takes the seats that are far away from Miyoung, but she's still in my sight. I enter the library and greet the librarian and check the corner where I saw Miyoung the other day and she's not there. I let out a confused noise out of shock and the librarian asks me what's wrong. I tell him that I forgot my pencil case and he nods. Maybe she's at the river today? I leave the library and make a small stop to the bathroom to prepare myself. If she's crying, I'm going to comfort her. How do I give her keychain back if she's crying? Should I keep it until tomorrow? What if she ignores me tomorrow like she did today? I push away all of my doubts and make my way towards the river.

I slowly walk into the river and see Miyoung sitting on a jacket again looking at the river. I was close enough to tell if she was crying or not, and she wasn't so I was relieved. She saw me and didn't say anything, she just signaled me to sit on the empty spot on the jacket next to her. I smiled and sat down next to her and put my bag beside me. She took her backpack and grabbed a chocolate bread and gave it to me.

"Didn't I buy this for you?" I ask and laugh, she shakes her head.

"I thought I'd return the favor." She says as I smile, taking the bread and putting it in my bag.

"What's up today? Why are you here?" I ask, stretching my legs forward and placing my arms behind me.

"Nothing. I just wanted to be somewhere quiet." She tells me and I nod, thinking of what to say next.

"So did you-" I start.

"How did you-" She starts and looks at me. We awkwardly chuckle and I tell her to go first.

"How did you find out about my job at the convenience store? You're friends with my biggest fanboys so I was surprise that you didn't bring them with you." She says and I look at her.

"I didn't mean to find out. I was on my way home but I decided to stop by because I was hungry." I explain and she nods. She seems like she believes me and I mean it's the truth so I hope she believes me.

"What were you going to say?" She asks.

"Did you know I was going to be here?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"I didn't expect you to be here, but here you are. " She says and I nod.

"I'm always here. Whether I'm crying or not, this is my favorite place. It's quiet and nobody knows where it is. This is where I feel the most alive." She explains and I smile at her.

"I see. I could see why it's your favorite place. It's beautiful and you don't get bombarded by people. Speaking of which, are you okay?" I ask and she looks at me and smiles. Wow, this is the second time I've seen her smile since we met.

"I'm fine. I could tell you were worried about me, but really there's nothing to worry about." She says.

Then we continue talking about random things. She asked me how I knew she liked chocolate bread and peach flavored things and I just told her it was a guess. I wanted to get her something to keep her awake throughout the day and I thought she didn't eat lunch so I wanted to get her at least bread to keep her going. I asked her why she kept running away from me before and after classes and she explained that she didn't want people to crowd around our desks and make me uncomfortable. Basically she wanted to face it alone and I felt really bad. I also asked her why she is such a fast runner and she playfully hit me and laughed. During this day, I've seen her smile and laugh for the first time. She told me that she used to play soccer and I told her that I did too. We bonded over that for a while and we went closer to the lake to throw rocks.

Before we knew it, it was getting dark. We were too caught up in talking about soccer and our food preferences that we didn't notice it was getting dark. I guess the saying is true, time flies when you're having fun. I don't have a specific curfew, but I'm worried that Miyoung might have one. I don't want to ruin the moment that we had, but I don't want her to get in trouble either. I looked at my watch and it was 7:35pm. It was already dark out and we've just been talking and playing around for three or four hours straight.

"Hey, Miyoung." I call her and she nods at me.

"It's getting late. Do you have to be home?" I ask and she looks at her watch.

"Oh I didn't notice how late it was. I have to be home by 8:15." She pouts and I smile.

"Let's go. I can walk you home." I say and she nods. We grab our stuff from the grass and leave the river.

"How far away is your house from here?" I ask.

"From here it's about 15 minutes. How about you?" She asks, taking out her phone.

"Oh? My house is about 20 minutes away. Are we going in the same direction?" I ask.

"I'm going to the left, how about you?" She asks and I nod.

"Me too." I say, we smile at each other and walk to the left.

In the 15 minutes of walking, we just talked about school. She told me that she plans on being at school early as always tomorrow and if I want to meet up with her but sleep in I should get to school by 7:10. I was able to wake up and leave the dorm early today so I could definitely do it tomorrow. We also talked about some previous tests that we had and how we both had trouble with them. Miyoung and I joked around and laughed a ton. This is when I finally noticed our height difference. I thought it was cute.

"Here's my house. I'll see you tomorrow." She says, waving at me. I wave back at her as I watch her enter her house. Once she's fully inside her house, I walk in the direction of my dorm, smiling.

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