PAPER CUTS .. ljn（✓）

→ twenty-six

hyerim let out a sigh once she finished telling her story from the day before, cringing at the memory of ms. keun shouting spittle at her. the boy walking her to class only laughed, his eyes pinching shut in a way the brunette found utterly adorable.

"she really yelled at you?" he asked after calming down, fingers naturally lacing with hers as they continued down the hallway. "yeah. thankfully it was just me and not in front of the whole class."

she could tell jeno was trying his very best to keep a serious face as he spoke. "sorry, rim. that really sounds awful."

hyerim shrugged, absorbing the warmth of his hand with a teasing smile. "well, it's nothing like getting an aggressive pep talk from coach sicheng, but i'll take what i can."

the boy scoffed, then snickered at the memory as if he found still it amusing.

"please, it was an amazing sight to witness first hand. everyone was on edge and then he just started yelling at us, but i think the team needed to hear it."

"i'm glad," the girl sighed, thankful for winwin and his ability to give the guys courage. "he sounds like a super cool coach." jeno nodded, thinking back to when he received soulmate advice from the guy.

once the taller of the two realized they had reached the girl's classroom, he slowed and gave her hand a little squeeze. catching on quick, hyerim stopped as well and twisted her body so that she was fully facing the hockey player.

"thank you for walking me to class. you really didn't have to, you know."

"i wanted to, though..." jeno tipped his head nonchalantly, dropping his gaze towards their intertwined fingers. "i'll wait for you by the car after school, okay?"

she nodded, a large smile naturally gracing her features at the thought of leaving school with the blue-haired hockey player. maybe she'd convince him to make cupcakes with her after school or later on that weekend.

giving his hand one last squeeze, hyerim let go and turned into her class, not forgetting to wave goodbye to her boyfriend. jeno smiled and returned the gesture, his grin brightening when he caught sight of the metallic bee keychain hanging from her backpack.

── 🩹 ──

class was almost over before hyerim knew it, and she let out a giant sigh of relief when mr. hong announced that the test would be moved to next week instead of tomorrow. seungmin and soobin were comparing notes while felix and the brunette talked about their plans for the weekend.

"i'm telling you, lix, cupcakes are better."

"no way. brownies are far superior."

"you're just saying that cause you know how to make delicious ones!

"so you admit they're better!"

huffing in defeat, hyerim was about to share her own notes with the rival duo when a sudden icky, high-pitched greeting stopped her. "omg, hi! are you hyerim?"

the said girl and her three best friends all froze and looked towards where the voice came from, extremely surprised to see yoo seoyeon standing with a sickly sweet smile across her painted pink lips.

"uh..."

"okay so like," the 'it' girl flipped her hair as she plopped into the seat in front of the brunette, her lips puckering as she did so. "not to totally invade your privacy or anything, but we've noticing you hanging out with jeno?"

and just like that something clicked in hyerim's brain that told her this girl was no good. unable to speak out of both confusion and wariness, the brunette nodded and cocked a brow.

"why?"

hyerim dropped her chin in her hand as she stared at seoyeon. "what do you mean, why?"

"like, what does he see in you? i mean, no offense, you're super pretty, but there are a lot of prettier girls out there."

the girl had to bite back her grin, swallowing her humored scoff as she tipped her head to the side. did she forget that soulmates exist?

"maybe he doesn't just care about looks. having a personality does you wonders; you should try it sometime."

obviously, the girl wasn't very pleased to hear that. soobin and felix, on the other hand, were doing their very best to hide their snickers behind their hands. it'd been too long (probably when she and jeno bumped into each other at lunch) since they'd seen the savage side of their best friend, and they were enjoying every second of it.

seungmin had gone up to ask mr. hong a question and missed the entire thing.

seoyeon scoffed angrily, tossing her arm over her chest with a humph. "i was just asking, god. who knew you'd be such a bitch." hyerim rolled her eyes, glancing around at the nervous-looking girls behind seoyeon.

most were just as shocked to see someone being "mean" to their friend, but there was one girl in the back who seemed to stay out of it. her face was blank but the brunette noticed how her eyes shook as they glance between hyerim and her group of friends.

"that" hyerim started as she looked up at seoyeon, "is not a nice word. but back at you." she glared at the girls, ready to argue more if need be, but thankfully mr. hong caught on.

"excuse me, miss yoo, class is over. you can leave now."

the it girl let out a sound like a mix between a whine and a growl, but stood and marched out of the class. "female freaking dog," the brunette muttered, her narrowed eyes following seoyeon and her own group as they left.

noticing mr. hong's gaze (with a helpful shove from felix), hyerim shot him an 'a-okay' finger sign to show she was alright. he flashed a thumbs up and then gestured for the quartet to head to their next class. 

"you good, rimmie?" the australian asked as he pulled his bag on, instinctively fixing the girl's hair once he finished. hyerim turned to face him and showed a bright smile, "yeah, why wouldn't i be?"

the three boys shared a look as their fourth friend hurried off, forgetting to wave them goodbye like she did every other day.

HAPPY NCTZEN DAY !!! 💚💚