𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 - 𝑆𝑘𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒

𝟕. 𝐄𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛 (𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧)

━━━━━ "NO BUT LIKE HOW WOULD YOU REACT IF YOUR CHILDHOOD BEST FRIEND WHO SUPPOSEDLY DISAPPEARED A DECADE AGO SUDDENLY TURNED UP AND ACTED LIKE NOTHING EVER CHANGED?" Eunae exclaimed loudly.

The dim glow of the afternoon light that filters through the windows casts a restless shadow of Eunae who paced back and forth around the small space of the student council room, chewing on her thumbnail, voicing her concerns about a certain someone turning up out of nowhere, that too in her school—her class at that. The air in the room carries a heavy weight of silence, uncertainty and bitter-sweet nostalgia tinged with apprehension.

Being unable to explain further all the complex emotions arising within, Eunae felt as if something was constricting her throat making it difficult to breathe. Her head aching from the lack of sleep from the previous night acted as a cherry on top of everything that was happening.

Seojoon and Hyena, who were also present in the room expressed concern for the girl who genuinely seemed disturbed by the appearance of the Son boy. It was strange to see the usually chirpy and snarky girl have such a huge change in demeanour.

It had been almost 10 minutes now since the trio had been in the room; never had they been dragged across the school at record speed as soon as the bell for lunch break had rung. As much as they were concerned about their friend, both couldn't deny that they couldn't afford to miss their lunch with the way their daily schedule was.

Frustrated at the lack of response from her friends, Eunae sat down on the empty chair at the table and leaned her head on the table, feeling tired.

Seeing the girl in the slumped position, Seojoon reached out to gently stroke his hand through Eunae's hair, a soft gesture that he knew would help the girl calm down a little. This gesture led to Eunae slowly lifting her head to face the boy who was now in front of her, at her eye level, giving her a small smile.

In a calm and soothing voice, Seojoon says hi to which the girl replies with a small nod, acknowledging him.

"Do you want to go have lunch?"

Shaking her head softly, Seojoon reached out to hold her hand in his, rubbing his thumb across the span of her hand softly. Looking into the eyes of Eunae again, he continues.

"Why not?"

"Because he would be there," Eunae replies in a meek voice.

"You shouldn't miss lunch because of someone."

"But—"

"Did you have dinner last night?" Seojoon interrupted Eunae.

Sighing at the obvious lack of response, Seojoon holds back on scolding the girl about skipping food again.

"Then that means you'll not skip this lunch and that's not something you can refuse."

Not wanting to upset him further, knowing that Seojoon was just looking out for her, Eunae hesitantly allowed him to drag her to the canteen, promising the girl that he would help her keep Jaemin away.

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Offense, confusion, amusement. The sight of Eunae comically dashing out of the class at record speed left Jaemin torn between feeling all the above. At Eunae's impromptu Olympic-level sprint, Jaemin couldn't help but snicker, trying to stifle his amusement at the sheer theatrics of Eunae.

He knew Eunae well enough but it still didn't stop her from surprising him with such turn of events. Yet, it didn't help in feeling offended that just a simple look in her direction was enough to cause such a scene. Despite being offended, Jaemin had his patience.