partners ⁀➷ k.sw ✓

46

"Just ignore Sunwoo the best you can. Only talk to him if you really need to," Sunghoon gives me a kiss on the cheek before walking into our second class.

"I'll try my best." I give him one last smile.

We split ways as he sits over at his desk. He sat in the front row as I sat in the back, next to Sunwoo. I sit next to him without saying a word. I was immediately encountered by the awkwardness; we weren't saying anything to each other, but still, the awkward atmosphere was almost unbearable. I tried to brush it off the best I could, but it was so bad.

I pulled out my notebook full of notes about our project, and I also take out my pencil case along with it. Sunwoo pulls out his notebook as well and takes out a pencil and pen. Mr. Kim walks into the classroom and stands in front of the class to make his announcements.

"Good morning class. I hope you had a restful weekend. Today, we will be working on our projects as usual. By now, you all should have at least an initial model and thesis. Please work on the steps you need to with your partner." He says, then sits at his desk.

The class begins to become louder as they all talk with their partners. I gulp, the awkward silence rising. I open my notebook to our model and thesis.

"I think we're pretty much done with our project. We just need to check in with Mr. Kim. You know all of the parts and stuff, right?" I look at him with a concentrated look.

"Yeah. I read it over on the weekend." He says.

His voice sounds sadder than usual, his voice is always filled with confidence and happiness, but today, it sounded really low. I ignored it the best I could.

"Alright. Let me sketch out our final picture, then we can show it to Mr. Kim." I say.

I flip the page and attach a piece of graph paper onto it, beginning to sketch our model. The silence came back, until Sunwoo spoke up.

"I know I already texted you sorry earlier, but I wanted to say it again." He says.

"Don't apologize for her actions. You did nothing wrong." I respond.

"Thanks for understanding, Jihyun." He sighs.

"Sunwoo, I really don't think you should be with her. Friend to friend here, she's been getting with dudes behind your back. There's pictures of her in group chats with other dudes in bed." I whisper to him.

He looks down at the desk in sadness.

"I saw them. I just refuse to believe it. I know it's all true, but I don't want to." His voice breaks a little.

"I broke your heart and went to her just for her to.." his voice cracks even more. "Just for her to cheat on me with multiple dudes." He covers his face with his hands.

I gulp once again, the awkwardness within me rising.

"It's fine, Sunwoo. I'm sorry you're going through this." I say awkwardly.

"It's not okay." He looks up at me with sad eyes. "It's not okay at all. I loved you and you loved me and yet I messed that all up for some stupid girl..." tears form in his eyes.

I break the eye contact and stare at the desk, not knowing what to say.

"Sorry. Let's get back to the project." He wipes his tears quickly.

I look over and see Sunghoon staring at us. He looked at Sunwoo with jealousy in his eyes and also anger, but once he looked at me, his eyes softened and he gave me a smile. I smile back.

"I'm glad Sunghoon makes you happy." Sunwoo whispers to me.

"...Yeah. He does." I nod my head.

"Good. That's all I ask. For you to be happy." He adds.

"You didn't care about me being happy when you left me for another girl, though?" I remark. "Stop apologizing and putting on a sob story. You left and did not regret it. Maybe you do regret it now, but that's because your little plan to be with her doesn't work anymore." I coldly say.

He bites his bottom lip and nods his head gently. "You're right. I'm sorry."

I look away and put my pencil down, all finished with our drawing.

"Let's go show it to the teacher." I say.

We both get up and walk to the teacher.

"Sunwoo and Jihyun, my favorite couple." Mr. Kim smiles at us.

"We aren't dating." I quickly say.

"Oh.. that's unfortunate." Mr. Kim replies.

"Show me your model." He says.

I hand him my notebook and he studies the drawing and also the notes I added with it. After a little bit he hands back the notebook and looks at us.

"It's awesome. I love the general theme of your project. Just add on some notes and it's perfect." He nods at us.

"Thank you, Mr. Kim." Sunwoo and I say.

We walk back to our desks and sit down. I begin packing my things back into my backpack and I wait quietly for the bell to ring. After a few minutes of silence, the bell rang. Sunghoon waited at the door for me as I went up to him and we left the classroom together.

"I saw Sunwoo saying some things to you. What did he say?" Sunghoon asks me.

"That he was sorry. Started saying stuff about how we loved each other yet he left me for someone else. Pretty sure he shed some tears, too." I responded.

"What the.. is he really trying to show you he regrets it?" Sunghoon grits his teeth.

"I think. I shut him down, though." I shrug my shoulders.

"That's my girl." Sunghoon smiles at me, kissing my lips quickly.

We walk into the cafeteria together, finding Jake. To our surprise; Heeseung, Jungwon, Riki, Sunoo, and Jay were there. I think they transferred schools.

We excitedly and hurriedly walked over and sat down. I sat down next to Jungwon. He smiles at me shyly and I smile back, pinching his cheek.

"When did you guys get here?" I ask them.

"Today. We all went together. We went late, though." Heeseung says.

"I told you hyungs school starts at 7:20!! Not 9:20." Sunoo rolls his eyes.

"Whatever. They let us go about it, though. Since we're new." Jay smiles.

"Why do we keep getting stares?" Riki crosses his arms, looking around at all the girls looking over here.

"Because you guys are new and handsome, that's why. The girls here are desperate." I snort.

"Really? Oh gosh," Jungwon facepalms.

"This girl already asked me out earlier. It was so cringe." Heeseung shudders.

"Why?" I laugh. "Was she ugly?"

"Her name was like.. Soyeon, or something." Heeseung shrugs.

Sunghoon and I immediately look at each other with widened eyes.

"I can tell she tries to look young. Though she's around hyung's age, she looks like a grandma." Sunoo laughs, referring to Heeseung.

"Stay away from her. She has a boyfriend. She's a bitch, too." I warn them all.

"Really? That's weird," Jungwon's eyes widen a little in confusion. "If she has a boyfriend, she shouldn't ask other people out."

"Amen." Jay nods his head.

"Hyung, shut up." Riki deadpans to Jay.

Jay sighs deeply.

"Noona! You're so pretty!" Jungwon clings onto me, smiling brightly.

I chuckle in awe, ruffling his hair.

"Uh oh~ Sunghoon's jealous~"