Say Yes!

Pebbles and Punches

Jin's brows stitched together as the scowl on his face deepened. He turned his head to the side towards the girl whose hamster face was, similarly, wearing a frown—albeit for a different reason—as her deft fingers rummaged through her backpack.

He kicked the pebble in front of him with a huff, grabbing both straps of his bag. "Why are you always walking home with me anyway?" Though it came out as less of a question and more of a complaint.

Byulyi, still completely lost with finding whatever it was she needed to find in her mess of a bag, did not seem to hear. "Oh no," she whined, turning to Jin with a worried frown.

"What?" Jin raised a brow as he turned to face her; though his overall demeanor suggested how much he cared—or rather how little.

"I think I left my wallet on my desk," she muttered, occupied hands still arm-deep inside her brown bag to find her missing wallet.

She cursed under her breath as she loudly zipped her bag close. "Be back in a sec," she said before taking off towards the building, leaving Jin behind her.

But then, halfway through the doors, she skidded to a halt. She looked at Jin with narrowed cautious eyes and began to stalk back to where he stood. She took her bag off and practically threw it to Jin who scrambled to catch it.

"Don't you dare leave." She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then back at him. "I know you'll try." Her narrowed eyes became even narrower as she slowly walked backwards. It wouldn't be until she was a few steps away from him that she would face the direction of the building and run as fast as she could, even slipping on the gravel ground in her haste.

"That brat," he muttered, unslinging one strap of his bag so that he could wear both his and Byulyi's on both shoulders.

The building's exit was flooded with chattering students, all excited to finally leave the hellish place that was school. Jin, unfortunately for him, was forced to stare at them with evident longing in his eyes.

Top students hated school too.

He kicked a pebble in boredom and ambled forward with hands in his pocket to follow its path. He continued this process of kicking and ambling and kicking and ambling that he didn't even realize he ambled himself closer to the main gate than the school's entrance.

A smile slowly curved on his lips.

He could—maybe—just leave. The security was nearby and he could just say that he found a missing bag by the entrance. He could make a friendly suggestion and remember that coincidentally he had a classmate who used the exact same bag and maybe the security could be the one to deliver it while Byulyi while he went on his merry way home oh my God he's a genius.

He squared his shoulders and with renewed joy walked towards the exit.

He took but one step when he heard a voice call him.

"Jinnie!" A booming voice shouted from inside the building, causing other students to raise their heads and look for its source with confused faces. "I found my wallet!"

Jin turned around and found that his suspicions were correct. There, from one of the windows in their classroom on the fourth floor, was Byulyi. She waved both hands in the air, one presumably holding the aforementioned wallet in her fist. He couldn't clearly see her face but he knew that she was wearing that ridiculously big smile of hers.

And with that, Jin sighed. Foiled before he could even begin his plan.

With hunched shoulders, Jin began to trudge back towards the entrance, an obvious weight to his feet. He found the pebble he was kicking earlier and kicked it again to accompany him on his trip back.