36 MINUTES TO FALL, jaemin ✓

00 | a simple and effective solution

If Yumi has ever focused on something so intensely, it has to be this.

Her eyebrows knit together in concentration as she drew with her pencil on the blank white wall. She had been at it for last hour, and hadn't even looked up for a break. Most of the wall, with the help of the other members of the art club, was already a vast black-and-white sea of drawings waiting to be painted over.

She couldn't wait to see what the final result looked like. In celebration of the school's anniversary, the art club had taken up the task of painting the mural that always went on one of the walls every year. It was something of an honor for them to do it, since the murals stayed up for the year, and it was usually done by hired professionals.

"Unnie, take a break already!" a first-year girl, one of the newest, most talented additions to the club, came up to her. "Your hand will go numb; how will you keep going then?"

"Just a minute!" Yumi called back. She was standing three feet or so off the ground on a ladder. It was dangerous, but two of the members were holding it steady down below. They were chatting away animatedly, just background noise to her when she was very focused. "Tell Jaemin that we need the other can by tomorrow morning if we want to get this over with as soon as possible."

"Okay," the girl said chirpily, darting off to find the said senior of hers. It was very, very obvious that the girl had a thing for Na Jaemin, the former president of the art club. It was a bit of a hopeless crush, though—besides the fact that he was a little over two and a half years older than her, Yumi knew for a fact that he had a crush on her, Han Yumi.

How did she know? Because the boy had asked her out multiple times—and he was absolutely relentless when it came to trying to get Han Yumi to date him. She had lost count of how many times they'd be working on some project together, and Jaemin, out of nowhere, would casually toss the question, "can I interest you in a date?" which ten out of ten times resulted in Yumi saying patiently, "no, sorry."

One had to wonder if Jaemin's ego was ever injured after multiple rejections from the girl he likes. She supposed it wasn't, if his multiple attempts were any indication. At any rate, he was still a good, reliable friend when he wasn't trying to get her to date him. It was he who had volunteered to buy the cans of paint they needed for the mural when it turned out that the club was low on funding.

One also had to wonder whether Yumi ever got tired of him constantly asking. Truthfully, she didn't. She half-hoped that Jaemin kept trying.

She had a good reason for it, though it sounded a little mean when you consider that he must really like her if he was so relentless. She resolved to do a little moral thinking at home, but she was still thinking about it as she climbed down, grabbed a can of paint, and carefully balanced it on the very top of the ladder.

She was the only one left, so she might as well as get a little more work done. Carefully, making sure not to upset the can, she clambered up two or three steps and stood there, the brush she'd grabbed off the folding table across the courtyard dipping in and out of the can as she started to paint the smaller, finer details.

"I've been standing here for the past five minutes, Yumi," a voice commented, making her realize just how long she'd been working, "and you didn't notice me?"

"Go away, Jaemin," she said, eyes narrowing in concentration as the brush glided across the wall, ignoring the little dance her heart did. "Unless you're here to help, that is."

"No one's going to help," Jaemin walked up to the ladder, standing a few feet behind her and peering up at her. She turned briefly to see that he wasn't smiling like he did when he was messing with her. "Seriously, you need to take a break. Sein told me you've been here since school let out. It's almost sunset, let's just go home."