Meant To Be » 𝐉𝐀𝐊𝐄

» XII «

I was rummaging in my bag when I saw my drawing peeking out between my other books. My eyes widened and I quickly attempted to hide it by pushing it further into the bag.

How did it get in here? My eyes went everywhere as I panicked. There was no way I could let anyone see it or else they could jump to conclusions and guessed correctly that I had encountered him. And if anyone knew that I met him, I was done for.

"Emma, did you forget it?" Jungwon asked and peeked in.

I flinched and shook my head, "Is this the one you wanted to see?" I spoke as I slightly brought up a blue plushie.

Jungwon nodded his head vigorously with a smile on his face, "Can I touch it?"

"Sure. If you want, I can give it to you."

"For real? You'd be okay with giving it to me?" He asked, seemingly delighted.

"Are you even hungry, people?" Jay asked in frustration.

៚ · •

Jungwon changed his seat next to Sunoo and Riki and left me alone with Jay. We had our lunch in silence as I contemplated whether I should ask him about Youngjae.

Jungwon mentioned her yesterday so he would understand why I'm asking about her. But will he be discreet about it and say that he doesn't know her? I kept on poking at the dish as I thought.

"Hey, don't play with your food. Is something bothering you?" He asked upon noticing that I hadn't been eating the whole time.

"Oh, sorry about that. I was thinking of something," I laughed awkwardly.

Jay sighed, "Give yourself a break, will you? It won't be good for your health if the only thing you're thinking about are related to the theories-"

"No, not that."

"Hm? Is there something else?" He asked in confusion.

I hesitated, "Kinda. Remember the person, Jungwon brought up yesterday on our way to the coffeehouse?"

Jay slowly nodded his head, "Youngjae?"

"Yes. I was wondering who it was and what it has to do with Jake," I smiled sheepishly.

"Oh well," Jay spoke as he kept his utensils down and stretched, getting me agitated and scared that he didn't want to talk about it at first.

"It has been a long time since I talked about her. Youngjae was a close friend of ours, me, Jake, Sunghoon and Sunoo along with her brother, Youngbin," he spoke and I softly sighed in relief.

"Was? What happened?" I asked.

"To start off the correct way, Jake and her used to "date" until just the day she went missing, that was when they broke up over something I don't really know how to explain."

"She went missing?"

"Yeah. They haven't found a single trace of her so...they just announced her as deceased a few weeks ago," Jay spoke, seemingly heartbroken.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. At least, she's in a better place now, I guess, unless she's helplessly lost in the forest...never mind. If she was really lost in the forest, she would already be rescued, right?" Jay smiled sadly, "So it's best to think of her as dead and living a peaceful life in the afterlife."

I frowned at his words, "How close were you with her?"

"Me? We were just best friends. I looked at her like a younger sister while she looked at me like a...best friend. Remember the time I told you that I would be okay walking to your place, that friend I was referring to was Youngjae and her brother, Youngbin. I will never get tired of telling this story, Youngbin chased me around the whole neighbourhood once, thinking that I was Youngjae's secret boyfriend," he chuckled in the middle, "I'm still confused because Sunghoon was there with us but he still thought it was me. I used to be scared of going to that neighbourhood but it feels nostalgic and nice to be there now."

I smiled as I nodded, "Should we go over there some day? I really want to know where they live and where the chasing started and ended."

Jay chuckled, "Yeah, of course."

"Can I ask another thing?"

"Sure, you can ask me anything."

I paused as I smiled to see that he was being very frank with me, "What college does her brother go to?"

Jay's face fell instantly. I didn't need an explanation because I already knew that Youngbin had committed suicide. I just needed to know the reason just in case there would be any clues regarding Heeseung and Youngjae.

"Uh...he passed not long after they announced her sister as dead. They said that he..." he motioned his hand close to his neck not to say it out loud, "...himself because he didn't take the news really well. But other people blamed his mother because the two of them got into a fight just the night before it happened, I suppose."

"Oh...what was he like?"

"He was a pretty sensitive guy, very handsome, he was the class captain in his class and he practically aces every test and assessment. He was a genius. But I don't think he'd do such thing just because of the news. I know him well, he had a great mental stability. So I don't believe in both of the assumptions."

I tilted my head in confusion, "We can't be thinking about the same thing right now."

"Don't tell me you're also thinking that someone set it up to make it look like a suicide," he whispered with his eyes widened.

"I was thinking about that!" I exclaimed and we instantly gave each other a high five.

"Why are we so compatible?" He asked in amusement.

"Are we secretly soulmates?" I joked.

"That's one word for it. We're clearly soulmates."

I cackled, "Okay. Did Youngbin have any nemesis?"

"He got along with everyone at school. I'm not sure about other place but he was a sweetheart. Everyone liked him, even the ones who don't even know him. Everyone says that he looked fierce at first but once after talking to him, they found him very humble and soft spoken."

"So, he's that type of person. Gosh, I want to meet him so bad. He was born in 2001, I guess?"

"Yup-"

"Oh wow, we're the same age, we could've gotten along really well."

"What? You aren't a 2002 liner?" Jay asked, dumbfounded.

I laughed, "Yeah, you haven't heard? I haven't told you?"

"I don't remember you telling me that, no. Why are you not attending college right now? What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I failed the promotional exam, bla bla bla. It was nothing big. Plus, I wanted to retry twelfth grade anyway."

"I see...all this time, I thought we were the same age because we clicked so well," he laughed, quite embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I also used to forget that I'm a year older when I'm with you," I grinned.

I started having my lunch while he stared at me, reluctant to speak up again. He pressed his lips together and looked around as he cleared his throat.

I looked up at him, "Is something bothering you now?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"What is it?" I asked before continuing to have my lunch.

He constantly tapped onto the table while he contemplated whether he should say it or not. He took a deep breath and exhaled before eventually having the courage to speak up.

He randomly put his right hand on my left hand, making my heart skip a beat as he looked into my eyes, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

© 2022 -JAKISM