"I broke up with my girlfriend." I hear him lift his body from his bed as he walks toward me.
Despite it, I keep my back turned.
"And, if I'm honest, I think I'm in love with you."
in a world where you're shielded by your older brothers, who knows...
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chapter seven: friends
"YOU THINK THAT'S bad?!" Ten exclaims, as both Fei hits the cafeteria table and I practically choke with laughter. "Did Areum tell you about the time she poured water on my-"
"Gosh, Ten, stop." My face is probably beet red by now and Fei has tears sprouting out of her eyes.
He opens his mouth to expose me some more but refrains and instead ends up begging for mercy as I pummel him with my fists.
He finally falls flat on his butt after leaning too much and me taking it too far, his round glasses falling next to him. He instantly covers his face, laughter ceasing. I lean up close to inspect him just in case I'd injured him but he leans his head against the wall.
"Ten, why are you-" I touch his face but his hands still cover his eyes. "You're seriously burning up pretty fast. Are you okay?"
He nods, but I'm still not impressed. "Use your words and stop covering your face." I struggle with his hands some more till he finally stops being stubborn and puts them down.
After an awkward pause (with Fei trying not to explode again in the background), he speaks up, eyes directly staring into mine.
"You're on my leg, A." He hasn't called me that since our childish meet-up for the first time years ago.
And truthfully, my hands and knees actually were digging into his clothed thighs.
"Sorry."
I look around to make sure no one had paid any attention to the misdemeanour and help him up with a grunt of effort. Thankfully, no one had, except for Fei, of course, who has a strangely wicked smile on her face. It's directed at Ten, who's glaring right back at her.
I'm about to ask what on Earth the whole ordeal is supposed to be about, but upon checking my phone, I realise I only have ten minutes till my next meet-up with Taemin.
"It was fun chatting with you guys, but I really need to get going. I've got tutoring classes. Ten, could you give me a lift?"
"Sure. Let me use the bathroom first." He throws me his car keys and after saying 'bye' to Fei, I walk to the school's parking lot.
Much to my surprise, Taemin is already standing there. I think about attempting to grab his attention when he notices me, spinning around to face me while simultaneously placing his phone in his pocket.
He is, unsurprisingly and once again, dressed like some guy working in an olive garden: a hot-pressed, crinkle-free long-sleeved shirt, a black waistcoat and slacks with leather shoes. It seems like he'd recently gotten his hair done, as the tram lines looked fresher and his hair was now wavy and delicately tumbling down his neck. It seems the 'ghost' student is back to his ghostly ways and didn't step foot in school today apart from right now.
