𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐑 | 𝖫𝖧𝖲

𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞: gaze

jieun sat down next to kazuha and smiled brightly at her when she pulled out her books and pens.

"heeseung, you're literally staring at her. stop it.", jay grinned and hit his friend's shoulder, "she's going to think that you're a creep if you don't stop!"

"what? oh, you're right. okay." i awkwardly fixed my position and wrote some notes down.

   
this was no doubt the jieun from my past. of course the other boys didn't know her, they went to different middle schools and didn't have anything to do with ji. i also never dared to mention her, as i said, she was someone from the past i actually wanted to forget.

the question is: why was she back in korea? based on the australian school system, she'd be in grade 11, one year away from graduating.

i sighed loudly and grabbed my hair frustratedly. this didn't make any sense and it was catching me off-guard. jungwon sat next to me and asked if i was okay, but i remained silent. i didn't have any energy to start talking about everything that was going through my mind right now.

   
a few hours passed and we were finally entering lunch break. it's been one week at school and i already heard whispering from the other students.

unreachable, out of their league, handsome.

words of affirmation, but i wasn't complaining. i liked it, it gave me more confidence.

   
i saw jieun leaving the classroom by herself, my chance to approach her. i quickly packed up and left the other boys behind, only to chase after her.

"jieun!", i called her name with excitement. she turned around and widened her eyes, mainly out of surprise.

once she recognised my face, she didn't look as happy as i imagined her to be. did i do something wrong?

"hello..." she bowed and gave me a little smile. "it's been so long. you just disappeared! how are you doing?" it used to be normal for me to simply hug her, but she backed off a little and kept her gaze either on the wall or the floor.

it felt like she was trying to avoid me as well as she could. "hey, look at me. don't you remember me?"

   
"jieun. what's taking you so long?", kyungjun sighed and walked towards us as he took his sister's hand, "i'm hungry. let's go." just then, i bowed at him, which made him look at me. "oh, heeseung?"

"hi, kyungjun."

"good to see you here. didn't know you attended this school as well. see you around, i guess."

"yes, of course! uhh... do you think you can give me and jieun a minute?", i shyly asked. honestly, i shivered inside, kyungjun had that terrifying aura which made me feel totally inferior to him. just one gaze and i would fall dead probably.

"let's go, jun.", jieun suddenly mumbled and dragged her brother along. at least he turned around and waved at me before leaving with his sister. weird. i've never seen jieun acting like that.

and somewhere in my heart, it just hurt me.

———

"i hate you, but i'm still thankful you got me out of that situation.", i exclaimed as i let go of my brother's arm.

"love you too, sis.", he grinned, "did you know he was here?"

"of course. i did my research before coming back here and i desperately prayed for being in another class. fate had other plans."

kyungjun bursted out in laughter as he also hit my shoulder. that jerk was always the violent type when laughing. he'd hit me every now and then when he couldn't stop his motion.

"stop laughing. you sound like a dying bird.", i groaned.

"okay. but ji, you know it's not nice to avoid him." "it's just awkward when it's just us two. i'm not ready to be near him yet."

"what are you two bickering about?", shuhua laughed and hit kyungjun's shoulder. i didn't know i was surrounded by violent people.

"jieun was confronted by lee heeseung.", my brother smirked. "what? really?", kazuha joined us and gasped.

"oh, please. as if you two didn't know it was coming anytime soon." i rolled my eyes before i fixed my backpack: "where's jake?"

"he said he'll get us lunch at the cafeteria. it's quite crowded in there, which is why we decided to eat outside." shuhua proceeded to show me and jun around. then, she sat down at a table outside: "zuha and me always eat here when the weather is good. and since it's sunny, i think we're good here."

   
talking about jake; he came to us with three trays filled with food. "who's hungry?", he excitedly asked and sat down right next to me.

i couldn't hide my smile when he secretly snaked his arm around my waist. ever since we were in korea again, me and him would sneak out sometimes and just have little dates. i felt bad for lying to kyungjun, but i couldn't help it.

jake was someone who'd throw my problems in the river without any second thought and i was thankful that he simply listened attentively. of course i'd do the same for him, he just doesn't seem to have such serious problems yet.

"the meat is quite delicious!", i smiled and wanted to grab another piece with my chopsticks, but jake was quicker and already fed me one. "eat up, okay?" he winked at me before he continued eating.

   
i was very happy it was finally the five of us. we had a good time and gladly kyungjun got along with my friends.

"did you know i have a little fan base here too? i'm just internationally popular.", my brother proudly told us and swung his spoon around. "yes, we got it. now eat, i'm not in the mood for your ego." shuhua stuffed his mouth with a spoon of rice before smiling innocently at me.

when kyungjun continued telling his stories, kazuha and shuhua were busy stopping him. that's when jake placed his lips right near my ear and whispered: "do you wanna go out tonight? i found a pretty place at the river."

"let's wait, i think i wanna stay home and study tonight.", i whispered back and gave him an apologetic look.

   
from somewhere, i felt eyes gazing at me and that fact made me shiver very much. when i looked around, i couldn't spot anyone.

  
who would have thought it was heeseung and his friends inside the cafeteria?