MISSION: Love

+ two +

Science class was torture knowing what Yurin would do to Jay in a few hours. I glanced at him continuously and saw that he was having a good time talking to his friends. Ahrin who was sitting next to me finally let out a sigh, "Seriously, Hana. Keep looking at him. You're not obvious at all."

"Am I bothering you?" I asked to make sure I wasn't. She closed her book and finally averted her attention at me, "If you like him, you should just approach him and talk. He doesn't eat people."

"What will people think of me? He's my best friend's boyfriend. I'll be the boyfriend stealer that everyone hates."

"But Yurin is horrible to him. Hana, their relationship is not healthy anymore. They fight most of the time and it's bothering me because she would always come to me and cry about the silliest things."

I contemplated her words for a while. Ahrin opened her book back and continued focusing on the lesson. I stared at the whiteboard where the science teacher had scribbled some drawings but my mind was somewhere else.

"Okay, class, I'm done explaining the instructions. I will divide you all into groups before we experiment."

The teacher continued dividing the students into groups. What surprised me more was when she called my name.

"Yoon Hana, Jeon Ahrin, Lee Heeseung and finally, Park Jay."

My eyes widened as I turned to Ahrin in panic. She flashed me a smirk as she gathered her books, "See? Fate. Let's go."

"Wait! I can't! It'll be too awkward."

She frowned, "Hana, you've known Heeseung since kindergarten, you've been classmates with Jay for three years and you have me. So what is it that's so awkward?"

I shut my mouth and followed her as she headed to our assigned table. Jay and Heeseung were already busy putting on their lab coats. Heeeseung's eyes brightened when he saw Ahrin approaching him. She examined all the chemical items on the table, "So what should we do first?"

"Don't forget to put on your coat, Ahrin-ah," he said and helped her with her coat. I watched them in disbelief. He liked her too much and he doesn't even care if it was too obvious.

I fiddled with my fingers and glanced at Jay. He was too busy reading the experiment procedures. An extra coat was right next to him and he wasn't even thinking of giving it to me. Ahrin noticed, "Jay, Hana's coat is right next to you. You should help her with it."

Jay looked at her in confusion before pushing the coat towards me. "Help yourself," he said blankly. Heeseung and Ahrin exchanged glances awkwardly. The atmosphere felt so awkward, I wanted to jump straight into the window and die.

"Hana, can you go wash this beaker and bring us a Bunsen burner," Heeseung said as he wiped a test tube that was just washed. I obeyed and carefully went to the sink with the apparatus before washing them. What shocked me was how Jay easily laughed and talked to Ahrin. They all were joking without me.

I wanted to join in the conversation too. I wanted to joke around and laugh with him too. I brushed off all the thoughts and forced out a smile. I need to show them that I wasn't jealous at all.

I came back and placed the apparatus carefully on the table. "Turn on the Bunsen burner," Jay finally spoke to me. He didn't even look at me and it made me frustrated. He could've at least looked at me when he was ordering me around.

I've never lit up a Bunsen burner before and I was hoping I would never have to do that forever. "Why can't Ahrin do that?" I muttered under my breath as I hesitantly took a lighter.

"I can't let Ahrin hurt herself," Heeseung said and waited for me to light the Bunsen burner. I took a deep breath and held the lighter close to the Bunsen burner. Out of the blue, the fire appeared and almost burned us all.

"Hana! If you're careless, you could burn us all!" Ahrin yelled angrily as she snatched the lighter away from me. She was a serious person when it came to school and science experiments. She wanted everything to be perfect. I knew she had no bad intentions toward me but I felt so embarrassed about being yelled at in front of the person I like.

Jay awkwardly cleared his throat and avoided eye contact with me. I kept my mouth shut the whole time and sat in the corner, watching them experiment by themselves. I bit my bottom lip to suppress my tears and continued doing the report straight away.

💌

Science class finally ended. I gathered my things and went out of the classroom straight away, leaving Ahrin behind. I waited outside of Yurin's classroom and sighed in relief when she started walking to the entrance door. "Yurin!" I hugged her tightly, feeling my tears threatening to come out.

She patted my back in confusion, "Did something happen?"

"No, I just miss you so much. Let's walk home together."

"I can't. I'm planning to break up with Jay today."

"Oh," was the only thing I said before she walked away. I turned around to watch her disappear from my sight. "At the end of the day, I would still be alone," I muttered to myself before walking towards the entrance to leave.