MISSION: Love

+ eighteen +

The day went on as usual. I would be alone, in class, during lunch break, during P.E lessons and so on. I ate my lunch alone at a table facing the school field. I watched the male juniors play football silently, enjoying my alone time pathetically. I could even hear people walking past me whispering, asking why I was alone.

Ahrin and Yurin were popular. I guessed that was why they were wondering why I didn't spend time with them since I was always with them. "Yah," a voice startled me from behind. I turned around and saw Heeseung placing a packet of my favourite snack on the table. "Everyone is wondering why you're always alone nowadays."

I turned my attention to Jay's table and saw Jihu and Ahrin eating there together, laughing with the other guys. I scoffed, "Is that why you're sitting here? With me?"

"Is it too obvious? I can't stand Jihu at all. Not after she hurt my best friend. And Ahrin kept treating me like shit after she got close to Jihu."

"I don't want to talk about her anymore. I'm tired," I tore the snack packet apart before eating it. "I haven't seen Yurin for a while. Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she has like this camp only for her class and Class D. She'll be back by next week."

He nodded before giving me a playful smirk. He kept poking my arm, not saying anything. I frowned and smacked his hand, "What is it?"

"Why didn't you tell me you had a moment with Sunghoon? What is going on between you too?"

"What moment? Nothing happened."

"Oh please. He treated the bruise on your hand when you served the volleyball by mistake. Then, he walked you home and Taehyun's gang bullied you. And your mothers are friends?!"

"He was just being a decent human being."

"I never knew Sunghoon could talk to girls. You don't know how many girls he rejected before this. If you were in my shoes, you could see him whining about how frustrated he was."

I closed my eyes before sighing, "I forgot you and Sunghoon are best friends."

I got up and walked away from the table, still eating the snacks. Heeseung ran after me before saying, "Do you like him?"

"I barely knew him. Maybe he was just being a gentleman? What gentleman would let a girl walk alone to her home?"

As I was walking, there he was. Sunghoon and his friends walked toward us. He kept his eye contact with me and I could feel his skin brushing against mine as he walked past me. My heart started pounding rapidly as butterflies flew in my stomach. Heeseung folded his arms and smirked, "I can sense the tension between you too."

"It's a normal thing to do. People stare at each other."

"What if Sunghoon likes you?!"

I frowned and smacked his head gently, "No way! He is way out of my league. There are so many prettier, more perfect girls than me in this school. Why would he choose me?"

"Hey! You're smart, very funny, outgoing, friendly, nice and sweet. Why wouldn't he like you?"

I stopped walking before turning around to face him. "You have to remember something, Heeseung-ah. Sunghoon and Jay are best friends. Like really close to each other. So if I like Sunghoon, wouldn't that be weird? First, I like Jay. Then, I'll just forget about all of that and go to Sunghoon? It's so weird and I don't want to look like a whore. They're best friends."

"It would be weird. But Jay doesn't like you. So why would he care? What's important now is your feelings. If you like Sunghoon, you should go for it. Who cares if they're best friends?"

I smiled before shaking my head, "I never said I like him. It was just a question."

"Well, of course, you don't. What if he does?"

"That would be impossible."

💌

Just when Heeseung and I were about to enter our class, there was an announcement saying that all science classes should assemble at the school hall. We both walked immediately towards the hall and saw students already taking their seats. My heart ached when I saw Jay and Jihu sitting together at the front. My eyes then caught Sunghoon sitting next to them. What annoyed me more was Jihu striking up a conversation with him.

When I realised what I was feeling, I felt so stupid. Why would I get jealous? Didn't I say that I would never like Sunghoon? "Here," Heeseung pulled my hand and led me to an empty seat in the middle of the room. We both sat and made ourselves comfortable, waiting for the teacher-in-charge to start telling us why she had assembled us all in the hall.

"The reason why I had gathered all of us all today is that we will be having a camping program for Science Class A and Science Class B. We will be learning a lot from this camp and it can also help you in the future when you're applying for prestigious universities."

"I will be giving you a permission letter to join this camp. Make sure to submit it by this week. The camp will start next week so please be prepared with all the essential items and necessities."

I took the form that was given by one of the teachers and frowned, "We're really gonna camp in the woods?"

"Since you're rich, I bet these types of things are not what you would be doing, huh?" Heeseung whispered to me. I rolled my eyes, "Oh, I can do these types of things. You'll see. I'm not some kind of spoilt, dependant brat."

"You can't even kill a bug."

"They're disgusting!" I argued back. He laughed before reading the form attentively.