Graduation ❁ NCT Dream

#4

"NO WAY!"

nabi panicked as her friend yelled out in surprise after hearing what she was just told. a few people in the locker room turned to look over at the two girls wondering why someone was being so loud. nabi was quick to shush her friend but she was dismissive as she was just way too excited.
"nabi, the cute new guy was flirting with you! how are you so calm about this? the whole school has been talking about him today."

"it's not that big of a deal, minah."

minah bang was probably one of the only close girl friends nabi had. they'd been playing soccer together since the start of high school. and with nabi as head captain this year, she chose minah to be her right hand man (or rather woman) as co-captain.

as close as she was with the guys, she didn't think it would've been a good idea to go to either of them for this. jeno was probably the best option, but seeing as she had an immense crush on him, she would feel too guilty talking about another guy to him. not that it would really matter, she was sure he didn't feel the same way but to keep her mind at ease she figured it would be best to not tell him.

"does this mean you'll finally get over jeno?" minah asked. nabi pondered this, she wasn't sure if that were going to be the case. nabi has liked him for so long, it would almost be weird to not have feelings for him anymore. despite her always denying it to the guys and seemingly everyone else (besides minah, of course) she knew she liked him, like a lot. one might even call it love but nabi was too in denial to ever call it that.

she always thought about confessing to the guys, although it was already pretty much an unspoken fact between them, but confessing it to them would make it more... real. talking to minah about it was fine, but to openly talk about it with renjun, haechan, or jaemin? not a fat chance.

she knew they wouldn't make fun of her for it (despite their subtle teasing already) but they were guys and guys are dumb.

nabi shook her head, letting out a deep sigh, "i should've gotten over him a long time ago." she shut her locker after taking out her gym shoes and putting her neatly folded uniform inside.

"babes, it's okay. these things take time." she reassured. "but please don't let this hold you back. what if mark's a great guy? i mean he's already caught your interest it won't hurt to see where things could lead."

nabi knew minah was right. and she knew she should get over jeno. maybe this was finally the time to do so. she'd been so hung up on him for years now and finally there was someone else that made her forget her feelings for jeno for a second.

this was the beginning of something new for nabi. she was done pining over someone who would never love her in that way.

"park and bang, let's get going ladies we're all waiting on you!" suddenly the loud voice of their teacher could be heard from the entrance of the room causing them both to jump from her booming voice. they hadn't realized everyone else was gone already leaving just the two of them in the locker room.

"coming!" minah shouted back. "don't make me wait any longer, or i'll have you both run laps." the P.E teacher threatened.

minah rolled her eyes, finishing up tying her shoelaces. "we're definitely going to keep talking about this at johnjae's soon, alright? now come on let's go before coach has a cow."

minah patted nabi's shoulder as she was the first to head out, leaving nabi alone with her thoughts.

it's time for me to get over him.

"nabi, my beautiful best friend, i missed you today."

jeno said to her as he approached her from behind. school had just finished and nabi was just about to head out the building when she heard his voice. she turned to look at him and he quickly grabbed her, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around. it only took a second for her cheeks to flush red.

fuck, this is going to be harder than i thought.

he gently let her down, giving nabi his famous eye smile. she looked down at her uniform, trying to adjust it but really was only doing it to hide her blushing face. "i saw you earlier dude." she chuckled, trying to play it off. he shrugged as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and lead them out of the school to head to his car. "yeah but that was ages ago. we didn't talk much at lunch because of the new guy. you were also practically drooling all over him." he teased.

"w-what? i wasn't." nabi stuttered, letting out an awkward laugh.

"oh come on, nabi. i know you so well, i can tell when my best friend has a crush." he looked down at her with the biggest grin and gently squeezed her shoulder. "and i could be wrong but he definitely couldn't keep his eyes off you either. i saw the way he'd glance at you."

"oh... you think so?" she asked. nabi could feel her heart ache as he went on about this. if she didn't already know before, this definitely confirmed that he in fact did not like her like that.

they were finally getting closer to jeno's car, seeing that nabi's younger brother jisung was already there waiting for them, clearly distracted by the game he was playing on his phone.

"definitely! maybe now we can double date..."

and just like that, her heart shattered into a million pieces.

she stopped walking, causing jeno to stop as well since he still had his arm around her. nabi couldn't believe what she just heard. was he implying what she thinks he is? it was as if the world around her just froze and all noise was canceled out. the thumping of her heart could be heard in her ears, instantly making her head hurt.

"what?" nabi finally spoke as she looked directly at him. at this point jeno had removed his arm from her and was now facing her. he lifted his arm to scratch the back of his neck, a slight pink tint rising in his face. "yeah... i've actually been meaning to tell you something."

"oh! hey, you guys are finally here. can we go now? i'm starving." jisung was finished with his game and noticed the two of them standing not two far from the car. jisung dramatically placed a hand on his stomach and hunched over to emphasize just exactly how hungry he was.

"i'll tell you all about her later. now let's go, my mom said she was making some of your favorite side dishes so she wanted you to come over for dinner." he gave nabi a quick pat on the shoulder before turning around to get to his car. nabi stayed still there for a second trying to process what he just said. the last thing on her mind was eating.

her.