october | ningselle (ON HOLD)

III

now

Ningning's jaw practically hits the floor when Chenle enters the room.

He exudes confidence. His messy hair, sharp jawline, handsome eyes. Everything about him radiates perfection and strength, and as he strides into the room, the class goes quiet.

Giselle just feels like crap.

They're at the mixer class again- elective- and of course Chenle just happens to be in it also. Even the normally chatty Irene has gone totally quiet.

"Whoa," Ningning breathes out to Giselle, and the older girl can't ignore the jealousy that sizzles under her skin. Why couldn't Ningning say that to her? Honestly. Chenle was cute and Chinese. Those were his only known assets.

God, I'm starting to think of this like a video game.

Ningning smiles, and Giselle's heart flips. The younger girl is undeniably beautiful, with mysterious, popping eyes, full lips, and a perfect face; Giselle can get lost in her brown eyes if she stares for too long. But now the smile is pointed at Chenle; his grin is aimed at her too. It's almost funny how they gaze at each other, grinning.

Once he's seated, the class stars.

Neither Ningning nor Chenle initiate conversation, which only servers to piss off Giselle. Like, seriously, were they both so incredibly confident that they couldn't say one word to each other. Giselle was literally older than both of them, and she only saw warring egos like that in Kaguya-Sama.

Anime. Giselle's Japanese brain kicks in and she starts mentally comparing people in her class to anime characters. Ningning was very Kaguya-coded- attractive, prideful, intelligent. Giselle really hoped Chenle wasn't Miyuki-like, because that would just result in the two falling for each other.

"Gigi?"

Ningning's voice snaps Giselle from her reverie, and she mumbles, "Yeah?"

"Can you help me with this?" Ningning points at her paper, and it's all instructions. Her current assignment is writing out specific instructions to carry out a task elective-related, but Giselle doesn't remember what the task is.

Or even what the elective was, because Ningning is giving her those eyes.

"Um, what?"

"The instructions, Gigi."

"I can."

Giselle looks up in surprise. Chenle is staring right back at Ningning, leaning over the back of his chair, smiling. "Which part?"

"I asked Giselle, actually," Ningning replies back, grinning in the same manner, and for a second Giselle feels on cloud nine that Ningning is picking her over Chenle.

Except, well, reality sinks in, and it becomes clear that Ningning is playing hard to get.

Giselle resists the urge to roll her eyes and simply says, "Actually, I'm going to be working with Irene, so you two do whatever."

She turns towards the other girl, who smirks and waggles her finger between the two Chinese teenagers staring each other down behind Giselle. "New couple, huh?"

"Hope not," Giselle grumbles, and Irene looks at her strangely, but stays silent.

then [ one year ago ]

"Hey! Giselle!"

Giselle turned in the hallway, her hands deep in her pockets, and met the eyes of Na Jaemin, who looked a mixture of nervous and excited. "Can I ask you something?"

"Uh... sure," Giselle agreed, leaning against a locker. There were a few minutes left in passing still, and her class was two doors down, so she didn't mind much. "What's up?"

Jaemin looked at her nervously, and suddenly Giselle knew what he wanted to ask. She sighed. "You want to know her name, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Ning Yizhuo," she whisked out, shrugging her shoulders, knowing Ningning would thank her later- maybe her only tiny pleasure in the boring day. "She's a sophomore."

"A sophomore? Damn," Jaemin answered, staring off into space as if he was wondering how someone a year younger could catch his eye so strongly like that. "She's... wow."

"She is," Giselle agreed, but shut her mouth before she said anything else too suggestive.

Luckily, Jaemin didn't notice, and asked for something else. "I know you can't give me her number, probably, but can you at least tell me if there are any other classes she has-"

"Her algebra class is four doors down from our geometry class, your best friends have elective class with her, and she takes an advanced science class which is across the hall and two doors right of your homeroom," Giselle recited, knowing the classes and rooms of her best friend by heart. Even though she knew it was unrealistic, she saved the information for an unknown date in future when she'd be able to walk Ningning to all of her classes, and not just as friends.

"Whoa," Jaemin replied, and Giselle noticed that he'd typed it into a folder onto his phone. "Okay, thank you. I owe you one. Or a lot. Thanks again. See you!"

"See you," Giselle called after him, ignoring the curious stares several girls were pinning on her. But honestly, she didn't care. She was too unsure whether or not she'd just made a cosmic mistake.

By the absolutely lovestruck expression in Jaemin's eyes when he asked for Ningning's name, and the identical one on Ningning's when Giselle reported the hallway meeting to her, she was sure she had.