It All Started With A Creepy Mail ⚊ Yang Jungwon [#4]

✗ twenty nine ✗

⚊ chapter twenty nine

I’ve had my share of crushes—nothing too serious, just little sparks of interest.

Kim Sunhee with her infectious laugh caught my eye for a while, and then there was Park Minji, with her sharp wit and that confidence that just draws people in. But those crushes were more like phases, fleeting and harmless.

They were never meant to last. Just something to talk about with friends, you know?

But Jillian Klein Cruz... she was a different case.

It all started on that first day. I remember it clearly. Rei, Dongpyo, and I were heading to Minji’s old car in the parking lot.

That’s when I saw her—this girl who looked completely out of place, standing there like she’d lost her way. She had this foreign vibe about her, something that made her stand out from the usual crowd.

I couldn’t just walk past her, not with how lost she seemed.

“Hey, Minji,” I nudged her, “that girl looks like she needs help. Maybe you should go talk to her?”

Minji glanced over, shrugged like it was no big deal, and walked up to her. I hung back, watching. Jillian looked so unsure of herself, and something about that intrigued me. She wasn’t like the other girls who were all confident and loud.

There was a quietness to her that pulled me in.

Minji did most of the talking, offering directions to wherever Jillian was trying to go. I just stood there, trying to figure out why I couldn’t stop looking at her.

After that day, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Minji wouldn’t stop talking about Jillian either, which only fueled my curiosity more.

Every other day it seemed like Minji had something new to say about her—how Jillian was fitting in, how Jungwon seemed really interested in getting to know her.

That last part really got to me.

When our group kind of adopted Jillian, thanks to Minji, I started noticing even more about her.

She had this way of always looking a bit lost in all the chaos around her. It was cute, how she’d give these small, shy smiles every time I tried to make her more comfortable.

One day, I couldn’t help myself.

“Lian,” I said, catching her attention after school, “you’re really into cats, huh?”

She looked up from the book she was reading, a soft smile on her lips. “Yeah, they’re my favorite. They’re so independent, but also really affectionate once they trust you.”

I nodded, smiling back. “I can see that. You kind of remind me of a cat, you know? Quiet, but when you warm up to people, it’s like you really care.”

She blushed at that, looking down at her book again. “I guess that’s true.”

It was moments like that, small conversations and quiet smiles, that started making me realize I might like her. Really like her. But there was this part of me that hated it because I knew how everyone felt about Jillian and Jungwon.

They all thought they’d be perfect together.

Minji, Dongpyo, Rei—they were all pushing for it, rooting for Jungwon.

And where did that leave me?

One afternoon, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I was talking to Minji after school when I blurted it out.