Love 101 || NewJeans' Minji

ix.

Looking up at the person, a small smile formed on Jun-seo's face. "Oh, it's you, Minji," he said before patting the empty spot beside him while nodding. "Sure, have a seat," he continued while watching Minji adjust her backpack's strap on her shoulder before sitting down.

Minji thanked him quietly, adjusting her top before leaning against the bench. "So... why are you sitting alone?" she asked, looking at the guy beside her with a small smile. "Your next class is in three hours, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is," confirmed Jun-seo, meeting Minji's eyes briefly before looking around again, scanning the students that walked past them. "You don't have any classes after this, right?" he asked in return, looking at Minji again with a smile.

"Yeah, I already took most of this semester's subjects before transferring here," said Minji, pushing herself slightly on the bench. Jun-seo nodded at her answer, and with that, their conversation died out, and they sat comfortably in silence.

Fifteen minutes passed, and still, no further words were exchanged between them. Yet, it didn't feel awkward—in fact, they found solace in each other's quiet presence. Although, it didn't last long before someone else approached them.

Jun-seo didn't take long to recognize the man as In-tak, with his familiar dirty blonde two block haircut. Jun-seo sighed softly and looked at Minji, "come on, let's go somewhere else," he told her before pushing himself up from the bench.

Minji didn't even get to process what was going on when she saw the guy beside her get up. "What..." she stopped herself from talking when he saw In-tak approach them and placed a hand on Jun-seo's shoulder, trying to stop him from walking away.

"Dude, don't walk away, please," said In-tak, his hand squeezing Jun-seo's shoulder slightly.

Jun-seo shook his head and sighed, "no, man, I don't want to hear whatever it is you have to say," he refused while trying to take In-tak's hand off his shoulder. Minji sat on the bench while watching the two, studying the exchange quietly. Her observation brought her to the conclusion that this wasn't the first time this In-tak guy bothered Jun-seo.

Meanwhile, Jake, who had just finished his class, stepped out of the lecture hall and saw Jun-seo and In-tak in the distance. He didn't waste a second before approaching them, quickly pulling them apart and standing in between them. "Leave him alone, dude," he warned In-tak with a cold face.

In-tak sighed and looked down briefly, "look, guys... I didn't come here to fight, okay? I just wanted to talk to Jun-seo," he said, but it was pointless. Even though he sounded sincere, his words weren't able to convince neither of them to let him say what he wanted. "I swear, I don't want to have any..."

"Dude, one more time," Jake seethed. "You said the exact same thing last semester, it almost felt like deja vu right now," he added and pushed In-tak's shoulder lightly, "I know what you are going to say; you are going to say that you are sorry, and you didn't mean what you did."

Jake crossed his arms and shook his head, "you are predictable at this point, dude. Just... just give it up," he sighed and looked at In-tak with a look that was asking him to stop bothering his friend. "Go away," he finished with a calmer voice, gesturing for In-tak to go.

In-tak clicked his tongue and looked at Jake, and then at Jun-seo before reluctantly turning on his heels and walking away. Minji, Jake, and Jun-seo watched him walk away, and when he was out of sight, Jun-seo heaved a heavy sigh and looked at Jake.

"Thanks," he said, giving his friend a light punch on the shoulder.

Jake smiled softly and shook his head, "hey, don't mention it," he replied and glanced over his shoulder after feeling a presence other than theirs. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Minji before looking back at Jun-seo.