the only boy; boo seungkwan

c h a p t e r 2

the boy who;
surprised me

Like any other day, I walked to school alongside my neighbor, Kim Mingyu.

We didn't talk much, as I didn't talk much with anyone those days. He was merely a reassuring presence for my mom, who's a good friend of his own. They were afraid "A young girl" like me, would get "hurt or kidnapped!"

What made this morning different was the figure that waited for me at the school gates.

"Hey, Marcie!" Seungkwan waved me down.

Despite the small smile on my face, I made it a point to roll my eyes as Mingyu and I approached him.

"Oh, hi." I greeted him softly.

Mingyu put his hands in his pockets and smirked, "You're the new kid, right? I heard you transferred a few months ago."

"Yes, and you must be the neighbor. I've heard so much about you!" Seungkwan shot back snarkily. Though I knew Mingyu hadn't meant any harm by his comment, Seungkwan created an unspoken tension among us.

I cleared my throat awkwardly, "Thanks for walking me, Mingyu. You can head inside, I'll see you later."

"Alright, see you around, Cici." He said, using my childhood nickname in the process.

After Mingyu stepped away from us Seungkwan began to speak again, "Cici? Are you dating him or something? That's such a pet name." The words spilled out of his mouth all at once.

"It's not a pet name, it's just what my family calls me." I explained with a sigh. My patience was much higher for him now that we were friends, but he still got on my nerves pretty often.

"Well, you better make him stop or some people will think you're dating-"

I broke in, attempting to stop his relentless babbling. "Yah! just tell me why you called me over here."

He shook his head as if to clear it, replacing his worried demeanor with one of his trademark smiles. "Ah, right!"

With one swift movement, Seungkwan was soon dragging me by my arm . . . away from the school.

"Where are we going?" I resisted his force, digging my heels into the pavement, "The first period bell is about to ring!"

Seungkwan answered nonchalantly, "I don't really feel like going to school today."

- - -

The previous half hour had consisted of a lot of tugging and arguing, but eventually I settled down.

I had resigned to the fact that I would be skipping school for the first time ever- with Boo Seungkwan at my side.

"Are you ever going to tell me where we're going?" I huffed, folding my arms.

Seungkwan closed the space between us until our shoulders were pressing together. I remember my heart picking up its pace. "You'll see when we get there."

"Wow, thanks." After a glance at my phone's clock I added, "Second period just ended."

"Stop worrying about that." Seungkwan placed his hand on top of mine, gently pushing the phone towards my pocket, "You need a break from school. We're almost there, so get excited!"