Spend Forever with Me

Chapter 7 - Drenched

"Yah, Aniyaaaaaaaah...." Luhan's cheerful greeting fades as he notices my expression. "You don't look so good."

I rub my eyes tiredly. "I didn't sleep very well. Bad dreams..."

Sehun picks up my backpack and hoists it over his shoulder. "Really? What about?"

"You and Luhan," I say, sleepily leaning my head on his arm. "You both had bright red eyes and sharp teeth..."

Luhan looks alarmed. "What?"

"...and you wanted to make Monggu into gaegogi..."

Sehun chuckles. "I don't think Monggu would taste very good. What a strange dream."

"Yeah," Luhan chitters, sounding a bit nervous. "Just imagine us with red eyes and sharp teeth...Ha..." Sehun elbows him, and he coughs. 

"How is Monggu, anyway?" Sehun asks. "He didn't get sick, did he?"

Luhan wraps his arm around my shoulder. "I'm more worried about our Ae-ni. She looks so tired."

My face reddens. "Yah, I'm fine." Still, I switch and lean my head against his shoulder instead.

"We're here," Sehun says quietly.

It was just like the first day. Girls were crowded up to the gate of the school and pressing forward, trying to get close to Sehun and Luhan. I could barely hear myself think.

"Oppa!"

"Lulu oppa~!"

"Sehunnie!"

It was like boarding a subway. Everyone was crowding to get through, pushing and shoving each other like a herd of cattle. I felt a sharp-nailed hand grab onto my arm. I yelp as someone tries to yank me away from the twins. Sehun hears me and quickly loops his arm around my waist. I blush and look up at him. He looks down at me, and the corners of his lips barely curve up. He helps me squeeze through the other girls.

"Sorry," Luhan whispers after catching up to us.

I blink. "For wha--"

He leans down and pecks my cheek. "Ae-ni, study hard! We'll be here at lunch, okay!" He and Sehun turn to go. Sehun hands me my backpack and follows his twin. I can't stop blushing, and I watch them go. What just happened?

Not a sound is heard from the crowd of girls.

I duck my head and go to class.

The bell rings for lunch. I grab my lunchbox and go to the bathroom to wash my hands. I can hear a few girls talking from inside the stalls. 

"Who was that girl with the twins? I saw my Luhannie kiss her!"

"I don't know. They arrived with her."

"Omo, did she spend the night with them? What a slut! I bet she slept with them both!"

"What a whore!"

"She isn't even that pretty. She had to have slept with them for them to pay any attention to her. Did you see her uniform? What a pauper. I bet she did it for money."

"Poor Sehun and Luhan! They're victims!"

"We'd better protect them from her."

I quickly leave before they come out, forgetting to dry my hands. I can see Luhan and Sehun from where I stand. I hesitate, biting my lip. Those girls said some awful things...I don't want to start troublesome rumors...the twins are too kind... I feel sad, but I take my lunch back up to my locker.

I open the door and gasp as a bucket of icy water soaks me straight to the bone. Someone set up an elaborate trap. I was absolutely drenched in freezing water.

"Oh, Ae-ni-sshi?" I hear a voice. I turn and see Lee songsaeng-nim. She looks shocked. "Who did this to you? Aigoo, you're soaking wet..."

"I-It's fine," I say. My teeth chatter. "It's just water. I"m okay, songsaeng-nim."

"You're shivering! Do you have another uniform to change into?"

I shake my head and do my best to stop shaking. "I'm really fine, songsaeng-nim. Thank you for your concern, but you don't need to worry."

She looks uncertain. "Okay..." She points to my locker. "If anything like this happens again, come tell me."

"Ne, kamsahamnida," I say, bowing. She leaves. I look down and groan. My lunch is ruined, washed away like driftwood. I'll just have to go without... My stomach growls in protest, but there's nothing I can do. I shiver and take off my jacket. I wring it out into the bucket from my locker. I needed to do laundry anyway... Shuddering at the gross feeling, I slide my jacket back on and go to class.

"Yah, Aniya! Where were you at lunch?" Luhan pouts after school. "We missed you."

"You've known me for all of three days, and you barely know me at all!" I say, irritated. My uniform is still wet, and someone dumped water in my shoes again. I was also starving. 

"You are our fake girlfriend," Sehun muses quietly. "We are pretty bad fake boyfriends, huh?" He notices that I am shivering. "Aniya, are you okay?"

I realize that if I'm not going to say it's a problem, then I shouldn't complain. "I'm fine," I say with a gentle smile. "Just a little hungry. I'll live, though." I was lying. I would live, but I was starving.

"Poor baby," Luhan cooes, pulling me closer so I can lean against him.

I frown as he pets my hair lovingly. "Am I a cat?"

"Feisty," Sehun chuckles, almost smiling. He perks up as we get close to my house. "Can I play with Monggu?"

"Sehun-ah," his older twin says. "We have homework to work on."

Sehun deflates, disappointed. "Oh, right." He hands me my backpack. "I hope you sleep better tonight, Aniya. See you tomorrow."

I grin. "By, Sehunnie." I hesitate before blurting playfully, "Bye, Lulu~!"

Luhan's eyes widen. "Yah! You know I hate that!"

Luhan rubs his neck as Ae-ni goes inside. He and Sehun start walkinga gain. Sehun hesitates before saying something.

"She's different today."

Luhan nods. "She seemed really irritable. I wonder why she didn't meet us at lunch?"

"I overheard some of the girls in the building talking about her..." Sehun says. "They said some mean things. Do you think she overheard them?"

"No," Luhan shakes his head. "She doesn't have hearing like you do."

Sehun snorts. "Otherwise, she was probably embarassed. You did kiss her in front of the entire female student body."

"I couldn't help it!" Luhan whines. "You were hugging her, and I got jealous."

"I wasn't hugging her!" Sehun says quickly, his cheeks turning pink. "The girls were acting horrible, just pushing and shoving... I thought Ae-ni was going to fall, so I helped her up."

"Uh-huh," Luhan muses, thrilled at having caught his twin. "Did she seem...wet? She sounded sloshy while we were coming home."

"She did," Sehun agrees. "I wonder why?"

The twins shrug simultaneously. Sehun kicks a pebble. "Hyung, I miss her already."

"Who, Ae-ni? You'll see her tomorrow." Luhan thinks for a moment. "You were right earlier. We are pretty lousy fake boyfriends... I'm really grateful to her for being so tolerant of us. She's the first girl that hasn't exploded around us."

"We should give her a present," Sehun says suddenly. "You know...to thank her." He smiles brightly, revealing the rare and beautiful part of him. "We should make something for her!"

Luhan was pleased to know that Ae-ni made Sehun smile. "Okay," he says. "We'll try!"