hanbyul now understood what the older generation meant by saying the younger generation—her included—are always glued to their smart devices.
she nudged her friend next to her, pouting slightly when she realised her friend wasn't listening to her the entire time but instead occupied with her phone. her friend is probably texting her boyfriend from the way hanbyul could see her smiling so widely as her ears turned pink. ah, young love.
how annoying, she thought.
"hey, saeron... you were not listening to me..." she proceeded to pester her friend further by shaking her arm.
saeron finally placed her phone down on her lap and looked at her friend. "why are you acting so clingy today? what's wrong with you?" she questioned. "i mean you've always been clingy but today you're stuck to me like a chewed gum. when is soeun going to collect you?"
hearing this, hanbyul could not help but to feel offended. "i am not! i just feel talkative today and there's so much going on in my head, i feel so overwhelmed by it. and soeun is still busy with the preperations for the school assembly tomorrow so... "
"sure you are." saeron rolled her eyes. "so overwhelmed by that dude who stepped on the back of your shoe by accident 6 hours ago and that piece of leaf that landed on your face while doing sit ups in the field during PE, that you'll still be talking about it now."
hanbyul narrowed her eyes at her. "i can't believe i am saying this but you're a changed person after you got together with that minjae guy. love have changed you! goodbye old friend." she pushed her chair back. the legs of the chair screeched loudly against the already badly scratched marble floor. hanbyul got up and turned her head, attempting a dramatic hair flip.
saeron sighed. "you're being overly dramatic, hanbyul."
"yeah i am. but really though, bye saeron. i'm going to find something else fun to do. you're kind of boring, no offense." hanbyul took her belongings and flashed saeron a mischevious grin. she bid saeron goodbye again by the door and exited the classroom.
she closed the door behind her and she heaved a sigh. what is there for her to do now for the time to go by quickly while waiting for soeun?
previously they had planned to study with saeron after classes but obviously that didn't go as planned. 10 minutes into their studying session and soeun was called on by her I.T club senior to help prepare for the school assembly tomorrow. after soeun had left them alone, hanbyul was only able to focus on doing 3 math equations and with that done, she lost concentration, distracted by some soccer game outside. saeron too, after her boyfriend, minjae, texted how was her day.
hanbyul started walking down the empty corridors mindlessly, not knowing where to go to. she was practically on a hunt for something to occupy her.
it was when she came across her art teacher, struggling to carry a bunch of easel stands and canvases. the woman is at least 5 foot tall–an average asian woman's height–but she looked even tinier under all that struggle.
hanbyul's face lit up. she jogged towards her art teacher and offered a hand. "miss ko, do you need some help?" miss ko smiled graciously and gladly accepted her help. hanbyul took half of what she was carrying. "where are we heading to?" hanbyul asked.
"the staff room, if you don't mind."
the poor woman looked exhausted. and hanbyul couldn't say that she mind any of this. she was after all, literally looking for something to do and her art teacher is the first person she came across.
"nope, i have nothing to do anyways."
they went up a flight of stairs and hanbyul was extra careful with the freshly shipped easels and canvases. to say the least she haven't had any good encounters with the stairs besides rolling down one in grade school so much that she had lost count and shattering her phone at this exact flight of stairs last year.
