Diaries of a Distance

Chapter 16

Friday, 10th September

I didn't get a chance to see him until lunch that afternoon. I waited at the cafeteria's entrance, playing with the bear's head hanging around my neck. Finally, Jae Wook came by himself.

Before he said anything, he slipped his hand into mine making my heart jump with excitement and my mouth curving into a smile. "Your hands are cold", he said.

"You can let go..." I said.

He looked fixedly at me. "Not unless you make me."

I smiled. This is my first time holding a guy's hands outside an ice-skating ring. I never dated anyone back in Australia even though I had tonnes of offers.

"Come on", he said smiling warmly at me. I felt my knees buckling from his smile as I followed him into the cafeteria. He was heading for his off-limits table. I yanked his arm pulling him back.

"We're not going to sit there right?" I asked hopefully.

"Where else then?" he replied before walking again.

He sat down at one end of the table as the senior girls all swarmed around him. I glared at them, I felt like shouting 'STAY AWAY FROM HIM!' But I didn't. Realising there weren't any seats left around him, I made my way to the other end of the table. I might as well try to get to know his other friends if I'm dating him.

"Where are you going?" he asked me.

"Sitting over there."

"Come here."

I really hate the way he bosses me around sometimes.

"I'm fine at this end", I replied.

"Now", he said insistingly.

I gave in and stood beside him. He looked at the girls beside him and they cleared away, leaving empty seats for me. I felt their eyes all glaring at me.

The whole school had found out about Jae Wook asking me out as a result of me telling Da Ni last night. Since then, I've been receiving lots of glares and whispers around me.

I guess the look on my face said it all because the next moment, Jae Wook decided to move.

"Let's go."

He stood up and held my hand, pulling me away from the table and over to the fairies' table. He sat down next to Tae Hee who quickly moved over, and he made me sit opposite to him, next to Mi Mi. I could feel all their eyes staring at Jae Wook. He seemed to shift around uncomfortably. I stood up.

"Let's go", I said to him.

He agreed only too happily and we quickly got out of the cafeteria.

We walked down the hallway hand-in-hand not knowing where to go.

"Your friends keep glaring at me", I told him.

"Yours keep staring at me", he replied.

I sighed.

"Where are we gonna go now? We can't have lunch with everybody looking at us like that all the time", I pointed out.

A cheeky look crossed his face.

"Come with me."

---

He guided me to the school's mini garden area where the scenery favours many cherryblossoms and seats beneath them. We sat down on the bench right in the middle of them all. We were both silent.

"Let's talk."

He faced me. "About what?"

"Since we're dating shouldn't we get to know each other more? I'll ask you a question and you have to answer. No lies!"