petrichor ¦ hwang hyunjin

page 06

"And?"

"And... I'm going to call in sick that day." I swiped my card before entering the bus.

A faint chuckle erupted on the other line, it was that 'disappointed but not surprised' chuckle of Minho again.

"What?"

"So you're casually telling me that you're going to ditch the study group for a date?" Minho's tone raised, his dialect slowly revealing itself.

Considering how he had moved to Seoul for almost two years, his Seoul dialect was pretty good. Although he might not be able to control his dialect from showing when he was caught off-guard.

"Come on, you and I know that no one actually studied in this so-called 'study group' anyway. Why should I waste my time on a pointless activity when I can do something better?" I gripped on the bus strap, "On top of that, it's not a date."

"Alright, Susan. I don't think you get the point here."

I snorted, looking out the window and waited for him to continue.

"Everytime you ditch the study group, I'm the one who have to cover you up. With the same exact reasons every damn time." Minho snapped. I could hear him sipping his drink purposefully loud.

"Maybe you can tell them that I have a family meet-up this time?"

"I've used that before."

"Or maybe I have a funeral to attend?"

"That, too."

I groaned, brain slowly shutting off at the lack of excuses I could think of. "You know what, let's just tell them I have a blind date to attend. Problem solved."

Minho whistled, I could tell he was grinning from ear to ear between his words. "That's not an excuse, that's a fact."

"Minho, I told you-"

Beep. Beep.

The other line ended. I shook my head in disbelief. Minho was that person who always escaped from arguments by ending the call.

I slid my phone back into my bag, a series of numbers running in circles inside my head. Numbers, his phone number. He gave me his phone number.

"Here," Hyunjin took my hand and placed a piece of paper on it. "My phone number."

"E-Eh?"

"It's nothing out of ordinary, I just..." He paused and flashed a charming smile, "I just think that we need to keep in touch in the future."

My hands moved from my bag strap to my chest, clutching the soft fabric out of edginess.

I fell, hard.

When the clock struck 9.30, the ringing of my phone echoed throughout the room. I had to skip from the bathroom and ran all the way to my bedroom, leaving wet traces on the process.

It was a familiar number.

"Hey," I breathed, settling myself on the corner of my bed.

But the voice that answered the phone wasn't from the person I expected it to be. Instead, it was a soft and delicate voice, a voice that belonged to a girl.

"Hey, can you come and pick up Hyunjin right now?"

It took me a moment to process everything. Me? Picking Hyunjin up?

"P-Pardon?"

"Is that her?" A wavering voice called out. "Let me talk to her."

There was a slight shuffling noise on the other line, strangely I waited patiently for them to be done with their small conversation.

"Oi, Yuna!"

I raised a brow out of confusion. It was Hyunjin's voice, I was pretty sure. But why did he sounded... different?

Then it hit me, it wasn't the Hyunjin I met at daytime in the cafe. It was a wasted Hyunjin.