unrequited | nct dream

chapter two

Ara's POV  

When I walked into school on Monday morning, I was fuming with rage. What had started out as any normal Monday took a turn for the worst when I got a text from Jeno that read, 'hey munchkin, sorry, I'm not gonna be able to give you a ride today, something came up. I asked mark to pick you up, so don't worry." At first I wasn't angry at all, in fact, I thought that it was sweet of Jeno to manage me a ride on a rainy morning, but that was until I got into Mark's car.

That's where I learned that Jeno had gone to pick up Areum because she was upset that her pet fish passed away. Jeno always gave me a ride to school since I didn't have a license, it was like our thing and he made sure to never miss a day. Once, his tire popped and even then, he made sure to walk with me to school. Which is why I was furious when I heard the news, Areum's fish died, people eat fish everyday, why was her fish dying such a big deal?!

I didn't know what it was, but I was starting to sound beyond irrational, even my own thoughts were driving me insane. I hated being jealous. It was leading me to say and do things that I would never even think about saying. For god's sake, her fish died, I should be feeling remorseful, that poor fish didn't deserve it.

On top of my irrationality, Jaemin's offer was still roaming around my head. All part of me wanted nothing to do with it and that was final. That's what I had decided on Friday night when he told me, yet I spent the entire weekend thinking about it just like he asked. However, I still didn't want to face him, so another part of me had to work on avoiding Jaemin. It couldn't be that hard though, I mean, the guy had pink hair, he stood out pretty well.

I sat quietly between Mark and Donghyuck with my headphones plugged in as I shuffled through my playlist to find a decent song. In front of us sat Chenle and Renjun, who were having a heated debate about whether some alien landed in Korea three centuries ago. Class didn't start until 8:30, so it gave the group some time to talk, however, Jaemin, Jeno, and Areum were nowhere to be found today.

"Where's Jeno? I need the answers for the Pre-Calc homework," Donghyuck whined from beside me.

"Well, maybe you wouldn't need the answers from Jeno if you actually bothered to do your homework," Mark retorted from the other side causing me to snort. Their banters never got old, I don't think I've ever seen them carry out a normal conversation without teasing and bothering each other. It was amusing to watch.

"Where is Jeno though?" Renjun questioned earning a nod from Chenle. I almost rolled my eyes, but stopped myself and continued to scroll through my playlist.

"Didn't you hear?" A new female voice entered the conversation. I looked up from my phone to see Tzuyu standing next to the table ruffling her hair that was wet from the rain water. Tzuyu was tall and soft spoken, and was one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen. She was like Mark and everyone knew her because of her contributions to the school's cheerleading team.

"Hear what?" Chenle questioned, scooting over to give Tzuyu space to sit. She held back a laugh as she took a seat.

"Dude, don't laugh, it's actually kinda sad," Mark warned her causing Chenle, Renjun, and Hyuck to give them curious looks.

"Oh, c'mon Mark. I mean yeah it's sad that Areum's fish died, but she's being over dramatic," Tzuyu finished, rolling her eyes.

"Oh no, her fish died? That's so sad, I loved Mr. Bubbles." Chenle pouted.

"What the frick, Chenle? We've never even seen the fish, how do you know its name?!" Renjun exclaimed turning to Chenle.

Chenle only shrugged. "I just assumed."