Lina woke up the next morning to the sound of her alarm clock going off at 6:00 in the morning as usual. She opened her eyes to see an empty bed, not the way she remembered it. Hyuck must have slipped out after she had fallen asleep.
It made sense. As careless as he was sometimes, he wouldn't be the person to get caught in bed with her by her parents. She smiled lightly at the thought of the night before, her heart fluttering. She was still extremely confused about everything, but the good feeling in her chest made up for the confusion.
She got out of bed and showered, drying her hair while she pulled out her school uniform. For some reason she felt like looking good today, maybe turn some heads when she walked into school.
She pulled on her skirt and blouse and then began her hair and makeup, straightening her hair and curling her eyelashes with her mascara. When she was finished, she winked at herself in the mirror and then left her room.
Her parents had already left the house, so she just ran downstairs and grabbed a banana before heading out the door to walk to her neighbor's house. She ate the banana on the way, chewing the last bite as she opened the door to his house.
"Mark! You ready?" she called into the house as she shut the door behind her. She walked through the hallway and into the kitchen, throwing her banana peel out.
"Good morning," Lee Jinhyung, Mark's older brother smiled at her from the table. She turned with a jump.
"Oh shit, you scared me," she replied. "Hey. Is Mark up?"
"Maybe."
Lina rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the help. It's always so nice to see you." She turned and headed for the stairs, running up to Mark's room. She opened the door to him drying his hair without a shirt on, rapping dramatically to a song that was playing on his phone as he rubbed the towel on his head.
She started laughing, grasping his attention. He spun around and his ears turned bright red. "Lina! What the hell?!"
"You're moving slowly today, I had to see what was up. Put a shirt on, loser." She grabbed the uniform shirt she saw on the dresser and threw it at him. He put it on and groaned.
"You look different today," he told her.
"Different in what way?"
"I don't know, maybe prettier. Or maybe I'm just going blind." Lina picked up her foot like she was going to take off her shoe and Mark flinched with a laugh, knowing that she had the tendency to throw her shoes at people when they pissed her off.
She put her foot back on the ground and Mark buttoned up the last part of his shirt, leaving his hair to dry. He grabbed his bag and followed her downstairs, the two of them walking out the door together.
"Bye Jinhyung!" Mark called out.
"See you later," Jinhyung answered cooly from the kitchen.
"Your brother acts like more of a dick every time I see him," Lina told Mark. He laughed and nodded.
"He's probably into you. He gets quiet and tries to act cool around girls that he likes," he answered. They headed to the bus stop together, Lina trying not to gag at the thought of dating Jinhyung. He wasn't ugly, he was actually really attractive, but she couldn't imagine herself with someone who couldn't be themselves around her.
"Gross," Lina muttered. Mark laughed again as they approached the bus stop. Jeno and Jaemin were waiting for them there, the two of them laughing about something together.
"Where's Hyuck?" Mark asked.
"Oh, Mark-hyung, can't go three seconds without me?" Hyuck suddenly spoke from behind him, resting his chin on Mark's shoulder. Mark shrugged him off, grunting with a disgusted expression.
"Don't be weird."
The bus pulled up and Hyuck stood next to Lina, smiling at her. "Sleep alright?" he asked. Lina looked at her shoes, trying to hide her blush. She nodded.
"Yeah, I didn't even know you left, honestly."
"I'm just that good," he said with a wink. "I'm glad you slept though. You look and sound a lot better. I guess that means I'll have to stop calling you Billy Joel."
"A tragedy," Lina replied. Jaemin and Jeno sat next to each other and Mark sat with one of the kids from his grade, Lucas, leaving Hyuck and Lina to sit next to each other.
Hyuck yawned, throwing his hands over his head. "I'm tired," he said to no one in particular.
"You didn't sleep last night?" Lina asked him. He looked over at her with a disappointed expression, moving his face close to hers.
"Unlike you, I was up all night. I couldn't get you off my mind."
Lina swallowed, her heart pounding so hard she would've sworn that he could hear it. When she didn't answer, Hyuck let his head fall on her shoulder. He hugged her arm with both of his and made himself comfortable, Lina as still as she could be.
She still couldn't figure out why he was confessing his feelings to her all at once, if that was even what this was. She turned her head to look at Jaemin and Jeno who were sitting across from her.
Jeno rolled his eyes at Hyuck and Jaemin smiled. "He's been talking about you all morning," he told her. "For real, he won't stop."
Lina bit her lip. "Why?" she whispered. Hyuck moved slightly next to her and she froze, only to relax when she heard his heavy breathing, indicating that he was still asleep.
"He likes you, obviously," Jaemin answered.
"But why is he telling me now? We've been friends for three years."
"I don't want to put any ideas in your head, but I'm guessing that the fact that prom is coming up might have something to do with it. He might see this as his last chance to get you to go out with him."
"There was no first chance!" she whisper shouted. Jaemin shrugged.
"I don't get it either, but you know nobody really gets Donghyuck's methods."
Lina nodded, turning her head back and leaning it against the seat behind her. Does he want to ask me to prom? she thought. Why has he waited this long to make a move though? Maybe prom is just his excuse? Or this is his excuse for prom because he can't find a date? What the hell is going on?!
