bet | lee donghyuck

- forty six

almost a week had gone by and at school, everything seemed almost awkward. i hadn't spoken much to anyone, and i was starting to wonder if they knew something i didn't. or if they were just starting to feel uncomfortable around me.

chenle and renjun would always give me looks during class, and for some reason, i was the only one of our friend group that didn't understand them.

when walking to class, i caught up to donghyuck, who was waiting for me at my locker. i smiled at him, said a quick hi, and started opening my locker.

"hey, so do you know what's going on? everyone's acting really weird, and i cant figure out why." i asked him.

"you know, it's better if i just let you find out. it'll happen sooner or later." donghyuck simply stated.

"what the heck does that mean?" i deadpanned, shutting my locker.

"it's nothing! i mean, it's something, but i cant tell you yet." he smirked, which then turned into a full smile, making me furrow my eyebrows. "you look like such an idiot when you make that face." he almost laughed.

"thanks." i said sarcastically. i shut my locker, and started to walk away. donghyuck followed behind me.

"why do you even care?" donghyuck asked.

"are you really asking that? it's my life, and if people are being weird and creepy towards me, i think i deserve to know why." i explained.

"either way, you'll find out sometime." he replied.

i sighed. "you're no help."

--

after the last bell rang, it was time to go home. we were all dismissed to go, but i had to wait for chenle in the cafeteria, as that was our normal schedule now since he had to drive me back to his house.

the usual table i sat at to wait for him was now being occupied by a group of some of the popular kids. i noticed a familiar person sitting facing away from me at the table, but i didn't say anything.

i slid my phone out from my pocket and into my hands to keep myself busy (mostly to just not look awkward) while i waited for chenle to arrive.

after a short while, i felt a tap on my shoulder. i turned around. it was not chenle.

"hey." she said.

"hi." i said almost too quietly for myself to hear in the semi-noisy after-hours cafeteria.

"i haven't talked to you in a bit." she tried to smile, but i could tell it was pained.

"yeah." i said, still a little bit shocked that she was talking to me in the first place.

"sooyoung!" chenle yelled as he caught up with me. i turned to face him, and he made short eye contact with the girl behind me before looking back at me. "we gotta go, my mom's waiting for us with something at home."

i looked back at her. "sorry, i need to leave."

"that's okay. bye, sooyoung." she half-smiled.

"bye, hani." i slightly waved at her, before walking away with chenle.

"what did she want?" chenle asked as we walked to his car.

"i don't really know. she said hi, but that's about it."

"just be careful, okay? i don't want her spreading bad rumors about you." chenle said, putting his arm around my shoulder.

"i know." i replied, resting my head against him. "thanks for being such a good person to me. i'm not even sure i deserve it, but you've been so kind to me."

"that's just what twins do." he joked, remembering the teacher from before who chenle tricked into thinking we were related.

i chuckled with him. "you know, if that teacher hadn't been standing there, we probably would've gotten away with just heading to class, no detention or anything."

we had arrived at his car. he unlocked it, took my backpack off of my shoulders, and placed it in the backseat, along with his. we both got inside the car and buckled our seatbelts.

"i'm glad we did get that detention though. i mean, even though we spent 5 hours doing almost nothing, it made us better friends. we all barely knew you before, and now, we're practically all best friends. besides you and donghyuck, you guys are just whipped for each other." he said.

"oh shut up." i laughed, playfully hitting his arm. "even though hani got a little bit heated at one point, it did make us better friends."

"yeah she did get a little bit crazy there."

it was silent for a little bit, but it was a comfortable silence. like the kind of silence that only people who have really connected and felt each other's emotions can feel.

"so, you said your mom was waiting for us with something?" i asked him once we reached a red light.

"well, kind of. to be honest, i just didn't really want you to be in an awkward situation so i tried to pull you out of it. but my mom bought some pizza ingredients so we can make some from scratch together, if that counts." he answered.

we reached his house, and he parked in front.

as soon as we got inside, we set our stuff down on the couch momentarily and washed our hands. then, the doorbell rang.

chenle went to answer the door while i dried my hands. "uh, sooyoung? it's for you."