timing | kim seungmin

03 | ice cream

"chaeyeon," i tapped chaeyeon on the shoulder.

"hm?"

"what do i do?"

"what's wrong?"

"kim chaewon... i think she thinks i'm trying to take seungmin away from her," i said.

"well, if seungmin said no, she should understand that he's not interested in her."

"should i apologize?" i asked.

"no, what reason is there for you to apologize?" chaeyeon furrowed her brows. "you didn't do anything wrong!"

i sighed.

chaewon was a nice person, i didn't want to be on bad terms with her.

but i also wanted to stay good friends with seungmin...

why must i be stuck in this difficult situation?

☆☆☆

"i'll get going first, okay?" chaeyeon said, before heading to her afterschool class.

"yeah, see you," i waved.

i had about an hour before my first afterschool class, so i decided to take a walk around the nearby park.

i was just getting out of the school gates when i heard,

"minjoo! wait!"

i turned to see seungmin running towards me.

"huh?"

"let's go get some ice cream!" he said, unexpectedly.

"why?"

"come on, it's hot today, i want to eat ice cream."

ice cream didn't sound bad right now, but...

what if chaewon saw us? she would actually think i was stealing seungmin away from her.

"please?" seungmin begged.

"i..."

"i even said no to the guys that i sat with at lunch when they wanted to hang out with me after school!"

he said no to na jaemin? was seungmin running away from him a few minutes ago? jaemin is known to be very clingy...

seungmin was using his puppy eyes to beg... i can't say no to that.

"fine," i gave up. "let's go to the convenience store."

"yay!" seungmin pumped his fist in the air like a kid.

we walked to the convenience store, which was only a few minutes away from our school.

seungmin insisted on buying the ice cream since he basically forced me to come with him.

"i have to go to class at four," i said, biting into my ice cream cone.

"okay, we still have about fifty minutes," seungmin said.

we had a moment of silence to enjoy our ice cream.

"ha, this reminds me," seungmin broke the silence. "remember in canada when that korean ice cream lady thought we were a couple?"

i almost choked on my ice cream and started coughing.

"are you okay?"

i waved my hand, meaning i was fine, coughing a bit more.

"sorry," seungmin said.

"no it's, i'm fine, you know, when you just like, randomly choke on food like?"

i don't even know what i'm saying.

"...no but okay," seungmin finished his ice cream.

i didn't really feel like eating anymore of my ice cream after almost choking on it, so i just held it in my hand.

"by the way, why didn't you let me sit with you at lunch?" seungmin pouted, as if he was hurt.

"um..."

"i mean, i'm not saying i didn't want to sit with the guys," seungmin said. "what were their names? na jaemin, lee donghyuck, lee jeno, and... uh..."

"huang renjun?" i guessed.

"yeah, renjun. how'd you know?"

"those four are always together," i said. "also, renjun is my deskmate in class."

"ah. they're pretty interesting people," seungmin said. "but, i wanted to sit with you."

"it's not that i don't want to sit with you, it's just..."

seungmin was looking at me with a you-better-have-a-reasonable-excuse expression.

"you know how i said this girl wanted me to introduce her to you?" i asked.

seungmin nodded.

"if i sat with you during lunch, she would think i'm betraying her..."

"didn't you tell her i said no?" seungmin asked.

"yeah, but still, and i was hesitant to even come here with you because..." i hesitated. "what if she thinks we're--"

"dating?" seungmin chuckled. "so what if she does? that's just her own point of view."

"you think that's okay? what if she spreads rumors and--"

"hey, then i could just date you. then i would get to sit with you at lunch, right?" seungmin joked.

what--

"i'm kidding, i'm kidding."

kim seungmin, you don't kid about things like that!!

i didn't know how to respond, so i checked the time.

"u-uh, i think i should get going to class now," i said awkwardly.

"oh, really?" seungmin said. "i'll walk with you."

frick! i thought i would be able to escape this awkwardness.

we left the convenience store and walked to my afterschool class in silence.

i kept thinking of what seungmin said earlier... agh! cool down you stupid cheeks!

i was pretty sure seungmin was only joking, but why was i making such a big deal out of it?

i just looked straight forward as we walked, hoping my afterschool buildung would appear soon.

wait! i completely fogot that kim chaewon goes to the same afterschool as me!

i should say bye to seungmin before she--

speak of the devil.

i locked eyes with chaewon.

☆

this chapter is called ice cream because seungmin and minjoo eat ice cream, but also because i scream when i write this. haha. i'm so funny.
is this book interesting so far? i feel like i'm boring the heck out of y'all