The first period was Mrs. Jang's and she was the class's coordinator. In the class, Jinyoung, Jaebum and Jackson always sat together at the third row. Usually, Jinyoung was next to the wall, and beside him were Jaebum and Jackson respectively.
But today, Jinyoung gave his seat to Jackson, who was planning to steal some time to drift off during the lectures - he blamed the hangover.
"Everyone, attention please," Mrs. Jang's voice silenced the students' chatters. She looked around the class, until she was satisfied that everyone had their attention on her.
"One month has already passed for this semester," she said, "And you know that there are always field trips around this time every year."
Most of the students cheered, as the idea was always appealing to them and field trips were always like holidays.
"This time, the place we've decided upon is Gotjawal forest on Jeju island."
Some growls came out afterwards. As the Environmental Science students, they were very aware of what Gotjawal was like: an uninhabited forest and there was nothing like national parks or resorts there.
But the places were always chosen by the teachers at the meetings and the students had got no chance in selecting them.
"And this year, we're going together with Botany and Zoology students. As usual, you'll have to pay only your own transport fee and the rest'll be funded by the university. I'll announce more details later on. And if you aren't participating in this trip, come and inform me."
The quiet chatters broke out among the students, asking each other if they were going or not.
"I'm going," Jackson said, eagerly, being excited for the first time for this morning, "Botany girls are hot. I'm totally in. You two must go too. I won't hear any excuses."
"Who's saying that we won't go? Of course, we're going. This is only once a year," Jaebum said.
"Gotjawal has lots of snakes though," Jinyoung mused.
Jackson shuddered a little, as the possible scenarios appeared in his mind, but he got over them in another minute, "You're just overthinking again, Jinyoung. Only think of Botany and Zoology girls and motivate yourself."
It was like a tradition, in their university, for the students from two or three different majors but of the same year to go on a field trip to the same place. It was, as the teachers said, important both for bonding and for sharing knowledge with each other, during the trip.
Last year, their class was together with Physics and Geology students, and this time, it was going to be with Botany and Zoology students. It was always about getting to know students from other majors and making new friends.
However, as it was only for students of the same year, there was no chance for the three friends to be on the same trip with Youngjae, or BamBam and Yugyeom.
Back at the dorm, Jinyoung was alone in his room, as his roommate was out. He was in bed, trying to read a book, as to occupy his mind with something.
But his mind kept wandering back to what had happened last night. He wondered what would have happened if he had just confessed to Minji last night. Of course, they would have been in a relationship since then.
He knew it had been stupid of him to let go of that chance, but then he wondered if he still would do the exact same thing - getting hesitated and throwing away the chance - if he was in such a situation again. Because it had not been his first time being like that.
The first time, it had been in high-school. There was this girl called Yebin, who was his classmate and an A+ student in the class. She was smart, pretty and the teachers' pet. Everyone was in favour of her and liked her, maybe except some girls who were jealous of her.
Most of the male classmates were gone for her and just naturally, Jinyoung was one of them. Who wouldn't be when she was there like an ideal girl?
She was so unreachable that it was an absolute surprise to Jinyoung when she started to take initiative to talk to him - not just to talk to but to flirt with him as well - in the last year of their high-school.
He did not deny her moves and they had grown so familiar with each other to the point that she was convincing him to go to the same private business university with her. On the graduation day, they were together alone in a park in the evening, and by his instinct, he was aware that she wanted to hear something from him - something that would let them be on another level of intimacy. It was a perfect chance; he liked her and she was willing to hear him say that.
But he didn't. He reasoned, in his mind, that she deserved someone better than him and they were also too young for a relationship.
But now he acknowledged that it must have been that same confusion, he had had when he had been about to confess to Minji.
There had also been the second time. Eunhee, that was her name. it was last year that it had happened. She was one year older than him and they had met in the rain. She had got no umbrella and he was all alone. It was a coincidence; he helped her get to the bus-stop.
After that incident, they kept meeting each other. She was nice and warm; she sometimes acted like an older sister and sometimes like a friend to him. He liked her and she was dropping hints that she liked him too.
But his confession, she waited for, never came. They just kept hanging out together, until she got rid of her hopes and dated someone else.
Maybe, he was a coward when it came to relationships. It had always been the same kind of confusion that had held him back. It always popped up in his mind when he was about to confess to the girl he liked. It was just too baffling for him to figure out what was with that confusion.
