Distant Sky

12

So, Friends?

Joohyun was in the kitchen preparing lunch. There were two lunchboxes in front of her. As she starts filling them, she finds herself putting more meat in one of them. Once she's done, she stands there for a moment, contemplating the two packed boxes.

Yes, she was making lunch for Taehyung. No, she does not want to talk about it. She had spent many hours yesterday debating whether it was appropriate or what his reaction would be, before finally deciding to just go for it and worry about the consequences later.

But as she stands in the front of the kitchen counter, looking at the lunchbox she had packed with extra care, keeping in mind his preferences she learned yesterday, doubts start creeping in her mind again.  What if he gets offended and tells her he doesn't need her help? Or what if he somehow misunderstands her intentions?

They only interacted, what...twice now? And here she was, making him lunch. What if he gets the wrong idea....? She sighs, what am I doing? But then she remembers his face as he was devouring the lunch yesterday. 'I haven't eaten a homemade lunch like this in ages...' And just like that, all her doubts get pushed back. She grabs the two lunchboxes and puts them in her bag, ready to leave.

---

Joohyun was sitting in the class, fidgeting. All this time she was trying to come with a plan to give Taehyung his lunch without drawing any attention. Now it was almost time for lunch break and she still has no idea how to do it in a casual, low key manner.

The bell rings and students start getting up one by one and leaving. Oh my god! What should I do? She starts to panic. She turns around, worried that Taehyung had already left. To her relief, he was still in his seat. He was looking at his phone, frowning in concentration.

Joohyun looks around to see that most of the students have left and those remaining were in groups chatting, not paying her any attention. This is my chance! she thinks and gets up. She quickly walks up to Taehyung, who was still busy with his phone. She places the lunchbox on his desk and he looks up, startled. "I'm having lunch with my friends today," she informs. Then she turns around and hurries out of the class, not waiting for his reaction.

What was that!? What was she thinking!? Joohyun curses at herself all way to the cafeteria, wondering why she keeps acting so weird and gets herself into all these awkward situations.

---

Later in the cafeteria, Joohyun shares her lunch with Seulgi and Wendy, who are full of praises for her cooking. Even Seulgi, who preferred fast food more than homemade food seemed to have loved it, saying she might ask her mom to start preparing her a lunchbox like Joohyun's from tomorrow. Wendy who brings her own lunchbox, prepared by a professional cook, said she preferred Joohyun's more. Joohyun didn't know if they really meant it or they were just being nice, but she didn't care, she was happy nonetheless.

After lunch, Joohyun accompanies Wendy, who was interested in checking out the student council election results so far. Out of the three candidates running for the president, Bogum seems to be leading by a huge margin. Joohyun had heard Bogum's campaign speech this morning in the assembly and she has to admit, he was perfect for the position.

Wendy agrees with her and was sure he'd win. She told Joohyun that she had already approached Bogum yesterday, regarding the treasurer's position in the council and that he had accepted her request. Joohyun wasn't really surprised, considering the fact that Wendy was a math genius.