chewing gumㅡ재민

01

          “boo!”

pairs of eyes began to glare at nari, judging her as to why she screamed in the middle of a lecture. nari bowed in apology while she discreetly pinched the guy who surprised her.

“how nice of you mr. huang to finally join the class after being an hour late,” their instructor glared at renjun, who is now scratching the back of his neck in embarassment.

“i'm sorry sir, i've just—”

“you have just finished your visual arts class. ok i get it. you're smart mr. huang but taking two courses at the same time will tire you out.”

nari was surprised, she knew renjun is a genius but she only knew today that he's taking another course aside from engineering. renjun muttered an i'll tell you later to the confused girl then they proceeded to listen to their instructor.

their class ended earlier than expected. nari and renjun fixed their things as they talk about renjun's revelation of having two courses at the same time. it turned out that he had just started studying visual arts this semester. nari noticed that renjun didn't really want to talk about it so she didn't push him to talk.

“i'm going to be extra busy. don't miss me too much, nari.”

nari sighed, “you know that you're my only friend here.”

“do you want to meet my friends?”

“that is not a good idea—renjun what the fuck!”

nari couldn't finish her sentence when renjun grabbed her hand and ran. she doesn't know why her heart is going crazy. is it because her crush is holding her hand? or is it because they're running now?

they entered the university cafeteria and ran to a table with 5 boys sitting around it. the spot was a mess: three boys are playing mobile games while screaming when something happens in their game occasionally and two boys are singing and rapping but can't finish a whole song.

“jisung, you looked like chenle killed you in the game,” renjun laughed at jisung while he motions nari to sit beside him.

“it was just an accident—oh hyung, who is she?”

they all turned their heads to nari's direction because of what chenle said. “can you stop staring? you're scaring her,” renjun snapped at the boys.

renjun introduced the boys to nari. donghyuck and nari instantly clicked. she then learned that the boys were friends since middle school and despite having different courses they're taking, they still hang out with each other.

“where's jaemin?” renjun asked.

“he said that he's on his—oh there he is.”

jaemin, with his usual cold and expressionless face, sat beside jeno that was facing nari. he ate some of donghyuck's food and drank mark's watermelon juice. the corner of his lips has a small cut and he has a wound on his left eyebrow. the boys were already used to this. obviously, jaemin got into a fight again.

noticing a familiar face, nari smiled, “oh, it's you again!”

“who are you?”

“hey, we met yesterday,” nari huffed, slightly offended because jaemin doesn't seem to recognize her.

jaemin stood up and ready to leave. “you're leaving already?” mark questioned him.

jaemin just hummed in response before walking away. the boys knew something's up with jaemin but they didn't push it because they also knew that jaemin will talk if he's ready.

but nari didn't. as if her body acted on its own, she bid goodbye to the boys and followed jaemin. coming right on time, she caught jaemin pulling out a cigarette from a pack.

“strawberry bubblegum?”

jaemin looked at her and put the cigarette back on the pack. “i hate strawberries.”

nari let out an oh. she didn't know what to say. heck, she didn't even know why she's here when she could've spent time with her crush.

jaemin can leave the place or he could ask nari to leave the place but he chose not to. second attempt failed, he thought. feeling the need of distraction, he snatched the gum on nari's hand and put it in his mouth.

he closed his eyes to try to chew it without cringing. there were two things that ran into jaemin's mind: he really hates strawberries and why the fuck is he doing this.