sᴍᴏᴋᴇ ༄ ʙᴀɴɢ ᴄʜᴀɴ

34장

it was the week before the contest and school dismissal. finally, the list of qualified contestants were posted on the school board.

the whole music club was busy, especially the three heads: bambam, minji, and woojin. there were so much to be done such as arranging the stage, contacting people for stage lights & sounds and such. as of now, minji was contacting people for the lights and sounds, which wasn't really that stressful because they were mostly working for the school's lights and sounds.

woojin on the other hand was stressed. keeping  club funds was way harder than you think it is, especially when they're sometimes short on money. right now he was doing paperworks for the funds.

and bambam? well, he's not quite stressed. okay maybe just a little. he was the one monitoring the stage preparations and also doing paperworks.

on the other hand, chan was also busy doing something for the contest. he decided to rearrange a song, which wasn't really new to him but is kind of special since he got into the competition.

"you can set up on thursday, since the event is on friday. i hope there'll be no problemes. thank you so much! okay, bye." at the moment, minji was talking to the lights and sound crew, telling them to set up the day before the contest. she was inside the school grounds together with other music club members who were helping decorate the stage. bambam was currently there too, supervising the whole thing beside minji.

"oh yeah, about yesterday. i'm sorry jae was like that." bambam started.

"was like what?"

"you know, the couple stuff. no offense, but i don't like you that way and i know you know that." he said, minji nodded, smiling at bambam.

"yeah i know. i mean, who'd like you?" she said jokingly to which bambam rolled his eyes to and smiled. 

"besides, someone else like you." bambam muttered to himself. minji looked at him with a confused expression. bambam waved his hand, telling her it was nothing. 

meanwhile at the music room, woojin was very very  stressed with calculating the money. thankfully, yet also unfortunately, minho was there to help him, well, bug him.

"you know if you just bank transfer these, your life would be easier." minho said, poking his friends cheek. woojin rolled his eyes.

"well if the school made us a bank account i wouldn't be struggling like this." he said to his friend while writing down expenses. a knock was then heard by them. minho checked to look who it was, and turns out it was hyunjin with a plastic bag full of food. minho saw this and his eyes sparkled for a second before realizing they were for minji. hyunjin waved at them, going to where woojin was. 

hyunjin gave him a sandwich and handed him a bottle of water, "i know how busy you guys are today. so i decided to give you guys snacks. where's bambam hyung and noona?" he asked. 

"thanks for being thoughtful not only to minji, hyunjin. there at the grounds, probably with each other too so it won't be hard to find them." woojin explain, still writing stuff.

"do i have a sandwich too?" minho said to hyunjin, smiling. hyunjin shook his head no awkwardly smiling.  minho pouted nd woojin slapped his back, making minho wince in pain.

"you're not even part of the music club and you bug me even while i'm doing my work." woojin rolled his eyes and looked t hyunjin, apologixing about his friend.

"i'll go now, hyungs. thanks and bye!" hyunjin said, walking to the direction of the school grounds. 

5 minutes of walking to the grounds, he finally arrived and instantly saw minji. the gir also saw him and waved, giving him a smile. the boy approached minji and gave her the snacks, saying hi to baambam and giving him one too. 

"oh, thanks dude!" bambam said, getting the food and smiing at the boy. 

"what's the ocassion, jinnie?" minji asked, making bambam fake barf at the nickname. 

"nothing, noona. i just know how stressed you guys are today so i decided on buying you these. i also gave some to woojin hyung." he then added, "can we talk outside for awhile? if you guys don't mind." the soon-to-be couple looked at bambam, waiting for his approval. he nodded, letting them go somewhere private. 

"noona, you know how much i like you, right?" hyunjin started as the arrived at the garden. most students don't go there, but they didn't know someone was eavesdropping on their conversation. minji nodded slowly, not sure where this conversation was going. 

"i just.." hyunjin said, walking closer to her, closing the gap between them. minji was left in shock, freezing instantly. no, please. hyunjin don't. i still don't want to, she thought. but no words were coming out of her mouth. his hands came to her cheeks, cupping her face and pulling it slowly closer to his. their foreheads were together, minji not knowing what to do. she didn't wanna hurt hyunjin, but she didn't want to hurt hersel, too.

"hyunjin, stop, please." she whispered, closing her eyees. hyunjin stopped, moving backwards.

"noona, what's wrong? am i not likeable enough?" he asked, confused. anger started to burn within him and it was showing on his eyes, minji noticing and getting scared.

"jinnie, i swear, you are. i-i'm just not ready-"

"then what's wrong?!" he yelled, fist in the air, aimed right at the girl.

it was as if the moment was in slow motion. minji was waiting to feel the pain of his punch, but it never came, she slowly opened her eyes to see what was going on and saw that chan was holding hyunjin's fist in front of her.

"don't you dare." chan said in a low voice, warning hyunjin. the boy glared at the older.

"and why do you care? don't you bully her? don't play all heroic, chan. i know what you've been doing to her." he said.

"but i never, even once, tried kissing her on the lips and forcing her to do something she doesn't wanna do." he practically yelled, making minji grasp chan's arm to calm him down. it worked, thankfully. 

"let's just get out of here, chan." she said, looking at him with tears. chan's fiery eyes then softened, seeing that minji looked so fragile. he nodded, holding her hand and leading her somewhere else leaving hyunjin by himself, punching the wall.