It Just Happened That Way || JEONGIN from skz!

16

Yeona's POV

"So what happens now?" The conversation was faltering on the last stretch of the walk from the subway station back home. I felt a sense of relief, and also felt like it was alright to ask this.

"In what sense?"

"Well, Jessi is the person who told me about the photo when it first surfaced. Am I supposed to explain to her that, Yes, I am friends and neighbors with THE Jeongin of Stray Kids?" This had been on my mind for a while during the commute. How was I supposed to protect Jeongin's privacy? To what extent was I expected to do so?

"Hmm. I think that it might be a bad idea to say anything about us being neighbors. Unless...does she already know that?"

"No, no, of course not. She doesn't know anything about you except that you came to pick me up for ice cream that one night."

"Oh!" Jeongin smiles in relief. "Then just keep that truth from her. I think it's okay to confirm to her, and also I think it might be good to emphasize that...my privacy should be respected."

He looked so awkward saying that. I can't help but to laugh at him a little.

"Oh come on, it would be bad if it got out that you lived next door to me!"

"I know, I know," I laugh at him a little more before explaining, "You just look so awkward having to explain the life of a famous person."

"It IS awkward!!! I sound like an asshole, honestly!"

"Okay!!! I understand!!! You aren't an asshole, I believe you!"

We laugh as we go up the elevator. Before we say goodnight, I turn and look at him. 

"Jeongin, I really am sorry for having kept this from you."

"Stop, I'm sorry for overreacting."

"Let's not do this again. Let's be reasonable and honest, and act like adults."

"Okay, yeah, we're full grown," he says affirmatively, with a small smile on his lips. 

The next day, I go to the climbing gym with renewed energy. I go and say hello to my climbing friends, including Jessi.

"Oh, you're gonna climb with us today?" She says jokingly.

"Aw come on, I just wasn't in a good mood...I'll tell you about it later."

Her eyes get big and she gives me a big smile, knowing what I'm going to tell her.

We go and climb for a couple hours, each of us sending our projects, and getting in a short Moonboard session.

As we wash the chalk off of our hands, and pack up our gear, I can already feel Jessi's anticipation — she's practically vibrating with excitement.

The second we leave the gym, she grabs my arm and drags me over to the nearby convenience store.
"OKAY SPILL, is it actually —" she stops, looks around with a sneaky look on her face, before whispering, "Jeongin from Stray Kids?"

I smirk at her silly antics, and give her a slight nod.

"No WAY. NO WAY! How on EARTH did you end up friends with Jeongin from Stray Kids?"

"Okay first of all, I need to be completely honest and lay down some ground rules." I sounded silly saying it, but I didn't want to be guilted into answering questions that didn't need to be answered.

She pouts and nods.

"First, I can't tell you a lot. Please please please understand that, Jessi. I love you and I trust you, I do, I really do! I just can't tell anyone about everything just because I can't risk his life being turned upside down because something got out."

"Oh my god, Yeona, you KNOW I would never do that!"

"I know, I know! It's just, I don't know, I don't want to risk anything that would make me the bad guy. He wants it this way too, and I have to respect that. And anyway, there are so many goddamn sasaengs in this country, like the fuck?"

She crosses her arms, but I can tell that she's not actually mad. She huffs a big sigh, and mutters, "Okay fine, I understand..."

"Okay," I say slowly, with a cheeky smile. "So yes. It's Jeongin from Stray Kids, and yes, we are quite good friends." I nudge her shoulder, trying to tease a reaction out of her.

She throws up her hands and sighs. "What am I allowedddd to know?" I can tell she feels indignant because of the restrictions in what she's allowed to know. 

"You're allowed to know that...he's very nice. He was my first friend here!"
"Wait what? You move to Korea, and the first person you became friends with is a globally known idol? What kind of glorious thing did you do in your past life to deserve this amount of luck?"

"Dude I don't know. And it was so coincidental. We first met at a cafe."

"What?? God, I'm just gonna go sit at cafes all day now. Maybe I'll run into Jimin, and get married."

We laugh, and keep talking nonsense about who else we could coincidentally run into, who we could just happen to become friends with, who we could just happen to get married to. It was nice to talk about these silly nothings with her, after so long of not having talked to her openly. Although it wasn't that open right now, it was nice to have someone who knew about the secret to share the excitement with.