Pandora's Box | kim mingyu & jeon wonwoo

03

I had a habit of using my class breaks to visit Wonwoo, and usually, there was never a problem.

But today, there seemed to be something different in the air.

When I walked in, I was surprised to find his classmates in an uproar. As I made my way towards Wonwoo and his friends, I couldn't help but notice the way his classmates were all gathered into little groups, each gossiping just as intensely as the other. When I finally reached Wonwoo and his group, I was stunned to find that they were not an exception.

"Hey," I greeted everyone.

"Mingyu!" Wonwoo greeted me cheerily, and immediately, he began to pull out the chair next to him and gestured for me to sit. Wonwoo didn't have a seatmate, rendering me his temporary seatmate whenever I showed up. This allowed me to daydream, that in another life, a life where he and I had been the same age, I would never have to leave his side.

It was a nice dream, all things considered.

Unlike usual, however, was the way Wonwoo's friends were all huddled around his desk. Jihoon-hyung and Soonyoung-hyung both occupied the desks directly behind Wonwoo. Today, however, the pair had taken their chairs and seated themselves right in front of Wonwoo's desk. Junhuin-hyung was nowhere to be found. Aside from sitting at Wonwoo's desk, the pair were also intently looking out the window, but at what, I could not know.

"What are they doing?" I whispered, making sure my lips were close to Wonwoo's ear. I didn't want to interrupt.

Wonwoo chuckled, and he too leaned closer into my ear. I could feel his breath on the side of my neck and goosebumps began to form all over my body. I tried to ignore it.

"I don't know. They said they saw something earlier, but whatever it was, it disappeared. I think they're waiting for it to reappear." 

I nodded, but I didn't fully understand. Is this what the entire class was in an uproar about? Had it been an alien? Had it been a ghost? No matter how much I thought about it, there was nothing on this earth that could have been interesting enough to create such a disruption.

Finally, Jihoon-hyung decided to put me out of my misery by acknowledging my existence.

"Hey, Mignyu!" Jihoon suddenly exclaimed, slightly startling both Wonwoo and me. "Did you see her?" Jihoon hyung asked. He said, "her" with such intent, that it was clear he wasn't talking about just anybody. Even still, I had no idea who he was talking about.

His intensity amused me so I let out a chuckle. "Her?" I voiced my confusion, "Who's he talking about?" I asked Wonwoo, turning to face him. I was met with his cat-like eyes and I immediately had to look away. I was afraid he would be able to look into my thoughts, and at the moment, they had been incredibly indecent.

If he noticed anything, he didn't say. Instead, Soonyoung piped up and answered my question, "You don't know?" Soonyoung-hyung asked in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" I asked again. "I'm being so for real," I added, just in case they thought I was trying to be funny. "Did I miss something?"

"Dude," Jihoon said, looking at me in disbelief. "Where have you been?" He said, shaking his head at me. "She's literally in your grade!" Jihoon suddenly exclaimed, and that was the final straw for me.

"Can you just tell me what the fuck you're talking about?" I said, unable to hide my annoyance. But Jihoon shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips. He was probably amused by my obliviousness. I didn't care. I just hoped that all this commotion was worth it and that I hadn't wasted my time paying attention to something incredibly stupid.