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R E A D E R
A shiver ran down my spine when Sarutobi announced our club had officially entered the High School x ARTS contest thanks to our three comrades. I was amazed that we had managed to make it among two hundred high schools across the country. In the end, only fifty art clubs were chosen, including Bangtan High's.
I had no doubt when it came to my fellow members' talent. However, I wasn't so sure about my contribution. What would I do to help? Writing was out of question, and so did drawing.
"Psst, you okay?" I heard a disembodied voice coming from behind me
I turned around, looking up at Hyemon who was cautiously eyeing me. I nodded in response, but it didn't seem to convince her.
"Hyemon, Y/n; want to add something?" The president of the club brought the attention on us, causing me to blush lightly.
I shook my head no as Hyemon apologized for disturbing.
After the meeting, I picked my backpack and rushed off the room, wanting to be alone. Except Hyemon wasn't going to let me off so easily.
"Y/n!" she yelled my name, giving me no choice but to acknowledge her "What's wrong?"
Concern was written all over her face, and I felt bad for trying to escape. Dragging my feet towards her location, I let out a heavy sigh. The girl wasn't pleased at all; I could tell by the way her narrowed eyes watched me with obvious suspicion. She repeated the same question she asked less than a minute ago.
I shrugged, averting my eyes to the surprisingly cleaned floor. "I just feel useless."
There was no point in lying to her, knowing very well she'd insist to death. Also, I trusted Hyemon enough to be honest with her.
"What are you even talking about?" she rolled her eyes
"The contest. I won't be able to help; I suck at arts!"
At the same moment, Jungkook and Jae were passing by, sending warm smiles to the both of us. I nodded quietly, unsure of how to act around the boy I had recently shared my first kiss with. As you can imagine, we hadn't talked about it since then. I believed the both of us were too embarrassed to bring it up, which was better this way.
"You can always help us, Y/n. Which makes me think—I have a few sketches I should work on. Do you think you can help me?"
Quietly, I peeked at my classmate who was walking away with Jae by his side. Anything to get him out of my head.
With a small smile, I nodded. "Sure, let's do that."
❁ ✾ ❃ ❋
As a result, I went to Hyemon's the next day. While she was busy drawing outlines and facial features, I was in charge of the coloring part. At least I could do that.
Pop songs were playing as background music; which helped the girl's creative process. I didn't mind since it brought a soothing atmosphere. The both of us worked in a comfortable silence, humming the songs whenever we felt like doing it.
At some point, I was done with my part so I had nothing left to do. Thus, I chose to explore the room in search of whatever would keep me busy. Until my eyes landed on a photograph sitting on Hyemon's bedside table. It showed a boy of her age, smiling widely as someone's hand ruffled his hair. I noticed a small handwritten heart on the bottom of the picture, causing me to giggle.
"Is that your boyfriend?" I held the picture up, to which Hyemon made a disgusted face
"Gross." she sighed "That's my brother, Junseong."
I bit my bottom lip, realizing how similar the boy and her looked. "Why is there a heart on the picture?"
She shrugged, focusing back on her drawing. "Because I love him, even if he was the one who did it."
I couldn't help but chuckle, thinking Neha and Sonali could do the same. Carefully, I placed the photograph back on the table and continued my little tour. Meanwhile, I kept talking.
"You never mentioned him."
She hummed. "He's older than I am, so he moved out a few years ago."
"Oh." I mouthed, squinting my eyes to have a better look at the books she had "Do you miss him?"
Hyemon shrugged. "Not really. He visits us quite often. A bit too much, if you ask me."
As she kept drawing, I fell silent while exploring every inch of the room. The peaceful silence was soon interrupted by the hostess herself, shooting me a random yet destabilizing question.
"What's going on with Jungkook?"
See? Random! Yet, for some reason, I felt like telling her. A week ago, I shared my first kiss with none other than one of my closest friends. I didn't have the guts to tell Miria nor Jieun, not even Maya with whom I shared most of my secrets. This time, I kept the very unexcpected moment for myself, replaying the scene over and over as if it would help me figure out what the hell had happened.
And curious Hyemon was right here, tempting me all of the sudden. Perhaps it was the fact that she knew Jungkook better than my friends did, or because I could no longer hold the secret. I wasn't sure what reason motivated me, but I told her anyway.
"So, what are you going to do about it? Surely you guys will have to discuss it at one point!"
I bit my lower lip, dreading the inevitable talk. "I don't know what there is to say."
The girl rolled her eyes, looking at me.
"Do you like him?"
I blushed, vividly shaking my head from left to right. "Not at all!"
Hyemon cocked an eyebrow, staring at me with the most doubtful look.
"I'm serious, I don't like him like that. We're friends."
"Can't stop you from loving him."
"Oh, jumping straight to the loving part now?" I shook my head "I mean, I don't think I want to. Look what happened witb Haneul!"
"Jungkook isn't Haneul."
He sure wasn't. Jungkook was the opposite. A kind and open-minded friend who knew how to cheer me up like no one else. Did I like him? I couldn't be sure. Loved him, maybe? Impossible to know.
Still, there was one thing I knew for sure. We had to talk about it.
