Life Lessons [Park Jimin]

Chapter 36

Yeji

"Hey Mr. Park! How has your day been so far?" I ask brightly as I sit down at my desk across from his.

He looks up at me, a mixture of shock and confusion on his face.

I don't blame him. My mood has done a complete 180 since I walked out of this room last night.

Things have only changed externally though. Inside, I still feel heartbroken and disoriented from all the mixed signals. But I can pretend. I've gotten really good at masking my emotions over the years.

And I realized that I'm not going to win Jimin over by continuing to sulk and getting mad at him. I have to remind him of how easy it is with me, even if that means stepping back into the friendzone for a little.

"Uh... It's been fine," he answers hesitantly, looking around the room at the other students as they walk in, before turning back to look at me.

"Just fine?" I ask, frowning a little to show my concern.

"Yeah. I fought with someone I care about yesterday, so I didn't sleep well," he says, quietly enough so that only I hear it.

But then he lets out a sigh, squeezing his eyes closed and looking away, as if disappointed in himself for admitting that.

Good. The wall he's trying to put up between us isn't very strong yet. He still lets his guard down with me.

"Okay class, today we are covering-" he stands up from his desk before I can say anything back, and starts his lesson.

And I just watch as he teaches, admiring him as always. Not even just the way his hair shimmers slightly under the light, or the way his dress shirt tightens around his arm when he lifts it to write on the board, but also the way he patiently re-explains things when the other students are confused, and genuinely smiles once they finally understand.

I never stood a chance. How was I supposed to not fall for him?

"Okay, that's all for today. There's still a few minutes before the bell, so feel free to chat amongst yourselves or ask me any questions before the bell," he says, before moving back to his desk.

When he glances over at me, I just hold a thumbs up and smile, silently conveying that I liked his lecture as always. But then I turn to talk to my friends. It can't be too obvious that I'm trying to do more than just fix things between us.

"Tae, Haewon told me during lunch that you wouldn't pay for her stuff on your date yesterday," I scold the boy, who's gaze flicks between me and his girlfriend before scoffing.

"Did she tell you where our date was?" he questions, sounding defensive.

"No?" I say, also turning to look at Haewon, who just smiles sheepishly.

"We went to the mall and she bought like a bazillion things. I paid for lunch and shit, but I can't afford all that!" he whines.

I laugh a little. Of course Haewon would spin the story like that.

"Bro, you better get a good job because if you don't treat her like a princess, then someone else will," I tease him.

"Yah, don't say that! I'd rather be poor with my Taehyungie than be rich with someone else," Haewon says, reaching over to hold his hand reassuringly.

"I know love, Yeji is just bitter because guys wouldn't treat her like a princess even if they had the money to," Taehyung tosses back.

"Yah, bros over hoes!" I scoff at Haewon when she laughs at Tae's insult.