Anyone But Him | JJK ✔️ (Completed)

Chapter 14

Kyung Ah seemed to be more eager to see me again after a weekend and my medical leave (not really, but my father put it that way). I didn't keep her updated on when I'd be making a return to school, so I gave her quite a pleasant surprise when I turned up that Monday morning.  She didn't wait for me in the morning outside my house like how she normally did, but remember that I didn't inform her when I'd come back.

"OMO, Chaewon!" Kyung Ah said, rushing up to me like a puppy happy to see its owner back home. "What happened to you? Teacher Nam said you're on sick leave. We haven't seen each other for, let's see..." She then attempted to count the number of days by hand with her fingers, but gave up after a few tries.

Pushing her hand aside, I unslung my bag and plopped it down on my chair. "Knock it off, Kyung Ah. You're being so like Dahee, and I'm so sick of her already. I don't need another Dahee clone."

Kyung Ah looked me up and down and noticed that I didn't retrieve my books from my locker. "Oh, some of your books are not with you, are they? I can fetch them for you!" She snatched my locker key (which I'd just fished out from my bag) from my hand and made a beeline out of the classroom like she was catching the train.

I opened and closed my mouth like goldfish, then made an exasperated face before dragging out my chair and sitting down.

Then from behind me, a drawling voice spoke. "Oh, you're finally back. I've been missing you, Chaewon." Jungkook emerged from behind me, slamming both of his hands on my desk threateningly.

Pretending to be unbothered by his intimidating look, I scoffed. "Oh yeah, Jungkook? If you did, the least you could have done is to send me a get-well card, instead of sticking your abnormally large nose into other people's business."

Jungkook gave me a nasty sneer. His eyes gleamed with a menacing light. "Right, right... I'll let you off today, Ahn Chaewon, but I promise I'll get back at you."

Kyung Ah skipped into the classroom at that moment. She stared at Jungkook's retreating back. "Was he bullying you again?" she asked in a low voice, setting a whole stack of books onto my table, breathing heavily. "Boy, are the books heavy." She dangled my locker key on her finger, and I unhooked it from it, dropping it into my unzipped back.

I nodded, scowling. Kyung Ah cracked her knuckles. "Right. Next time when he comes, I'll-" She made a violent movement in the air with her fist. "Kyung Ah!" I said, wringing her hands off. "He's not worth it." Jungkook was giving me the I'm watching you gesture, sitting on his desk with one leg dangling and the other one against the side of his desk.

"Your hand is much more precious than the whole of Junk Kook's stupid body," I said in a calming voice. "Also, don't go getting into hot water again. Teacher Nam might mete out a worser punishment than the one before. You know how creative she can get."

Kyung Ah gave Jungkook one last lingering glare. "Yes, I'm very much aware of that." Her voice took on a cold edge.

I tried to move the stack of books to under my table, and promptly crushed my pinky under it.

A laugh came from behind me. It was undoubtedly Jungkook. He was always observing me with much more concentration than most people, not because he had feelings for me, but because he always wanted to catch me in embarrassing or painful situations and have a good laugh over it. I used to have thoughts of giving him a few good smacks, but decided against it in the end.

"Oww!" I groaned, removing the weight with my free hand and shaking my other hand in the air in pain. "Why are there so many books, anyways? We're only having six subjects today, not the whole library!"

Giving me a sheepish look, Kyung Ah took out a few particular books slotted between the stack and showed me. "I also brought up some of your notes and... other subjects' textbooks, just in case you need it."