Mean to Me | Im Youngmin

Mean - 5

It's a Sunday morning and Ji-hye can't believe she's running late. Out of all commitments to be late for, it had to be this one!

She runs as if her life is on the line -- because it might be, after all -- until she reaches the coffee shop where she is supposed to meet her groupmates. She checks her phone for the time and she sees that she's actually twelve minutes late than the agreed meeting time. She mentally curses herself.

From the glass window, she counts the number of people already sitting at the far corner of the cafe.

Three. Everyone except her is already there.

Including the red-head.

She frowns at the thought. Suddenly, she doesn't want to go in anymore.

Before she could even turn her back, Donghyun notices her and waves wildly while smiling.

And just like that, there goes her chance of escaping.

She sighs deeply before entering the door. While walking to where her groupmates are, she thinks of all the possible excuses she can give as to why she's late.

Slept in? Nah, Youngmin would criticize her irresponsibility.

Had a family emergency? He would know she's lying since he seems to know everything that's going on in their household because of Hayoung.

Not feeling well? "Ugh..." she thinks to herself, not even realizing she has reached their table.

"Hi, Ji-hye!" Donghyun greets her cheerfully. Although caught off-guard by his brightness, she smiles shyly in return.

"I'm sorry, I'm late. I had to--" But before she can even give her excuse, which she doesn't really know what is, Youngmin interrupts her.

"Let's start. We lost almost fifteen minutes waiting."

Ji-hye lowers her gaze, and this time, Donghyun gives her an apologetic smile.

The day she cried because of Youngmin, she decided she'd have to avoid him at all cost. However, fate must be playing a game with her because the same afternoon, in Literature, she was grouped with him for a major book report, which makes up almost half of their grade. She tried to ask their professor to switch her to another group, but because she couldn't provide a "valid" reason for the transfer, she wasn't allowed to.

Now, she has to endure this set-up if she doesn't want to flunk Lit.

In the middle of working, she glances at the three guys in front of her. They are all pre-occupied in front of the laptop Donghyun brought. They're snickering at something.

Ji-hye sighs quietly.

If there's anything more awkward than being in the same group as the person who despises you the most in your class, it's being grouped with him and his two closest friends.

Jung Sewoon, Kim Donghyun and Im Youngmin are the kindest guys in the campus. They're friends with literally everyone. Except that for Youngmin, Ji-hye is not a part of "everyone". They're also smart and good-looking. They're basically a bunch of really popular but nice guys.

She's sure a lot of girls would give anything to be on her spot right now.

Well, she'd gladly give it up for nothing at all.

A little past two in the afternoon, with almost all of the report being finished, Ji-hye brings herself to speak after hours of staying quiet.

"Guys."

Sewoon and Donghyun glances at her. Youngmin, on the other hand, stays focused while typing something.

"I'm sorry, but I really have to be somewhere else right now. Is it okay if I leave a little earlier than agreed upon?" she asks as she places her things on her bag.

"It's okay, Ji-hye. We'll wrap up in a while then maybe we can compile everything tomorrow after class?" Sewoon tells her.

"Yes, the report's three days away from now, so there's no rush. I'm okay with tomorrow afternoon," Donghyun agrees.

Youngmin doesn't lift his eyes from what he's doing, so Ji-hye just takes it as a yes on his part.

She bids the three, rather two boys, goodbye and begins to walk towards the door.

While leaving, she hears Youngmin mumble, "Tsk, she's the last to arrive yet the first to leave. How self-centered." Donghyun then proceeds to scold his friend.

But Ji-hye doesn't pay attention to it. Instead, she makes her way out of the cafe. She has no time to be bothered by his remarks today. She has somewhere important to be, and she can't be late for that.

Holding fresh sunflowers on one hand, she boards the bus to her destination. She chooses a seat near the end, just like she always does. She checks her phone again for the time and sees that she's actually just on time.

The thought relaxes her as she dozes off easily to sleep for the entire ride.

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This is sort of a filler chapter because I want to prepare myself for the next one...

Because it might give some answers? Hahahahahahahaha bye