Mean to Me | Im Youngmin

Mean - 18

"Ji-hye."

Ji-hye is taken aback by the calm, soothing voice, so she immediately looks up to see the person she least expects to see at the moment.

He kneels on one knee in front of her so that their faces are at the same level now. "Are you okay? Why are you outside? Why haven't you changed yet? Where are your things?" Sewoon asks without pausing even just for a little bit. She hears the slight panic in his voice, which is very unlikely of him, that Ji-hye can't help but wonder all the more.

Before she could even respond to Sewoon, someone else calls her name, just loud enough to be heard even under the pouring rain.

Both of them turn to see Donghyun approaching with an umbrella on one hand and a familiar-looking gym bag on the other. He suddenly throws his umbrella away and rushes to sit by her side.

"I was so worried! I was searching everywhere for you! Why did I not think of looking for you here? I can't believe I'm so stupid!" He says, all frustrated, as he brushes his hair back. He's too focused on the girl that it seems that he didn't even notice Sewoon's presence.

Donghyun then cups her face with both hands. "Are you okay? What the hell happened?"

"I'm--"

"Why did you leave your gym bag at the hallways?"

"I didn't--"

"Damn it, you must be so cold!"

"You're right, dude. She is cold," Sewoon says with an emphasis on how cold she is. "So before questioning her, why don't we make her change first because it looks like she's freezing already?" He adds.

Donghyun doesn't say anything back to Sewoon as he hands Ji-hye's bag to her.

"Are you sure you're fine by yourself?" He asks her instead.

"Yes, thank you," she says as she reaches for her stuff. She turns to Sewoon and asks, "Can I borrow this for a while?" while holding his flannel shirt closely to her shivering body. Suddenly, she feels shy realizing that underneath the thin cloth, she's just in her swimwear.

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks, I'll be back in a few," she says before making a run for the shower room. Once inside, she checks to see if all her stuff are inside her bag. Once she realizes that nothing is missing, she takes a quick, warm shower before changing back to her uniform. She folds Sewoon's shirt neatly before making her way outside.

"I would be the one to take her home."

"But I promised--"

Sewoon is cut off as she appears in front of them.

"Thank you for the shirt, Sewoon," she says while handing the red and blue checkered top to him.

"You can keep it first, Ji-hye," he responds. "It's really cold, you should wear it."

She doesn't know what to do, so she remains standing there while trying to give Sewoon back his shirt. Donghyun takes this as a chance to grab the shirt from her hands and places it atop her shoulders.

"Sewoon's right. Wear it first to make you warm." He instructs, and she remains quiet, unable to say anything.

"But really though? What happened? Why did you leave your gym bag at the corridor?" Sewoon sees this as his chance to talk.

"I didn't. I actually brought it here, and I'm sure I placed it inside the locker room. It's the only thing I brought with me here as I left my school bag inside my locker." With this, she suddenly remembers her keys inside her pocket and she checks to see if they are still there. She breathes a sigh of relief as she feels the tiny piece of cold metal in her fingertips.