BETWEEN US || STRAY KID'S HWANG HYUNJIN

03

[AERI'S POV]

the lunch bell rang, "okay, you're dismissed for lunch."

"oh my god, finally. that was pure torture, i'm starving!" yoojung ranted.

"let's go be pigs. i'm so hungry i could die." i pulled her to the cafeteria.

"it's our favourite omurice today! let's go queue." my eyes widened in excitement.

while queuing, the girls behind us were talking about some basketball practice after school today, really loudly.

"wanna go watch? stray kids will be there!" the girls fangirled, squealing and jumping.

stray kids? that means hyunjin will be there, right?

stray kids is what they call their group, i have no idea why. but stray kids is quite popular in this school.

"are you going?" yoojung whispered softly in my ear.

"should i? he will be there right?" i whispered back.

"i think you should go, you can try to get closer to him." yoojung nudged me.

"are you gonna accompany me?" i asked her with puppy eyes.

"i would, but i can't today, i have to get home for my little brother's birthday party.." she apologized.

"it's okay, i'll just go by myself. wish jungwoo a happy birthday on my behalf!" i gave her a thumbs up, assuring her that i'll be fine alone.

"don't embarrass yourself when i'm not there, got it?" yoojung eyed me.

"i won't, why would i!" i chuckled.

we got our omelette rice and was walking pass the long queue for it when i heard jisung complain, "there's no more omurice? we waited so long!"

i turned back to see that the stall owner changed the sign that said "today's dish: omurice" to "today's dish: kimchi stew"

i looked at hyunjin and the rest of stray kids who were queuing.

all of them looked disappointed, even hyunjin clearly looked disappointed.

"what are you doing still standing there? let's go sit down and eat–" yoojung asked.

"you go ahead and find a seat first."

she stared at me a little confused for a bit before nodding and walking off.

i approached hyunjin who was just standing there quietly while the rest were complaning.

"um.. i managed to get a plate. you can have it."

i put the tray in his hands and walked away to find yoojung before he could return it to me.

i could hear the boys making a big fuss about it from behind.

"i want it too! this is not fair!"

i sat opposite yoojung, hoping she would not ask me about my food.

"what happened to your food?" not happening.

"nothing much."

"don't tell me you gave yours to hyunjin." she nodded her head towards the stall where the group of boys are.

they were all carrying trays of kimchi stews while hyunjin was carrying a tray of omurice.

"mhm."

"are you a fool? you said you were so hungry you could die, what were you thinking giving your food to him?"

yoojung facepalmed, pushing her plate of omurice to aeri.

"i'll share with you. you really wanted to eat omurice, didn't you?"

"you eat, you were hungrier than me." i pushed the plate back to her.

"do you mind if we join you girls?" a boy i recognised as chan who was part of stray kids asked.

"sure." i smiled, looking at yoojung who was turning red.

if it isn't obvious enough, yoojung has a crush on chan. it has been going on for about a month?

it seems like chan likes her too to me. i ship them so bad.. can they just get together already?

chan took a seat next to her, while the rest of the boys pushed hyunjin to sit next to me.

hyunjin just sighed and sat down, "thanks." he thanked me softly before digging into his food.

i smiled, nodding.

"woah, seungmin are you that hungry? two bowls of kimchi stew?" yoojung pointed out in shock.

seungmin put one bowl infront of me, "nah, one is for aeri."

"me? oh my god, thank you so much! how much is it? i'll pay you back." i said excitedly, looking at the food infront of me. doesn't matter what it is, i'm too hungry to care.

"my treat. you must be hungry, eat." he winked, moving to sit beside hyunjin.

"ooohhh! seungmin is growing up!" felix teased.

"if you were hungry you shouldn't have gave me your food." hyunjin grumbled quietly, loud enough for us to hear.

"just be appreciative and eat." woojin smacked his head.

"oww! okay, okay.. i will." hyunjin stuffed himself, finishing half of the food already.

this resulted in him having tomato sauce all over his lips, i laughed at the sight. he looked like a big baby.

"aren't you going to eat?" he asked me coldly, glaring at me.

the tomato sauce on his face did not match well with his coldness.

i didn't reply and took a piece of tissue that was given with the food and cutlery, "there's sauce around your lips and a bit on your cheek."

his eyes widened but he quickly composed himself, wiping his lips with the tissue, but he was missing the spots with the sauce.

i took the tissue from him, leaning closer and wiping the sauce off for him.

"don't touch me, i'll do it myself." he took the tissue back, wiping his entire face again in a hurry.

"i wiped it all off already." i chuckled, looking at his flustered expression.

i started eating, not wanting to cause him to feel more uncomfortable.

the rest of the boys burst out laughing at this scene, causing hyunjin to quickly eat the remaining food on his plate.

"i'm done eating, i'll go first." he stood up, leaving the table.

"where is he going?"

we all looked at each other in confusion, before bursting out in a fit of laughter again.