Jaemin the Icy Prince and Me - Na Jaemin NCT

7. A Confession and A Stalker

I walk into school this morning, and there he is, walking ahead of me, light hair fluttering in the wind.

I hitch my backpack a little higher, and wonder, for a second, whether I should run up to him. I could say, hey, Jaemin, wait up, I'm your fake girlfriend, we kissed, so, yeah, how 'bout we walk to school together from now on? That sounds pretty desperate, I know, but I've got a plan to work on here, and that's to get him for fall for me by...hm, say, Valentine's Day next year? That's about nine months from now. I chew my lips, and that's when this girl comes running up to him. 

She's got this huge pink ribbon on her hair, and she's bouncing up and down like the Easter Bunny on crack, and I can hear her saying, "Na Jaemin, I've got something for you..."

And she pulls out her hands from behind her back, and there's a huge pink envelope. She bows, and gives it to him, and says, "Please accept my heartfelt confession."

He glances at the envelope, and then he's walking on, as if the girl's invisible, and the poor girl's bounce just dies, it shrivels up before my eyes, and she's standing, the pink envelope in her limp hand, standing there, frozen, her face red, and staring after him. A whole bunch of people have gathered, and are giggling, and whispering. The girl starts, comes back to life, like the creepy mummy girl in that old Mummy show that I watched last night on TV, runs after him, and blocks his path.

She shoves the pink envelope higher this time, right in his face.

She must have pretended that he hadn't seen her.

Love is remarkably resilient in the face of obstacles, even one as stone-faced and chilling as the Icy Prince, Nam Jaemin, who, by the way, also happens to be my fake boyfriend.

She's looking up longingly into his face.

Oh God.

I want to dig a hole right now, under the gravelly drive, and push her in, and jump in after her.

Stop. Don't demean yourself anymore. He's ignoring you. Have some pride, will you?

But, she's saying, in a childish, high-pitched voice, "I like you, Nam Jaemin. I've liked you for three years. Please, give me a chance."

He takes the envelope ftom her, finally. She breaks into a smile.

He rips the envelope into two halves, a crackling, sharp sound, deafening in the sudden stillness, echoing in the heavy, watchful silence. He hands the two torn pieces of the envelope to her, and she takes them, unresisting.

"Who are you?" His voice is icy, like frosty snow on a cold winter's night. "I don't know you."

The girl stands, stunned.

He turns slighly, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes, and our eyes meet.

He points to me.

"That," he says coolly, "is my girl over there."

He walks toward me, reaches out for my limp hand, and pulls me with him to where the girl's standing, her face crumpled, broken, on the verge of tears.

"Let me introduce my girlfriend." He puts his arm around my stiff shoulder. "This here is Kim Mina. We're dating."

He walks me off, smooth as butter, the crowd falling back behind us.

"You hurt her," I say. "You - you could have been kinder."

"You know what's the most annoying thing in the world? Let me tell you, the most annoying thing in the world is to have some strange girl walk up to you first thing in the morning when you're in zombie mode, and your brains's still not woken up, and tell you that she likes you, out of the blue." He looks bored. "It all boils down to plain old selfishness."