The Crush Formula | ONC 2020

ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝕍𝕀

The Next Day

Noon was once again approaching fast as the sun rose higher above the Monegasque sidewalks that my teammates and I walked on. After passing by a few cypress and pine trees, the four of us began to see what seemed to be a garden full of colorful roses. Though roses were never my favorite flowers, the serene scenery of the garden was somehow satisfying and refreshing for me to look at.

After passing by a few flowerbeds, we saw an empty wooden bench. With aching legs, we quickly walked towards the bench and sat on it before anyone else could claim it. Not long, we all unpacked our bags to get our practice books and then reviewed our marked answers to each of the problems.

It was all quiet for the next few minutes before I heard Ravi sighing.

"Uh, does anyone know the semiconductor that is used as both cathode and anode that is also the most efficient for water splitting upon a given solar shining?" Ravi asked before groaning about the said question. "I honestly don't know."

"It's cadmium sulfide," I answered in an instant.

"Thanks, Michiko."

"No probs, Ravi."

I resumed skimming through the problems when Sophie tapped her fingers on my shoulder.

"Michiko, can you ask me something?" she requested.

"Uh, sure, give me a sec," I replied, having decided on a random question that was on the page I was still reviewing from.

"So, tosyl chloride is used in the synthesis to enable what?"

"Isn't it the nucleophilic substitution of a..." 

Sophie ended her answer abruptly, making me wonder what made her do so. I didn't realize why until I spotted Minjun and his bros from afar. I quickly looked back at Sophie, who smiled dreamily and stared at the boys with starry eyes.

"Oh. My. Gosh," Sophie uttered breathlessly. "It is really them. It's really your Mr. McHottie..." she added before I shushed her by putting my finger on her lips.

"Ssshhh, Sophie, focus," I silently insisted.

"I am, but they are..."

"Look, Sophie. I already told you about this so many times before, but I don't want to date or have a boyfriend right now," I sharply objected before I was suddenly lost in my words, struggling to hold back tears forming in my eyes. "B-but...because of the dare yesterday, I had to relent."

"Hey, it's okay." Sophie gently rubbed my upper back. "I'm sure that you will do just fine in your exams, even though Minjun can be a troublemaker sometimes."

"Fine? I'm not." I scowled at her, still doubting her words. "What if we get caught by our mentors or worse - get kicked out of the competition and Monaco - all because of me going out with him?"

"Relax, you got this." Sophie reassured me. "And also who knows? He might be your soulmate, as you had said that you want someone who's smart and intellectual."

"I'll think about that later," I said before looking away to sort out my thoughts.

Not long, I could feel two hands massaging my shoulders from behind, causing me to yelp out of shock. I took a glance back, only to see Minjun staring at me with heart eyes and a silly grin.

"Minjun!?" I questioned. "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be studying?"

"Studying?" Minjun chuckled. "Tch, I'm done with that."

I crossed my arms, looking at him skeptically. "You sure? Cause you would not want to fail this and disappoint your parents."

"Actually...no. I'm done with everything else, except for my favorite part of chemistry."

"Then what?" I raised my eyebrows, waiting for him to say something sarcastic about the subject chemistry itself.

"You, my fair lady." he gave me a mischievous smirk.

"Really, smartypants? Is that it?" I shot back as my cheeks were starting to feel warm. "And for the last time, don't call me fair lady."

"Why not, Michiko-swan?" Minjun asked in a familiar accent.

"Do you have to?" I snapped before feeling embarrassed afterwards. "But I don't mind...I mean, you don't have to."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry about that," he apologized before his head came close to my ear, whispering.

"By the way, we still got to do the dare from yesterday."

Oh, crap. This was the death of me.

"Hey, guys." Youngjae's voice chirped in. "I wonder if they are canoodling by now."

"Look, they are not even canoodling. They are sitting around with other people," another voice reprimanded Youngjae. I assumed that the voice must have come from Bongju.

"Apparently, there's Michiko, Sophie, and two guys," Baekhyun added before muttering something to himself.

Meanwhile, Minjun and I had moved on to have another conversation about yesterday's exam. It went pretty normal at first, but when I saw Minjun's cheeks turning light pink, I nearly lost my mind. To be honest, I found it to be somewhat cute and adorable.

"Oh hey, good to see you guys again."

Sophie's voice brought me back to reality as I saw Baekhyun, Youngjae, and Bongju standing in front of us.

"Hi, Sophie. Hi, Michiko," Baekhyun greeted with a smile. "And who are these guys?"

"The one next to me is Ravi, and the one next to him is Hudson," Sophie told Baekhyun. "Ravi, Hudson, the tall boy is Minjun, the boy with brown hair is..."

"Let's get on with our date, shall we?" Minjun whispered to me, interrupting my train of thoughts.

I simply nodded.

"Well ladies first, so you go now," he continued.

I turned to Sophie, who, like usual, was talking. Only this time it was not only with Youngjae. "Sophie, I'll be going to a quieter place so that I can study. See ya in like an hour."

"No probs, Michiko," Sophie smiled. "If you're done, just give me a call."

I stood up, packed my bag, and went towards the right direction. Minutes later to my walk, I saw a red rose petal lying in my way. I thought it was just a petal randomly blown by the wind before seeing more of them being scattered on the stony path.

Could Minjun have done this, I pondered.

I continued to walk and walk before I felt two large hands covering my eyes, much to my pleasant surprise.

"Hey! I can't see!" I shrieked as I heard a boyish chuckle of none other than Minjun.

"You'll see."