The Crush Formula | ONC 2020

ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝕍𝕀𝕀𝕀

The Next Day

Whew, time flew by so fast! A day had passed since my “date” with Minjun and looking back, it went quite well. As for today’s exam a few hours ago, it was a bit tougher than the last, but I managed to get them done before time was up. 

And here I was, eating lunch with other students in a large round table. Conversations went lively as we ate our hearty shares of our risottos and chicken breasts.

“What is your name?” a girl asked in a thick Italian accent.

“Thuy, you?”  a girl in the yellow t-shirt answered.

“Oh, I’m Bella. Where are you from?” 

“I am from Vietnam. You?”

“Italy, what about you guys?” Bella replied.

“I’m Zuri, and I’m from Nigeria,” a girl with a braided updo answered.

“Juliet, and I am from Australia,” a girl with ginger hair introduced herself.

“Sophie, from the U. S.,” Sophie chirped in. “How about we play the game ‘Popcorn Question?’”

“Sure!”

While nearly everyone agreed to play the game, I continued to munch on my meal, caring less about the ongoing talk. Minutes later, I was taking my last bite of the chicken breast when Juliet looked at me straight in the eyes. I glanced back at her, feeling confused as I was not playing the game.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” she innocently asked.

My mind froze for a few seconds.

A boyfriend? You mean Minjun? Wait, why did I mention him!? I didn’t even want a boyfriend now. Argh, things could only escalate from here.

I gulped down the last piece, rolling my eyes at the others.

“No.”

“You sure?” Zuri questioned. “Cause seems like you do.”

“I already know the ending to this,” Sophie added, making me more flustered.

“Come on,” Thuy begged. “It’s not like a big deal.”

“S-Stop,” I stuttered out of embarrassment. “I have never been in a relationship, plus I’m not interested in being in one at the moment…”

“Okay,” Juliet teased. “But you definitely have a crush on someone.”

“Hmm, I wonder who he was...” Bella said in a dreamy voice.

“Speaking of which, her chico is sitting right across us,” Sophie giggled.

Argh, Sophie, why!? And why did they have to bring this question up in the first place? Could they just be talking about something else?

I saw the girls struggling to hold in their giggles before diverting my gaze at Minjun, who gave me a childish grin. I wanted to be angry, but all I felt were butterflies flying in my stomach. Is there anything worse in this world than this fuzzy feeling? Cause I started to like it more than I wanted to admit.

Embarrassment aside, we carried on with our lunch as though nothing big happened. I drank the remaining apple juice when I heard the door suddenly slammed open, interrupting everyone from their conversations. The loudness was immediately replaced with the erratic sound of a man panting, and from there I could tell that he was terribly scared.

“Students! I am Professor Meitner, one of the mentors from the German team, and I have some bad news for you all.”

All of us gasped, fearing for the worst. Murmurs and whispers went rife among us before Professor Meitner spoke again after calming himself down.

“A while ago, I was in a meeting with all of your mentors when there were several masked men trying to hurt us. So long story short, your mentors have been kidnapped.”

Kidnapped!? Why would they want to kidnap the mentors? Was there any explanation behind this? At first, I was in confusion and denial, but then I realized that my mentors were one of the mentors in the said meeting.

Meanwhile, panic seized everyone in the room. Though not everybody shivered, fear could be seen even on the most stoic of faces. Their voices may not quiver and their eyes may deny, but they were clearly anxious from their tense conversations and postures.

“Is that true?”

“Oh fuck, we are in so much trouble.”

“What about the test results? How are we going to get them?”

“What is happening to our mentors? I hope they are doing alright.”

“Will the same men come and kidnap us too?”

The last question got me thinking. Could that be true? Could we be their next targets? Numerous ‘what-ifs’ ran in my mind until a voice brought me back to reality.

“Are you okay, Michiko?”

I paused and turned back, seeing Minjun looking at me with concern.

“I’m alright,”  I monotonously replied.  “It’s just I’m a bit worried.”

“Same,” Minjun agreed. “I don’t even know where the heck they are now.”

“I don’t know.” I quickly shrugged. “Maybe in an abandoned warehouse…”

“Speaking of warehouses, let’s go on an abandoned one together,” Minjun chuckled.

“Eh!?” I asked, trembled at the mention of going to an abandoned warehouse.  “Why? They freaking give me chills!”

“No, no, it’s just a joke.”

“A joke? You freak the hell out of me.”

“But better than worrying all the time, let’s go on somewhere together. Somewhere Nice,” he responded, emphasizing the French accent at the end.

“What? Are you talking about the city Nice?”

“You got me there, my fair lady,” he smiled.

“Smartypants,” I slapped his shoulder blade lightly. “So when?”

“We will be going tomorrow morning. Right after breakfast.”

“Alright, but you better make sure that we are not going to abandoned warehouses,” I warned him.

“But you still got me, my fair lady.”

“As if I wish, smartypants,” I playfully retorted, laughing half-heartedly in order to hide my embarrassment.

Aww, wait...no...argh! Why was I blushing!?

Despite trying to stop this growing feeling, my mind eventually succumbed to the sweetness I never thought I wanted to feel. For the last few days, I'd been scoffing at this nickname like it was just an insincere remark; but for some reason, I now blushed every time Minjun called me that.

I hated to admit these feelings, but I loved being called his “fair lady” and I was more than excited for the date tomorrow. Hopefully, we would not go to an abandoned warehouse...