38 Why Gyuri is being like this?

Mia peeked inside the classroom and looked everywhere, but she didn't see Gyuri.

She saw Hyun Tae at his seat so she walked towards him to ask where Gyuri is.

"Hey, Hyun Tae?"

Hyun Tae took his head out from the book and looked at Mia.

"Do you know where Gyuri is? I have a very important thing to ask her as soon as possible…"

"Um...I don't know, Mia."

"Oh, okay…I'll search for her again…"

And she walked towards the door. As she was about to get out of the class,

"Excuse me…Mia?"

Mia turned back and saw the same 5-6 girls, which had tried to bully her the other day.

"Yes?" Mia asked. She was shocked to see those girls standing like that, again.

"We need to say something…Actually.." One of them said but couldn't talk any further.

"What is it? Are you here to say more mean things to me, like that day?"

"Oh no, no. It's just that…"

"We want to apologize to you!" One standing in the back said.

"Huh?"

"Yeah...We said a lot of bad things that day. And made fun of you behind your back. We are sorry, Mia."

"Sorry, Mia." All the girls said at once.

Mia was surprised by this sudden apology.

Actually, she never expected that they would apologize to her.

"Will you forgive us?" The one in the back said again.

Looking at their faces like that,

"It's okay, girls. I was not even angry with you. So you don't need to feel that way." Mia said.

"No! Just say, you have forgiven us….Please?"

"…Okay. I forgive you."

"Can you say it a bit louder? So that the whole class can hear you.."

"Huh?"

Mia looked at them, but with the look on their face, she got to know that they were serious about it.

Hesitating a bit, "Um…Okay…I FORGIVE YOU!" Mia said very loudly that everyone in the class looked at her.

"Thanks, Mia."

"Thank you so much." The girls said.

Looking at the happiness on their faces, Mia smiled at them.

'This really means a lot to them….I guess…'

Suddenly, "Oh Right! I was here to meet with Gyuri!" Mia remembered.

Turning back hurriedly, she went out of the classroom.

As soon as, she was out of the door, someone called her name again.

"Hey, Mia?"

It was one of those girls, the girl who was standing in the back.

"Are you here for Gyuri?"

"Yeah. Do you know where she is?"

"I don't. But I know, who'll tell you."

Mia looked at her confused.

"Kim Ray. Ask that guy. Gyuri and Ray are always together.

So, I'm sure, he knows where she is." The girl said folding her hands.

'Ray? I'm not gonna ask him….'

"What happened? Go ask him." The girl said.

"Oh, No. It's okay. I'll search for her myself."

"You were in a hurry, right? It seems you have an urgent issue to talk with her."

"Um...Yeah…"

"Then go and ask him. See? He is right there." The girl pointed at the window of their class.

Mia looked in the direction.

Ray was standing there with one of his guy friends.

"What are you waiting for? Are you afraid of him or something?"

"No, I'm not. Afraid of him? What for?"

"Then go and ask him."

'I am not afraid of him. I can ask him. There is no problem at all….'

Mia started to walk in his direction.

'I can do it…And why am I the one who should hesitate to talk with him? I didn't do anything…'

Mia took confident steps towards him.

As she was about to open her mouth and call out his name,

"Gyuri? She went to the teachers' room to meet our homeroom teacher.

She said she had some important work to do."

Ray was telling to the other guy.

'Oh...So, she went to meet their homeroom teacher…okay then…let's go…'

Mia got her answer before she could even ask him.

As soon as she heard him, she turned back and walked out of the classroom towards the teachers' room.

The girl, who had told her to ask him, was standing in the door, her hands still folded as she watched all this.

While, the guy who was standing with Ray, was now looking at him with a confused look.

"Why are you telling me about that girl, man?

I didn't even ask you…And out of nowhere, you are telling me where she is.

Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's….nothing…"

Ray dodged the question and looked at the door from where Mia had just walked away.

There he found, that the girl was looking at him with a teasing smile on her face.

It instantly made him look away from her.

~

As Mia reached near the teachers' room, she saw Gyuri getting out from it.

"Hey, Gyuri…" Mia called her name.

"Oh, Hi Mia." Gyuri ran towards her.

"I need to talk to you…"

"Me too. Look at this." Gyuri handed her a paper.

"What is it?" Mia asked as she started reading it.

"I got selected for the state level, an inter-school tournament for Tennis!"

Gyuri said as she started jumping happily.

"Really?" Mia looked at her happily and went for a hug.

Gyuri hugged her tightly and then started jumping with her, still hugging.

The laughter of both the girls echoed through the whole corridor.

"What are you girls doing?" An angry voice made them stop.

They saw a teacher, standing at the teachers' room door.

"We are sorry, teacher. We are sorry." The girls bowed hurriedly and walked away from there.

~

On the rooftop of the school,

"So you went to meet the teacher to tell him this?"

"Yeah and to give an application also. I wouldn't be able to come to the school for 3-4 days"

"When are you going?" Mia asked.

"Tomorrow!"

"What? Tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"And when did you get this news?"

"Last week."

"Last week? And you are telling me now? One day before?"

"Oh, sorry Mia. I forgot to tell you. I was caught up in some things."

"So that means, if I hadn't come today to meet you, you would have never told me those things, right?"

"Oh, No Mia. That's not what it is. I was going to tell you…"

Mia didn't say anything.

"Please don't make an issue now. I said I'm sorry." An arrogant tone in her words was noticeable.

Mia couldn't believe the way Gyuri was talking with her.

But still, she said,

"I'm not making an issue…But I won't ask you anything further just because you are going to play tomorrow and I don't wanna spoil your mood."

"It won't be."

Mia looked at Gyuri. That unfamiliar look on Gyuri's face made Mia worried.

'Why is she talking like this...?'

Both stayed silent for some seconds.

"I am happy to see the old Mia after so many days."

"What do you mean? I am always like this."

"No. You were changed a lot when you started hanging out with other 'friends' of yours." Gyuri said.

Mia noticed a disgusted look in Gyuri's eyes.

" But you were the one, who was not with me for the past days."

"I had a good reason for it. But that doesn't mean you'll go with any other person."

"What are—"

"Oh, please. I don't wanna talk about it anymore."

'What is wrong with this girl? Why is she being like this?'

Mia stayed silent.

"What did you need to talk about, with me?" Gyuri changed the subject.

"It's nothing."

"Oh, okay then."

"Let's go now. The class would start soon."

Gyuri nodded as both the girls walked towards their classroom without a word.

When they reached class 3-B, Mia spoke up,

"All the best Gyuri for tomorrow." And she tried to give her best smile.

"Thanks, Mia. See you then." And Gyuri went inside the class.

Mia stayed there looking at her from the back.

As soon as Gyuri went into the classroom, she ran towards Ray's seat happily.

Then she started talking and laughing with him.

Mia sighed and walked towards her classroom silently.