6 Fixing Our Feelings

This cannot be happening; Seoyun and Jun got paired together. All feelings of joy from being paired with Dahyeong drained right out of me. I slowly panic, my nervousness visible and quite apparent on my face.

"Mrs. Han?" I blurt out to the teacher, raising my hand.

"Make it quick, Minji." She replies, crossing her arms.

"Is it possible for me to switch places with Seoyun?" I ask, gnashing my teeth together from the overload of mixed feelings I was getting.

"No, these partners are fixed. There shall be no changing of partners." She sternly says, making me gulp.

No luck there, I suppose.

I catch another glimpse of Jun and Seoyun. They stood far away from each other and weren't speaking a single word; their silence told all that needed to be said. Dahyeong turns to me with concern in her eyes. I widen my eyes as we both make eye contact with each other, unsure of what exactly to make of the situation.

For one, since I can't do anything to pair Seoyun with someone else, she's going to have to work with the person she loathes deeply, Jun. For another, this is a project for grades and they can't just get it over with and have less than a passing grade. Even if they do manage to barely pass, I'm sure they're gonna get an earful about it from Mrs. Han and their parents.

"Listen up class. You will be given today's work block to begin your project. I trust you will make use of this time and get work down." Mrs. Han barks at the class, making everyone jump and get to it.

Well, almost everyone. Jun and Seoyun refused to even look at each other, reluctantly sitting at different tables and working separately.

Dahyeong and I scurry to a table upon hearing Mrs. Han's instructions. I pull out my computer with one hand and create a word document, sharing it with Dahyeong. With my other hand, I nab my phone and begin texting Seoyun on KakaoTalk.

Minji: Dude, you sure you good?

Seoyun: I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. OUT OF ALL PEOPLE, I HAD TO END UP WITH HIM

Minji: Remember what I said? You can tell Dahyeong and I when you feel comfortable

Seoyun: I'll tell you guys once I figure something out.

Minji: What are you gonna do in the meantime though? You don't exactly wanna work with Jun and neither does he

Seoyun: It'll be a miracle if I get a passing grade. For now, I'm focused on my section. As long as my section is practically perfect, that's 50% of the project right there

Minji: What about the cooperation mark on the rubric? Are you gonna just not bother with that one?

Seoyun: Seems like it

I take a deep breath, putting my phone down and placing my fingers on my keyboard. I glance over at Dahyeong who was concentrated on her computer screen, her fingers clacking against the keys of her keyboard violently. She seems to be working hard. I can't say the same for every partner.

I take a glimpse of the word document to see that Dahyeong was already 150 words in on the research paper. I scroll my mouse over the chat feature and begin to type to Dahyeong:

Minji: Can you give me the tl;dr of the project? Wasn't exactly listening. I know we're doing a research sheet at the very least

I finish typing the last word, hesitating before sending it. I give a sheepish grin to no one in particular before turning my focus back to my computer. Not a second later, I see Dahyeong typing back.

Dahyeong: We're researching our assigned current news topic and then creating a 10-minute presentation on it. Real boring, but what can you do?

Right. I groan and close the chat to return to work.

Dahyeong types our assigned topic at the very top of the document: Environmental Reforms Within Cheongju. I reorganize the layout of the document, adding bullet points to Dahyeong's list with accompanying explanations for each said point.

Dahyeong and I have nice teamwork together; she's the idea generator and I'm the scribe, in a sense. I reach the end of the list of ideas, scrolling back through all the typed points.

Don't you find it fun to look back at a typed or written piece of work and see all the jumbles of words on there? You don't stop to read them, but your eyes glaze over them, able to understand the text but not understanding what it's saying. I get that feeling a lot. A huge chunk of writing also comes with a feeling of pride, especially when you've fully completed your piece. It's kind of like a satisfying ending to a movie that went on for seasons and seasons, and you kept up with it for said seasons and season.

In the middle of admiring our work, I get a notification on my phone from Seoyun.

Seoyun: Turns out, things aren't as simple as they seem.

Minji: What happened?

Seoyun: Jun is going to report me to the teacher for uncooperative behaviour if I don't work on the shared document with him. He literally just told me a few minutes ago to work on separate ones. What does this guy even want?

Minji: Maybe I can reason with him? He might listen to me because I'm his only friend at the school

Seoyun: You're friends with this nutcase?

Minji: It's a long story; don't even get me started

Seoyun: Got it

Minji: What are you using to communicate to him right now?

Seoyun: He's just texting me on Kakao right now right now

Minji: Alright, toss his Kakao ID and I'll talk to him for you. Since he apparently needs more than one person to actually tell him before he listens

Seoyun: Here you go

XXXXXX043

Minji: 'Kay, thanks

I close out of my messages with Seoyun and scroll to add Jun's ID, punching in each character at a time. Sometimes I wish I could look into someone's head to learn more about their thought process and how dumb they are, but that's just me. I find his account and click to message it. Not wasting any time, I hastily begin typing to him:

Minji: Can you actually do your work for once?

Wonjun: What do you even mean? I am

Minji: No, seriously. Seoyun told me that you're telling her conflicting instructions and that you're going to report her if she doesn't follow them

Wonjun: Isn't that how it works? You report people who aren't cooperating. What do you want me to do? Let her slack off?

Minji: Clarify your instructions ya dipshit. It's not that hard to say: 'Oh, my bad. I meant that we had to work on a document together, not separately.'

Wonjun: But is it still not that hard to type it?

Minji: Shut up and stop playing mind games. Talk to Seoyun about it and organize your entire project. I don't wanna be the middleman who has to communicate for y'all. Do you swear to put aside your past with Seoyun, whatever it may be, and work like a normal partner for this project?

Wonjun: Fine

Minji: Now get back to work

I rake my fingers through my hair, letting my fingernails run through each strand, then I put the palm of my hand to one cheek, allowing my elbow to rest on the desk.

I guess now that that's done with, I can finally have some piece of mind.

I bite my tongue and tilt my head to my computer, eyeing the progress Dahyeong made over the course of my conversations with Seoyun and Jun. She's already written the intro and conclusion. I take note of the chat notification on the document and open it.

Dahyeong: You'll just need to edit through all my grammar mistakes and then we can work on the body paragraphs together. I got ya, don't even worry

I grin widely to myself for a bit before replying.

Minji: Of course, you do