19 Just As I Thought

To be perfectly honest with you, I'm not too sure how next class is gonna go. No, I don't mean how boring it'll be, though I'm sure there will be plenty of that. I'm talking about how exactly I'll deal with Seoyun and Jun being in the same class together with no Dahyeong there to diffuse the tension within me. It should be no different than previous classes with them together but something tells me otherwise.

Standing idly in front of my open locker, I feel a frown grow on my face and I quickly shake it off. 'It'll be fine' is practically the only thought coursing through my head at the moment as I bring a free hand to my cheek, feeling the radiating warmth from it on the knuckles of my fingers. I suck in a whiff of air nostrils, making it as audible as possible to no one in particular before getting frustrated anyway and slamming my locker shut.

How troublesome.

I take off in the direction of my next class: History, maintaining a swift speed as I stroll down the halls. I spot the usual sea of students stampeding down all directions in an unpredictable manner. The bustle always made it more challenging to traverse the ways to my next class but I'd always get through.

I eye over to my right to see that the door to History class only stood a meter in front of me. Having realized this, I dart towards the door, yanking it open like a kid with a heavy duty entrance door.

The inside of the class was well-illuminated enough by the glaring sunlight from the windows so that the room didn't need the lights turned on. It's better that way since the switch from natural light to artificial is rather unpleasant. The teacher sat at her desk, typing away on her computer while the rest of the students sat around waiting for class to begin.

I stand under the doorway while scanning the people sitting in their seats. My breathing relaxes just a little when I see neither Jun nor Seoyun there yet. They're probably still getting their stuff - or maybe they don't want to be there early to have to deal with the other. Who knows?

I make my way to an empty desk and collapse onto it after taking off my bag. I have my bag sit right on lap as I begin to rummage through it for my textbooks and workbooks. The very books that made my bag weigh 20 pounds more than it should and has given me far too many sore shoulders. If they had any redeeming factor, it's that they looked fancy and important in a sizeable stack all together.

While placing my books in a neat pile on my desk, I hear the door to the classroom open. It's nothing of surprise to me when I see Seoyun march through. She had her bag slung over one shoulder and kept it propped up with both hands on the strap.

I motion to Seoyun for her to sit where I'm sitting. She notices right away and takes to the desk beside me, examining the room, most likely to make sure that Jun wasn't anywhere near us. Seoyun leans over towards me.

"I wasn't there for first block since I arrived later to school than I expected. What did I miss from Science?"

"Just a lot of notes. I can hand you mine to copy down."

"Kay, toss."

I reach into my bag to pull out my beaten up notebook, handing it over to Seoyun. She takes a second to look over them before looking back up at me while giving a thumbs up. I'm about to slump back onto my desk until Seoyun blurts out into the silence.

"Why are your notes always so pretty?" Seoyun goes on a flipping-frenzy, going through all the pages in my notebook only to see caligraphy and colour sprinkled on every side of each paper.

"I get bored in class." I lightly laugh while responding. "I can't say the same for my handwriting though. There's nothing I can do to save those scribbles."

Just by being able to talk to Seoyun, it makes me forget any pressing matter at hand. Instead, I'm able to loose myself in our conversation. If Dahyeong was here as well, I don't think we'd ever be able to shut up. Maybe that's why I didn't expect Jun to walk through the door in the middle of Seoyun and I cackling over my notes.

As soon as he traverses into the class, I feel an odd presence fill the room. Reality hits me so suddenly that I might as well have gotten whiplash. I glance to Seoyun who seemed to have the same expression as I did, only ten times worse. A scowl reaches her face as she adjusts her sitting position and continues to copy my notes down.

I turn over to Jun who only carried an unreadable visage. I fiddle with my pen in hand while bitting down on my lip. My attention seemed to subconsciously switch between Jun and Seoyun, checking their gestures and expressions as if I could somehow discern anything new from them. I obviously can't since I don't read minds but I tried anyway.

"Hey Minji."

A smile covers Jun's face in an instant just as the words leave his mouth. A tiny 'hey' is all I seem to manage to force out of my mouth along with small nods of acknowledgement. Jun doesn't seem to question and nods right back at me, imitating my level of enthusiasm in a teasing manner.

Jun pulls the chair from the table on the other side of me and takes a seat, which lands me right in the awkward position of becoming a Minji sandwiched in-between a literal battlefield with Jun on one side and Seoyun on the other. Even though there's a sizable distance between the desks, the feeling of being a Minji-filled sandwich lingers as I try to maintain my composure. I know now that things are going to go a lot more different than I anticipate.

After all, just like an actual sandwich, I'm bound to be toasted eventually.