chapter two:
ive been dying to talk to you

+ bold is in chinese

days passed and nothing progressed between the two, yet naeun couldn't get jaehyun' s words out of her head.
"take care of him, he just moved from china."

naeun wanted to do something, yet she couldn't get over her shyness in order to do so. it was absolutely frustrating.
"it's already friday and i'm useless!" she exclaimed in her head. she woken up for school at the moment, yet couldn't bring herself to get ready quite yet. he began kicking under her sheets before her eyes widened suddenly in realization.

"im being selfish. he must be scared, suddenly moving to another country. the least i can do is say hi! or even befriend him and act like myself. maybe he had trouble making friends or something. uGh how can I be so narrow minded! naeun you idiot!"

—

naeun was determined to talk to renjun today. in fact, she was so determined that she left early to go to the school library, leaving jaehyun and his burnt toast home again.

softly running her hands over the glossy cover of the book in front of her, she smiled in pride. she decided to let go of her fear for the sake of making renjun's life more comfortable. naeun was positive she did something good. the korean native decided to check out a chinese dictionary so she could enable herself a decent conversation with renjun, hopping he would feel more welcomed in the process.

ni hao ma? - how are you?

she silently mouthed to herself as she practiced how she would bring up a conversation with renjun, sauntering through the hallways and pronouncing a variety of basic greetings she read from the book. naeun stopped in front of the unopened door in front of the classroom, she took a deep breath, realizing what she was actually going to do. she was basically going against everything she had done this year. she was actually going to approach someone; she actually going to try to befriend someone.

walking inside the room timidly, she somewhat hoped she didn't have to confront renjun quite yet. however, this was not the case. renjun was actually where she had expected him to be, in his own seat. naeun was shaking from nervousness as soon as she caught a glimpse the the boy who had the ability to make her heart race. all he did was sit in his assigned seat, yet this left the girl in awe.

renjun on the other hand, longed to get her out of her protective shell. according the jaehyun, who he had learned was naeun's older brother, naeun was quite witty and sarcastic. renjun didn't want anything more than being able the witness the real her, but of course, he was too shy to even attempt to talk to her. moreover, naeun was completely oblivious to the boy's admiration, even if the feelings along with the obliviousness were mutual.

however, this didn't set back the sudden bravery that erupted from her heart. rushing to her seat, she gracelessly sat down before speaking in broken chinese.

"uH ni hao maa!" she hurriedly uttered, avoiding eye contact with renjun in order to hide her embarrassment. quite honestly, he was completely lost in the situation before he spotted the book in her hand. smiling in appreciation for her effort, he decided to play along a bit.

"hi! my name is renjun, what is yours?" naeun's eyes widened in alarm before she took out the dictionary and flipped through the pages frantically.

"my name is naeun." she spoke with a significant amount of time after each word since it took a long time to find the needed vocabulary.

"actually, i'm fluent in korean lol." naeun was now blushing hard in embarrassment, finally realizing the situation she had gotten herself into.

god, why do i do this to myself!!

" oH oH, iM sorRy! i saw you talking to chenle in chinese and we really didn't talk so i just thought- oh and not to mention my brother told me you just moved from china so i just assumed- i'm rambling aren't i?"

"no no it's fine, i actually really appreciated the gesture. the effort was really genuine and it made me feel welcome." renjun started to scratch the nape of his neck awkwardly, "actually, ive been dying to talk to you."

"oh really you have! me too!" naeun might've said way too excitedly. renjun gently laughed at the bizarre cuteness of the new friend that he made.
maybe moving to seoul was a good idea.

—

"naeun, would you like to eat lunch with my friends and i today?" renjun asked quickly, barely letting the bell ring so she couldn't have the chance to run away.

"friends? you already have friends? someone is a social butterfly."

"what can i say," renjun leaned back in his seat, "im just too good aren't i?"

"sure, what ever makes you sleep at night." naeun decided to let herself loose in front of renjun, since he didn't seem much of a threat to her. you could even say she felt somewhat comfortable around him, despite the short time they've spent together.

"is that a yes?"

"it's not a no." naeun smirked as she started walking towards the lunch room, leaving renjun behind.

"hey! wait for me!!" renjun was elated once he thought back on the conversation. naeun seemed to be opening up to him, and rather quickly. he shook his head, hoping it would shake off the grin on his face.
what an interesting girl..

"yah, jung naeun! i told you to wait up!"

remember when naeun decided to let herself loose? yeah, that didn't last long. naeun's shy facade reappeared as soon as she saw the size of his friend group, including the very youngest at the school and the very oldest. she felt as if she could almost faint.
how many people are there?? half the student body?!?! having trouble making friends my butt."

"you good naeun?" renjun asked worriedly.

"yeah, y-you just have a ton of friends."

"it's okay," renjun patted her back lightly, "im right here!"

naeun inhaled deeply before letting the air out. slapping her cheeks, and shaking her head lightly.

"okay i got this renjun."

"yes! that's the spirit!" he cheered supportively before basically dragging her to the table.

"who r u and why are you hanging out with this rejected tomato?" a tanned boy spoke as soon she reached the table.

renjun began to whine, "she's my seatmate, jung naeun, and i do not look like a tomato!!"

naeun began to have turmoil inside, she begun to believe that she didn't have the capacity to sit here. however, she took a breath in, realizing that she was letting her fear get in the way once again. she was doing this so she can making renjun's life more comfortable, making friends with his won't hurt.
"naeun, just be yourself. im sure they will accept you."

"okay veggies tales, i can introduce myself."

the tanned boy began to snort in amusement, "i like her already! im haechan, please to meet ya naeun."

"what happened to the shy and sweet naeun!!" renjun exclaimed in disbelief.

"she's long gone, you're gonna have to deal with jung naeun now."

where did she get all this confidence from? renjun thought, but he smiled to himself. it was obvious that renjun didn't hate this, especially when decided to play along.

"at least im not the height of an elementary schooler!" renjun returned.

"im not even that short! im like 5'4 what the hell!"

naeun and renjun continued to playfully bicker until someone cleared out their throat exaggeratedly.

"care the introduce her to the rest of us?" a boy with a brownish auburn spoke, which she assumed was the same person who cleared their throat.

"oh! im sorry mark hyung, mark is the oldest out of the maknae line! mark is a really good rapper" renjun pointed to the boy with brownish auburn hair before moving on.

"this is lee jeno," he directed his hand towards a boy with dark brown hair. he had eyes that formed into crescents as he gave her a welcoming smile. "he is a really good dancer and he really loves photography."

"and this is jaemin, he is uh just a really happy person!" renjun started before he got interrupted by another boy with auburn hair.
"hey!! why don't i get a good introduction?!"

"i thought it was good! uh uh oh yeah he's dating hina, who's a really great dancer! and erm,, he's really good at using hover boards!" renjun obviously used a lot of brainpower to come up with that, but he tried to brush it off before moving on.

"this is zhong chenle, you probably know him because he's in our class, but he's a really great singer." the bright boy smile radiated more when his name was mentioned.

"this park jisung, our youngest in the group. he's a great dancer and he's really good at talking down to me!!!" his once happy go lucky introduction for the boy turned dark.

"i said i was sorry hyung!!" the orangey blonde haired boy exclaimed.

"yeah, sure!" he said sarcastically before making eye contact with naeun again. "haechan already introduced himself, but the hyungs are taeyong, taeil, win win, yuta, doyoung, johnny, ten, and—"

"boo" jaehyun suddenly held naeun in a chokehold.

"yah! jaehyun let go of me!" naeun began to flail her arms around, hoping it would make jaehyun let go.

"and there's jaehyun." renjun spoke defeatedly.

"naeun are you actually sitting with us today?" jaehyun finally released his sister from her death trap.

"hyung," mark started, "how do you know naeun?"

"she's the bratty little sister im always talking about."

"really!" haechan exclaimed, "how come you haven't sat with us before? we always asked jaehyun to invite you!"

naeun just shrugged, "im not what you call a people person i guess."

chenle gave a reassuring smile, "i think you're doing fine."

—

naeun considered this a good friday, she made a lot of friends today and for once, it didn't feel uncomfortable. she began to pack her bag so she could retire home.

"hey naeun! ill see you next week." renjun waved happily before running towards of the exit.
yes, ill see you next week.
naeun was walking out the school gates as her notorious elder latched on to her shoulders.

"hey, naeun let's walk home together!"

"jaehyun, we're siblings; we usually walk together." naeun rolled her eyes at her brother's behavior.

"yes, but today we walk together as friends. you actually sat with us today." he laughed

"endearing, but nauseating." she responded while gagging herself.

"naeun, you're extremely shy, but i saw no traces of nervousness today, something going on? you never sat with us until renjun transferred." jaehyun was wiggling his eyebrows, obviously insinuating something.

"nothing, just a sudden moment of bravery!"

"pfft sure naeun." he said before speaking again, "hey, the gang is getting ice cream and hanging out at the arcade this sunday, wanna join us?"

"id rather die than join you guys." naeun retorted.

"no you wouldn't, i know you wanna come."

"huh," naeun briefly looked at her older brother, "who said im not coming?"

"well then, i hope you're prepared to die." jaehyun said playfully.

authors note
+ another update bless. im still new to writing and such, so i would appreciate some constructive criticism!!
• also don't be a silent reader! if you enjoyed this chapter, vote and comment!
• comment what you liked or thought was funny!
•comment if you want a face claim for naeun :)