~POV Jisung~

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Boom Boom

Boom Boom

Boom Boom

Boom Boom

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"So, who's the wimp now?"

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I... I was.

I was, because I was shaking like a leaf, terrorized by this feeling growing inside me every second. It was neither acceptable nor moral, and I hated myself for that. I felt like banging my head against the walls but even though I knew it was wrong... forbidden... I felt good like that... above him... in his arms...

"You're okay? Did you hurt yourself?"

Instantly, Minho's slightly troubled voice made me open my eyes I had hurriedly closed under my own emotions' pressure. Caught by his gaze as deep and sharp as a cat's ones, I stammered.

"N-no... and you?"

He shook his head slowly, in a way that seemed sensual to me, while I tried not to look at his mouth so intensely. However, it was like a magnet to me. A bit dizzy, I swallowed my saliva. His lips were so nice, attractive, so perfectly drawn I couldn't get away from them. I was hypnotized... and at the same time worried.

Lost in my thoughts and deafening sound of my heartbeats, I brought my hand close to his face, before delicately touching, with my fingertips, his mouth's bruised corner then his lips' flayed pulp. For God Sake... why was he still wounded like that?

With a heavy heart, I asked.

"H-How did that happen?"

Did he fight in Daejeon? Was that why he was back in Seoul Saturday? As I asked myself this questions, realizing I was close to caressing his lips, I suddenly spread my hand of his face, as if I had just been burned alive.

At once, I felt myself blushing all over again. But instead of answering me, Minho slipped a hand on my forehead, below my fringe, the sensation of his long and thin fingers on my skin covering me with shivers as he watched me attentively.

"Do you have a fever? Your body's so hot..."

By saying that, he took my face in his hands to force me to look him in the eye. I could hardly breathe so much I was nervous. My cheeks were on fire. My heart was beating so fast I was afraid it was going to escape from my chest when, in this strange floating moment... seized by the desire to get even closer to him... something woke up inside me.

An inner alarm...

A ringing...

A cry...

Like under an electric shock effect, realizing our closeness... the ambiguity of his gestures and mine... I bit my lips nervously. Next moment, panicked, I got up and gave him a dark look, full of this inner confusion I couldn't manage. I knew so little what to do I gave free rein to my anxiety, to this distress that was gnawing at me like a poison.

"Minho!" I shouted. "I-I'm your teacher! You can't... talk or behave like that with me!"

It wasn't fair. Minho hadn't done anything wrong, but I was distraught. Disoriented. I was too much lost, tormented, angry with myself to be able to think correctly. So, instead of blaming me, I blamed him but he wasn't the type to get accused without saying anything.

Surprised, his gaze changed completely, while my heart became heavier, like crushed by a stone. Angry, his voice resounded in the storage room like a thunderclap.

"What?! What's wrong with you?! You think I'm going to assault you?!"

No...

Of course not...

God... Why I had said such a thing?!

I had misspoken and he had misunderstood. At once, I wanted to apologize, but words got stuck in my throat. I didn't know how to deal with the way he was looking at me now, so coldly. The tension between us was so palpable you could almost cut it with a knife, when Hyunjin entered the room, looking at us with astonishment.

"Hey! I... what's going on?"

"Nothing." Minho said, while going into the other room. "I'm tired being here."

While the pink-haired boy followed him, I remained alone next to the cardboard box I had dropped before I fell, a box full of Halloween costumes and accessories, among which the plastic lizard that had scared me so much. Yes. All because of that... I was pathetic, and if Minho had estimated and trusted me even a little bit, now it was over.

I knew it and the more the seconds passed, the more I wanted to cry...

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~POV Minho~

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Damn it...

Idiot...

Dumbass...

Stupid squirrel...

He was getting on my nerves all the time, but there...

I was furious.

I was so angry at him my mind was confused.

No matter how hard I tried not to think about it, I couldn't. I wanted to leave. Besides, I didn't know why I was still here. Why I kept help them? It wasn't for Hyunjin... and I didn't want to see my idiot teacher anymore... so why?!

But above all... what the hell was that idiot thinking?! He was red as a tomato and seemed disturbed, not to mention he had started asking questions I didn't want to hear... So, what should I have done?! I just wanted to know if he had a fever and divert his attention from my injury... but he was so damn stupid...

You idiot!

So, I couldn't "talk to you like that" or "behave that way with you", right?! All right Mr. Han! Perfect! I'm not going to talk to you anymore, or even come near you! That way, you won't have to take offense anymore!

Stupid squirrel!

Now, we had been busy in the storage room for almost two hours. The squirrel had spent a lot of time alone in the other room before joining us without saying a word. The silence was tense, almost electric. Even that chatterbox Hyunjin had come to understand it was better to keep quiet and frankly, good for him, because it was his entire fault.

Tsk... I was so worked up my hands almost trembled, even more when I met the squirrel's furtive glances, who looked away from me straightaway. It was then Hyunjin spoke, his gaze fixed on a class photo he had just taken out of an old cardboard box. It was that of the 2B-4 from 4 years ago, as the small gold plate on the frame indicated it.

"Weird..." He murmured, showing it to me. "This photo should be in the Honor Hall, no?"

Saying this, he asked for our teacher to look at it too, and my body froze as he walked slowly towards us. Now, next to Hyunjin, he was too close to me so that I stay impassive. From the corner of my eye, I could perfectly see his nervousness, as if he were about to collapse. Fuck... Was he that scared of me now?! Seriously?!

"It is." He intervened then, in a sad and broken voice. "You cleaned it earlier..."

But my classmate pouted by shaking his head.

"Hmm... It's not the same photo. This one is sunny and the students are smiling, while the Honor Hall's one was quite dreary..." He paused, before adding with a big smile. "How about hanging this one instead of the other?"

Without waiting, our professor frowned with a sigh.

"Hyunjin... If the other photo was chosen, there must be a reason. Maybe a student was absent when this one was taken. That's why it couldn't be put in the Hall."

I would have said the same but strangely, Hyunjin insisted. The photo still in his hands, he talked with a so serious voice I watched him attentively, puzzled by his sudden change of attitude.

"It rather seems like it was hung in the Hall then pulled out." He looked up at the squirrel, then me. "And there are the same number of students. Strange, no?"

"Because you counted them?"

I didn't want to talk, but more than this photo, it was Hyunjin's insistence I found weird. However, far from destabilizing him, my harsh and suspicious tone made him smile as his dark air faded, as if it was only a mirage or one of his usual melodramas.

"Hiii... Don't be so sarcastic! Plus..."

At the same time, the squirrel tried to clang to the table while my classmate slipped a hand around his slim waist to support him.

"Mr. Han? Are you okay?"

My neighbor was pale and breathing quickly like that day on the park stairs, when he'd had cramps due to stress... His body was shaking slightly, while in front of my eyes, Hyunjin held him more firmly to prevent him from falling.

Seeing him staggering, my body had reacted instinctively, but closer to him, Hyunjin had been faster. Of course, he had done the right thing. I had nothing to reproach him, but... I couldn't bear to see them like that.

As the squirrel was catching his breath, I watched the way my classmate held him, squeezing his waist quite naturally and the more seconds passed, the more I clenched my fists. I couldn't help it. Without knowing why, I was bubbling with rage.

"I-it's nothing..." Our teacher murmured and I hoped Hyunjin would let him go, vainly.

With tight throat, I looked at them without managing to tame either my anger or my anxiety which were strangling me from the inside.

Fuck... Was he so stressed because of what had happened earlier?! But that Hyunjin touch him, hug him like that to keep him from falling, it was okay?! What was the difference with what I'd done?! Why wasn't he complaining?! For me it was a no and for him a yes?!

Unable to reason myself, I was close to go off the rails when the squirrel moved away from Hyunjin after thanking him. At the same time, his afflicted gaze crossed mine, enraged, and he lowered his eyes when someone opened the storage room's door.

Blinking by discovering us in this disastrous atmosphere, Mrs. Kim exclaimed.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

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The next day, Tuesday, November 10

Sitting at my desk, I scribbled mechanically on a notebook sheet, observing the hole that was gradually forming on the paper. The first hour of class was about to begin and the students were either amorphous or sharing loudly the latest gossip.

As usual, I wasn't listening. I was just waiting for time to pass, relieved it was Tuesday, a day without Literature class, because I didn't want to see the squirrel today. I couldn't do anything about it. I was still angry... at him, at myself, at Hyunjin, at the whole world.

Last night, Mrs. Kim had come to pick up my classmate before highschool closed. She thought she would find him doing his chores alone as planned, and had immediately scolded the squirrel, gently but firmly, for agreeing to help him.

"Jisung, if you try to become a saint helping all the students that way, you'll end up a martyr!"

Well said.

Afterwards, we got our things back before we left. Mrs. Kim had offered to give the squirrel a ride home while I went mine with that bitterness in mouth that made me want to vomit. Unfortunately, this morning, this unpleasant feeling was still present.

When Hyunjin arrived with his usual smile, I was overcome with a mad desire to punch him in the face when suddenly, our class rep stormed into the classroom shouting.

"Please, come all with me! Mr. Han is in trouble!"

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Hello my sweet little pumpkins! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Tell me what you think about it! Thank you for reading and following me! Take care of yourself ! Love you all !! 😘