Meanwhile, in the back of the line Seolhyo, Seojin, Jinkyung and a panting Suwon who had returned empty-handed watched the scene unfold.
"They don't even come to the snack bar with us anymore," Jinkyung complained.
"They're busy shaking down the whole school for money," Seolhyo said.
Suwon groaned. "Now they even go home together and leave me behind…"
Seojin chuckled. "Let them be. They'll come crawling back soon."
Jinkyung huffed. "Filthy couple bastards."
Suwon nodded seriously. "Dating should be banned in this school."
Seolhyo and Seojin exchanged a look, raising their brows at their bitterness.
After some time, during a free period, the four of them ended up at the arcade.
Park Dong was cutting the photo strips while Irina carefully placed the cut pieces into a photo sleeve.
Park Dong glanced at Seolhyo standing nearby, then at Seojin playing one of the machines.
"Let's take a photo together. Why are you being so stubborn about it?"
Seolhyo shot him a stern look. "It's your 22-day anniversary. Why should we be in the photo? And seriously, where are the others?"
"Those two side characters went to the PC bang," Park Dong replied. "And Kim Jinkyung said she'd come after taking her dog to the vet."
"…Then you two could just hang out by yourselves…"
Seojin cut in, "Isn't this nice, though? A double date."
A few minutes later, they somehow ended up inside one of the karaoke booths at the arcade.
The booth was small barely enough for two people.
Now, the two couples were squeezed inside, sitting across from each other.
Park Dong was already in his own world, holding the mic, while Irina flipped through the thick songbook.
She glanced up at the two across from her.
"You two gonna sing or just stare at each other? Queue something up."
Seolhyo and Seojin were sitting awkwardly, shoulder to shoulder, cramped against each other.
Seojin suddenly stood up.
Seolhyo looked up at him. "Where are you going?"
Without answering, he grabbed both their bags and set them aside in a corner.
Then he gently took her hand and pulled her up.
She blinked, flustered.
When he sat back down, he pulled her with him seating her sideways on his lap, her legs tucked to the side.
Seolhyo immediately brought a hand to her face, trying to hide her blush. "What are you doing?"
"It's cramped," Seojin said casually, wrapping an arm around her waist so she wouldn't slip. "Just stay still. Unless you want to stand the whole time."
Irina looked at them, a grin slowly spreading across her face.
"Aww, look at you two~"
Seolhyo's face turned bright red. "Shut up!"
she snapped, glaring at Irina which only made her laugh harder.
Seojin chuckled and looked at her. "Wanna sing?"
She shook her head quickly. "No way. I'm not good at it."
"It's fine," he said with a grin.
He reached over and took the songbook from Irina. "I'll sing with you. What song do you want?"
Park Dong finished his song and handed the mic over.
Seolhyo twirled the cord nervously around her fingers. "Mmm… maybe a Sung Si-kyung song?"
Seojin nodded, flipping through the pages until he found it.
He entered the code.
Soft intro music filled the booth.
Seolhyo lifted the mic with shaky hands, covering half her face with the other. "…This is so embarrassing."
Seojin smiled. "It's just singing. It's not going to kill you."
He gently rubbed her waist. "Just follow along."
He pulled her a little closer so their heads were near, the mic hovering between their lips.
Seojin started first, his voice steady and low.
Seolhyo slowly followed, matching his rhythm.
As she leaned in slightly, he instinctively pulled her closer, his hold tightening just a bit.
Across from them, Park Dong and Irina watched, amused.
"They really don't hold back now, do they?" Park Dong muttered.
Irina sighed dramatically. "Yeah. If we weren't dating too, I'd have left already. This is way too much PDA for one night."
Seolhyo shot them a look but didn't move away.
Still half-hiding her face, she kept singing, her voice trembling between embarrassment and quiet laughter, while Seojin harmonized softly beside her.
As the song ended, Seolhyo was blushing furiously, the redness reaching all the way to her ears.
Seojin couldn't stop smiling.
After that, they went back to school and split up.
Seolhyo and Irina headed to their film appreciation club, while Park Dong and Seojin made their way to theirs.
Across the school, noise from different classrooms filled the air each room alive with its own energy.
Meanwhile, in the art class, Suwon was slouched over his desk, a pencil spinning between his fingers as the teacher announced,
"Today's activity is up to you. Draw whatever you want while practicing what you've learned."
"YESS!!"
Suwon opened his sketchbook.
Anything, huh… what should I draw?
He set the book down.
Maybe I'll come up with a new comic… something normal this time.
Not pervy…
Before he could put pencil to paper, a soft voice interrupted him.
"Umm… hey, so… your sketchbook mind if I take a look?"
He turned his head and blinked at the girl standing beside him short hair, white glasses hiding her eyes, fidgeting with her hands.
"My sketchbook?" he asked.
"Y-Yeah," she said quickly, her gaze darting away as she tilted her head. "You, uh… draw really well."
Suwon scratched his cheek. "I'm not that good, honestly. When did you even see it?"
She looked flustered. "S-Sorry! I didn't mean to peek. It's just… sometimes I glance over and noticed your sketches…"
He waved it off. "No need to apologize for that."
He reached into his desk, grabbed the sketchbook, and handed it to her. "Here. But there's not much in it it's new."
His hand tightened slightly as he held onto it for a second.
I didn't draw anything weird in here… right?
Like… that kind of stuff…
He mentally flipped through the pages.
…Nope. All good.
He let go.
Her eyes lit up as she carefully took it. "Is it okay if I bring it to my seat and look?"
"Yeah, go ahead," he said.
She dashed back to her seat, where two of her friends immediately leaned over her shoulders, whispering and giggling as they flipped through the pages.
Every now and then
"Looks like he likes Dragon Ball."
"There's Naruto too!"
"It's insane he draws bodies so well!"
The girl with glasses nodded eagerly. "Right? I think he draws better than anyone I've seen."
"How is he already this good?"
Suwon's ears perked up.
He leaned back in his chair with a smirk, trying to act casual but his ego was clearly swelling.
Heh… too bad none of my best works are in that one.
The girl with glasses studied the sketches more closely.
A name tag rested on her left chest:
Won Suji.
-
Meanwhile, at the back of the Film Appreciation Club classroom, Irina leaned over her desk with a mischievous grin.
"Hey, guys, wanna look at this together? LOL."
In front of her, Seolhyo and Mijin turned around.
Mijin raised a brow. "A love letter?"
Irina proudly pulled out a folded paper from her uniform pocket.
"I told Park Dong to write me one. HAHAHA! He refused at first, but I made him do it. Aren't you even a little curious?"
Seolhyo and Mijin exchanged a look.
Seolhyo shrugged. "Are you?"
"Not even a little," Mijin replied flatly.
Irina ignored them and dramatically opened the paper. "Come on, it's rare for Park Dong to actually write anything. Let's see what this romantic masterpiece says…"
She unfolded the paper and froze.
LETTER.
"…," her smile twitched. "You're so dead, you hawk-nose punk."
Seolhyo and Mijin peeked over curiously, then burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA!"
"That's a lot... For Park Dong!" Mijin wheezed.
"He really put effort into that one!"