21st➳

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this," I whispered, my eyes directed to Joshua before it fell back down onto the table.

"Hey, you two! No talking!" said the overly old History teacher. He gave us a warning look before he continued to cut his nails. Nice. 

Joshua only gave me an apologetic smile in return as he rested his head on the table, his head facing the side I was sitting on. He was staring at me with those eyes again. And there was that billion dollar smile. Oh, there goes those crescent moons I fell in love with. His eye smile was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my whole life. And I haven't seen a lot of beautiful things. 

When I glanced up to check on the teacher, I saw him sound asleep with his head leaning against the white board behind him. He was even snoring. That made me grin as I discreetly stood up from my seat but was stopped by Joshua when he grabbed my wrist. 

"Nari, where are you going?" he asked, his eyes glistening with worry. 

"Leaving," I whispered, my eyes still fixed on the sleeping teacher. Then it went back to Joshua and I asked him, "Want to follow me?"

"Nari, don't. You're going to get into more trouble. Come on, one week isn't that bad. We can get through this." Joshua pointed at the wall clock above the white board. "We have thirty more minutes. Let's just have fun here. You like fun, don't you?"

The bad sides of having a boyfriend who was a good boy was that if he was to remain in detention, that was what he would do. Now he was asking me to stay in detention to have fun? What he didn't know was that detention was never fun. But I guess if Joshua was around, it would be. 

"Come on, the teacher's asleep. We can do whatever we want to but we can't wake him up," Joshua told me.

"What could we possibly do in here while the teacher's sleeping?" I asked him, disinterested. There was nothing. Unless Joshua wanted to try escaping through the window. It was just the second floor, how far could the ground be?

"We could play games like truth or dare—"

I stared at him with a disbelief look. 

"What?"

"Truth or dare," I repeated. "You want us to waste the next thirty minutes playing truth or dare? What are we? Ten?"

Joshua grinned and knocked the side of my head lightly. "Well, aren't you five?"

I rolled my eyes and looked away, trying so hard not to smile but the body often disobeyed the mind, so that was what I ended up doing. Without looking at Joshua, I told him, "Well, you can play by your own. I'm going to sleep."

"Play by my own?" Joshua asked back. "What, am I going to ask myself questions and answer them myself? Aw, come on, Nari! I don't want to be lonely."

Ignoring him but trying hard to hide my smile, I rested my head on the table, on top of my folded arms and slowly drifted to sleep. 

♥

I felt a hand slightly shake my shoulder and I slowly woke up, blinking and wondering where I was. Then, I remembered detention and I groaned and got up. The teacher was already gone but I was still sitting in the classroom. I looked around and found Joshua smiling next to me. 

"Why are you so happy?" I asked with a yawn. 

"Because you look so cute right now," Joshua replied, patting me on my head. "Was this how my mom felt back then when I was a kid after I just woke up from a nap?"

There Joshua went, talking about him when he was a kid and everything. It made me feel... I don't know, envious? I never had a family like that who cared when I was a kid. But I guess Joshua doesn't either, since his parents were really busy these days. I remember him mentioning he didn't like eating alone. I guess he was another lost soul who was disregarded. 

"Come on, let's just go." I picked up my backpack and threw it over my shoulder before standing up. Joshua did the same and threw his hand coolly around my shoulder, without another warning. I immediately froze up once again.

Joshua chuckled as he looked down to search for my face. "You're all stiff again, Kwon Nari. Are my actions really causing you a heart attack on the insides?"

I pushed him away, tucking my hair behind my ear. "It's nothing like that! I'm just— the weather's really cold these days."

"Really? But spring's in two weeks, Nari, the weather's getting warmer," Joshua told me with a grin. 

"I-it still feels cold to me," I answered, avoiding his eyes. I walked ahead of him with my hands behind my skirt, lightly bowing my head down because of the way Joshua continued to make me feel. It was crazy weird how he always made me feel so warm. 

Joshua chuckled again and ruffled my head before giving it a light pat. "Aigoo, Kwon Nari. What will I do with you? Why don't you just admit that I continue to make your heart race?"

I elbowed him in the gut, giving him a weird look. "What? You? Make my heart race? You can keep dreaming, Hong Jisoo."

Joshua pinched my nose lightly. "You're cute when you deny things, Kwon Nari."

I pushed his hand away and pouted. "I am not denying anything!"

"Sure," Joshua said before he walked ahead of me. 

"Yah! Hong Jisoo! Yah!" I ran after him. 

  ♥ 

 "I already told Sunggyu hyung that we won't be going to the convenient store for a week," Joshua said as we walked down a narrow street with a steep-like hill. 

"We aren't?" I repeated. 

"Nope, we aren't," he answered, holding my hand all of a sudden. "Detention is keeping us away from work, but it's fine. It's only a week. After all, I can spend time with you."

I blushed and looked away, pretending there was something interesting on the other side of the road. Well, there wasn't because on the other side was just a white wall. No one was walking there either. In fact, there wasn't anyone there. 

We ran out of things to talk about so now we were walking in silence, staring at everything else but each other. It was just a sudden awkward atmosphere but most of it, I didn't mind. Because my mind was staring at the bright blue sky and how the street we were walking in looked so old. If I grew up in this kind of environment, these old streets would make me feel nostalgic. 

I hadn't realize that Joshua was actually walking me back home. Only then I saw my building drawing closer and closer until eventually we were right in front of it. Joshua gave me a smile but I only bowed my head, avoiding his eyes again. It became some sort of nasty habit. 

"What's wrong, Nari?" Joshua asked, concerned. 

"This building is reminding me of my differences with you again. The rich and the poor. How is it we were able to fall in love with such differences, Jisoo? What did you ever see in me?" I should stop with pointing out all these differences but I just couldn't stop like a kid who couldn't stop crying. 

Joshua shook his head and cupped my cheeks with his hands, lifting my head up so that our eyes would meet. He gave me a smile. "Innocent love. Remember? Rich, poor, it doesn't matter. That doesn't matter to us, okay?"

I took in a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. I'm so sorry for this, Jisoo. I keep repeating the same thing over and over. It's futile anyway."

Joshua smiled. "That's my Nari. Is this helping you grow up, Kwon Nari? Will I meet my high school girlfriend, Kwon Nari?"

I pushed his hands away, playfully rolling my eyes at the nonsense he was talking about. "Whatever, Hong Jisoo. I'm going inside now, bye."

"Stay safe, my lovely gir—" 

Before Joshua could finish his sentence, I smacked my hand over his mouth, pressing a finger against my lips. "Yah, Hong Jisoo, it's embarrassing if you keep going around and telling everybody we're dating."

I could feel Joshua smile even if my hand covered his lips. His eyes turned into adorable crescent moons again and I heard him muffle the words, "You're adorable, Kwon Nari."

I retrieved my hand back and wiped my palm against my skirt, saying, "Ah, gross! Your breath is on my palm now! It's so warm and moist!"

Joshua laughed. "Didn't you say it was cold these days? Shouldn't that be a good thing for you, then? Now your palm is all warm, no?"

He got me there. I didn't have any words to say to him so I just looked away again. 

"Alright, I'm going now, Kwon Nari. See you soon," Joshua said, ruffling my hair before he walked away. 

Aigoo, that boy. Unlike before, I'm now pretty used to the way he treated me. All the hair ruffling, the sweet gestures and, well, the continuous crazy heart beats he gave me. I wonder if this was love right here. It was the first time I experienced it, so I wasn't too sure. 

If this wasn't love, then, at least for now, I could enjoy the way it made me feel. 

♥ 

A week later and finally, Joshua and I didn't have to remain back in school for detentions. Things went back to normal, like it should be. The normal routines from before that stupid teacher gave us detention we didn't even need. And it was all because of In Gain. She thinks she's all that great? Well just because she does well in school does not mean she's superior to everyone else. That's unfair. 

"What are you thinking?" Joshua asked as we walked down the street to head to the convenient store. 

To be completely honest, I did miss work. It was better than seeing the classroom and being locked in there with a teacher. 

"In Gain," I replied, growling ever so slightly. "What, she thinks she's better than us? If only I had a tank or a gun. I could end her annoying self in less than a second."

Joshua frowned at me. 

"What?"

"Just because you hate someone that much doesn't mean you want them dead, Nari. That's kind of mean. Just leave them be but when they start to annoy you, just ask for help. You have me, after all." Joshua smiled. "Isn't nice to think that you have someone who cares for you now? Back then, you were always alone, weren't you?"

"Yeah, it was really obvious back then, Jisoo. I don't understand what's so wrong with being who I am. It's as if I have to live as someone I'm not just to impress others and have friends," I said, rolling my eyes. "This is why I do things my own way, be my own person. Is it wrong to live a childhood I never got in the first place?"

"It's not wrong at all. Those people are absolutely clueless about everything. They don't have the right to talk behind someone's back like that," Joshua agreed, shaking his head. 

"Humans these days, huh?" 

"They'll never stop talking." Joshua shook his head in disappointment. "I'm a shame of the world and its people. Where have all the decent people gone? The ones who are kind, who don't hide behind their makeup, who don't self harm themselves because something isn't going their way?"

"Agreed. Oh, well, right? As long as we don't turn into people like that, it will be totally fine, wouldn't it?" I asked him, like the kid I was. 

"Do you have any idea how cute your eyes are? Don't look at me that way! You're making my heart shake too much!" Joshua immediately covered his eyes with his hands but he was smiling. 

I slapped his arm, rolling my eyes playfully once again. "What are you on about, Hong Jisoo? I'm not adorable, stop saying I am. You're the adorable one here. Your eyes that turn into crescents are just so adorable."

It took me a second to fully realize what I have just admitted. I just told Joshua he was adorable. It came right out of my mouth, instead of it staying in my head as mere thoughts. My smile immediately drop as I let out a small gasp and turned away, looking around the street once again. We were slowly nearing the convenient store and when we were close enough, I took off and pushed the glass door open. 

I have just embarrassed myself in front of Hong Jisoo. How was I going to face him now? This must all be part of a dream. Yeah, just a dream. 

I grabbed my black apron and gave Sunggyu a small nod when he greeted me. I grabbed the mop and bucket before walking to the farthest part inside the convenient store, hoping I could hide away from Joshua. 

Great, I had to embarrass myself, didn't I? 

The door of the convenient store opened—I could see from where I stood—and I immediately bowed my head down, pretending to be cleaning a spot where I stood. But it wasn't like it was of any use since the floors were already really clean. Unless I was trying to make them sparkle. 

"Yo, Joshua, what's up with Nari? She's acting all weird ever since she entered the store," Sunggyu said to Joshua. 

It wasn't helping that I could hear them from here. A little bit of eavesdropping wouldn't be that bad, would it? 

I could almost feel Joshua smiling as h replied to Sunggyu, "Oh, she just called me cute and now she's embarrassed. Don't you think she's the most adorable person you've ever met?"

Sunggyu cringed. "Ew, why are you two being such love birds during work?"

"Oh, hyung. As if you don't like a girl from your university," Joshua teased back. 

"You're right. I do like a girl from my university. But this is different from the love you have right now and the one I have. You guys are high schoolers, I'm a university student. There's a difference," Sunggyu went on. 

"Hyung, we both know you act like a high school boy when you have a crush," Joshua said. 

"Yah! Who are you to talk about me when I have a crush, huh? I'm the hyung, arasso?" Sunggyu said. 

Joshua chuckled. "Arasso, hyung. I need to go find Nari now. She's here, isn't she?"

"She's just over there in the corner of the store, moping a clean place. She's cute when she's all embarrassed. Ah, high school love. My heart was so broken back then. If only I—"

Before Sunggyu could finish his sentence, Joshua had already ran up to where I was moping. I refused to meet his eyes and continued on moping the floor. Gee, thanks for embarrassing more, Jisoo. Sunggyu wasn't a big help either. 

"Nari! Nari? Are you avoiding me again? Ignoring me? Pretending I don't exist?" Joshua was starting to act like a kid these days. 

"I'm sorry, who are you again?" I asked, hiding a smile as I met his eyes. "I don't think I've ever seen you before. Can you tell me your name? Do you frequent as a customer here?"

"Yah! Pabo-yah!" Joshua laughed and pulled me into a quick hug. "Kwon Nari, it's me, Hong Jisoo!"

"Kwon Nari?" a voice then said behind Joshua. 

I looked past him and Joshua turned around. My mop fell out of my grip and dropped onto the ground and I became immobile. 

"N-noona," Joshua muttered. 

Jiae was there, all the softness in her eyes slowly disappearing from her eyes as it turned into a fiery thing. From that moment on, I knew that she already pulled the mask off my face and found out who I really was. 

~Author's Notes~ 

SEVENTEEN's "Aju Nice"/"Very Nice" teaser is killing me! YOOOO WHAT IS THIS, FUDGE THERE'S A GIRL IN THE M/V. Ack, I'm having too many feels at this very moment. I can't even properly fangirl in words. This summer is a busy one! ASTRO'S COMEBACK, SHT, I'M ADDICTED. dO yOU hEAR mY sQUEALS?! 

Aju nice! 

Bbabbabba bwabwabwa~ (fails badly at lyrics because i didn't learn them yet)

BUT FUDGEEEEE 

My sister and I are planning to save money just to buy SEVENTEEN's repackage album, pray it goes well for us lmao 

Love you guys for reading this story <33 Sorry about a crappy chapter, writer's block is back. I'm pushing through for you guys though cuz ily <3

xoxo

Byun Sang Kyung