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━━━ " 📂  " ‍..⃗. ༉

𝘾 𝙍 𝙔   𝘽 𝘼 𝘽 𝙔

! chapter nine ─── ʚĭɞ

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Things had descended into chaos very, very quickly. There seemed to be no end of gasps in reaction to Hyunkyu accidentally launching the cream covered cake into Jugyeong as opposed to the too-cheesy and incredibly cringe-worthy couple kissing. Jaws dropped and students froze, all before plummeting their panic onto the poor girl. 

"Jugyeong!" Sooa screeched in pure panic, dragging both herself and Yeori forward to deal with it, her delicates hands fussing over her face as she tried to sum up the courage to wipe the cream off of her face. "Do you have a tissue?" The girl turned to face her friend. 

"No - not in my bag either. Just.. come here - I'll do it." Yeori stepped forward, hand raised about to wipe away some icing and worry about where to put it later. Her discomfort was much less than what it must have been for Jugyeong, and she was willing to risk it. Plus, once she got tidied up there were plenty of comfort-food-esque snacks in her bag to offer after everyone had gotten cleaned up that would for sure make everyone feel better.

Wipes were produced out of thin air and both Sihyun and Sooa fussed over them, bringing Yeori's hand back to which - of course - she protested and moved to help again. But just as she was about to wipe away some cream, Jugyeong's hands raised. 

"Stop!" She shouted, no doubt overwhelmed by the attention brought to her. "I don't want anyone touching me!" The poor girl scanned the room before settling on her desk, where a small bag was set. She launched forward, grabbed it, and made a break towards the corridors. Sooa, Soojin and Sihyun were quick to follow, although Yeori paused just before joining the crowd. A small compact had dropped when Jugyeong grabbed her bag, something she would no doubt need.

And after retrieving said compact and checking that nothing had broken or fallen out, Yeori stepped out behind the group of her classmates. She couldn't quite understand why they all had felt the need to chase after her; that would only pressure her beyond belief. But, that being said, there was also a hint of usefulness to everyone following her; she could easily follow the noise to find them.

Turning the corner, she easily spotted the bright blue of Taehoon's hoodie disappearing around the corner. Seeing no need to rush as much as they were doing, she slowed to a point of a jog, a smirk appearing on her lips as she stopped by a particular group. 

"Chorong, Jinwoong, I didn't realise you two had gotten so close." She commented, her eyes landing on the pair standing by a classroom's windows. Their arms were wrapped around each other, faces close, but upon her words they quickly separated, standing on each side of the corridor.

"Huh - no." Chorong shook his head quickly. "I mean, it was... no - definitely not." He told her. The glint of familiar mischief was present in them, akin to something Chorong recognised from a while before. "Seojun!" He whined, head turning towards his friend on the floor. "Tell her!"

"He doesn't need to tell me anything... other than why he's sat on the floor like an idiot." Yeori scoffed, meeting the eyes of her ex-boyfriend. "You can't go running to Seojun if... hey!"

In response to her complaints, Seojun had reached up and yanked her down onto the floor beside him. "Now we're both sat on the floor like idiots." He retorted, eyes widening as he came to realise that his hand was currently on her wrist. He let her go, reaching towards his shoe to finish tying his laces. "So, what's happened? You know, with the new girl and everything."

"What? Oh - Jugyeong was hit by a cake." For the first time in a lengthy while, they were having a somewhat civil conversation. Seojun's head twisted towards her, pausing in his actions. "It's Taehoon and Sooa's hundred-day anniversary, they set up this massive thing that... honestly, you would hate - and I thought it was way over the top but I would never say anything because it's Sooa and Taehoon but then they were about to kiss and Hyunkyu threw a cake at them and... I'm blabbering, but you get the point."

"Yeah." Seojun nodded, voice alarmingly gentle and he cleared his throat. "I mean - well.. yeah. I get it." He stood up, and without thought pulled her up as well, instantly taking a step back. "So, where're my gloves?"

"What?"

"My gloves. I know you haven't burnt them."

"Well, you're not getting them back, either way." Yeori swallowed and continued forward. "You're best not asking for them again,  otherwise I will burn them."

"Yeori-"

"What? I have to go." 

"Doesn't matter. Let's go." He jerked his shoulder, demanding for the group around him to follow. They did as they were told and followed after Seojun, yet didn't seem to notice how their friend turned back to watch as Yeori disappeared around the corner, only intent being to return the compact and nothing more.