cupid ⠀song mingi

twenty one

mingi's pov / last year

i peeked at the hallway and saw seonghwa standing with his girlfriend clinging onto his arm like the annoying person she is, i almost rolled my eyes but i noticed i saw only half of the scene so i stopped. there's.. a girl in front of them.

jung hyerin, that's her name, right? i ask myself, since she's a little popular for being friends with tzuyu. i moved to see the view better, and she was holding.. a cheesecake? it's not from the cafeteria, and it's definitely not from a fancy place.

"homemade cheesecake, really?" jaeri, seonghwa's girlfriend asked hyerin, answering the question in my head. also, since i was at the back, i could only imagine what kind of bitch face she was doing at the pitiful girl. my brows furrowed, is hyerin giving the food to seonghwa?

"jaeri.." seonghwa tried stopping his girlfriend, facing jaeri's neck, trying to keep it quiet. i scoffed, i wonder.. is hyerin giving it to jaeri? my questions were then answered when jaeri spoke again, whilst hyerin just kept her head down, "such a thick face for a low person like you. and for your information, seonghwa and i are dating!" she exclaimed. and seonghwa completely failed at trying to stop jaeri.

also, judging from the obvious, hyerin is terrified. she's not even trying to defend herself. i wanted to walk in and stop them because there are a few students stopping by to watch them already, but i couldn't, since it wasn't my business. and i don't even know hyerin.

she's kind of cute, though, i thought, gulping my saliva. that face is exactly my type. but her guts are such a turn off, i thought she was a cool, ignorant kid. but it turns out she loses to jaeri in situations like this. but not gonna lie, jaeri's league is respected by a lot of people, and she's a bitch queen, so i can understand why she's not talking back.

"i know a good idea," jaeri let go of seonghwa, then walked over to hyerin, "i'll let your sly ass slide if you.." she pointed at the cheesecake, "eat that in front of us." she finishes her sentence, and my heart started beating fast. why am i getting excited? or mad? goddamn— is this jaeri's kink or something?

hyerin looked surprised at jaeri's word, then giving her a glare. is she going to fight back now?

nope.

she just glared at jaeri, then looked back down at her food — her eyes obviously filled with tears.

"aw, man. don't cry." i mumbled to myself, then proceeding to ask myself— why am i even siding with her? i sighed and wanted to just make my way back to the classroom, but all it took was one last glance to have all the courage inside me burn like the freaking sun.

hyerin took a bite of her small cheesecake.

"no way.." i heard yunho speak behind me, since we were on our way to the classroom when we stumbled upon this weird situation. i stopped after taking one step and stared at the ground. "that's so embarrassing, don't you think?" yunho added, then i gave him a look, "what?" he asked, not being guilty about saying it. but heh, it's true. that has got to be embarrassing as fuck.

for wanting to be cool-person-reasons, i suddenly started walking towards hyerin. and as i pass through seonghwa, i looked at him and he looked really guilty, while jaeri was smirking at the other girl. i gave them a blank expression as i stand next to hyerin, and she looked at me with a confused face. while the couple gave me questioning looks.

and you might have guessed it— 'cause you're a genius. i took the cheesecake from hyerin's hands and she couldn't even react as i took a bite on it, looking at jaeri, "it's delicious." i told them with a slightly pissed tone, hoping it would help hyerin feel better. i smiled at jaeri and she glared at me with really angry eyes. this has got to be embarrassing for jaeri, right?

"asshole." jaeri cursed at me, but i ignored her as i faced hyerin. she looked up to my eyes with her eyes literally flooding, she's really trying her best to not cry right now. so i had to speak up to make her feel better, because she probably feels like shit at the moment.

"you're cute." i told her. but i swear it sounded better in my head. i planned to say it in the vibe 'you're my type' but it came off as 'you're peasant-cute'. i wanted a re-do after realizing that i just seemed like an asshole saying that but before i could, hyerin just started running off to the small crowd of students, towards the classrooms.

"what was that for?" jaeri asked me, then rolled her eyes before walking away as well. "what?" i asked her even though she already had her back faced to me, "you're not even gonna hear the answer?!!" i yelled, because she has already gone far. i chuckled to myself as i face seonghwa with my blood boiling.

"want to try?" i asked him, noticing that the students watching earlier started to leave. yunho walked over and seonghwa looked at me, starstruck. "well, it's not poisoned." i informed, then handed it over to him, "if you're not breaking up with jaeri after this, then we're over. as friends."

yeah, seonghwa's older than me. but he's still a loyal friend. "yeah." he mumbled, taking the cheesecake then taking a bite. "i should—" he chewed on the food, pausing as he says — "woah." a quick reaction, i chuckled because same. he started laughing as he looks at me surprised, "this is actually amazing—"

™

"hey." i approached hyerin with a smirk as she comes out of their classroom. her friends, including that famous chick, tzuyu, glared at me but continue to walk away with the others, "hey!" hyerin yelled at them, but they don't respond and keep going their way, leaving her alone with me at their classroom door.

jackpot. "hyerin, right?" i ask her. then she pursed her lips, "what do you want?" she asked, and i couldn't help but chuckle, "you probably know me already," i bragged, because i just couldn't help it. then she gave me a disgusted look, which confused me. "for real, man?" she asks as i look away. by chance, does she.. not know me?! because i'd look like a total fool, bro—

"i don't." hyerin straightforwardly answered. i gulped saliva, and this might be cliché but... she's the first girl to ever tell me this— but whatever. i'll just introduce myself, "i'm song mingi." i gave her a smile, then leaned in a little too close because of my feisty self. oops.

hyerin pushed me away with her index finger on my stomach, "don't even try pranking me." she says. ah— i see that she still hasn't forgotten about my hero move yesterday. heh. "still feel embarrassed?" i ask, squinting my eyes to tease her.

she scoffed because she found me—what— stupid, i guess? i also scoff as i move back, not bothering to hear her answer my question. "i'll see you again tomorrow." i told her, shooting a finger-gun at her, whilst she just gave me a glare.

™

"excuse me—" i held onto jiwoo's shoulder to stop her from walking out of their classroom with her other friends, "do you know where hyerin is?" i asked her. then she chuckled before giving an answer, "she's inside."

"is she not going to the cafeteria?" i ask. now let me tell you, after i approached her the other day here, she didn't come out of their classroom yesterday. and she's still not coming out today?! "is she okay?" i asked naeun. her friends started going their way but she stayed to answer;

"she said she's never leaving the classroom at recess if you're going to be at the door." jiwoo then smiled and walked away, leaving me at their room's entrance. i peek at the door and see hyerin eating some cookies while looking out the window. she's alone, maybe i could get inside? even though our school doesn't allow that— haha.

those cookies, i wonder if she also baked them at home?

i guess hyerin noticed that someone was watching her because she looked at me. i quickly looked away but that didn't save me, because i was obviously peeping. i chuckled, then just looked back at her, "hey." i greeted but as the opposite of what i expected, she just ignored me and continued doing her thing earlier.

this makes me more interested in her.