Lee Ji seo's POV (Point Of View)
I arrived at school with Ha-ri. Our exams are two days away, and I just realised that I have been avoiding Min-ho because I don't want to get in trouble with Arin, but my actions are going to affect my grades.
"Hey, Ha-ri, you know I have been avoiding Min-ho, right?" I whispered next to her. "Yeah. What's wrong?" She asked as we entered the school.
"Well, I still don't have a tutor for Korean history, and Min-ho was my only option. What am I going to do now?" I whined.
"Well, there's always YouTube. You can learn from there." She suggested. 'Well, that's not bad, but I still need more guidance.' I thought to myself.
We walked to the class to see Min-ho cleaning the board. We paused our movements and stared at each other. "Good morning," I quickly said, before walking to my desk.
"Isn't Arin supposed to be doing this since she is still having a punishment?" Ha-ri asked. "Yeah, but I decided to help her out." He responded.
"That's so sweet," Ha-ri said, putting her hand on her chest like what he said touched her heart.
Min-ho chuckled, as if he knew she was being sarcastic. Arin walked in, her cheeks stained with chalk. "Why can't these kids clean up after themselves?" She whined.
"Maybe because they know that you are going to clean up after them?" Ha-ri responded with a raised brow.
Arin rolled her eyes, then walked over to Min-ho and hugged him. "Oh, thank you so much for helping me, Min-ho."
Min-ho moved away from her, "You'll get chalk on my suit," He said, dusting off the chalk stain on his suit.
Ha-ri stifled a laugh and walked to me. Arin's eyes met mine, "Hey, Ji seo. I saw your shoot with Taemin, are you guys a thing now?"
I shook my head, "No, we're just friends." "I didn't think Taemin would have another friend apart from Jaehyun, but I guess I was wrong," She said, giving a backhanded compliment.
"I also didn't think someone would put up with the likes of you, but I guess I was wrong. Or maybe I'm not, and Chaeyoung is just tolerating you, but you have to be careful not to set her off. She's the only person who tolerates someone like you. Without her, you'll be alone and lonely. I would patiently wait for that day," I said, inspecting my nails.
"You..." Arin said with a glare, but I couldn't care less. Someone had to tell her the truth. "Are you done cleaning all the boards in every class?" Min-ho said to Arin.
Arin looked back at him and shook her head. "No, I'm not." "Then you should probably finish up before students start arriving." He said before walking out of the class.
"You heard him, get going. It would be so embarrassing if the Betas or Gammas catch you cleaning up after them." Ha-ri teased. Arin gave us one last glare before leaving the class.
My phone vibrated with a notification, and I took it out to check it, to see a message from Min-ho.
Min-ho:
Are you free today?
Me:
I have to go to my grandmother's restaurant after school. I haven't helped her out in a long time because of school. But since tomorrow is a Saturday, I might be available tomorrow.
Min-ho:
Alright then.
Ha-ri looked over and saw the message I sent to Min-ho. "Hey, not bad. I thought you would need me to decide for you," She said in a proud tone.
I rolled my eyes at her words and giggled, "It's okay, right?" "Yeah, and Dae and I can tag along with you tomorrow so you won't be alone with him." She suggested.
I nodded my head, "Yeah, that's a good idea." Someone walked in, and I raised my head to look at the person.
"Hey, Angry Bird and Ha-ri. What's up?" Taemin said in English. "I'm good," I replied. He pouted, "You didn't even compliment my English," He said in Korean.
"Oh, I apologise. That was a very nice intonation, Taemin," I said, sounding like a kindergarten teacher who was complimenting her pupil for doing something good.
"Good job," Ha-ri said to Taemin, copying my tone. We both giggled at the glare he was giving us.
He walked up to us and sat behind us. I turned to him, "You just like to sit anywhere you want. First, you were sitting in front of us, then you sat in the next row next to me, then you are now sitting behind us," I said with a glare.
"So?" He asked with a raised brow. "Don't you know that it will cause a lot of chaos for the students who own those seats?" Ha-ri asked.
"Really?" He asked with a raised brow. Then he looked down at the desk and read the owner's name, "Ah, I guess I should go to my seat then." He stood up and went to sit in front of us, which was his original sitting placement.
"By the way, Ji seo, is everything okay? You went to the nurse's office yesterday." He asked with concern.
Before I could say anything, Ha-ri spoke up, "She was just feeling down because her friend wasn't responding to her text messages and calls, and she got worried thinking something might have happened to him. Turns out he blocked her on his socials."
Taemin looked at me, "Is it that... What's his name again? Tofe? Tokki?" His brows narrowed in deep thought.
"Toby." I corrected. "Yeah, him." He nodded. "Like, who does that? Ignoring your best friend's text messages and calls, and even going so far as to block them on your social so they can't see what you post." Ha-ri huffed.
Taemin and I looked at her in silence. She looked at both of us, sitting up straight, then she spoke, "What?"
"You also did the same thing to me, Ha-ri." I reminded. "No, I didn't," She defended. "Yes, you did. You blocked Ji seo from seeing your post of you on a date with Dae," Taemin said with a teasing grin on his face.
Ha-ri looked at me with guilt, "Well, at least I was responding to your calls and texts." Yeah, she's right.
"Well, you shouldn't cry over him. If he were your friend, then he wouldn't have made you worry like this," Taemin said, consoling me. "And besides, I'm your new friend now, and I wouldn't miss your texts or calls," He proudly said.
I shook my head with a laugh. "Hey, will you guys be free tomorrow?" Taemin asked. Ha-ri and I shook our heads, "No, Ji seo has to go somewhere with Min-ho tomorrow, and Dae and I are going with her so she won't be alone and things won't be awkward." Ha-ri explained.
Taemin raised a brow at me in confusion, and I took that as him saying I should explain, "Min-ho is my Korean History tutor, and exams are a few days away, so I have to rush up on my studying. He is taking me to a museum tomorrow, and I asked Ha-ri to come along with me, and she said she'll bring Dae along."
"Can I come along too?" Taemin asked, his eyes gleaming with brightness. "Sure. Then we can go to karaoke after that." I suggested.
"It's been so long since I went to karaoke. Good suggestion, Ji seo," Ha-ri said with happiness, then hugged me.
"Class would begin in a few minutes. Let's settle down and read before then." I said. We came early so we could read before school begins.