second lead. | 정원

chapter 33.

xxxiii.

"Mira!" Upon hearing the girl's name yelled by one of the students, Jungwon immediately retracted his hand and pretended as if nothing happened by looking in the opposite direction.

"Yeah?" She replied.

"It's your turn. Truth or dare?"

Mira was still in a daze from the skin contact she shared with her so-called boyfriend she didn't notice the rest of her classmates had spun the bottle for the nth time today, the cap pointing directly at her. She gulped, nervous about the outcome.

She was unsure of what kind of question or action she was going to get but judging from the previous truth or dare questions, she could only assume it was going to be something ridiculous or wild. If she was unlucky, she would get both.

"Truth."

"YES! I've been wanting to ask this," The boy in charge exclaimed, standing on his knees as he was now above head level amongst everyone who was sitting down. "No offense, but are you gay?"

Mira choked.

And so did Jungwon.

"I mean I've never seen you dating anyone from the guys before... so are you?" The boy continued, his head tilted to the side. Eyes full of pure curiosity and wonder. Mira knew he had no bad intentions, just genuinely curious. "Unless I'm wrong and was saying nonsense, then I apologize for my rudeness—"

"Oh my God, is that why you rejected the boys who confessed to you? Because you're into girls??" A female student squeaked out while closing her mouth, looking around as she eyed the other students for their reaction. Slowly but surely, everyone started nodding in agreement at the statement, coming to a realization.

Ni-ki cleared his throat out loud to get rid of the laugh that was so close to bursting.

"Um, what-" Mira was speechless. She watched as everyone kept their gazes trained on her, waiting for the truth untold. "I'm not," She denied, her voice going softer at the end as she shook her head.

"Then what about the rumor?" Another rhetorically asked, discussing with their friend. "If she really was a lez, then what's with the whole boyfriend thing?"

Ni-ki's body leaned towards Sunoo for a whisper, "Jungwon hyung turned into a female," He proceeded to wheeze earning a judging look from the older from how loud he was. Sunoo smiled awkwardly at the people around him, feeling embarrassed by the child-like behavior the Japanese boy possessed as he sent him a look.

For a hot second, Jeon Mira completely forgot about the rumor. But it took her less than a millisecond to remember it again. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times, however, no words flew out of it. She silently watched as everyone began conversing about the rumor, not keeping their voices down for all to hear.

"Maybe it's a lie?"

"A lie? Nah, Mira is definitely dating someone a hundred percent. There's no way she isn't."

"I expected that."

"Mira could be bisexual for all we know, guys."

"I'd support her if she comes out."

"Comes out where? Is she moving schools?"

"You think Sebin was lying?"

"GUYS," Mira finally shouted, her voice echoing around the room stopping everyone from talking. The room went quiet. They kept their eyes on the brown-haired girl who had heaved a loud sigh before she opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted the next second by a door sliding open.

A female student with dark-rimmed glasses resting on her nose, hair flowing down her shoulders smoothly, wearing an oversized hoodie and fit sweatpants stood by the door. Mira recognized her as one of her classmates, Shin Hyejoo.

Kitae slapped Minho's chest while wiggling his eyebrows, earning a glare from the latter.

Hyejoo pointed outside with her thumb, "The teachers are calling us for dinner. If we don't be there by fifteen minutes, they said they'll eat the whole food."

In a flash, the room was empty.

-

"Jungwon!" A voice called out for him from behind, making him turn around. From where he stood he could see a small figure running up to him, their hair bouncing with each step, before they stopped, "Jungwon, I didn't know you were dating someone. You never told me!"

The male awkwardly laughed and rubbed his nape, looking at the ground. He was outside on the way to dinner at the cafeteria. The sky was getting darker with each second passed, swiveling from a shade of red, orange, and yellow into darkness.

"Yeah... we wanted to know if we're uh, compatible first before telling everyone?" Jungwon replied, it sounded more like a question than an answer.

"I was surprised. I knew we're gonna be in a relationship soon, but I didn't know you'd be taken first," Park Aerin chuckled, a gentle expression on her face as she beamed up at the male, "Wait, now that you're in a relationship, could you give me any advice on how I can confess? Was it you or your girlfriend who said it first?"

Jungwon didn't know Aerin was this invested in romance until she went on and on about the questions she had for him about his relationship. It was pretty obvious who the person she intended to confess to.

"I... did?" He replied unsurely, but Aerin lets out a short squeal at the information nonetheless.

Park Aerin was introverted but she can be loud if she wants to, especially around people she was comfortable with. At school or in public, she would be the quiet pupil but when alone with her friends, it was a different story.

"Would you let me meet her one day?" She asked softly. "If she's your girlfriend and you confessed first, then she must be nice! I hope she doesn't mind having me as your best friend," She voiced, remembering the books she read about people having opposite-gender friends.

A boy and a girl can be best friends, but there was a chance they might fall for each other at one point. Like how Jungwon did, but he later realized the feelings he felt was not love. It was just a small infatuation since she was always there with him since childhood. Fragile, soft, weak, and kind — those were the words he would describe Aerin as.

Park Aerin was excited. Among her friends: Jungwon, Cheram, Yubin, and Mira, Yang Jungwon was the first one to be in a relationship on her friend list. Mira would come first because of the rumor, but it wasn't confirmed yet so she won't jump to conclusions.

"I don't think she'd mind, don't worry," The boy reassured the younger. "And I will when we're ready."

a/n; aaaand that's the end of the game, but don't worry there will be another exciting scene in a few chapters. please look forward to it!