บท 26: Light Switch

As I look back up at the little decorated Twix bar, I start muttering some random curses under my breath unconsciously.

The little Twix bar, having met me again, saw my gaze and brightened her smile to the max and happily introduced herself.

"Heyyo! I'm Park Ji-woo but you can call me Ji-woo, Jiji, Weewoo, Wookie, Choccy..."

Her introduction, which should only be around 2 minutes long, somehow became a nearly 20 minute monologue on her life and backstory.

She somehow directed the introduction from her nicknames to her previous school, from her previous school to her old friends, her old friends to her favorite games, favorite games to her family and so on and so forth.

If you were rate her on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being an extroverted celebrity and 1 being an introverted hikikomori, she would be a definite 11; maybe even a 12.

"And that's how my father met my mother"

".....are you done, Ji-woo sshi?"

Putting her finger on her chin, she starts thinking if her classmates need to know more about her. She looks over at her new friend, Min-chul, and sees his worried face.

'Hmmm, I guess a friend would ask what's wrong right? Ahahaha! Min-chul is my friend! My first new friend!'

"Uhhh, yes! I'm done! By the way, Teacher! Can I sit by that guy over there?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, why not?"

As she brings over her bag to set it down on the desk right next to me, I turn my head in worry to So-young. After all, I've seen react quite intensely when something new happens.

Surprisingly, she isn't showing any signs of being sad or anything, it's just that her eyes lost their gleam and she is currently twirling a box cutter.

So, confirming that So-young is fine, I smile politely at Ji-woo before sh-

"Umph! Wahahaa! It's Min-chul again!"

Feeling the gradually increasing weight of the little girl on my chest, I start to panic until I remember that I'm not 40 anymore; thank God for that.

I exhale, relieved, until I turn my head and catch a glimpse of my seat mate. She is currently twirling the cutter in between both hands while her eye and constantly switching from watery and dull.

Her teeth are grinding, her legs are bouncing and her gaze doesn't break away from the little rascal named Ji-woo. Uh oh...does she want a hug too?

As I slowly push Ji-woo off of me, I see So-young's eyes light up. When I stopped pushing her and let her get closer, her eyes slowly start dulling down.

'Huh...it's like a light switch'

As I hug her back, So-young suddenly gives a slight smirk while looking at Ji-woo for some reason. I guess there is the saying that true insanity is being too calm.

'Well, I guess the job of getting her to like me will work out better than I thought'

"Alright alright, settle down...time to start class..."

*BBBRIIINNGGGG BRRRIINNNGG*

Just as the teacher starts talking, the bell rings for lunchtime. Ever since I got into the swimming team a few days ago, I didn't play at lunch and in turn, many other people stopped playing as well.

As a result, the cafeterias are too crowded and the school started allowing students to eat in class; this caused quite the stir in my class particularly.

I don't even need to say why.

As I bring out my lunch box filled with food, I'm immediately swamped by people offering their food to me. However, I have a repellent for these people.

It's called So-young.

Unfortunately for So-young and fortunately for me, a new species named Ji-woo has been introduced as a variable and she is So-young-proof.

"Hey hey hey hey! Min-chul! Wanna try my food? It's pretty good! What about the soup? Oh! My veggies are great as well. Did you know that....."

While Ji-woo is rambling on about her food, I make sure to listen to her, remembering to keep an interested gaze. Ladies love it when you listen to them, no matter the age.

And well, as always, I'm correct.

[as always?]

'As always Feelie! I'm damn right about anything girl related'

From Ji-woo's reaction, I can see the excitement in her eyes that someone is willing to listen to her anecdotes.

Considering how blunt and rude 7 year olds normally are, I can guess I'm the first to properly listen to her. I mean, it shows with the way she is looking at me.

Well, I do still need to pay attention to So-young considering her darkened expression.

"U-u-uhhh, Min-chul?"

Feeling the little girl tug on my shorts made my heart thump...just kidding. I've been through this too many times to be flustered.

I take the food she is offering and take a bite. It isn't bad to be honest but mom makes it better.

"Mmmhmmm, it's great!"

(Ji-woo POV)

When I first met Min-chul, all I was able to think was that he was very, very cute. Like a puppy or a little bunny that has been left alone.

Well, that wasn't the ONLY thought I had; playmate. Playmate was the other thought and the other other thought I had was that he looked good.

When I stepped closer to introduce myself, he stepped back and I realized something...he wanted to play!

Nobody else has initiated a game with me so I took up his challenge and boy was it a challenge. He was very fast and... somewhat attractive.

I've never found myself being so obsessed with meeting another person again other than Min-chul; this made mother laugh for some reason.

When I first entered the class, I started introducing myself and in the middle of it, I caught sight of him again, Min-chul.

He was sitting there and was looking quite sad so after the cool introduction I did, I was a good friend and sat beside him to comfort him!

Soon after sitting down however, it suddenly became lunch and I was able to experience my first lunch with him! He even tried my food!

....huh? Why? What the..... stop it. What are you doing?

Don't eat her food.

He turns himself away to start eating his other seatmate's food but it doesn't look appetizing at all.

Mine tastes much better Min-chul. No no no no...my chest hurts...I thought we were friends?

Ah! He's eating my food again!

Nobody can know how happy I was knowing that he started eating my food again compared to that other girl. For whatever reason, whenever he gets close to someone else, I can't help but feel my chest tighten.

Like a knot in my heart or something is blocking the veins.

I have no idea what this means and it annoys me. I need to know why my new friend is like this...

(3rd POV)

Being totally unaware of what has just transpired inside the little brain of the tiny girl next to him, Min-chul continues his playboy habits; being fed by two girls and generally having a good time.

He knows that he needs to start paying more attention to Ji-woo so that she can realize her love for him or well...I guess make her fall in love with him.

To realize this goal, he starts working on it right away by moving his body to hers and generally being more friendly with his touching of the shoulders, the compliments and laughing at all her jokes.

As a true playboy, he doesn't even need to remind himself to do these trivial things that women care about because it's already been engraved into his brain for many years before.

His skills are not comparable to regular 7 year olds who are busy picking their noses, learning times tables and generally being a pain for the adults.

It isn't a competition.

All the while he is flirting with Ji-woo to get that quest as quick as possible, So-young on the other hand is more sure about the conclusion she came to.

She finally understands what those voices were talking about when they mentioned "thots" and "baddies". This is girl is a bad guy. A bad person stealing him.

She started realizing this after she saw Min-chul hug her back; her eyes went back to normal, her breathing calmed down and her smile slowly but surely edged back up.

She reached an epiphany.

Save Min-chul!

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(A.N) yo! Another chapter and I hope you readers enjoyed this one! Please do support with reviewing, commenting, adding to library and voting with powerstones! Thank you so much for all of the support and I hope you have or had a good day! Thank you and peace ✌️!