I'm in a relationship by chance
W. Dingdongdang
My head was spinning. We hadn't even met in person, but rather on a phone call. And the crisp school uniform hanging in the clean room, which I'd been forced to project during the video call, wasn't even my school uniform. I don't remember which school it was or what it looked like, but I was certain it wasn't my school uniform. If it had been my school uniform, I would have recognized it during the video call!
"I lived in Cheonan before moving here. This is my first time in Seoul, so please take good care of me!"
While I was lost in my thoughts, my mind racing, the transfer student, Jeon Jungkook, seemed to have finished his self-introduction, folded his hands neatly, and stared at the teacher with wide eyes, as if waiting for his next words. His face, slightly flushed with nervousness, was overflowing with a sense of relief and pride at having successfully completed his introduction.
With that proud expression, he glanced around the classroom as if examining the children, then his gaze settled on my face. It might have been just a moment, or it might have been quite a while. What mattered was that when our eyes met, time seemed to have stopped, my body frozen, and I couldn't even control my expression. I wondered if Jeon Jungkook had sensed something was off. Regret washed over me like a storm.
"Jungkook... you can sit next to Yoonseo. Our class is odd-numbered, so we always had at least one partner. That's good, right?"
"Haha," the teacher said with a smile, gently pushing Jeon Jungkook's back and pointing to where he should sit. My gaze naturally drifted in the direction the teacher was pointing. Unintentionally, I confirmed Jeon Jungkook's spot, and I wanted to believe this wasn't true, that I was dreaming.
Yoonseo sits right behind me. That means Jeon Jungkook will also sit behind me.
“What should I do, really?”
I flinched at the words that came out of my mouth without me realizing it, but thankfully, no one seemed to hear. Haa— A sigh, heavier than ever, gripped me. Even when I wasn't dancing well, it wasn't this hard.
Jeon Jungkook bowed again and walked to the seat he'd been assigned earlier. Perhaps the nervousness from his introduction had dissipated, his pace—neither too slow nor too fast—was effortless. Sitting down, Jeon Jungkook put down his bag and exchanged a brief greeting with Yoonseo.
Please… please, I hope Jeon Jungkook doesn’t recognize me.
Time passed and it was lunchtime. Tired from keeping tabs on Jeon Jungkook all day, I skipped lunch and stayed in the classroom alone, planning to sleep.
“The dance club meets at 1 o’clock… I can wake up when the kids start coming into the classroom. My friends will wake me up.”
I'm scheduled to dance on stage at the upcoming graduation ceremony, and we've decided to have a meeting later during lunch to choose the song. It's such an important meeting, and I'm worried that if I, as the manager, miss it, it'll be a disaster. What if I can't make it? So, anxious, I took a yellow Post-it note from my pencil case and pressed it firmly with a thick computer marker pen.
Wake me up by 12:50! It doesn't matter who it is, just wake me up by 12:50!
I firmly stuck a Post-it note to the corner of my desk, making sure it wouldn't fall off, and then lay down to sleep. With this much preparation, I knew I wouldn't be late today. I decided to relax and get a good night's sleep.
“Get up, Kim Yeo-ju.”
I was sound asleep when someone woke me up, tapping my back. A low, familiar yet somehow unfamiliar voice. I couldn't tell who it was, but it was the voice of a typical third-year middle school boy. There was a faint scent of soap in the air. Who among the boys in my class smelled like soap?
I'm usually the type of person who has a really hard time waking up once I fall asleep, so my mind was awake and wondering who the owner of the voice was, but my body didn't seem to want to wake up at all.
"Why aren't you getting up? Now that I've started waking you up, I can't just leave you alone. Judging by the note you left behind, it seems like it's important... How should I wake you up?"
He muttered something to himself, then, as if determined to wake me, he struck my back a little harder and called me again. Perhaps it was the constant jolts on my back, or perhaps it was the sound of his voice calling my name, that made me move.
“5… Just 5 minutes…”
I struggled to raise my hand and wave it around like I was swatting away a fly, stopping the hand that was hitting my back. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he started calling my name again, shaking and hitting my back, trying to somehow wake me up. Who on earth could he be, doing this to me? Growing annoyance, I ended up tightly grasping the hand that was harassing my back.
“Um… why are you trying to wake me up…”
“I wrote it down on a note asking you to wake me up. I thought it was important.”
The words of the person who woke me up suddenly brought an idea to my mind.Broadcasting department meeting!
“Wow, crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy.”
My heart pounded and I snapped back to my senses, the thought of forgetting such an important meeting making me panic. Still, I had to at least thank the person who woke me up. I quickly threw off the blanket covering me and looked around.
“…….”
“Uh… Uh…?”
It wasn't anyone else who woke me up, it was the guy on the video call.
My life is messed up…?