Chapter 24: Confession?
The next morning I was going to look at the club application form again from my desk drawer but found a closed envelope that I had not put in myself.
What is this?
I looked around the classroom but couldn't get any clue since I arrived a little bit late today so the classroom was already full of students. This could have been from anyone here and there were just too many suspects.
I opened the envelope and there was a simple note inside that read "Please come to the big pine tree on the way to the south gate during lunch time. I will wait for you".
Is this a prank? I turned around to look at Hechan, the most likely person to do this sort of thing, but his seat was empty as he had not come to the class yet. I then looked over to where Soojin was sitting and she seemed busy chatting with her friends. These were the usual suspects who might try to set me up with something - are they seriously gonna try to start bullying 'me' again? Me? Jenn?
I was getting paranoid about the whole thing throughout the morning classes and I couldn't decide whether I should go meet this person during lunchtime or not. I could just ignore it and not turn up, but I wasn't sure if that was the best way to deal with it either.
Well, I should maybe seek some advice from friends now that I have them.
"Jihee, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Jenn"
"I got a note from someone asking me to come to 'the big pine tree on the way to the south gate'. I don't know if I should go, and I don't really know the way either"
It was both true as I always used the north gate of school even as my previous self.
"Oh really?!"
"What kind of a prank could this be? Should I just ignore it?"
"No, Jenn! Someone's gonna confess to you!"
"Huh? Wha-, what?!"
"You wouldn't know because you are new here but that's the classic spot where people normally confess to the one they like. Jiho asked me out there as well"
What the hell? I didn't know this.
"Erm, so I guess that means I don't go then", I really do not want to be confessed to by a boy…
"You should, Jenn! You can turn him down, but come on, the guy has worked up the courage to do this and the least you can do is to at least reject him in person. And who knows? Maybe you like him once you see him"
"That simply isn't gonna happen, I can assure you. It's really weird though. I have been here only for like two weeks. Nobody would know enough about me to like me or whatever"
"Maybe love at first sight?"
":Sigh: I guess I will go. It's not gonna amount up to anything but since you say so…"
But on second thought, I still couldn't completely rule out the possibility that this could be some sort of a prank. I was just that suspicious of people after having suffered in my previous self. Well, just a little prank would be harmless I guess, but what I was really worried about was this could be some sort of a setup by people like Hechan and Soojin, a trap that I did not understand yet.
"Can you do me a favor, Jihee?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"I'm sorry for asking, but can you come with me, please? I don't know where this is and to be honest… well, I don't feel too safe going somewhere to meet someone I don't know…"
"Ah, ok. I will bring you there but I'll stay away and watch you from afar so I don't disturb you guys. I got your back, don't worry, Jenn. If it turns out to be some creepy weirdo I'll call Jiho for help"
"Thank you. I really appreciate it"
Then lunchtime came and after having my baguette with pâté, Jihee led me to the big pine tree. It was a really big tree standing by itself so it was easy to find. There was a wooden bench just underneath the tree and I could see a boy sitting on it. I was still a bit too far out to recognize the face though.
"There's your guy. Good luck, Jenn. If anything goes weird call for help", Jihee gave me a reassuring squeeze on my shoulder and stopped following me.
I walked over to the tree by myself, and the boy that was sitting there noticed me and stood up. As I got closer I could see his face more clearly and it was... Donsu? What the fuck?
"Uh, Hi", I greeted him first awkwardly.
Shit. Am I really gonna get confessed to by Donsu? My first ever experience of confession, both as a boy and a girl, is this idiot?
"Hi... Thank you for coming"
Donsu responded but he looked like he was trying to avoid eye contact.
"So... what's up?"
Donsu took a deep breath and started to kinda mumble.
"I wanted to apologize about the other day. Hechan made me report you to the teacher... I didn't mean to..."
Ah, okay. This isn't too bad.
"No worries. I suspected that's how it was anyway"
"I'm sorry, again"
"So... that's it? Can I go now?"
"There's... there's one more thing"
"Ok"
"I - "
Then there was a long pause.
"I like you"
"Thanks, I guess?", I really didn't know how to respond to such things.
"I'm not asking you out or anything... but I just wanted to say this"
"Ok"
"What you said on that day made me think a lot"
"I'm sorry I called you a pig too. There isn't much to think about it. Let's just leave it at that"
"No, that's not it. You were right. I let those guys treat me like a pig... then it looked like you were gonna step in, then you said what you said and just left"
"Look, don't think about it too much"
"No-, please, please hear me out"
:Sigh:
"I think what you meant was that nobody can help me if I don't stand up for myself... right?"
Oh. So he did get it after all. Donsu's much smarter than I thought.
"Something like that, yes"
"I said I li-, like you but I wasn't asking you out... I just wanted to say sorry and also thank you"
"Thank me for what?"
"I don't want to be treated or act like that again. Not in front of everyone. Not in front of you"
"So what are you gonna do?"
"Watch me... I will stand up against those bastards... just watch me. That's good enough. You give me courage"
This was totally unexpected, but as far as I was concerned, Donsu was also a bully - to me at least, just because he was not at rock bottom like I was. I never managed to make a stand against those bullies because I was always completely weak and wallowed in self-pity and defeatism, but when I think about it, Donsu was someone that used to hold at least some power over an idiot like me. As much as I hated to admit it, it was true that Donsu knew how to bite in a way that I never could.
"I'm glad to hear that, I hope things work out better for you"
"Thank you"
"I will get going then"
With that, I turned around and walked away from him but a flash of thought came to my head so I turned back to face him again standing a few steps away.
"Donsu-"
"Yeah?"
"Don't do anything stupid"
I had a really bad feeling about this.
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