entry #18 | fяσzєη

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frozen

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Isla was avoiding them.

She was most definitely avoiding them.

When Lucinda, Carmen, or even (Y/n) tried cornering the purple-haired girl the next day in school to get her to spill the details about her date, she turned red and started running away. (Y/n) only had one class with her, so she tried convincing her there.

But Isla bribed her with the newest pillow of the season. Curse her easily side-tracked mind.

Now it was all up to Lucinda to squeeze the details out of her. The two girls had choir practice during lunch, so they were unable to sit with the usual group outside under the wishing tree. Nicholas had managed to snag the spot first with his quote-unquote "bada** ninja skillz." It was them with Keller's group, but now with the new addition of Jaehyun.

If you thought everyone would start worshipping the blond boy, you were half-right. While Reese was still being Reese, Carmen was shaking (Y/n) so hard the (h/c)-haired girl was worried she'd snap in half. Jasper was acting fairly normal since he was pretty influential himself, and was used to being around rich heirs and heiresses.

Nicholas had fled to the safety of the tree. Singular. Period.

Keller, being the father of the group where Jasper was the mother, quickly recovered from his momentary daze and welcomed the boy whole-heartedly. All the while ignoring (Y/n)'s cries for help.

What a great friend.

"Uhhh, ni hao ma?" Nicholas said in a terrible Chinese accent. "Does you speaketh English?"

Keller rolled his eyes and stood up. He reached up and dragged the afro-haired boy from the tree. "Yes, he can, dumba**. Besides, Jaehyun's Korean, not Chinese."

'He changed his hair again?' (Y/n) thought incredulously as she stared at the ninja wannabe. 'I thought Jason was the only one obsessed with his hair.'

"Ah, my bad, bro." Nicholas patted the blond on the back, nearly knocking him over. "Me no speak Korean either."

"Nicholas, bro, I swear—"

"I-it's alright," Jaehyun interrupted quickly before someone got hurt. He eyed the two rugby players warily. Although neither of the two could be called especially stocky, Jaehyun's build paled in comparison to theirs. "I can speak Mandarin as well, but English is my mother tongue."

"Dude, Kels! We got a nerd—"

"Nicholas!" Keller cuffed him across the head. He gave the blond an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about him, Jaehyun—can I call you Jay? I'm calling you Jay. He's not right in the head."

"Hey!" Nicholas tried to protest. "I'm a ninja! Being sane isn't part of the job description!"

"Bro, you're just digging yourself a deeper hole," Jason scoffed snarkily as he tore into his sandwich. "You just admitted you've got a few screws loose."

Cue the aggressive chewing sounds.

"Digging holes isn't in the job description either!" The other male scowled, folding his arms across his chest. "I am a ninja! I do not dig anything unless I'm burying my victims!"

"With those twigs? What are you gonna do, scream at them?"

"Screw you too, Jason. I can use ninjutsu!"

"Oh yeah? Show me then."

"No problem. Kame hame...HA!"

"HAHAHA! What the f*ck was that?!"

"It's jujitsu, you foolish peasant! What else would it be, taijutsu?"

(Y/n) tuned out the rest of their conversation. She could barely follow it in the first place. She looked at the golden-haired male. On the outside, he appeared the picture definition of elegant but on closer inspection, she swore she saw smoke coming out of his ears and his eyes die slowly.

'It's okay,' she wanted to say and pat him on the back. 'You'll get used to associating with aliens.'

Remember how I said not exactly everyone was worshiping Kim Jaehyun in the group? I wasn't talking about Jasper.

It was Jason.

(Y/n) noticed the green-haired male was basically ignoring the blond. When they first approached, he was laughing and joking like he usually did. But once Jaehyun came, he immediately turned quiet, giving off a hostile air. He purposefully left him out of their conversations, refusing to utter a single word to him. When Nicholas tried making another racist joke to the blond, Jason stopped him.

For your information, Nicholas is made up of 200% ninja, 10% monk, 10% exorcist, 1% boy, and 0% bad intent.

The same went with Keller. Jason seized his attention whenever the brown-haired male looked as if he was about to speak with the blond. When he failed to do so, he would glare at Jaehyun and look away.

Hence, more aggressive eating sounds.

Jaehyun didn't look especially bothered. He definitely had to have noticed, (Y/n) assumed. After all, the blond's face had morphed into one of mild amusement with a hint of irritation whenever Jason appeared in his eyesight. But as soon as he caught her looking at him, he rearranged his features back into that slightly nervous but innocent smile of his.

"What's wrong?" He asked quietly. "Did you forget your lunch?"

"Eh?" She snapped out of her daze. "No, I have it here." (Y/n) held up the lunch bag that was filled with her (f/f). "How about you? What do you have?"

She imagined Jaehyun snapping his fingers and a butler appearing by his side with a covered dish on a silver platter.

But his meal was rather normal. He unwrapped the bento box in his lap, taking off the lid to reveal a delicious aroma of Asian cuisine. It was filled with white rice, she saw, topped with various ingredients, from meats to vegetables.

"The chef made bibimbap," he explained as he slid his chopsticks out of its plastic holder. "Would you like some?"

"Are you sure?" She asked, eyed the mouthwatering food with interest. "It's your food though..."

"I don't mind," Jaehyun smiled. "Then how about we trade? Some of your (f/f) for this."

"You have yourself a deal!"

The rest of the week went by smoothly, even with having to spend Monday first period with Tristan. They had spent the session mostly studying and although reluctantly, exploring ways to "motivate" the (h/c)-haired girl in her studies. They've come up with methods such as a reward system, but an undedicated person like her could never stick to it.

Anyway, she and Jaehyun began to spend more time together. He even began opening up to the others; she often found him putting up with being Lucinda's makeup model. With Jasper, they shared similar tastes in aesthetics. Carmen tended to keep away from him since she wasn't quite used to his presence yet.

And Isla? Her love life was, fortunately, progressing well.

The purple-haired girl refused to tell them anything about her date the other day, but one look at her blushing face said it all. (Y/n) tried confronting Reese, but he merely smiled innocently at her and changed the subject. With her best friend and Isla hanging out together more often but with no clear news of them getting together, the (h/c)-haired girl could only spend her time with Jaehyun, who shared the most classes with her.

Not that she minded; the blond was almost as considerate, if not more, than Jasper. (Y/n) swore she probably tried the entire Korean menu from stealing his lunch every day.

And of course, hanging out with one of the P4 brought about a fair share of rumors. Some were merely curious. Others were awe-filled and envious. They ranged from surprise at a normal girl like (Y/n) being able to pull the blond out of his shell despite her lack of stunning features or talent, to jealousy that she was able to spend so much time with him.

And the rest were hostile.

"Did you hear?" A girl whispered to her companion as she glared at (Y/n)'s retreating form in the hallway. "Some b*tch decided to get a head start on all of us and cozy up to the P4."

"For real? Who's the little sl*t?"

"She's not even pretty or rich. Why would Jay choose her?"

"I bet she has some kind of blackmail on his family. Many people are out to get Kim Enterprises, after all."

"What a dirty, conniving, little vixen."

The rumors spread like wildfire in the school, reaching all the wrong ears but none of the right ones. Mackenzie Taylor was one of the first to hear about it, and she nearly snapped on the spot at the thought of some other girl getting ahead of herself on the person she laid claim to. Everyone knew the P4 was off-limits. And the only ones suitable to try their hand at winning their affection could only be those at the top of the hierarchy.

Not some freakshow with no money to her name who showed up out of nowhere. I mean, come on. Does "President White" or "CEO White" sound realistic at all?

Mackenzie would send many things the (e/c)-eyed girl's way, and none of them would be pleasant.

The second person to hear those whispers was none other than Ling Wei Wei. The Asian girl harbored not so secret feelings for the blond Korean, and the idea of (Y/n) getting close to him didn't give her a good taste in her mouth at all. Wei Wei was tall, slender, athletic, and hailing from an old-money family from China. She thought herself suitable for Jaehyun, if only she had the guts to confess.

And (Y/n) knows she liked him. So why...?

Not wanting to trust the rumors over her own friend, Wei Wei confronted her in the locker rooms on Thursday. "Hey, (Y/n)," the tall girl began slowly, leaning on the lockers while scuffing the floor with her toe nervously. "I hear that you're friends with Jay now. I-is that true?"

(Y/n) didn't think much of her tentativeness and merely shrugged it off. "I guess we are," she admitted. "Not sure what he thinks on his side."

'Wait,' she realized. 'Is this like Isla and Reese where they need me to set them up? I didn't think I'd become a matchmaker in the future but whatever.'

"Do you want me to introduce you two?" She said slyly. "Come sit with us at lunch. I'll, uh, excuse myself, if you know what I mean."

Wei Wei brightened, obviously relieved the rumors were not true. "Really? You will? Thank you so much!" She squealed and hugged the shorter girl.

(Y/n) broke free and rubbed her sore ribs, giving the other girl a small smile. "I hope everything goes well for you." Wei Wei nodded excitedly and ran off. 'Is today Valentine's Day or something? All this lovey doveyness in the air is suffocating. Wait, is that a word? "Doveyness?"'

Soon it was the last period, art class. Ms. Florence took the class outside into the school gardens to spend the period drawing something there that caught their eyes. Nova, unfortunately, was absent that day. She texted the (h/c)-haired girl saying she ate something bad and down she's down with a stomach bug.

(Y/n) shuddered. 'Stomachaches suck.' The two of them, her and the blond, had separated themselves from the rest of the class and made their way deep into the garden. They kind of had to, since when they first arrived, Jaehyun had a whole crowd following him. So they ran away.

'Ew, people.'

'I'm so good at drawing,' (Y/n) mused as she sketched a poor representation of a willow tree on her sketchbook. It looked like a mop that had snapped in half. 'Da Vinci who? I am the next Picasso.' She glanced over at Jaehyun's drawing and immediately wished she hadn't. Talent made her feel bad.

"I took like thirty minutes to draw a single tree, and you already finished the entire landscape?!" Her mouth fell open. "Teach me your ways, oh great one!"

He flushed pink and pulled his sketchbook closer to his chest. "I-it's really nothing special," he stammered. "Anyone could do it."

"And I'm not included in the 'anyone.''

"N-no!" He said hurriedly. "Y-you can do it too! I-I'm not lying, for real!"

"Definitely," (Y/n) held up her sketch. "You're trying to say this piece of trash can compare to your work?"

The blond nodded with hesitation. "It's very unique," he said with certainty. "That is the pinnacle of modern art. I only deal with Renaissance and Classical art, so I haven't had many chances to go into modern ones. It's not appropriate to compare your style to mine, especially when yours is superior."

"Aww, really?" She scratched the back of her head.

"Yup!"

'Even though I know he means well, I'm not sure how I feel about my work being called unique,' she sweatdropped. 'That's what people say when they don't know how to compliment something.'

"Okay, anyway," (Y/n) changed the subject. "You dabble in many art medias, right? When did you first start?"

"The first thing I was given as a child was a brush," he laughed softly at the memory. "My parents wanted me to develop a steady hand, especially since they wanted me to follow in their footsteps. After all, a surgeon cannot have shaky fingers in an operation." His tone was light and nonchalant, but she could still detect a faint hint of resentment.

'Resentment? Oh yeah, Jay doesn't have the best relationship with his parents.' "That's a really long time," she observed. "I can't imagine sticking to something for that long."

"If it's something you like to do, it's easy," he smiled. "What about you? What are your passions?"

"Besides sleeping? I guess putting together computers."

"Computers?" The blond looked surprised. "You don't look like that kind of person." As if just realizing how his words sounded like out loud, he began to panic. "I-I don't mean that in a bad way! I'm sorry if I sounded condescending! I-it suits you, I-I'm sure you're good at it!"

'I mean, he's not wrong.' "Don't apologize. I know I don't look the part. I only liked it recently, anyway."

He looked interested. "When?"

"Umm, I think it was during Year 7?" (Y/n) furrowed her brow in thought, her eyes boring holes into her sketchbook on her lap in concentration. "Not sure when exactly, but I remember my mom taking me to her friend's place to visit, who was an avid gamer and builds her own computers. What was her name again...?"

She stared at the tree in front of her. Then at the grass below her, and then at the sky above. 'What was the name....?'

"They say a good way to remember things is by converting it to pictures," Jaehyun offered. His crimson gaze was locked onto his sketchbook, his charcoal moving delicately over the white. Slowly but surely, a striking portrait of a person the (h/c)-haired girl recognized as Ms. Florence came to shape under his fingers. "Is there any images you remember related to the visit? Maybe it could help you remember better."

She couldn't remember anything. "Ah, whatever," she gave up. "It's probably not important anyway. It's from a long time ago. Anyway, when do you want to meet up with Noves to paint the mural? We'll need a centerpiece too. And an exact place."

"I asked Ms. Florence yesterday," Jaehyun replied. "She said we could use the old school building. You know, the one that used to be the main school but got shut down decades ago?"

"Oh, you mean the one that's between your dorm and the school?"

He nodded. "Yes, that one. Ms. Florence said we aren't allowed to paint it anywhere visitors could see from the front of the campus, so it's either there, or somewhere off campus."

'What if we decided to paint a masterpiece?' (Y/n) scowled internally.

"Usually they'd allowed me to choose anywhere as my canvas," the blond continued. "But they wouldn't allow it for this theme."

"Wait, you mean the Water Lilies replicas I see every time I go to school were painted by you too?!"

Jaehyun shrugged shyly and fumbled with his piece of charcoal. "They are mine. B-but I didn't do it alone! I had Leon help me since it was so big."

'Why are people so accomplished in this school?' She cried. "That's actually amazing. I think I'm just going to sit in my corner now."

"H-huh?!"

(Y/n) cleared her throat and decided to redirect their conversation. "Oh yeah, what were you saying about the old school building being shut down?"

"You didn't read the packet they gave out at the entrance ceremony, did you?" Jaehyun gave her a knowing look. Her face remained impassive. "I can't blame you, though. Fortuna is a really old school, so it had to go through many renovations. Now the blueprints are all messed up, and no one really remembers the old building. It's also only a small paragraph in the packet no one reads.

"So basically, in the 19th century, there were a series of murders that occurred in Manchester. Students from Fortuna and its sister schools Asemora and St. Helena Girl's Academy were going missing and their bodies found later, dismembered and preserved. It really freaked England out, so the schools first began with a lockdown, and then later shut down."

"Thank me for being born in the 21st century," (Y/n) muttered under her breath.

"Most of the murders happened in St. Helena Girl's Academy," he continued, setting his charcoal down and holding up his drawing to the light. "But Fortuna also had its fair share. They never did catch the culprit, but the Church and many other people claim it was supernatural doing, done for the occult, committed by the occult, and dealt with by the occult."

"Supernatural wish wash?" (Y/n) scoffed. "If fairies and witches are real, I'd wish for a mountain of pillows and a lifetime supply of (f/f)."

"Not fairies," he corrected her. "Demons. Well I mean, that's probably all made up. My point is, later when the faculty thought everything was over, the building suddenly burned down. They were going to close it anyway because of the murders, but the fire beat them to it. Thankfully no one was in there, so no one died by the fire. Now we have a new building though."

"A stain on Fortuna's illustrious past," she murmured softly after taking in all the information. "This is why I'm failing history."

Jaehyun laughed at her remark and rested his sketch pad against his knees. "Maybe if you gave your teacher a report on this he'll curve you."

"Sure, in the form of an audio recording. Will you let me interview you, Mr. Jay?"

"I don't know," he said, playing along. "I'll have to look at my schedule. I'm terribly busy these days."

"Name your price."

"Hmm...an appealing offer. What about a bit of your time?"

(Y/n) pretended to consider the idea and clicked her tongue. "My time is expensive, sir. More expensive than my report. What will you do with it?"

"We still have that mural to paint, remember?" He smiled. "Can you come with me tomorrow to buy the supplies and map out the mural? I mean, if that's okay with you!"

"'Kay," the (e/c)-eyed girl shrugged. "I never have anything to do anyway. When and where should I meet you? No actually"—she took out her phone from the pocket of her blazer—"Text it to me. I'm going to forget."

"Okay, sure." Jaehyun took the device from her carefully and proceeded to use it to send a message to herself. "Is two in the afternoon fine with you?"

"Ye—actually, make it earlier," she said, remembering her tutoring session. She didn't know when it would be held, but just to be safe, she wanted to move everything else up earlier. "I might have something to do after."

"Okay." He finished and gave the phone back to her. She took it and slipped it back into her pockets.

"What about Noves? I'll send a quick text to her—"

"W-wait!" The blond grabbed her wrist, effectively stopping her from sending a text to the purple-haired girl. "Um, we shouldn't bother her for something like buying materials. Saturday will just be basic planning. We can start the real work later."

"It's due in two weeks, right? Making a mural takes a really long time. Wouldn't it be better if she came along too?"

For some reason, he didn't look pleased with the idea of the other girl joining them. It confused the (e/c)-eyed girl; why did it matter? Then she realized it and almost smacked herself at her stupidity.

'I almost forgot Jay's a shy person! Obviously he's not completely comfortable being around other people all the time. He's only recently started to open up to Reese and the others.'

It was the same for her; when the two met, Jaehyun was nothing short of awkward and nervous. They never exchanged any words before this school semester since neither of the two had any reason to. They weren't particularly interested in befriending each other, so the fact that they had managed to become friends in the first place was a stroke of luck.

At first, (Y/n) was reluctant to deal with a new person. Making new friends was fine and all, but in Fortuna Institute? It made her need to think twice.

Even though she rarely cared about the affairs of her classmates, it didn't mean she was completely unaware of what went on in her school. Sometimes she was truly deep asleep in class, but many times (Y/n) was feigning sleep. When there were people she didn't want to hear or see, her solution was to fake sleep. And it allowed her to hear many bits and pieces of gossip, some petty, others useless, and many dirty.

She heard about the P4 only once before Wei Wei explained it to her, but she didn't think much of it. Even now, she had long forgotten it. But seeing Jaehyun in front of her now made her remember what Wei Wei said about the P4 and the whispers she's heard about them.

'This kid is in the P4?' (Y/n) thought incredulously. 'I thought they were all patissiers! Doesn't it mean Pastel 4? Or maybe it was pastel as in art pastel. Bleh. I get it now.'

She placed a hand on the blond's shoulder and nodded knowingly. "Okay then, we'll go. Just the two of us." 'As an antisocial person myself, I can totally relate.'

Jaehyun didn't know whether to feel happy about that or concerned. "Really? Then noon on Saturday it is!"

'Goodbye, my weekend. Again.'

(Y/n): Misunderstanding + 1

Jaehyun: Confusion + 2

Reese: Tomato + 100