That evening, something changed again.
Even though I wanted to ignore it—
my heart wouldn't.
The next morning, the film club room felt louder than before.
I sat beside him quietly.
For a moment—
I could feel his gaze on me again.
I quickly opened my notebook.
"…I wrote some story ideas," I said softly.
"I don't know if they'll work."
He looked down at the page.
Then—
without saying anything—
he reached for my notebook.
Our fingers touched slightly as he took it.
Just for a second.
But this time—
it didn't feel accidental.
I looked at him immediately.
But Sihoon only lowered his eyes to the notebook calmly, like nothing had happened.
And somehow—
that made my heart beat even faster.
For a moment—
I forgot everything.
The club room.
The noise around us.
Even the project.
I just looked at him.
Like I had somehow drifted into my own world for a second.
Then his voice pulled me back.
"All of these stories are good," he said quietly as he looked through my notebook.
"I think we can use them."
I blinked softly.
"…Really?"
He nodded once.
And somehow—
that simple answer made my heart feel lighter.
Then—
the club leader suddenly called my name.
"Choi Jia?"
Both of us looked up at the same time.
A boy walked toward our table and stopped beside us.
He smiled lightly.
"I'm Lee Sonje," he introduced himself.
Before I could say anything—
Sihoon spoke first.
"Hello, Sonje."
Sonje nodded politely.
"Hello."
Then his eyes moved toward my notebook.
"I heard you write stories," he said.
His voice sounded curious.
"If you want… maybe we could share ideas sometime. I think it would help both of us."
I hesitated.
"…I'm not really that good—"
"She's not good at sharing."
Before I could finish—
Sihoon cut in calmly.
I looked at him immediately.
Surprised.
Sonje blinked slightly.
"…Oh."
From behind us—
Minhu suddenly laughed.
"Wow," he said.
"That sounded really possessive."
"Minhu," Sihoon said flatly.
But Minhu only grinned wider.
"What? I'm just saying."
Then he leaned back in his chair dramatically.
"You really don't want Jia talking to other guys, huh?"
My face instantly grew warm.
And for some reason—
SihoMy face instantly grew warm.
And for some reason—
Sihoon didn't answer right away.
The silence only made Minhu grin more.
But before he could tease us again—
Yian suddenly laughed quietly from across the table.
I looked toward him.
He wasn't saying anything.
Just watching us with a small, knowing smile on his face.
Like he had already figured something out long ago.
And somehow—
that made me even more nervous.
Sonje cleared his throat softly after a moment.
The awkwardness was still there—
lingering quietly between us.
But he acted like he didn't notice.
"Alright, everyone," he said, looking around the room.
"We'll need to collect everyone's story ideas first."
A few students straightened in their seats.
Sonje held up the papers in his hand.
"I'll read through them and decide the teams after that."
Then he smiled lightly.
"So try to write something interesting."
The room slowly filled with conversation again.
But somehow—
the strange tension around our table still hadn't disappeared.
"Has everyone finished their story ideas?" Sonje asked, looking around the room.
A few students immediately complained.
"No, we still don't have any ideas."
"This is too hard."
Sonje sighed dramatically, though a small smile stayed on his face.
"We don't have enough time," he said.
"The school festival is coming soon, so we need to prepare early."
The room slowly filled with groans.
"Why does the festival always come so fast?" someone muttered.
"Because you waste time talking," Minhu replied casually.
"Excuse me?" Yian said immediately.
And just like that—
the room became noisy again.
"So," Sonje said, clapping his hands lightly to get everyone's attention again,
"Those who already have story ideas—please give them to me today."
He lifted the papers in his hand slightly.
"I'll read them tonight, decide the teams, and tell everyone tomorrow."
A few students nodded seriously.
Others immediately started panicking again.
"Tomorrow already?"
"That's too fast!"
Sonje only smiled.
"We're running out of time."
Then his eyes briefly moved around the room—
before stopping near our table again.
A few minutes later—
Sonje walked back toward our table again.
"I'm collecting the stories now," he said.
Sihoon picked up the papers beside him and handed them over calmly.
Sonje looked through them for a moment.
Then—
his eyes stopped on one page.
"You wrote this, Jia?"
I hesitated slightly before nodding.
"…Yeah."
Sonje looked genuinely surprised.
"This is really good," he said softly.
"The emotions feel very real."
For a moment—
I didn't know how to respond.
"…Thank you," I said quietly.
Sonje smiled at me lightly.
And somehow—
the atmosphere around the table changed again.
Then—
beside me—
Sihoon suddenly reached for the water bottle on the desk.
My bottle.
And without even realizing it—
he opened it and took a drink.
I blinked in surprise.
At the same time—
his eyes lifted toward Sonje.
Calm.
Quiet.
But something in his expression felt different.
Like he didn't like the way Sonje was looking at me.
The moment became strangely silent.
Then—
Yian slowly looked between the three of us.
And the smile on his face almost returned again.
stared at Sihoon quietly—
still frozen from what just happened.
Because somehow—
using my water bottle so naturally…
It's felt more dangerous than if he had said something at all.
And for the first time that day—
I realized
maybe I wasn't the only one becoming more aware of us.