After the eventful Friday with Hechan and Lee, the weekend passed peacefully at home, and before I knew it, Monday had arrived.
As soon as I entered the classroom, Ajin saw me and came over to greet me.
"Good morning, Jenn"
"Good morning, Ajin!" I replied, smiling. "How are you?"
But instead of responding with her usual cheerful attitude, Ajin's face turned serious. She looked down at the floor for a moment, as if she was gathering the courage to say something important.
"I'm really sorry. I have to apologize to you".
"Huh? What happened? Where's this coming from?"
Ajin sighed, clearly embarrassed. "You know… you gave me the club application form on Friday afternoon, and I was supposed to bring it to the club supervisor teacher before school was over, but… I'm really sorry, Jenn."
"What is it?" I asked, feeling unsure and somewhat concerned about whatever will be following.
"I forgot to hand it in…"
"Wait—you just forgot?", I thought that was a bit out of character for her.
"Yes," she said, biting her lip. "I'm really sorry, Jenn."
"So… does it mean I can't join ANY clubs now?"
"That is the case, yes…" Ajin said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Aw, man. Sure, I said I would join track and field just in the heat of the moment and also to some extent out of spite for Hechan, but I DID indeed want to join at least some kind of club to finally experience parts of high school life that I could not enjoy previously.
"Well, that's a real bummer"
"I don't know how to make it up to you. I'm just really sorry…"
Before I could respond, a loud voice interrupted us from outside the classroom.
"Jenn! Come out!" a boy shouted.
I glanced over and saw Captain Lee standing just outside the door. Hechan was in his seat behind mine but did not butt in this time, and just let out a discontented tssk.
Sighing, I walked over to Lee with Ajin trailing closely behind me.
"Jenn, you said you were going to join the track and field club," Lee said, looking a bit confused. "But I learned today you didn't. Did you change your mind?"
I glanced at Ajin, who had her eyes cast down, looking like a sad little puppy.
Welp, I guess I'll just take this one myself.
"Erm, yeah, sorry," I said, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "I thought about it again, and I realized I don't really suit joining a sports club."
Ajin looked up at me, surprised by my response. I could tell she hadn't expected me to cover for her.
"But those legs, Jenn! Your legs!"
"Please, captain. Let's not go on about my legs again."
Lee took a deep breath and let out a long, heavy sigh. "Look, if you really don't want to join, then I guess I'll just have to respect and accept that. But remember, you will always be welcome. It's too late for the autumn event now since you're not registered, but there will be competitions in the spring. Well, I'm graduating then, though. It's really unfortunate we couldn't make it work this time."
"I'm sorry, captain," I said, feeling a bit guilty for letting him down.
"Well, you can still come over for training sometimes if you wish," he added. "I'll see you around."
Lee looked genuinely disappointed as he walked away. It was clear that he believed I had some kind of talent, and he probably thought it was a shame that it was going to waste. But compared to last Friday, when he had been almost desperate to recruit me, he seemed more resigned to the situation now. He wasn't bitter or angry—just quietly disappointed.
After he left, Ajin took my hand, holding it in both of hers. Her hands were warm, and the sudden contact made my heart race a little. It was funny—I was a girl now, but this was still the first time I had ever held hands with another girl like this.
"Thank you, Jenn. You didn't mention it was my fault."
"Ah, don't worry about it. I wasn't that up for joining track and field anyway. Captain Lee was just too persistent for me to reject at first."
"If you had told him it was my fault, I'm sure he would've hated me, so… thank you."
"No worries. Now we're in the same club, eh?"
"What do you mean?", Ajin tilted her head in confusion.
"We're in the go-home club together, right?" I joked.
Ajin let out a small laugh, covering her mouth with one hand. "Heh, I guess you're right," she said with a smile. "Thank you for everything, Jenn."
"No, I should be thanking you. You've helped me with a lot of things since I came here."
Ajin responded with a warm smile, and it made me melt a little. At one point, I had been bitter at her for not stepping in when I was getting bullied, but now that I'd spent more time as Jenn and had Ajin's support on several occasions, I had grown quite fond of her. Just like Jihee, she was turning out to be a good friend. And finally, I was starting to feel like I was making real friends in my high school life.