Runaways

Holding Onto You
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                Myungsoo had been awfully quiet as he strode along the road. The luggage that he was pulling seemed like it was going to catch on fire as it was mercilessly pulled without stop. Haneul was having a hard time keeping up with him despite being a fast walker herself. They had been walking for quite a while now, and she wasn't sure where he was taking her. They had long left the train station and it seemed that they were heading towards the residential area.

                Haneul eyed her luggage worriedly again, and then at his back. She wanted to offer to pull the luggage herself but that would mean she will have to return him the camera. What if he ditches her once she did? Haneul bit her lip, thinking of what to do.

                Just as she was, he suddenly stopped. He put his free hand on his waist and looked up the sky. Then, he sighed, loudly and tilted his head as if to look over his shoulder but he stopped halfway and continued dragging her luggage again. They walked for quite a distance before he stopped again.

                Haneul quickly stepped up to him and looked up carefully. Myungsoo was frowning, and surprisingly looking annoyed. She flinched when his eyes snapped at her but he diverted his eyes quickly. Then he sighed in irritation and pouted slightly. She sniffled and gripped the camera bag tighter.

                "I know it's heavy, so let me pull it..." she said, slowly. But Myungsoo didn't seem to be paying attention to what she was saying and wasn't really looking at her.

                "Where do you want to go?" he asked, sounding calm compared to his expression but his voice was rather monotonous.

                "Eh? Uhh... I'm not sure... Anywhere is fine."

                "I can't really think... Usually I will just do whatever I want," he said, thinking hard.

                Haneul thought hard too. "Um, you can just pretend that I'm not around and just do whatever you want and... go wherever you feel like to."

                She thought it was a good idea to not make him feel too burdened but she didn't realise the consequence, just yet. Myungsoo nodded to himself and without saying anything, he started pulling the luggage again, and then they were walking endlessly until it was late afternoon. Haneul was thirsty and her feet were killing her; not to mention she was sweating hard that the back of her shirt was damp. Myungsoo on the other hand, was looking unaffected since he was used to walking such distance. She wanted to ask him to stop for a breather, but somehow, she couldn't open .

                 He finally stopped and sat down at a stall, happily ordering a bowl of patbingsu from the ahjumma. She sat down timidly next to him, her thirst amplifying at the thought of the shaved ice dessert.

                "What about you, ahgasshi?" the ahjumma asked, smiling at Haneul.

                Haneul panicked and glanced at Myungsoo who was playing with his phone as if she wasn't even there. She tried to send him a sign to look up but Myungsoo was oblivious to her apparently. She looked down and blinked rapidly. "Can you give me a glass of water? Iced water..."

                The ahjumma left their table and relayed the order to the man working on the shaver. Haneul gulped, looking at the old man who was preparing it with traditional ice shaver. She was unable to take off her eyes as he put on corns, milk, syrup and a lot of adzuki beans onto the ice and then it was served in front of her eyes. Myungsoo dug in his patbingsu while Haneul was only staring, sipping her iced water slowly. He didn't even bother to eat slowly and in the middle of it, he stood up to order two hotteoks that he gobbled up after he finished his patbingsu. All the while, just as she had told him to do, he didn't pay even the tiniest attention to her.

                Haneul's stomach growled as they began walking again but to her relief, they didn't walk too far when Myungsoo stopped in front of a bathhouse. He handed her luggage with no words and took his key from the reception and disappeared to the men's area. So Haneul who was left stumped wondered what she should do. She checked her purse but all she had was some coins. Her stomach growled again. Her clothes were starting to itch from her sweat and she was dying to wash her hair.

                If not for her luggage, she thought that perhaps she could escape tomorrow without paying. But she would have to leave her luggage at the reception since the locker won't fit. She wasn't even sure if Myungsoo was willing to pay for her since he was literally ignoring her existence from a while ago.

                Haneul took her luggage and sat on the bench outside the bathhouse. By giving back her luggage, didn't it mean that Kim Myungsoo no longer cared about his camera? She looked over her shoulder, to see if Myungsoo would come out, but there was no sight of him.

                She looked up the sky which had darkened and wondered what she was doing. Was she really going to follow that man around - someone she didn't know anything of? But it definitely felt better to have someone around. If she was alone, she would probably end up heading home; which she didn't want to just yet. Besides, Kim Myungsoo didn't look like a bad person... So, even if Myungsoo was going to pretend she didn't exist, it didn't matter as long as there was someone beside her.

                However, her thoughts weren't really convincing as her stomach growled again and she was also getting sleepy. She was the one who decided to do this, so she had in minds that she may have to sleep by the road after all. Haneul eyed her surrounding, where there was no one around. It was getting colder too. She put her luggage in front of her, and then put her back pack on the bench. Then she lied on her side with her head on it and curled up. It wasn't so bad, she thought. Her hometown was even colder than this anyway.

                But it was definitely getting colder, and her face was about to freeze which she felt even in her dreams. It was a bizarre dream where it was snowing and the ice man that she built had come to life and was rubbing his head on her cheeks like a cat. Then it really turned into an ice cat and she woke up startled. But her cheek was still cold with something on it. She looked up and blinked rapidly when she saw Myungsoo who was looking at her oddly while rolling a bottle of cold milk tea against her cheek slowly. She scowled.

                Haneul sat up and sniffled. Then Myungsoo sat down next to her and handed her the milk tea. She held it in her hands, looking at it as if it was a treasure. Myungsoo kept on staring, clearly amused by her reactions.

                "Why are you sleeping here?"

                Haneul turned and looked at him strangely, "I thought you are ignoring me."

                "When did I?" Myungsoo asked.

                "You ate patbingsu and two hotteoks in front of me, without offering me any," she said, matter-of-factly while frowning. "Then you returned my luggage so I thought..." Then her stomach growled, deepening her frown. "I thought that you were going to really going to really ignore me and will leave me after all."

                Myungsoo scratched his thigh and cleared his throat. "Then why are you're still here?"

                Haneul stared at the milk tea in her hands. "I don't have any reason to not follow you."

                To her surprise, Myungsoo started laughing, and shaking his head. "You're really something... Haaa..." he inhaled deeply. "I've been treating you badly. I'm sorry for that."

                "I was the one who asked you to ignore me anyway."

                "You did..." he said, still laughing a little.

                Haneul turned to see his laughing expression, with his eyes a little watery. She didn't understand what was amusing him so much but she didn't feel like wiping away that happy look. Then he stopped and looked up.

                "I'm not sure what made you want to follow me around and I'm not sure whether I should allow you to... But, I guess this is interesting. At least I will have someone to talk to," he said, turning his head to smile sweetly at her, showing his dimple. Haneul blinked rapidly. "But the first thing we have to do tomorrow is find a job."

                "A job?"

                "You have to work to eat!" He stood up, ready to reenter the bathhouse. Haneul remained sitting, looking up at him with almost no expression. "What are you doing? Go in."

                "I don't have money."

                "I still have money to cover both of us," he said, taking her luggage. Haneul followed him and they left her luggage at the reception after checking-in. Then he gave her another smile before disappearing through the men's entrance. Haneul tilted her head, wondering if Myungsoo had some split personalities or something. One moment he was cold, another moment he was warm. She thought that if she was the sky, then Myungsoo must be the weather.

                Haneul soaked for a quite a while that evening, after scrubbing herself until her skin was red and tender. Then she dried herself, put on the pink shirt and shorts and went to the common sleeping room, where Myungsoo was sitting alone, looking at his phone. There weren't too many people since it was weekday and they were mostly glued to the television and some were already sleeping. She approached him and sat down crossed legs, and he handed her a big cup of sikhye that she sipped with a relieved sigh.

               As she was sipping it, she didn't notice that Myungsoo had taken the towel on her feet and folded into sheep head. Then he put it on her head, startling her. He seemed to have noticed her reaction, so he too, took his towel and folded into sheep head. Then he spoke without looking at her, with low voice, "You're going to lose your towel if you leave it like that." Then he stood up with the sheep head, and stretched his arms to the back, "Let's go find food."

                They had jjigae and fried rice, and the two of them sort of gobbled up their food and returned to the common room with bloated tummy. They took their little block of pillow and Myungsoo followed her when she sat against the wall, away from other people. All those while, there was nothing spoken between them, as if they didn't know one another. Myungsoo seemed to be trying to watch the TV from that distance while Haneul was looking at people around them. She turned to Myungsoo who was trying his best to watch the TV and kept on staring at his side profile.

                Probably because she was too preoccupied before that she didn't really study Myungsoo properly. But then that she was, she couldn't help thinking that he was good-looking. Haneul kept on staring, too much apparently until Myungsoo could sense it. He blinked rapidly.

                "Are you an idol?"

                "A what?!" he asked, too shocked by the question, "I'm not."

                "You really could pass as an idol. You remind me of someone..." Myungsoo turned away and was making sort of annoyed face again. She didn't stop staring even so. "Is taking photos your job?"

                "No, it's a hobby."

                Haneul paused for a moment, as if digesting his words. "Are you a chaebol?"

                "A what...?" Myungsoo turned to her again, making are-you-kidding-me look. "I'm not. If I am a chaebol, I would

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anitaklr24
#1
Chapter 14: Hope they stay together for a long time.
callmesabby
#2
Chapter 14: omg you are back again Tofu! I really missed you (that's why I re-read Sunggyu's fic again hehe). This chapter is so cute and so hot at the same time. Totally love it! Indeed, my favourite author never fails me with uwuness (≧∇≦)/
octa_ria #3
Chapter 14: Haneul won’t go anywhere ㅠㅠ She will stay with Myungsoo forever ㅠㅠ Thank you for the hot update, Tofu!! ♥️♥️♥️
anitaklr24
#4
Chapter 9: They are so cute!
anitaklr24
#5
Chapter 8: What will happen next with them?
I have fun reading this
anitaklr24
#6
Chapter 7: It's good to see that they are supporting each other.
anitaklr24
#7
Chapter 6: They are so cute!
anitaklr24
#8
Chapter 5: This is a warm and cute story ^^,
anitaklr24
#9
Chapter 4: I laugh a lot when Myungsoo just talked about food jajaja

Their last conversation was so cute.