“Get up” He said gently, waiting at the foot of her bed. His eyes softened as she sat up and he noted the red puffiness around her eyes, “We have things to do today”

“I don’t feel well” She muttered, wishing she could just hide under her covers.

“Seohyun…”

“Jongin please… please don’t make me do this. Please I don’t want to do this” She whispered.

He looked off to the side and sighed as he allowed it. For the next three weeks their mornings began like that as she made every effort to ignore what was happening. She tried to normalize their days again, but even when he smiled she could see the hesitation in his brown eyes.

On the last day of the fourth week it changed.

“Let’s go on a hike” He said with a smile and she dropped her school bag on the ground and stared at him incredulously.

The smile was not completely sincere and she had a faint feeling of what he wanted to talk about on their walk.

“I just spent an entire hour trying to run a mile. Which by the way, I thought you might want to know that by the first lap my calves were burning and by the end so were my lungs. Also I was dead last so maybe a walk is not the greatest of ideas” She said, taking her shoes off and falling back into her soft bed.

“It can’t have been that bad” Jongin said, recalling the image of her running. It was probably best for her to not know he had been watching and that yes, unfortunately it had been that bad.

“Oh you have no idea” She said unknowingly. Simply recalling the look of amusement on her peers faces. Especially Sehun who for some reason or another had decided to spend his free time watching her attempt to run. Or maybe he was there for another girl Seohyun thought, peering up at Jongin and deciding to omit that part of her story.

“Come on… please, please do it for me. We haven’t walked in a long time” He watched her think about it and sit up with a sigh and knew he had managed to convince her.

The bus ride was short, the trail was nearby and they could have walked both ways, but this was the better option he decided knowing that she was tired anyways. Jongin stood beside her seat and she watched him for the entirety of the bus ride. Her eyes stayed glued to him as people walked through him as if he didn’t exist. His eyes were blank, but she could tell it bothered him and she would never tell him how sad it made her. Instead she focused on him. She watched him stare out the window, his brown hair falling just slightly in front of his eyes. His lips looked soft she mused to herself before she caught herself and pushed the thought away. Damn hormones.

When they got there they barely talked, he took his time watching her this time around. She seemed to particularly glow this day. It might have been the sunlight, which was shining brightly even in the afternoon, but Jongin couldn’t have cared less about the nature around them that day. Seohyun led them down a small trail, it was empty and she was free to talk and she pointed out how they would have to come back. Jongin mused at her optimism, they both knew what was coming after all, but he followed her none the less. His eyes watched over every part of her, from the top of her head to the tip of her toes and he vowed to never forget any part of her.

“You’re not listening to me are you?” She asked after they had stopped and she sat down, her legs were killing her.

“I am” He lied with a small laugh.

“What did I just say?” She asked.

“You were just talking about… how… excited you were to graduate?” He asked quietly and she laughed.

“You’re offending me” She joked, “Why did you even want to walk if you were going to ignore me the whole time”

“I just… wanted to spend more time with you. We’ve spent a lot of borrowed time together haven’t we?”

“Stop it” She snapped as she massaged her calf gently, “I hate it when you talk about that. I hate it that you’re giving up. If you’re so eager to leave me then tell me”

“That’s not it… The last thing I want to do is leave you. Don’t you feel it though?” He whispered as he stared up at the sky.

“Feel what?”

“Feel how I’m barely holding on to a string of contro