Narrative P.O.V

"No!"
“Please Hongki, I really want you to come to school with me!” Ji Eun cries.
“I told you already, I don’t want to go back to that atrocious school,” Hongki says as he locks the supermarket.
Ji Eun sighs, “school isn’t that bad…”
“To you it isn’t,” Hongki looks at her pathetically. “Let’s go home, it’s getting late.”

They both walk silently down the sidewalks, as soft crickets’ twitter merrily. Ji Eun tries to keep up with Hongki’s pace but was too exhausted to walk any faster. Hongki looks behind him and notices her struggling, so he slows down a bit, making sure she was alright.
“Can you walk any faster?” Hongki stops at his spot and looks at her worriedly.
“Sorry, I’m just really tired…” Ji Eun yawns.
Hongki gestures his palm in front of her, “I don’t want you to be walking slowly behind me. What if someone kidnaps you and I wouldn’t even notice?…” Hongki gulps shyly.
“I would scream Hongki Oppa, for my rescue!” Ji Eun giggles jokingly.
“I told you not to call me oppa,” Hongki chuckles along with her. “C’mon I’m hungry, we should hurry back home,” Hongki grips onto her hand tighter, while walking down the discreet path.

~~~~~~~

“Soyeon, we’re home!” Ji Eun shouts while taking off her shoes at the front door. “Soyeon?” Ji Eun repeats in the dark empty hallway of her house.
“Guess she’s not home, Ji Eun,” Hongki walks up the stairs and searches around the house.
“She hasn’t been home for dinner for a while now,” Ji Eun’s eyes begin to water.
Hongki walks up to Ji Eun and stares down at her, not knowing how to comfort her. He stretches his arms behind Ji Eun, but was reluctant to touch her, and wasn’t sure on how to give her a hug.
Hongki clears his throat, “it’s okay; she’ll be home soon… Hopefully,” Hongki reassures her.
“I’m glad I have you with me at least,” Ji Eun tugs onto Hongki’s waist tightly to her chest, embracing him into a heartfelt cuddle.
“Yeah…” Hongki whispers, though deep down, he felt like he didn’t deserve her.

“Let’s go prepare dinner,” Ji Eun smiles, and wipes her tears away.
They both grab aprons from the kitchen and start washing the vegetables, as Hongki goes ahead and chops them, while Ji Eun starts the stove. After a while, everything was finally prepared and they both ate happily next to each other.
“It taste’s really good,” Ji Eun mumbles while taking a big spoonful of the food.
“Look at you, you’re eating like a pig, your mouth has so many crumbs,” Hongki laughs.
“Hmm? Really, where?” Ji Eun wipes the corners of .
“No it’s over on the left side,” Hongki points to his own lips, but Ji Eun still didn’t get it.
“Here,” Hongki says while he grabs a napkin from the tissue box, and helps her wipe away the crumbs off . For a brief moment they locked eyes on each other, and their heartbeat started pumping faster. He dropped the napkin nervously and looked away, trying to hide his reddened face from hers.
“Thank you,” Ji Eun blushes and goes back to eating.

After a while of awkward silence Ji Eun remembers, “oh right, there’s a school dance coming up, I should try to find a dress.”
“School dance?” Hongki looks at her flustered. “Are you going with anyone?” Hongki clears his throat, feeling a bit anxious about how she’ll answer.
“I think Youngmin and maybe Mir? I don’t know,” Ji Eun shrugs.
“The two guys I met before?” Hongki chews on his food solemnly.
“Yeah,” she answers.
“I don’t approve,” Hongki averts his eyes from hers.
“What?” Ji Eun wasn’t so sure of what Hongki had just said.
“Never mind,” Hongki looks down at his bowl of food, utterly confused at why that came out of his mouth.

~~~~~~

“It’s almost time for you to sleep, why don’t you go ahead and get ready for bed, I’ll wash the dishes,” Hongki offers.
“But-“
“Just go, it’s okay,” Hongki insists.
“Thank you,” Ji Eun turns around and is about to walk up the stairs but instead she decides to go back to Hongki. She walks up behind his back while he cleans the dishes, and hugs his waist tightly, while giving a small peck on his cheek, “thank you for being here for me when my sister can’t,” Ji Eun whispers in his ear, before leaving the kitchen.

Hongki P.O.V

I look over my shoulder and all of a sudden I felt her warm hands crawling up my stomach. Her tender lips pressing against my cheek, “thank you for being here for me when my sister can’t,” that’s all she says before I was left alone again. Why do small things like this make my heart ache? It’s only for a split second when I actually catch that glimpse of pure happiness, but it’s always that loneliness that stays longer with me after she’s gone. Why do I always have that strange feeling when I’m around her?

“Hongki, can you tuck me in bed?” Ji Eun asks timidly, interrupting my train of thought.
“Tuck you in bed?” I chortle, “aren’t you a little too old for that?”
“Oh. Never mind then… I’ll just go to bed,” Ji Eun sighs before heading up the stairs.

I quickly finish washing the dishes and hurry up the stairs. I approach her room, in front of the closed door. I knock on it slightly, “Ji Eun?” –Ahem* trying to clear my throat.
I open the door slightly and look through the small crack. She’s sitting on her bed writing in her diary again. I sigh and try to build up the courage to walk in.
“Do you still… n-need me to tuck you in?” I stutter, realizing how ridiculous that sounds, especially coming from someone like me.
She looks up at me with a huge smile on her face, “You know… I wish you would come to school, so you can come to the dance with me.”
I can feel the guilt kicking in when all I can do is refuse again, “I told you-”
“I know but I just couldn’t hold in my thought,” Ji Eun closes her diary and tucks it behind her pillow and hastily pulls her covers over herself, “sweet dreams,” she whispers.
“Good night,” I say before leaving her room.

I stand outside her bedroom door and stare down at my feet, “I can’t believe I’m considering this,” I sigh heavily.

Narrative P.O.V~~~~The Next Morning

“Oh wow it smells so good,” Soyeon says as she enters the kitchen.
“Good morning, hope I didn’t wake you up,” Hongki says as he flips the omelet on the pan.
“Good morning, and don’t worry, you didn’t,” Soyeon smiles, “do you need help?”
“No it’s okay,” Hongki places an omelet onto a plate and offers it to her.
“For me? Oh thank you,” Soyeon takes the plate of omelet onto the table and digs in. “Wow! This actually tastes really good, I didn’t know you can cook!”
“Thanks,” Hongki cracks open a few more eggs for another omelet.
“So, why are you up so early?” Soyeon asks.
“I have some business to do…”
“Like what?” Soyeon questions curiously.
“Things,” Hongki grins.
“I see. Well I’m finished now, and I better get ready for work, thanks Hongki!” Soyeon quickly grabs her stuff before heading out the door.
“Wait!” Hongki shouts.
“Yes?” Soyeon turns around.
“You should really make some time for your sister, she really misses you,” Hongki says with a worried expression on his face.
“I know, and I’m really sorry about that, but I’ll try my best. Thank you for taking care of her, she seems to really like you, I hope you’ll be by her side when I’m not,” Soyeon smiles and heads out the door.

“She really likes me?” He questions to himself, feeling a sense of relief and happiness at the same time. Hongki goes back into the kitchen to finish cooking another omelet. He serves the omelet onto another plate and places it onto the table while leaving a note on the side for Ji Eun.
Better eat properly, or I’ll never cook for you again.

He walks to the front door and puts on his shoes. He opens the door and whispers to himself; “I can’t believe I’m doing this…” he gulps before exiting the house.

~~~20 minutes later

“Oh my god, isn’t that?”
“It looks just like him…”
“I think it is him…” Students from around the school grounds chatter loudly as Hongki makes his entrance into the office.
“Well, look who it is,” the principle smiles, “are you here to come back to school?”

To Be Continued!