Narrative P.O.V

“Unnie, we’re home!” Ji Eun said as she put her shoes away.
“Welcome back,” Soyeon smiled.
“Hongki and I have to go to work now, so we’ll come back home for dinner later,” Ji Eun quickly went up to her room and got changed.
“You’re going to school with her now?” Soyeon said unexpectedly and looked at Hongki’s uniform.
“Yeah,” Hongki blushed and quietly walked to his bedroom.
“Oh, that’s great!” Soyeon exclaimed.
After they were finished getting ready, Hongki and Ji Eun said their goodbyes to Soyeon as they left the house to the supermarket.

“Hongki…” Ji Eun said timidly. “I crocheted this bracelet, but I’m not sure if you’ll like it…” she grabbed a thin braided black bracelet with small spiked silver beads out of her pocket and handed it over to him, “I tried my best to make it your style but I wasn’t sure if you’ll-”
“Cool,” Hongki smirked and grabbed the bracelet, observing the constructed details in the bracelet.
“I’ll help you put it on,” Ji Eun wrapped it around his wrist and buttoned the bracelet, securing it perfectly. “Look, I also have a matching one, but mine is pink!” Ji Eun put her wrist next to his and smiled, “Do you like it?”
“Yeah, I really like it.” Hongki grabbed her hand and entwined his fingers with hers as they both walked down the sidewalk.
Ji Eun swayed his hands with hers back and forth, “so… we’re close friends now right?” Ji Eun beamed.
Hongki didn’t reply; he let go of her hand and looked at her. He wrapped his arm around her neck swiftly as he pulled her face close to his and gave a small kiss on her cheek. “You can call me oppa now, if you wish.” Hongki’s heart was racing again, but this time the aches and guilt were absent. He grinned shyly and held her hand again. Ji Eun stayed idle; she wasn’t expecting Hongki to act that way, but whatever it was, it surely made Ji Eun extremely content in the inside.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at school in the guidance office….

“Mr. Choi, I have something to talk to you about,” Minhwan gulped and entered his office.   
“I was just about to leave,” Mr. Choi chuckled, “what do you want to talk about?”
Minhwan sat in the chair in front of Mr. Choi, he fiddled with his fingers nervously, and sweat started to form in his palms.
“What’s wrong, Minhwan?” Mr. Choi looked at him worriedly.
“I did something terrible,” he sighed.
“Don’t worry, you can tell me anything,” Mr. Choi comforted him.
“The student who came back to this school… Hongki…” Minhwan gulped again.
“Yes, what about him?”
“Well, the thing about the incident… H-h-he’s i-“ Minhwan took a deep breath, “he’s innocent,” he blurted out.
“Wait, what?” Mr. Choi raised his eyebrow.
“I can’t mention the name, but the culprit behind this incident, made me steal the surveillance video from the office and I was so afraid… I didn’t know what to do, so now I …” Minhwan sobbed.
“Wait a minute, so you have the missing evidence?” Mr. Choi was starting to get angry. “You made an innocent boy’s life a living hell, did you know that?” he yelled.
“I’m sorry,” Minhwan cried.
Mr. Choi sighed, “You should apologize to him, not me. Why did you keep it as a secret for so long? You know how much trouble Hongki and the police had to go through?” Mr. Choi looked at him disappointedly.
“I know, I’m ashamed of myself,” Minhwan wiped his tears.
“Do you have the video with you right now?”
“No, L. Joe has it,” Minhwan gasped and cupped his mouth, “, he’s going to kill me when he finds out I told you it was him.” Minhwan bit the bottom of his lip, “please don’t tell him you heard this from me!”

~~~~~~~~

“Hongki! You came!” Hyuna embraced Hongki in her arms.
“Is manager Yeon mad that I didn’t come yesterday?” Hongki pulled Hyuna off of him.
“I’m the one that was mad! I missed you so much,” Hyuna folded her arms and pouted.
“Sorry,” Hongki smiled and ruffled her hair.
Hongki’s smile is a bit different now, somehow… Hyuna thought in her head. “Oh, is that new?” Hyuna pointed at his bracelet, “it looks so cool,” she grabbed his wrist, “woah, it’s really awesome. Oppa, can you buy me one?”
“I’m going to look for Manager Yeon,” Hongki walked to his office.
 

“Hello, Hyuna,” Ji Eun said politely and gave a small wave.
Hyuna’s draw dropped, she gripped onto Ji Eun’s wrist, “why do you have a matching bracelet with my oppa?”
“Ow, Hyuna that hurts,” Ji Eun whimpered in pain.
Hongki yanked Hyuna’s grasp off of Ji Eun’s wrist, “stop hurting her.” Hongki held onto Ji Eun’s wrist gently, “does it hurt? It’s all red!” Hongki blew softly onto the wounded area, and rubbed it delicately with his thumb, “apologize Hyuna.”
“What?” Hyuna’s eyes started to water as she looked at Hongki and Ji Eun jealously.
“Apologize,” Hongki demanded.
“I’m sorry,” Hyuna looked down at the ground as her tears shattered on the floor.
“It’s okay, really. Don’t worry about it,” Ji Eun patted Hyuna on the shoulder.
“Let’s go find Manager Yeon, he wasn’t in his office.” Hongki and Ji Eun walked down the aisles to go look for him.

It’s been so long since I’ve seen Hongki’s soft side… Hyuna cried. That used to be me… He used to care for me like that too… What makes her so important to Hongki to make him give all of this love to her?

“Oh, there you are,” Hongki walked towards Manager Yeon in the coffee aisle.
“Annyeonghasaeyo,” Ji Eun bowed.
“Hey, you guys are here!” Manager Yeon smiled.
“Yeah, sorry about yesterday, I completely forgot.” Hongki apologized.
“Nah, it’s okay,” Manager Yeon leaned closely to his ear and whispered, “It’s because you’ve been going on dates with her right?”
Hongki blushed, “It’s not because of that,” he clicked his tongue at him. “I went back to school, and I was too exhausted, it must’ve slipped out of my mind.”
“You went back to school!? What happened to that phrase ‘I will never go back to that hole place again?” he looked at Hongki surprised.
“Well…” Hongki wasn’t sure how to explain.
“Oh, it’s because of her right?” he whispered.
“Shut up,” Hongki’s face reddened.
“Okay, well, does that mean you’re going to quit?” Manager Yeon asked.
“No, I still need to earn money. I might just need to quit my job at the bar…” Hongki suddenly remembered he hasn’t told Ssam D about all of this yet.
“Okay, well start working then!” Manager Yeon patted Hongki on the back and walked closer to Ji Eun.
“Be careful, once he starts loving ya, he’ll never want to let go of you,” Manager Yeon whispered in her ears and winked.
“What?” Ji Eun’s heart fluttered and she was so confused about what that meant.

“Ji Eun, can you re-organize the shelves? Some of the things don’t belong there,” Hongki pointed at the shelf next to her.
Ji Eun nodded and went straight to work, while still contemplating about what Manager Yeon had said.

~~~~~~

“Hey, I think it’s time for you kids to go home, you guys have school tomorrow, so you should go and rest early tonight,” Manager Yeon suggested, “I can take over the rest for tonight, so don’t worry about it.”
“Alright, goodnight then,” Hongki got up and walked towards the exit. “Where’s Hyuna?”
“She left home early today, she said she wasn’t feeling well,” Manager Yeon replied. “Have a safe trip you guys!” He pushed Hongki and Ji Eun out the door, “bye,” Yeon winked at Hongki.
“Bye!” Ji Eun waved back at him.
“Are you tired?” Hongki asked.
“A little,” Ji Eun yawned.
“Liar, you look really tired,” Hongki wrapped his arm around her shoulders, “you can rest your head on my shoulder.”
Ji Eun rested her head against Hongki’s shoulder and shut her eyes, as Hongki gave one last kiss on her forehead before she fell deep asleep, and Hongki carried her in his arms as he walked home in the starry night.