One Step Closer

     Jieun opened her eyes to the sound of the alarm and got up.

     It was Monday, the day she dreaded the most. She hated going to school and her head was filled with the thought of always dropping out and now that Kyungsoo and her magic friends were here, she didn't want to leave home even more.

     Jieun dressed into her school uniform and looked into the mirror, fixing the ribbon on her collar. She noticed Suzy watching her from behind and turned around, noticing her glance at her in amazement. 

"Good Morning," Jieun smiled as she slipped her vest on. 

"Morning," Suzy said, her eyes focused on Jieun's school uniform. "It's so pretty."

"What's so pretty?" Jieun followed Suzy's glance on her uniform. "This?"

"I've always wanted to wear the school uniforms in the human world," Suzy said with a bitter smile. 

"These are nothing special," Jieun said as she tugged on her uniform. 

     Suzy only smiled, watching as Jieun finished fixing her ribbon and packed her backpack.

     "We're gonna be late," Jisoo knocked on her door and sighed. He saw Suzy sitting on the bed and waved at her, awkwardly grinning. Suzy waved back and stared at Jisoo dressed in the same school uniform as Jieun.

"You guys look great," Suzy said as she watched the two standing side by side. 

"Your uniform looks pretty too," Jieun smiled. "I don't think ours is anything to be jealous of."

     Jieun smiled as she grabbed her backpack and hung it over her small shoulders. "On Mondays through Fridays we're going to leave for school at around this hour and we're going to return home at around early evening."

"Ok," Suzy nodded and watched as Jieun waved goodbye and walked out of the room.

     "Um," Jisoo murmured and looked at Suzy awkwardly. "If you ever want to... go somewhere next time, just let me know. I'll take you there." he said fast and rushed out of the room, scratching his head. 

     Jieun and Jisoo exited the house, walking towards school.

"What happened yesterday?" Jieun asked, referring to Suzy.

     "I was going to my acting agency for my lesson and then I saw her following this ert into the ion alleyway. I would have just walked away if it was one of the guys but she's a girl, I couldn't just walk away."

"I feel like there's so much that I have to teach them," Jieun sighed. 

"Lee Jieun," Jisoo looked at her. "They're not here for good. You've already given them a place to stay in and already took care of so much of their business. I know you like them but I think you're just doing too much."

"Why did you help Suzy?"

"What?"

"You helped her because she was weak and vulnerable right? You couldn't just walk away right?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"That's how I feel towards them Jisoo. I can't just walk away from them."

"But-"

"It seems like you don't entirely hate them, seeing that you tried to save Suzy and all."

"Well-"

"Also, when did you get that teddy bear yesterday? I never told you I liked that bear." Jieun said with a smile.

"What bear?" 

"The bear you left infront of my door last night."

"I didn't leave anything infront of your door last night," Jisoo raised an eyebrow. 

"Stop joking around-"

"Seriously," he laughed. "It's not me! I was so busy with Suzy yesterday where would I get the time?"

"What?" Jieun was lost in thought. 

     If the bear wasn't Jisoo, who could it possibly be? Suzy and Jisoo were busy last night and Baekhyun was walking alongside her the entire time. It couldn't possibly be Kyungsoo, she thought. She looked back at her house, curious. 

---

     "Where is everyone?" Baekhyun asked as he walked down to the living room and saw the breakfast that was prepared on the dinner table.

"They went to school," Suzy said as the three sat down at the table to eat. "They said they'll be back early evening on weekdays."

Kyungsoo glared at Suzy who avoided eye-contact with him.

A cold silence wrapped over the breakfast table as Kyungsoo crossed his arms and stared at Suzy until she spoke.

"Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room..?" Baekhyun asked as he glanced at Suzy with his peripheral view.

"Miss Bae Suzy will adress it," Kyungsoo said sternly.

"What?" Suzy sighed and slammed her chopsticks down. "I told you I just fell over." 

"You don't get bruises all over your body from falling over," Kyungsoo blurted. "Just say the truth."

"I went to an acting agency yesterday," Suzy sighed unwillingly. "Just ran into someone stupid that's all."

"What?" Kyungsoo slammed his spoon down, startling both Suzy and Baekhyun. "You left alone?!"

"You guys left too," she shot. "Why do you care?"

"We were with Jieun," he said. "I thought we had an agreement here, to let each other know if we were going somewhere. Do you know how dangerous it could have been if things took a wrong turn? You take all that risk for some useless acting agency that's not even going to help in the long run?"

"Kyungsoo," Baekhyun eyed him and glanced at Suzy who stared back at Kyungsoo, hurt. 

"I," Kyungsoo sighed and rubbed his temples. "I didn't mean it that way-"

"You're the main character back home," Suzy said. "You're quidditch captain, one of the smartest students and because of your beautiful face everyone loves you and they all kiss your . You're Mr. Popular and you've had everything handed to you so easily that you're just DYING TO GO BACK so you can live in your little safety circle again don't you?"

"What?" Kyungsoo said aghastly.

     "I have nothing waiting for me back home," she chuckled sarcastically. "It's not even really home to me. I can't do anything I want back there without getting the constant stares and discrimination because I'm a girl. But here girls are equal to guys and they can be just as successful as guys are back home. Girls here grow to become really successful actresses and people actually love them. But you wouldn't know anything about that or care because all you care about is yourself." Suzy stood up and walked into Jieun's room, slamming the door behind her.

     Kyungsoo sat his spot, his face serious. 

"That escalated fast..." Baekhyun murmured under his breath as he awkwardly peeked at Kyungsoo. 

     Kyungsoo stormed towards Jieun's room and slammed the door open, standing infront of Suzy who refused to look at him. 

"What was that?" Kyungsoo asked, trying to push his anger down. 

Suzy didn't respond and only stared at the window, giving him the silent treatment. 

"You're really doing the silent treatment again?"

"What Kyungsoo? What the do you want from me?" Suzy screamed and pushed him on the chest. 

"What's wrong with you? This isn't you."

"Oh," she scoffed. "This isn't me? Tell me Kyungsoo, what is being me?" 

     Kyungsoo stared at Suzy, not knowing what to say. 

"Let me ask you a question," she said. "Why did you even follow me here? You're not the type to come running when someone's in trouble, especially me."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Are you still not over me?" Suzy asked, staring right into Kyungsoo's face. 

"What?" Kyungsoo snorted. "Me? Not over you?"

"I appreciate this love you're trying to give me but I don't want it."

"Are you being serious?" Kyungsoo scoffed. "So is this what this is about now?" 

"You tell me, is it?"

"I'm not doing this," Kyungsoo shook his head and walked out of the room. "To you it may have been just a fling and nothing more, but during those three months we were together there wasn't a single day I wasn't sincere to you. My feelings for you as a boyfriend were sincere then, and now it's just my feelings for you as a friend ia sincere. Don't overthink anything. You know better than anyone why we were over."

     Suzy stared at Kyungsoo in disbelief. 

Her eyes rested on the teddy bear that Kyungsoo had left for Jieun infront of her door. 

---

     "I didn't bring an umbrella," Jieun murmured as she watched the sky rain. 

     Jisoo had left early for his acting training and Jisoo was pretty much her only friend at school. Jieun stood at the steps, watching as all the other students walked into the rain with an umbrella over them. The rain was pretty heavy and it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon, and the sky was only getting darker. 

Her sister was working overtime and she had no one to call. 

Jieun stared at the main gate endlessly, when she saw a figure walk into the school.

    All the students stared at the figure as the figure walked towards the school buiding. The figure was wearing a red cardigan and seemed to be in crutches, and the white plaster on their arm was so prominent from far away. She squinted her eyes and to her surprise saw,

"Kyungsoo..?' she said in shock as Kyungsoo walked towards her, crutches in one arm and an umbrella in the other.

He stared at her faintly. "Let's go."

"H..ow are you here?" Jieun asked, surprised. 

"It's raining," he shrugged. "You weren't back by early evening."

"You came here for me..?" Jieun glanced at him, touched.

"I'm just going to leave if you talk so much," he turned around and Jieun followed right behind, joining him under the umbrella.

     Walking beside Kyungsoo made Jieun's heart flutter. The subtle scent of Kyungsoo's perfume mixed with the smell of rain registered a new memory in her heart and she smiled as she secretly peeked at him through her peripheral view. 

"Thank you for coming," Jieun said with a shy smile.

"I don't like having debts," he said. "I'm just repaying you for the night you helped me treat the scar on my leg."

"Oh," Jieun smiled awkwardly. 

"You're not dumb-witted or annoying," Kyungsoo said, looking straight. 

"What?"

"That night, you apologized for being dumb-witted and annoying. You're not." Kyungsoo glanced at her, making Jieun flush. 

"To be honest, I thought you hated me." she said quietly.

"I don't hate you," he replied, looking at her dejected face. "It's just hard to explain."

"Hey Kyungsoo,"

"What?"

"Was the teddy bear you?" Jieun asked, looking at him. 

"Do you like it?"

"How..?"

"You looked at it in the vending machine like you would look at your crush."

"You didn't have to-"

"I told you," he said. "I don't like having debts. Just think of it as a thank you gift."

"Sure," she nodded silently, trying to hide the smile that was leaking out the corners of .

This bear would probably be the best gift that Jieun had ever received in her life. 

This moment was a moment that she had always dreamed of.

     The sound of rain tapping against their umbrella was loud, but the only thing that rang in Jieun's ears was her own heartbeat.

Hello~ sorry I didn't update for a long time

I was just busy with personal matters and didn't get to write this story until today 
I hope you guys liked this chapter :D