curry buns
i'd walk to the ends of earth for youword count: 1874
There was absolutely no way Jinah was going to allow herself to be late to school on the very first day of senior high.
"Please tell me you've at least left your house...." she pleaded into her phone.
"YES I'LL BE THERE IN FIVE MINUTES...wait no MAKE IT TWO" she was pretty sure she heard that phrase twenty minutes ago when she had first called him. The duo had agreed to meet outside the convenience store two blocks away to get breakfast (she was already holding two curry buns in a bag that she had bought in case he was late)(which she had predicted very accurately) before they would walk to the bus stop together to catch the school bus. Letting out an exasperated sigh, she checked the time for the hundredth time stomping her foot impatiently- about two minutes before the bus would come. Just as she was about to call him again, a (excessively noisy) tall figure crashed into her almost causing her phone to slip out of her grip.
“JIN-IEEE TOLD YOU I'D MAKE IT IN TWO MINUTES" he shrieked in pride shooting her his usual toothy grin (which she had to fight against the urge to smack off his face).
"I don’t have time for your nonsense for now so let's just hurry up" she huffed in annoyance (not forgetting to wack the other at the back of his head).
The two took no time to dash down the road to catch their bus. It was as if it was a routine to shout into the phone before sprinting to the bus stop, having repeated this countless times in the previous school years.
By the time the bus stop was in sight, the doors of the bus were already closing causing the two to panic and rush to catch the driver's attention. Thankfully, they were able to make it before he really drove off. Panting heavily, they stomped up the stairs to plop themselves on a seat together, catching their breath.
She turned to her right to glare at the boy beside her, Lee Jaehwan, her only friend (unfortunately). Their friendship was mostly one-sided back when the two were in kindergarten. Jinah refused to interact with the other kids, being a really shy introvert. Said boy had constantly pestered her to play with him, showing off his collection of pokemon trading cards or his exceptional skills for drawing cartoon characters. She never wanted to give in to the rowdy puppy-like boy but one day he had tripped and landed face first on the ground trying to catch up her to fast pace (she was attempting to get as far away from the boy as possible). Guilt immediately struck her as she saw a scratch on his (uniquely huge) nose and she extended her hand to him, receiving a teary pout which broke down her walls. She knew at that moment, that pout could convince her to give in to anything he desired. Jaehwan was ecstatic to finally receive her friendship together with an adorable chopper-patterned bandaid which he about while she was sticking it on his nose.
That very pout that hadn’t changed over the past decade was staring straight at her, begging for forgiveness. Her stern expression softened into an affectionate smile. She had no choice but to pat his barely combed, fluffy deep brown locks, “You know I can never stay mad at you” she sighed, passing the curry bun packet she retrieved from the plastic bag. “FOOD! I was so afraid i’d have to last until recess on an empty stomach, you’re the best my little dongsaengie” he pinched her cheek lovingly (much to her annoyance). Jaehwan always liked to call her his dongsaeng even though he was only a few months older (she thought it would be much more suitable if the roles were switched). He then wasted no time in ripping the package apart, shoving the bun into his mouth. With his cheeks full of bread and curry at the corners of his lips, he gave her the smile, the one that formed crinkles at the corners of his eyes. She chuckled taking a bite out of her own bun.
—
Students poured out of the bus as they arrived at school. “Jin-ie aren’t you excited for the new school year? One more after this year and we’d be graduating!!” Jaehwan exclaimed stretching his arms above his head. She replied with a silent shrug. She was actually dreading it, similar to the previous school years. Every part about school was a living hell from the name calling to the isolation, she was glad she had Jaehwan by her side every year.
“Come on, you’ll get a lot of wrinkles if you don’t stop sulking! Let’s go see who’ll be in our class this year.” he took her hand and dragged her to the announcement board. The two were always in the same class for two years straight much to Jinah’s relief.
She scanned the classes under the third years and spotted her name. Moving to the name above hers, she was expecting to find Jaehwan’s name (their last names were similar) but found some unknown name instead. Panic surged through her body as she desperately tried to find ‘Lee Jaehwan’ on the list.
Despite being able to maintain to remain her stoic expression, Jaehwan could still sense her uneasiness in how her eyes shifted downwards to her fingers to pick at her scabbed cuticles- a habit she had for as long as he could remember. Whenever she felt down, she would turn to viciously pick at the frayed skin along her cuticles.
Before she could feel her fingers tremble, Jaehwan pulled her away from the crowd to their ‘hiding spot’. He sat her down on the steps facing the huge field on their side of the gate. When he sat down next to her and placed his hand on her head, Jinah could feel clench. There was no way she was going to survive the rest of the year without Jaehwan in her class.
“There there, there’s no need to cry” he pat her head gently. He could always tell when she was going to cry. She couldn’t decide whether that was a good or bad thing.
“Why not? We won’t be in the same class anymore. Who’s going to be there to protect me?” she could feel the back of her eyes burning as she tried to hold back the tears. Jaehwan was always there, ever since kindergarten, always by her side fighting off the bullies who tried to attack her.
“Because you’re my strong lil dongsaengie and if the bullies come you’re gonna punch them in the face just like how you punch me too!” he started throwing a few punches into the air. “Look it’s not like we’re not gonna see each other anymore, we’ll still have our recess here, you’ll probably continue to keep coming over to my house and don’t forget you still have to help me with my upcoming musical piece!” he listed.
“Yeah and I guess I can finally concentrate in class without hearing some mosquito impression every ten minutes” she grinned.
“Hey! You know you love my animal impressions!” he pouted.
They shared a calming silence, feeling the wind brushing their faces. “We should get going if we don’t wanna be late for morning assembly” Jaehwan huffed, breaking the silence. He dusted off the dirt on his , “Come on Jin-ie, let’s go” he extended his hand towards her.
Pulling herself up with her hand in his, she tried to believe in his words. That’s right Im Jinah, you’re gonna make it through the year.
—
The class was already half full when she entered, separating ways with Jaehwan a few classrooms down the corridor. She quickly glanced at the seating arrangement already pinned up on the class bulletin board and brightened up a bit when she found out her seat was next to the window. When she walked to her seat and saw the other desk next to hers, she prayed that whoever was going to sit there would leave her alone for the next few months. Pulling out the chair and sitting down, she pulled off her bag, hugging it close as she buried her face into her arms on the table. First period haven’t even started and she wanted to go home already.
—
Taekwoon was listening to Hakyeon blabbering something about how Sanghyuk forgot to say ‘i love you’ back when he texted him (up to this day, he still wondered how the tanned man could just never stop talking)(and also how Sanghyuk could put up with him).
“See ya later Taekwoonieee!” Hakyeon waved, earning a glare from the younger. “I will call you that for as long as I live and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Taek. woon. ie.” Taekwoon ignored Hakyeon and quickly turned into his own classroom, checking the seating arrangement before moving towards his desk.
He spotted his table partner already at her seat resting her head on her table, not bothering to look up at him when he pulled out his chair to sit. He heaved a sigh of relief knowing that he wouldn’t be bothered during lessons. If there was one thing Jung Taekwoon hated most in the world, it would be being forced to maintain conversations and speak out (he was lucky Hakyeon always did most of the talking). Pulling out his book, he read silently waiting for the teacher to arrive.
After some time, the bell rang and the homeroom teacher walked in. Taekwoon couldn’t really be bothered to look up from his book until he heard her announce “Tell the class name and an unknown fact about yourself!”. He immediately snorted how old were they, five? When it finally came to his turn and he raised up from his seat, “Jung Taekwoon, in the soccer team” he said softly (the whole school knew already knew him as the soccer prodigy and the next captain in line).
From the corner of his eye, he could see the girl sitting beside him, plucking out the frayed skin at her fingers exposing the pink flesh underneath. His eyes widened a fraction, he wanted to stop her but it wasn’t any of his business. So he sat there watching her as she slowly pushed her chair back and stood up. “Im Jinah…” The second she said the first syllable of her name, Taekwoon was already mesmerised. It was like angels had flown down and sand beside him. Her voice had become his favourite song. There was a long pause and he noticed some of their classmates start whispering to each other. Taekwoon wanted to tell them to shut up, tell them that they were making her feel uncomfortable, tell them to wait (he would wait forever to hear her voice).
“I like…music” she whispered, her volume even softer than his. Taekwoon looked up at her and realised he wanted to find out her favourite colour, her favourite food, what made her happy and what made her sad.
He wanted to know more of her.
ahhh this chapter is so rushed im sorry :'((
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