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Chapter 7

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    "Let me take you back to your house." Woohyun insisted when he and Sora got off the train. 

 

    Sora smiled but shook her head, "You're too nice Woohyun," she said, "But I can go back on my own." 

 

    "You know it's dangerous." He pressed and left Sora with no choice. 

 

    They exited the station and immediately, Sora was glad that Woohyun was with her. The eerie silence of the night greeted her - she had never seen Seoul this quiet. When they walked down several blocks, however, the city came back to life. There were bars with blaring music and the traffic, although wasn't as bad as it is in the day, was quite crowded. A heavy alcohol odor was caught by their nose as a group of drunk people passed by them.

 

    "You're glad I'm with you right?" Woohyun teased and Sora could only chuckle. 

 

    They waited for the light to turn green at the intersection in silence. Sora's leg were starting to give up and she leaned her small figure at the metal pole beside her, closing her eyes for a moment. 

 

    She heaved out a sigh still with her eyes closed, "Tell me when the lights turn green, okay?" 

 

    Woohyun looked at her, "Yeah," he then noticed the maroon backpack she had been carrying all day and carefully took it off from her shoulders.

 

    "W-what are you doing?" Sora's eyelids opened abruptly and turned to Woohyun.

 

    "Let me carry this, don't you trust me?" Rather forcefully, the male took Sora's back pack and clung it on his shoulders, "Come on, the light's green already." 

 

    Sora stopped her steps in front of a block of houses. She then turned to Woohyun and told him that her house was in this block and he didn't have to come with her. Woohyun was about to insist again that he take her until they reached right in front of her doorsteps, but decided not to. 

    

    "You sure?" He asked, "Be careful and take care." 

 

    Sora nodded with an assuring smile as she took her backpack from Woohyun's shoulder, "Relax, you've done a lot for me today. Now you go home safely." 

 

    "Alright then, take care," Woohyun waved his hands, "I'll see you." 

 

    "Bye!" 

 

    Sora then walked down the block and stopped in front of the house with a white gate. She then opened her back pack and let her right hand shuffle inside, searching for her keys. 

Just when her hands touched the metallic surface, Sora heard a car park behind her. She alertly looked back, and as she expected, a black sedan pulled off right in front of her house. Sora didn't have to think who it was. The driver went out of the car and opened the passenger door, revealing a woman, in her mid 50s, who stepped out of the car. She had a thick black hair, and a pointed chin. She stared at Sora for a few moment, her body unable to react. Then, a tiny smile formed on her lips. 

 

    "Hi, Sora." She said shakily, not bothering to hide the nervousness in her tone.

 

    Sora was better at hiding the startled look on her face, “Why are you here at this time?” 

    

    “I just wanted to see how you and Joonhyuk are doing. Joonhyuk said you’ll be home late, so I thought to stop by after work,” the women said as she walked towards Sora who immediately inched backwards, “It has been a long time since I saw the two of you.” 

    

    Sora stiffened, “I know,” she said, “I need to get some rest now, I’ll get Joonhyuk for you.” 

    

    “S-sora, wait!” 

 

    But the younger female didn’t spare another second and stepped inside the house, leaving the woman behind. She ran up the stairs and knocked on Joonhyuk’s bedroom door. He opened it almost immediately. 

 

    “Goodness, you’re home.” He said with a relieved smile. 

 

    Sora had to shake her head seeing how worried his brother was, “Of course, don’t worry,” she said, “By the way mom’s outside, you might want to see her.” 

 

    “Did you talk to her?” Joonhyuk’s asked cautiously as he watched his sister turn her  body and walk back to her room. 

 

    Sora only nodded. 

 

 

~*~

    

         

    It was Monday again, and when Woohyun woke up, he immediately jolted up, realizing that he was late. The digital clock beside his bed showed 7:58 on its screen, and classes starts at exactly eight. It was no doubt he was going to be late. He ran to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and washed his face, not bothering to take a bath. Full of panic, he changed into his school uniform clumsily and clung his backpack on his shoulders.

 

    “Nam Woohyun, do you know what time this is?! Do you think your school fee is that cheap?!” He heard his mother scream from the kitchen. 

 

    “I know, that’s why I’m not going to have breakfast!” Woohyun yelled back as he went out of the door, leaving Mrs. Nam who was shaking her head in disbelief, “Bye mom!” 

 

    When Woohyun arrived at school, the whole building was quiet with its hallways deserted. He cursed under his breath and bit his lips nervously as he opened the door into his class. His first class of the first day of the week was Chemistry and he didn’t really like messing with Mrs. Han. As he stepped into the class, he felt the whole class staring at him. 

 

    Woohyun bowed down, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Han.” 

 

    He could hear Sungyeol’s and Nara’s quiet giggles and Woohyun glared at them for a split of second before averting his eyes back to the teacher in front of him. 

 

    “Did you even take a look at the mirror before going to school?” Mrs. Han eyed him head to toe with her squinted eyes, “Look at your uniform, and where is your tie?” 

 

    Woohyun bit his lower lips nervously and bowed down again without saying anything. What a great start for the week, Nam Woohyun. He promised to himself mentally that he would make Myungsoo and Sungyeol pay for this - the two had made him play video games with them when they knew that Woohyun wasn’t exactly a morning person especially if he stayed up all night. 

 

    “Go to your seat. I’ll deal with you after class.” Mrs. Han said. 

 

    The male walked to his seat, and astonishingly, still able to give a tiny smirk to Younha who was eyeing him the whole time. He then sat down on his place and took a peek at Nara’s textbook to see which page they were on. Sungyeol, who was seating beside him, let out another quiet snicker at Woohyun and the glared daggers at him. 

 

    “I’ll finish you after this.” Woohyun mouthed. 

 

    “Mr. Nam Woohyun, is coming late not enough?” Mrs. Han sighed and eyed him. 

 

    Woohyun could only curse once again. 

 

 

~*~

 

    Sora had just finished her classes and was as tired as ever. Her exams are coming up in a week and she had not even touched her textbooks because there were so many things for her to handle last week. And she didn’t have to be reminded that she would be on duty for the middle school prom next week. 

 

    “Hey, you want to see the new arcade in Gangnam?” Raina tapped her shoulder.

 

    Sora gave her an apologetic smile, “I can’t,” she answered, “Maybe next time?” 

 

    Raina who had expected Sora’s answer nodded, “Alright, just don’t stress yourself up.” 

 

    Sora smiled and let a small laugh, “Thanks, have fun!” 

 

    When Raina left her, Sora let out a heavy sighed and ran her hands through her face. She was exhausted, not only at her school works, but practically at life. It was drawing all the energy out of her and she needed some self care. But heck, how could she have some quality time for herself when she was supposed to study for her upcoming exams. Unconsciously, she ran her hands underneath her table, into the drawer. She frowned. There were no letters today. 

 

    That’s weird, she thought. 

 

    Sora peered inside her drawer, still not finding anything she expected. So she shrugged her shoulders and left the class. When she thought she could go back home and perhaps, take a nap, the female remembered that she had to submit her class’ homework which was then piled on the teacher’s table in front. She groaned and made her way to the teacher’s table before taking the whole stack of books on both her arms. She stepped out of the class and when she arrived at the end of the hallway, Sora let out another groan when she saw the flight of stairs she had to climb to go to the teacher’s room on the third floor. She did it anyway. After knocking the wooden door with the name ‘Han Jeongja’ carved on the golden platter stuck to the door, Sora entered the office. 

 

    “Mrs. Han, the homeworks-“ 

 

    “One moment Sora,” Mrs. Han turned her attention to the girl who just entered the office, and then back to the male who was standing in front of her table, “I’m dealing with someone who decided to break several rules in a day.” 

 

    Sora’s arms were starting to give up, so timidly she opened , “Mrs. Han, can I just put-“ 

 

    “Wait a second, Sora,” Mrs. Han didn’t seem to pay Sora much attention, “Now Woohyun, where were we?” 

 

    Following Mrs. Han’s question was the sound of the notebooks on Sora’s hands tumbling and crashing the floor. Both Woohyun and Mrs. Han froze with surprise, while Sora’s cheeks had a tint of pink as she picked up the scattered notebooks. 

 

    “I-I’m sorry.” She said quietly. 

 

    Woohyun, who had been watching the whole scene silently, felt as though he had just came back to his senses and quickly rushed to help Sora. After all the books had been piled neatly above Mrs. Han’s table, Sora bowed down and quickly excused herself - Woohyun stared at her until she disappeared with a small smile gracing on his lips and he muttered to himself, “Cute.” 

 

~*~

 

Sora couldn't stop thinking about what happened that evening inside Mrs. Han's office. She knew it wasn't much of a big deal. Her arms just gave up so the books fell, and it just happened that Woohyun was in the room with her - and that's that. The fact that she was frustrated for such a simple thing, distressed her even more. She flipped the biology textbook on the table infront of her, but nothing came into her head. Sora groaned and dropped her head on the study table. 

 

What is wrong with me, she cried internally. 

 

Right at her moment of breakdown, her cellphone rang. She quickly sat back up and looked at the screen, showing a 'Nam Woohyun.' Sora didn't realize, but her eyes widened and her eyebrows furrowed. Why was Woohyun calling her? It was after eight already and Sora was determined to finish studying tonight, but with her distracted mind, she wasn't sure if she could do so. 

 

With her heart pounding, Sora answered her phone, "Woohyun?" 

 

"Hi," Sora swore she could hear Woohyun's wide grin over the phone, "Are you home?" 

 

"Y-yeah... I mean yes!" Sora cursed mentally, why was she stammering, "Why'd you call?" 

 

Woohyun let out his deep chuckle, "Just making sure. You know I was worried about you this evening." 

 

"This evening?" Sora knew exactly what Woohyun was talking about but pretended to react otherwise. 

 

"Yes," Woohyun said and elaborated rather shyly, "I was worried about you, because you left just like that. Are you perhaps feeling unwell?" 

 

Sora widened her eyes again and forced a chuckle to cover the unreasonable pounding of her heart, "You don't need to worry about anything, Woohyun. I'm perfectly fine." 

 

"That's nice to hear," he said and then cleared his throat, "Anyway, have you had dinner?" 

 

Sora had eaten dinner, but somehow she managed to say, "I ate a bit this afternoon. Why?" 

 

"Do you want to go for some patbingsoo with me?" 

 

"P-patbingsoo?" The female stuttered.

 

"Yes, you like ice cream don't you?" 

 

Sora slipped a wide grin, "I do," 

 

"So I'll come and pick you up?" Woohyun offered.

 

"What? No, no, there's no need to do that," she was feeling even more frustrated because she was supposed to study, not going out for some patbingsoo, "I can go there on my own, I'll meet you there, okay?" 

 

"Okay, okay," Woohyun chuckled, not able to contain his happiness for the fact that Sora actually agreed to go out with him, “I’ll see you at the cafe by the corner of your house in a bit.” 

 

When Sora hung up the call, her heart was pounding and as much as she was trying to contain it, she couldn’t. She dropped her body on her bed and stared at the ceiling. 

 

What is wrong with me? 

 

She was feeling giddy and all, and it had been a long time since she felt so. Sora sighed and shook her head. She looked at her alarm clock which showed that it was almost eight thirty, and she still had to finish studying after meeting with Woohyun. Might as well go as soon as possible. She sprang back up and opened her wardrobe. After pondering for a while, Sora took her jeans and white shirt before changing into it. She then got out of her room, and just when Sora was about to step out of the house, Joonhyuk’s voice startled her. 

 

“Where are you going?” His eyes squinted suspiciously. 

 

“I’m meeting my friend for a while,” She said, “I’ll be here before ten.” 

 

“Before ten?” 

 

Sora nodded and groan, “Yes, don’t worry!” 

 

“Fine, take care.” 

 

Sora shook her head and then went out of the door, greeted by the warm summer wind. She was actually glad that Woohyun was taking her for ice cream - it had been extremely hot and humid lately. Sora spotted Woohyun sitting on one of the tables for two near the window, playing with his phone. He was in his black v neck shirt and jeans, looking very charming. She approached him rather nervously and took a seat in front of him. 

 

“Hi,” she greeted, “Have you ordered?” 

 

Woohyun put down his phone and beamed at Sora. She could tell he was super elated, “No, I was waiting for you.” 

 

“Oh,” Sora felt rather bad, “I’m sorry, I was finishing some things back home.” 

 

Woohyun shook his head and handed her the menu, “No, it’s fine, I just arrived too.” 

 

The two ordered and when their deserts arrived, they begin digging in - letting the sweet ice cream cool their bodies. Woohyun had a chocolate flavored while Sora preferred the fruit one. Their meetup was comfortable, not awkward at all to Woohyun’s relief - he had been worrying what sorts of topics should he blurt out if they were starting to experience awkward silences. 

 

“Do you like fruits?” Woohyun asked pointing to the strawberries and bananas on top of Sora’s shaved ice. 

Sora nodded, “And veggies.” 

The male frowned, as though not believing her, “I don’t like vegetables.” 

“It’s weird why people don’t like vegetables, there’s nothing bad about it,” Sora replied, “It doesn’t actually taste bad.” 

 

Woohyun chuckled and shrugged. 

 

When they were done, Woohyun was about to pay for them, but Sora insisted that they split - and so they did. Then, they headed back to Sora’s house which wasn’t far while chatting a bit. It wasn’t a question that the two was comfortable with each other.  

 

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” Woohyun smiled as Sora took her keys inside her bag. 

Sora chuckled, “Tomorrow? Why? Do you have any reason to go to the high school compound?” 

Woohyun his lips and laughed, “Well, aren’t you a reason?” 

The female froze and turned her head to stare at him with a tiny teasing smile, “That’s why you hold the highest record of ex’s, huh?” 

“Well,” Woohyun shrugged casually with a grin, “What can I say?” 

Sora opened the front door and stepped inside. “Alright, see you tomorrow,” she said before closing the door behind her, leaving Woohyun behind with his wide grin. 

 

~*~

 

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a/n: Hey all! I hope you are doing well. Apologies for the long updates TT Uni life has been really heavy and tough this quarter and I barely have time for anything, honestly so... yep! Thank you all for your support! Do comment and subscribe <3 see ya!