027

Next To You

 

 

Dahye looked around pensively as she sat down on the bleachers, there were students from another school also present and the competitiveness in the air irked her.

“They all look so serious and~” She halted when Eunwoo plopped down beside her, and in an instant she could feel all the eyes on her.

“Hey,” She blurted out.

“I’m glad you could make it.” He said cheerfully.

“It’s actually my first time watching basketball in school.”

“Your brother was team captain before me, Dani. I thought…you…”

“I think he mentioned it to me a couple of times, but, we’ve always been really busy.” She said sheepishly, Eunwoo chuckled in reply.

“Hyung was really good too, it put a lot of stress on me when I was voted in.”

“I’m assuming things can get rough in a game.” She murmured, Eunwoo nodded.

“Sometimes it can be, especially when it’s a game to finals. Just like this one.”

“Oh, so that explains why everyone seems to be in knots. Even you.” She added, Eunwoo exhaled leaned back.

“Was it that obvious?” He turned to her, Dani smiled before bumping fists with him.

“I know we’ll win. We have to.”

“Wow, that doesn’t put me under more pressure at all, Dani. Thanks.”

She laughed at his reply.

“That was my way of cheering you up.”

“I guess I’ll have to win this one then,” He said as he stood up, Dani looked at the court again.

“Because Lee Dahye’s watching.” Eunwoo finished, Dani’s eyes went to him but the male was already walking away from her.

 

 

 

Chani looked at the older male again, he tilted his head and puffed his cheeks.

“Why can’t you focus?” Rowoon said as he stopped running, the rest of the players halted.

“S—Sunbae, I was trying to pass~”

“Why would you pass it to Hwiyoung when you have an opening right there?” He said, Hwiyoung scratched the back of his head. The older male was all tensed up and sensitive throughout practice, even the coach seems to be tiptoeing around him.

“S—Sorry, I wont do it again.” The younger male said with his head down, Rowoon sighed and kicked the ball away from him.

He made his way towards the benches and grabbed a Gatorade.

“What’s bothering you?” Chani asked as he joined him, Rowoon didn’t reply, he just opened the bottle and took long gulps of it.

Hwiyoung exhaled and joined Taeyang by the bleachers.

“You’re turning practice into a wrestling match, hyung.” Chani stated softly, Rowoon exhaled and leaned against the table. He glanced over his shoulder and his eyes focused on the school’s covered court.

“The hotel found footage of a hooded man entering their basement parking lot right after Dahye arrived.” Rowoon begun, Chani paused, surprised.

“You said they wouldn’t share the footages~”

“I pushed the right buttons this time.” His reply was simply and so unlike him, Chani turned his head to the male.

“You..what?”

Rowoon sighed and shook his head.

“That’s all they have, well, the man was seen exiting their lower floor garden and he was never filmed by the cameras again.”

“So, that must be the guy?” Chani asked, Rowoon nodded and put the empty bottle of Gatorade away.

“Yes, and his face was hidden because of his clothes. So, we have nothing.”

“Hyung, you know what you just did, right?”

“What?”

“You just turned into the Hyundai son and used~”

“I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s get dinner.” Rowoon said brusquely as he walked away from the male, Chani turned to Taeyang and Hwiyoung, both have been eavesdropping.

“Did he just…?” Taeyang blinked at him.

“For the first time I think Kim Rowoon used his family’s power to get something done.” Hwiyoung murmured in wonder.

“I know.” Chani chuckled and looked at the older male.

“Well, we should all pray for that creepy guy’s safety or..his life. Whichever comes first.”

 

 

 

“Oh. So they won.” Dahye blurted out as she looked up from her phone, the girl was already itching to go home. There was a new Animal Crossing game already released and she wanted to get it on her Switch fast.

She put her phone back in her purse and made her way through the screaming crowd.

“I’m hungry and I want to go home.” She mumbled to herself as she went down the steps, she halted when she heard someone calling for her.

“Dahye-ah!” Eunwoo was jogging towards her.

“Congratulations.” She said to him, Eunwoo was smiling as he reached her.

“Did you have fun watching?” He asked as he helped her down the last step, Dahye nodded back.

“It was intense. How do you handle all that?” She replied as she walked with him, Eunwoo ran his fingers through his hair and chuckled.

“Will you join me for dinner?” Eunwoo asked instead, the girl was about to reply when he continued speaking.

“I’ve been..thinking actually,”

“About what?” Dani glanced over her shoulders, his fellow teammates were staring at them as they left the court.

“About how our parents are pushing us to each other.”

“Oh, that.” She shuddered; her reaction made the male smile.

“That bad, huh?” He said softly, Dani paused, her eyes widened.

“I don’t mean that, but, don’t you think it’s a little~”

“I think it’s okay.” Eunwoo replied, the girl turned her head to him, surprised.

“What?”

“Dahye, I know this might sound off, but I really do think we can work things out. Look at us, we’re friends now.” Eunwoo continued.

I think I should have stayed with soccer boys.

“Are you saying we let them….do this to us?” She asked, making sure.

“I’m saying that we can try to make things work, Dani. We can try to deny it, push it away from us, but at the end of the day, the elders are just looking out for us two.”

“W—What?”

“Dahye, all I’m asking right now is if you’d give us a chance to work on this whole arranged thing.”

“Eunwoo,”

“I really hope you’d give me a chance.” He said as he reached for her hand.

 

 

 

“Barbeque sounds good.” Hwiyoung commented as they made their way to their cars.

“Finals is next week, huh?” Taeyang asked as they crossed the street.

“Yes, hyung. And we’d like it if no one reminds us of that.” Chani replied wanly, the latter chuckled.

“That bad?”

“We have training for the rest of the week, no breaks.” Rowoon answered for him, they reached the parking lot.

“Is noona not joining us?” Hwiyoung glanced behind them, Chani noticed that her car wasn’t around.

“Dawon hyung dropped her off earlier, she didn’t bring her car.” Taeyang commented as he unlocked his Maserati, Rowoon opened his car’s trunk and shoved his things inside.

“So, how will she get home? Will Cha Eunwoo give her a lift?” Hwiyoung tilted his head, Rowoon forehead creased briefly.

“Well, I’ll give her a call.” Chani murmured as he took out his phone.

“Rowoon, guys. Wait!” A familiar voice made them all stop, Rowoon spotted the girl jogging towards them, her purse was hanging from her arm haphazardly.

The male moved immediately, meeting her at the lot’s gates.

“What’s going on? Are you okay?” Rowoon asked as he caught her by the arm, the girl was panting as she faced him.

“I—I..” She trailed off, trying to catch her breath.

“Did you run all the way here?” Rowoon asked, his brows knitting together, he turned across the street, realizing that she was alone.

“We’ll..get going. See you at the restaurant.” Chani stated as they quickly got inside their respective cars.

Dani let out shaky breath and she looked up to meet his gaze.

“Dahye-ah, are you okay?” Rowoon squeezed her elbow slightly, the girl closed her eyes briefly and she slowly leaned her forehead against his chest. His eyes widened at her sudden movement, but he remained still.

“I..just wanted to be friends.” She breathed, his brows went up.

“What?”

Dahye swallowed and she closed her eyes again.

“I may have..encountered a problem. And I ran away from it.” She stated as she pulled away to look at him.

“Did something happen? Did Eunwoo~”

“No, no, not Eunwoo..not like that.” She whined, Rowoon paused at her words, confused.

“I..I just…I want to get dinner and I need a ride back home.” She stated softly, Rowoon nodded back at her.

“We are going for barbeque and I’ll drive you home.”

“That…was easy.” She blinked at him, Rowoon let go of her arms and smiled at her.

“Is something bothering you?” He asked as he righted the strap of her purse around her shoulder.

“A complication, just that.” She replied, he his lips before gently pulling the girl to his chest, Dani paused, her entire being tensing up.

“Are you sure?” He asked again.

“O—Oh, it’s not that thing like what happened at t—that hotel. Don’t worry.” She murmured as she slowly wrapped her arms around his waist, Rowoon nodded and tucked the girl under his chin.

“You worry me, Dahye.” He said, fully aware that the girl didn’t want to talk about what was bothering her yet.

“What~”

Rowoon chuckled before tightening his arms around her.

“Just watch soccer from now on, alright?” He said lightheartedly. Dani chewed on her lower lip but she hummed back at him.

 

 

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bluestone
last chap will be up soon! :>

Comments

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tonnettie
#1
Chapter 44: They are just so cuteeee
tonnettie
#2
Chapter 28: Oh trouble trouble
unicxrn #3
Chapter 44: I only discovered this story like a few days ago?? Binge-read it until i forgot that i need to wake up early for work lol it was sooo fun! I love it soooo much. I really did imagine Extraordinary You Rowoon in here. Oh btw, Eunwoo and Chani in one story remind me of True Beauty~ Pls write Eunwoo x OC if you don’t mind :>
Angelz0715 #4
Chapter 44: Your story is always so amazing! Thank you for making another lovely story.
crystalxli #5
Love the story!!
waee09 #6
Chapter 44: I LOVEEEE THIS SOOO MUCH! I had to be patient for monthsss cos most of your recent masterpieces were ongoing. And I've reread your entire selection of magical stories soooo many times. This is yet another beauty.. thank you so so much!
parkminjeen
#7
Chapter 44: Decided to read this again after I recently watched Extraordinary You today and ughhh the Rowoon feels is so strongggg
daebak-asdfghjkl
#8
Chapter 44: A very nice story line!! I’m imagining rowoon speaking those dialogues and I have this picture of him act in Extraordinary You lol. Good job, author nim!
dreamerc #9
Chapter 44: I always enjoy reading your stories and this one was no exception. I’ve grown fond of Rowon after watching extraordinary you so I’m happy to have stumbled across this story hehe.
princessswan #10
Chapter 44: I REALLY LOVE how Dani started out with the crush, but Rowoon ended up chasing after her. :) This story was so freaking cute, thank you so much for sharing! <3