XCVII

Springfield

 

You knocked on the front door, your eyes clenching closed in reflex. Sunggyu who was next to you let out a light sigh, “Don’t be nervous. It’s contagious.” 

You looked up to him and found him to be staring down at you. You locked eyes with him and for the umpteenth time he made you feel safe. As long as Sunggyu was here, nothing bad would happen. A bit naïve, sure, but that didn’t change the fact that having him by your side gave you an immense confidence boost.

“Who said I was nervous?” You flashed him your best smile and you saw the corner’s of his lips twitch slightly. He wanted to smile, but even you knew now was not the time to smile, causing your current one to fade fast.

There was still no answer from inside the house. You reached down and grasped onto the handle of the white door, turning it out of curiosity. To your surprise, it was open.

“What are you doing?”

You pivoted, facing the owner of the voice which came from directly behind you. Not to your surprise, it was the princess who lived in this castle, Bang Minah. She was holding a brown paper bag in her hand and the look on her face was the farthest from pleasant.

“I came to see you.” You answered calmly. This was the set up. You pretend to play nice with Minah and form a temporary truce, something that in reality you really did need, while Sunggyu distracted the Mayor. If you could unlock the window to the mayor’s office quickly, Sungjong and Hoya would do the rest. That was the plan. Not exactly a solid one but considering the time in which it was produced, it served its purpose well. Now that this was the new plan however, it meant that Sunggyu was back on ‘boyfriend’ duty.

“I told her it’s not good to just hang out with the boys all day.” Sunggyu wrapped his arm around your shoulder and tugged you close. You fought against the fluttering of the butterflies in your stomach that were produced due to his werewolf hormones practically spewing off of his body right now. You figured they must come out the most when he’s trying to persuade someone because he was darn good at that.

However well his charms were working, flush faced and embarrassed when you were simply leaning on your ‘boyfriend’ was not an image you wanted to Minah to see. “Hopefully you two can make nice.” Sunggyu finished, not in the least noticing your not-so-subtle clearing of your throat.

Minah tsked and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t in the least convinced with Sunggyu’s gushy speech. It amazed you. Her deep infatuation with Myungsoo must have put her off to the rest of the werewolves. At least she’s not the type that gets around, something you could actually like about her. Your positive thoughts were blown out of your mind as she took long struts up to you, her posture especially straight. It was obvious she was showing off to you about how good she looked in high heels. You could care less about her fashion statement or her model walk. You calmed your irritation at her attitude and decided to be ignorant to her rejection of your olive branch.

As she finally turned around upon pushing you out of the way and entering her home, you pursed your lips at her, “Come on. You can’t seriously want us to continue to be like this towards each other.” You had no problem with her hatred of you, but for this to plan to work out, you would say anything at this point.

Her eyes squinted, not understanding the pleading face you were giving her. Why would she? You never showed an interest in placating her loathing before.

“Minah! Why are you home so late?” A loud voice came from inside the house. Minah flinched and her attitude disappeared within seconds.

Minah bit down on her bottom lip, “Daddy, sorry. Mom had to run some extra errands so I walked home.”

“Well close the door. You’re letting bugs in.” The mayor scolded and you heard a series of footsteps heading further away.

“But Daddy,” Minah glanced back at the two of you, “Someone’s here to see me.”

Despite her protests to your sudden appearance, it seemed as though she was slightly curious as to what you really wanted. A smile formed on your face. You had caught her. Otherwise she would have shut the door in your face without a second thought.

“Someone’s here to see you?” The mayor sounded nervous. The footsteps got closer and soon, his wrinkled face appeared behind Minah. She stepped back from the door.

“I’m going to unpack the groceries in the kitchen.” She reported before leaving, as though if she didn’t have a valid reason for leaving, she would get reprimanded.

“No,” The mayor stopped her from leaving. She gulped down and spun back around towards him, “Just leave them on the counter. Your mom will take care of it when she gets home. Go ahead and talk to your friend.”

Minah scurried into the kitchen in a hurry. You felt slightly bad for her as you watched her disappear around the corner. Your mother wasn’t around to always be on your case about things but her father was. Plus he was a conceited, power-hungry father which most likely made Minah’s life especially hard.

“I assume you two are back together then.” The mayor gestured to you and Sunggyu with his hand. Sunggyu once more wrapped his arm around you, this time around your waist. You turned your head away from him, yelling at yourself for trembling at his touch. The mayor let out a single laugh as he observed the two of you, “Interesting.”

Minah rushed back into the hallway and waved you towards her, “Come on. Let’s go.” She was motioning up the stairs, meaning she was most likely taking you to her room. The plan seemed to be going well so far.

The mayor stopped Sunggyu from following you, “I’d like to have a talk with your boyfriend in the living room for the meantime, if that is alright with you.”

Scratch that. The plan was going extremely well.

 

 

 

“When you act cute it makes my skin crawl. You always act that way in front of your boyfriend?” Minah commented as she led you down the hallway. You pulled your eyes away from the family pictures hanging on the walls and held back the urge to laugh at her absurdity. You acted cute in front of Sunggyu? As she was the icon of all that was sickeningly cute, you didn’t want to hear those words come out of .

“Sunggyu was persistent with this.” You said vaguely to keep her from asking many questions.

“Right,” She drew out the word as though she was utterly bored with your non-existent love life, “you guys must be back together, huh? Considering you are hanging out with Myungsoo’s friends again.” She didn’t seem to like the last sentence she said, twisting into a sneer as she spoke it.

You didn’t reply to her question. She didn’t address your silence due to the fact that the two of you had reached her bedroom door. She opened it and stepped inside, flicking on the light switch. Your facial features cringed at the color that blurred your vision upon entering. 

Pink.

Frilly white ruffles, lace, and pink decorations. You should have expected it but that didn’t stop you from being stunned with it. She pushed aside one of the pink circle-shaped pillows on her bed, purely decorative and no real use to be had from it, as she sat down.

“You like it?” She asked expectantly.

Your eyebrows furrowed as you continued to look around, “It’s uncomfortable.” The honest truth came out of your mouth without you realizing it.

She tsked, “Figures.” She muttered as she lay back onto her bed. It was silent between the two of you now. Infinite awkwardness filled the air. Suddenly, Minah spoke up. “Well since it’s obvious you didn’t come here to make peace,” she flipped onto her stomach and faced you, her arms kept her neck up and her legs swung in the air as she kicked them back and forth. Her lips hitched into a gooey smile that gave you chills from the very cutesiness of it, “let’s talk about Myungsoo.”

“What?” You questioned, genuinely confused with the sudden topic of Myungsoo. Unless Minah knew about what happened to him. “Why him?”

She pouted and rolled back and forth on her bed, “He’s not been at school lately. Daddy said he went straight home after they talked a few days ago.” She gripped onto one of her pillows tightly and pulled it to her chest as she sat up, indian style, on her bed, “Do you think he hates me now?”

You wondered if she knew that he always hated her, something obvious to everyone but her. Then again, he didn’t exactly like you to bits either so you couldn’t talk. From the way she talked, she didn’t know what the mayor, her own father, did to Myungsoo. Yet, ignorantly, she waited for Myungsoo to show up at school.

“I’m sure he doesn’t hate you.” The words came fumbling out with no explanation. You narrowed your eyes as you stared down at the floor, contemplating your actions.

Minah squealed on her bed and proceeded to once more roll on it except this time in happiness, “Yay.” She laughed to herself.

She was ecstatic at the very idea that he didn’t hate her. Shouldn’t she be happier to hear that he likes her rather than that he doesn’t hate her? What made her so charmed by him like this? You felt yourself wondering and let your thoughts come out, “Why do you like Myungsoo so much?”

For some reason, your conscious started to answer. Why like Myungsoo? It was obvious.

She stopped rolling and sat back up. She looked confused. Not confusion at the contents of your question but at the question itself. She tilted her head and pouted, “His face is nice to look at.”

That was the answer you least expected.

“Isn’t it?” She asked you for confirmation. You nodded slowly and she smiled cheerfully, rolling onto her back before she squealed again as she thought of him.

“Can I go to the bathroom?” You asked while pointing to the door of the room.

Minah leaned her head back off the edge of the bed, “Sure, its on the other side of the hallway, across from my room.”

You exited, hearing her laugh to herself as she fantasized about Myungsoo once more before doing so. The sounds of Sunggyu and the mayor talking downstairs told you the coast was clear. You walked past the bathroom door and instead slowly opened the door at the end of the hallway, the door to the mayor’s office. No one was inside.

You walked to the window and unhinged the lock before escaping the room just as quickly as you entered. After an unnecessary trip to the bathroom, you returned to Minah’s room.

“So, I was wondering if you knew what Myungsoo’s favorite color is.” Minah questioned as soon as you walked into the room.

“Black.” You answered back, utmost certainty in your answer. He had never told you but it wasn’t hard to figure it out.

Minah’s lips parted, “Ah, really?” She seemed to be scrolling through her brain for the color black as though it did not compute in her pink frilly world.

As you watched her, your mind drifted back to the answer she gave you. In all truth, the answer hadn’t left your mind once since she said it moments ago. Why she liked Myungsoo. His face.

Anyone could pick a feature of a person and claim they like it. Even claim they loved the person for it. As a result, her answer didn’t satisfy you. All you got from your question was a bad after taste at the base of your mouth. 

-------

A/N:

Whoa, talk about a late chapter. When I say late I mean late. Apologies for that, sleep had for a long time been stalking me, waiting for me to let my guard down. Unfortunately, it caught me this time. It won't again! At least not tomorrow it won't~ As for the chapter, we finally learn why Minah likes Myungsoo. Not what you all thought was it? Also more 'boyfriend' Sunggyu time.

 

 

One reader sent me a link to gifs that had Sunggyu as a convenience store worker (during his cameo in Woohyun's drama). Does this mean I can tell the future? 

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
lilyemc
Happy Springfield's 2nd Anniversary!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
MayhemMinutes
#1
It’s been years, but this still hits different
exokexomkai
#2
Chapter 2: i just love the flow of the story
exokexomkai
#3
Chapter 1: came back to reread after 4 years. it feels like just yesterday i finishes it. im just so happy to be back on AFF.
cheonchoni
#4
Came back bcs I forgot to upvote hehe. Your stories are really special compared to others bcs of your writing style
cheonchoni
#5
Chapter 104: Girls are always more attracted to mysterious boys aren't they lol
cheonchoni
#6
Chapter 82: Please be friends and attack that mayor. I don't think I can handle more betrayel. What kind of mess did she get herself into *sigh*
cheonchoni
#7
Chapter 80: That's why they want that necklace...
cheonchoni
#8
Chapter 78: AWWWWW NOOO she'll end up hurting one side either way
cheshire08
#9
After how many years, I'm back here again. Missed your writing style and stories, author-nim ?
KimHyeJoo #10
Chapter 128: I love this so much omg :’)))