259200; 세 번째 소풍 가기

day three: seventy two hours: four thousand three hundred twenty minutes: two hundred fifty nine thousand two hundred seconds.

So maybe skipping school without a legitimate enough excuse wasn’t such a great idea.

“Did you have a nice vacation Himchan?”

Coming back to school the next day - after getting a severe whooping from mom - my homeroom teacher decided to pull me out into the hallway during morning study period, that creepy smile across her face that made me want to vomit. I should have known something was wrong the moment she came to put a hand across my shoulder, asking me if I was feeling alright.

Because now, kneeling in the cold hallway, my chair held high above my head with trembling arms, I was pretty damned sure I was going to break.

I bit down hard at my lower lip, swallowing complaints and excuses as Ms. Hong tapped her heels against the hallway floor, arms crossed and looking down at me almost expectantly. Needless to say, yesterday hadn’t been my only escapade.

“I honestly don’t know what to do with you Kim Himchan.”

“You should let me go with a warning?”

I tried out a smile, shrugging me shoulder the best I should with dead weight hanging right above me. Wrong choice of actions, though, I later found out, the ruler in Ms. Hong’s hands coming to tap irritably against my forehead.

“I told you not to run away from class,” she sighed, emphasizing each word with a tap to my forehead. It was, more or less, annoying than painful. And damned glad I was of the no-violence policy. “And you decided to drag Yongguk down with you too.”

Her head was shaking almost exhaustedly, her manicured figures coming up to pinch the space between her eyes with a loud groan. She’d known me for the whole of my high school career - now ranging up to a grand spanking three years. You’d think she’d have gotten used to my monthly runaway.

“We’ve got maybe a week of school left Himchan, please just be good.”

By the time school had let out, my arms were sore and aching - even after being let go only fifteen minutes (compared to the supposed thirty) of punishment. We really needed to get lighter chairs; or less physically demanding punishments.

It was just almost about enough to drain all the punk out of me.

Almost.

“You alright?” Meeting up at the front gates after school let out, Yongguk was immediately behind me, rubbing his hands into the clumped muscles at my shoulders. His fingers were like magic. “Mr. Lee just had me rewrite the English book a couple times. What’d Ms. Hong have you do?”

“Chair,” I groaned back, leaning into Yongguk’s touch while rubbing my flattened knees. Still hurt.

My boyfriend (oh god how amazing it feels to be able to say that) gives me a sympathetic hum, continuing to work his magic fingers against my aching muscles, rubbing the most perfect circles into each knot. And as hell am I glad that he was here to rub away ache away.

“Did you know that we use a lot of inventions meant for space in our daily lives?”

“What?”

I’m twisting to give him a queer look, and Yongguk’s shrugging apologetically. “Sorry; I told you I had rewrite the English book.” Sometimes, I wondered what exactly went through that thick skull of his. “So, what’re we doing today?”

“You’re asking me?”

He smiled, that sheepish grin, “Well, I just thought -”

“Picnic.” The idea had popped out of the blue as I shrugged off Yongguk’s hands with a low thank you. “We’re going on a picnic.”

Yesterday’s little trip down to Chooncheon had been a disaster. It was tiring, not to mention that we hadn’t gotten a proper meal to eat the whole damn trip back and forth. In the end, we’d ended up eating instant noodles from the nearest open convenience store by the ocean before skidding our way to make the train.

Today, I figured, we’d take a break from extreme trips here and there and go on a nice little, relaxing, picnic. Heavens knew that we deserved a break every so once in a while.

The weather was supposed to be nice today - despite the fact that it was still in the winter. No random freezing showers (too cold to be enjoyable yet not cold enough to be snow). It was one of those rare days that the weather decided to be nice, giving us a break from the constant gloom.

Plus, it was supposed to snow today.

(The funny thing with life was that it was always warmer - or at least that’s what it felt like - when it snowed.)

“Now?”

I nodded, taking his hand in mind again - the third time this week - to drag him off toward the small kimbab shops situated just outside our school gates.

“Five rows please, ajumma.”

To be completely honest, I wanted to personally pack our food; but with school schedules being so … … unhelpful, for a lack of better words, this was a better, more time efficient exchange. (Next time, next time for sure, I’d pack our lunches myself.)

A placed smile on my face, I thanked and paid the lady and skid off toward the subway stations again, Yongguk walking just mere inches away from me, our hips knocking against each other by each slip against the icy ground; though, the neither of us were really complaining.

School having let out nice and early, we were greeted at the station to an empty ride, giving us free seats upon entering the desolated cart. It was nice, for once, not being stuffed up against the wall or some old man.

Seoul forest - don’t let the name trick you, it’s a park, not a legitimate forest - was our destination, located just a few minutes away by subway from our school. And upon reaching, I was even better pleased to find the location for the most part empty. (Of course it was, it was a school day and elementary schools had yet to be let out; what a lucky break.)

And so, with our hands swinging to and fro between us, little embarrassed smiles tugging at our lips, we trekked - more like skied - down the paved road, our breaths making a line behind us as we moved forward. For once, things were just the way I wanted it to be: calm, relaxing and absolutely perfect.

The weather was a good several degrees below freezing, explained heavily by the little fluffs of snow that had begun falling upon our arrival - almost as if it were welcoming us - but I felt warm enough, my cheeks warming up at the way Yongguk would squeeze my hands and rub circles into my knuckles. It was nice.

“Kind of looks like someone pulled a blanket on top of everything. A pretty white blanket.”

“Or if God had a bad dandruff problem.”

Walking a little more down, deeper into the forested area, we found ourself to be alone - for the most part. The woods seeming to almost lean down to watch us go. (I almost blushed, though you couldn’t see it past the red my cheeks had already flared from the cold.) Somewhere along the way, Yongguk had dug out his earphones, popping one into my ear and the other into his and turning on a nice track to go along with our walk (though, knowing him, it had been hip hop).

Perfect, everything was god damned perfect, so much unlike the other two more horrible dates so far.

In comparison, this was walking up the beautiful steps to heaven.

(Given, heaven was this freezing cold - though it was told to be the opposite of hell, which is supposed to be hot so … … … I suppose it did make sense.)

A few more minutes of endured silence, the beats pumping against my ears being the only exception, and we came to a stop, pausing at the rounded end to our little journey. Which, being brutally honest, was a little disappointing and anticlimactic - we’d walked all this way to a little arounded area, boring.

But this was also the spot Yongguk decided to turn, pulling his hand out of mine in opt to round both hands around my face, pulling me in for a short, chaste kiss.

His forehead against mine, we shared our breaths, watching the steam pass from between our parted lips, attentions directed only solely into the deep orbs of the other’s eyes.

It was nice.

Yongguk’s eyes were really brown.

They were mesmerizing.

(I could have spent forever staring straight into them and wouldn’t have regretted a single thing.)

“Today was nice,” I decided, leaning over to press my lips gently against Yongguk’s thicker ones, breathing a sigh of relief at the warmth, “I really like today.”

-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

a/n: i’ve not really got anything to say about this. decided to give himchan a break. though, guys, going on a picnic in the middle of the winter is cold. i almost wasn't able to upload this today. i hadn't written out anything in advance and i spent the whole day getting scolded by my dad not even at home. sob.

word count: 1482