✓ laundry boy | yang jungwon

27: cigarette

before you know it, he let out a loud laugh.

"look at you." he said, "i got you good, didn't i?" he pretended that he wasn't in any pain at all.

she lifted her head, she had a frown on her face before she pushed him away, "that's not funny."

"why are you so worried though? who cares if i run fast?" he asked. like this, maybe he'll find out if she knows about his condition or not.

"because i'm afraid you might... fall." she lied.

luckily for hisano, he believed her.

"cute." he said while ruffling her hair, "okay let's keep going."

she nodded and they walked to the garden shop.

it was quite small when they got in. they both liked the vintage vibe in it.

there were many different varieties of plants. the smell was also refreshing.

"mm, reminds me of my grandfather's garden." she smiled, taking in every scent that lingered in the shop.

"take me there next time. i didn't get the chance to see."

"okay." she replied as she stared at the boy.

he was looking at every plant carefully. he'd pick up the small ones and rotate it while looking at it closely.

he was so cute in her eyes.

out of curiosity, he reached for a small cactus and touched it with his bare fingers, "ouch." he quickly retreated.

"are you dumb?" hisano asked, bursting into laughter.

"stop making fun of me." he glared before picking up the small cactus by it's pot.

he smiled, "i want this. it's cute."

she decided to look at it too. although she should've learnt from his actions, she did the same and poked the cactus's prickles and to her 'surprise', it hurt.

"ouch, it does hurt." she winced, squeezing her finger to numb the pain.

he glared at her, "why'd you touch it after i got hurt? you're so weird." he sneered, putting the cactus down.

"i don't know? at least we both know the feeling now." she laughed.

he rolled his eyes and went to a different section.

"hey! aren't you going to get the cactus?" she asked.

"no. it hurt you."

she laughed again at his cuteness, "oh jungwon." she shook her head happily.

he turned back around to face her, he pulled her hand up to see her finger. there was a small spot that was red.

"oww, let go." she whined.

he blew on her finger as if it would magically take away the pain, she laughed in return.

"are you down for pizza?" he asked, raising his brows up and down continuously.

she laughed and nodded like a puppy, "sounds good."

they left the garden shop without buying anything. as they walked, jungwon spoke up.

"didn't you want to learn about me while we walked?" he asked.

she didn't forget, she was just waiting for the right time to ask, "yes, i will ask you now." she replied now that he brought it up.

he put his hands in his pockets and waited patiently for her to ask.

"what were you like last year? or in middle school?" she asked, "i want to know what kind of kid jungwon was."

he looked up as he thought about it, "the same as i am now?"

"be honest, i want to know." she put her hands in her pockets as well.

"well, i guess i was nice? i wasn't anyone important." he told her, "that's probably a lie. but, a popular person isn't really aware if they're popular or not." he chuckled.

"but... you're basically saying you were popular."

he chuckled, "okay, yeah. but at least i was humble."

she side eyed him and laughed, "mhm." she nudged him playfully.

"seriously! i was humble. i wasn't like sunghoon, that guy thought he was better than everyone else, always bringing up how handsome he was." he scoffed, but in a good way. he remembered how his friends were.

"sunghoon? i know him!" hisano laughed.

"you do?" jungwon asked suspiciously, staring at her narrowly. he was a tad bit jealous.

the girl nodded, "yeah. he was in my class in the smaller building. we never talked though." she paused and looked at the ground, her shoes would kick pebbles once in a while, "nobody really talked to me..."

he raised his brows. he didn't know she was that lonely, "really? did you not have any friends?"

she shook her head, "nope! but it's fine, i already tried my best." she smiled. "and look, now i've got you. aeri is also kind of my friend too, i hope."

he held her hand, "yeah, she is your friend." he reassured her.

she smiled, "that's good to know... anyway! why'd this become about me? let's talk about you."

he laughed and nodded. they already arrived to the pizza place and went in. they sat down on a bench after they ordered.

and so, they continued where they left off.

"where was i again?" jungwon asked while he rolled the receipt he was holding into a cigarette shape.

she stared at his hands and at the receipt he was holding. she then reached for the rolled piece of paper and he let her.

he didn't know why she wanted it, but, he let her do whatever.

she put it in between her index and middle finger before fancily putting it close to her lips. she inhaled the non-existent smoke with her puckered lips.

then, she made her lips into a shape that exhaled all the 'smoke' to the side.

he was so focused on her, his eyes watched her every move very closely.

it was just pretend. she expected a laugh but instead she received his serious stare.

"i'm like the pretty women from those 80's movie's. the one's who smoke while wearing red lipstick." she laughed.

he didn't know what she was referring to but he just went along with it, "does their significant other light the cigarette?"

she thought about it, "it could be like that, i think."

he chuckled, "do you think that might be us when we're older?"

"could be. i'd be the one smoking though, because you'd be the one stressing me out." she laughed before growing silent, "just kidding." she muttered.

he didn't notice her expression, instead he changed the subject, "instead of red lipstick, don't you think purple would suit you better?"

she tilted her head, "how so?"

"because, it's like your favourite,

lavender."

oof

♡