[Rosemary and Thyme]

[ 27 ]

     "Oh, Donald Na." She murmured in surprise, half lidded eyes staring dazed at him for a second. Her pupils which were shielded by her mascara coated lashes were now on full display as her eyes opened wide, showing off the glowing dark shade of her iris that were a tad bit lighter than those full pupils. 

     The plastic bag into her grip crinkled as she tightened her hold. The boy had stopped and looked down at her.

     "You finally show your face after days. Who knew?" He rhetorically questioned, a simper on his features. 

     "Ah..." She trailed off, "...That."

     Of course he would notice. Even Kingsley had noticed, why wouldn't he? She wasn't making this easier. Though, she doubted she'd be able to stay away as much as she could without raising suspicions. 

     "You've been fine, right?" He absently asked. 

     "I guess so!" She chirped, placing her hands behind her back and quickly biting her tongue. The bag hit the back of her legs as she couldn't help but swing it back-and-forth to distract her. 

     "At least you're back out."

     Maybe she was starting the hallucinate, but his words seemed empty. Now that she was hearing them after a few weeks, she could tell the difference between how he sounded then and how he sounded now. 

     "Right..." She awkwardly trailed off, "Uh, how have you been?"

     "The same as always." He answered. 

     As she looked around, she fell onto the wrapped sandwich in his hold. A price tag sticking out on the plastic wrap. "Hm?" She hummed in interest. 

     "You went to buy something, too?"

     His attention was brought back the the sandwich and he gave a small nod. "I needed lunch." He stated, holding up the wrapped food briefly. 

     "Oh, my dad sent me to get more flour." She shrugged her shoulders before biting her tongue and looking away.

     No others words were shared as they stood in front of each other. As each terribly long second ticked by, she could feel the grueling sensation of disquietude.

     He gave a light chuckle, breaking the tension. "See you, Lotus." He said before walking past her. 

     She twirled on her heels to say something else but no words were able to leave her. There was a pit in her stomach, as if her insides had been gobbled up by a black hole---the heat melted it all before slurping it like soup and leaving it all...barren and icy. Her heart seemed to take her stomach's place, letting the empty throb migrate to her chest.

     Her hand grasped at the shirt above her chest as she watched where he had left. 

     "Good going." She muttered to herself, "You ruined it all."

     It was because she avoided him, right? It had to be. He was clever, he had to have known that's what she was doing. If not before, he could've told with her behaviour just them, and he wasn't going to play along. 

     She just needed time to think this all out and get her thoughts together, but it was taking too long. Now he was acting different and so was she! Even with Haneul's words, she still felt lost in this. 

     Her finger was anxiously twirling the end of a loose strand of hair as she slowly continued walking back home as she was doing before, the shopping bag hanging from between her elbow.

     'I don't wanna feel so sad about this...' 

     It was all terrible and it irked her that it was all hidden from her but still in plain view! Bruises could come from anywhere, but his bloodied knuckles?! And when he was busy, was he out being a miscreant?! He was busy fighting, wasn't he?