optical ↠ the boyz

eleven

"Rude," he laughs.

"I just mean, we're not understaffed today," she corrects herself. "And I've been working pretty hard."

"You look like you have," he smiles. "Would you like to grab something to eat once we're finished?"

Nari looked at the boy, the boy who once could have made her knees buckle at the sight of his effortlessly flawless face and demeanour.

He was this, she was that, and he seemed to like her. She could only wonder why, but today, she decided not to question it too much.

Sure, the sight of him didn't make her weak anymore - but that didn't mean she should turn down a handsome man, did it?

"Sure, let's."

He had suggested to go somewhere out with their work place, not being able to bare the sight of the place anymore, and Nari was thankful for that.

"You look stressed," Haknyeon says, looking over the table at the girl. "Everything alright?"

Part of her wanted to make some form of sassy remark. He barely knows her, he barely spoke to her apart from the last couple of weeks, what would he know?

But she decided against it, she assumed that her slight hostility had came from the fact that she no longer had specific feelings for him, if they could ever be considered that. He was a crush, that was all.

"I'm fine," she fakes a smile for the twentieth time today. "Thank you for your concern, though."

The boy nodded, eyeing her suspiciously when she wasn't looking. He had noticed that before she seemed giddy around him, chatty and confident. It seemed to have disappeared.

"Do you like to eat here?" He tries to spark a conversation, making Nari turn to look at him, slowly nodding.

"I've only been once," she shrugs. "But I did really enjoy it."

Haknyeon nods, looking at the girl who stared aimlessly at her plate. "You're usually chattier than this."

"What would you know?" She almost snaps, but raises an eyebrow at him as he chuckles, wholly lightening the mood - which was what Nari intended. She didn't want this to be awkward, but she wanted him to know she meant those words.

"You're right," he nods. "How would I know if you don't give me the chance to?"

The girl shakes her head, lightly laughing, because she didn't have an answer for him. Sure, at one point, he was all she ever dreamed of, but weirdly - not now.

"I can't tell if that's a yes or a no," he eyes the girl, watching as she stared at him blankly.

And almost as though he was her saviour, a voice startled the two from their in depth staring and trying to figure each other out.

"Haknyeon, hey," the voice chuckles, reaching down to lightly hug the boy as Nari looked on confused. "And Nari, hi."

Sunwoo stared at the girl, blinking a couple of times as though he didn't quite believe the scene before him was real. Were they dating? After what they had done?

"Hi," she coughs awkwardly, looking to beside the boy to see a girl she recognised from her brothers year group. "Hi, nice to meet you."

It was Nari's turn to blink harshly, looking between the two who stood before her, trying to process if this was real. Was he seriously dating someone, after what they had done?

"Are we interrupting something?" The girl asked politely, side eying Sunwoo as Haknyeon and Nari looked between each other.

Before Nari could speak, Haknyeon opened his mouth first. "You're not at all, just a casual date."

A date? Sunwoo and Nari's thoughts were the same, their eyes inevitably diverting towards each other. She wanted to tell him it wasn't, but when she looked at the pretty girl beside him, she realised it was no use.

Why should she bother? Why would he be bothered?

"We better get going then," Sunwoo coughs, sparing another glance at Nari before looking over to Haknyeon. "It was nice to see you both, enjoy."

His words were insincere towards him, but not to her. He liked seeing her, and that was a problem.

"You know Sunwoo?" Haknyeon asks casually, as though nothing had just happened. Although, Nari was too startled to argue.

"Yeah, I do," she nods. "Just from classes."

Nari looked over the boys shoulder, seeing Sunwoo and the girl sat not far from them, enough so that she could hear his voice and he could hear hers.

He was somewhat glad. His jealousy creeped in when he saw them together, and it was even better that he could now hear their conversation. Although, he did appreciate how weird it sounded.

"I can't believe he's on a date with Ara," Haknyeon laughs lightly as he shakes his head.

"Why can't you believe it?" Nari asks curiously, as the boys faced dropped when he looked up at her.

"She's the prettiest girl in her year group," he shrugged, as though it was nothing. "What?"

"That's a nice thing to say to a girl you're on a 'casual date' with," Nari scoffs, followed by a sarcastic smile.

"Exactly, casual," he reiterates, simultaneously rolling his eyes which only made the girl want to laugh even more at him.

"Were you always this much of a dick?" The girl asks suddenly, rather loudly too.

Sunwoo had heard the whole exchange, and he felt useless as he sat across from the girl, who probably took barely any notice because her attention was on him - not someone sitting close by.

And he felt wrong for that, but he couldn't do anything about it. It was how he felt for her.

"Excuse me?" Haknyeon scoffs. "Where has this came from?"

Nari simply didn't answer him, placing her money on the table as she raised from the seat. "There's my half of the bill. Kindly, go and fuck yourself."

With this being the most powerful she felt in her life, the girl swiftly left.

And all the way home, she didn't once think about the pretty boy whom she was so blinded by - she only thought of Kim Sunwoo.

She wondered if he would treat her any better, but she wouldn't ever know. She couldn't, she wouldn't take a chance on him.

For he was red.