Gold | Park Sunghoon

10

Do you like her?

"Hey! Don't crowd her!" Sunghoon raised his voice at the group of students crowding around Jangmi. The older boy rushed to the front of the nervous girl and instantly pulled her behind him; shielding her from the crowd. "Seriously, it's so early in the morning and you're already bombarding her," he scolded everyone, frustration clear in his voice. Their eyes widened at the older boy's intimidating aura, so they muttered their apologies and quickly left the both of them alone.

Once they had all left, Sunghoon turned to Jangmi. "Are you okay?" His voice turned soft as he took notice of how pale she looked. He pulled his tumbler out of his bag and gave it to her; his hands fumbling with the lid in panic that the girl would faint anytime. He was able to open it in time and let Jangmi drink the ice-cold water.

"Is Sunoo not here yet?" he questioned as the younger girl drank. Knowing that Jangmi's best friend was usually by her side at this time, he thought the crowd wouldn't get to her because he was starting to become a little scary and intimidating. But now that he was nowhere to be found, Jangmi was made an easy target for the student, 'fans and admirers' alike. 

She shook her head as she screwed the lid of the tumbler back on. "Not yet. He said he had something to do so he'll just meet me in the classroom," she said softly, still feeling a little dizzy after what just happened. If it wasn't for the older boy, she would have probably panicked and fainted by now.

"Thank you, Sunghoon oppa."

"No problem, Jangmi."

As she tried to stand up from leaning on the locker, she felt her knees go weak. Sunghoon, who was still facing her completely, caught her waist before she could fall to the ground. Jangmi held on his shoulders to stabilize herself—carry her own weight so she wouldn't be too heavy for him. He could feel Jangmi's heartbeat quicken from their close proximity. 

He assumed it was because she still was anxious about the crowd that bombarded her earlier.

When he picked her up, he proceeded to hug her in hopes that it would make her feel at ease. "I got you, don't worry," he said reassuringly as he stroked her hair softly. Jangmi moved her hands from his shoulder and wrapped them around Sunghoon, just happy that she wasn't alone anymore.

"Thank you," the girl said breathlessly. She still felt a little lightheaded, but was fine, nonetheless. She pulled away a few seconds after and tried to stand on her own, making the older boy release her waist slowly but still keeping it around her in case she would fall again. Sunghoon looked at her concernedly. "Do you want me to walk you to your classroom?" He asked her. She just nodded and started to cling onto him absentmindedly—like how she usually did with Sunoo.

It caught the boy off guard.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said as she quickly removed her arms from his. Sunghoon stopped her and held her wrists softly to place them back around his arm.