✓ SIX THIRTY ━ johnny suh

. . . . chapter eight.

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SONG OF THE DAY :
wildest dreams - taylor swift

. . . . . .

"can't it wait? delay it for a few days."

while she was walking up the stairs leading to the rooftop, chia could already hear the familiar male's voice. judging from how he spoke, it seemed as if he was reaching his boiling point.

"i never even asked you to do that for me like why didn't you at least—" youngho stopped both pacing and talking when the door was opened. his tensed up face relaxed upon having his eyes locked with hers. he removed the phone from his ear and instead, put the speaker close to his lips as he said, "i'll call you back."

he abruptly stopped the call without the other person's permission, considering how they were audibly yelling and it was heard from meters away despite the call not being on loudspeaker. he exhaled, cracking into a pure grin as calmly muttered a hi.

surprisingly, his current state made him look like he wasn't just fuming at someone seconds ago.

despite the curiosity, she mentally told herself not to poke her nose in his business and instead, awkwardly stood there, mirroring his expression.

"you're here late," he added.

she checked her lockscreen for the time to fully understand his remark, seeing how she arrived nearly two hours later than the usual time she goes up. the clues of time were also seen from how the sky, which she usually witnessed to be pink, was gloomy, and how most of the city lights were already switched on at their fullest states.

"i had to work overtime."

both of them stiffly stood, not liking the unusual tension in the midst of obscurity. his resort was to walk away and let her be without saying anything more but flash a silent smile of acknowledgement like he always did. two steps down the stairs though, youngho turned back after a formulating a last minute thought, thanking the heavens for her still being in the same spot once he did.

"thank you, by the way."

due to her uncertainty, she asked : "for?"

the question triggered a quick flash of the days they've spent in his memory. though they were short, he found them appreciable. memorable in a way that their bursts of spontaneity showing within their disagreements, things they decided to talk about as dusks began deepening, or simple silence between them with occasional stolen glances, was imprinted in his mind.

"having smoke breaks with me."

". . . . you— thank you too?" she replied, though her tone made it come out more as an unanswerable question.

chia found the atmosphere's newness strange. perhaps it started from how she realized he was taller than she thought, since it was their first time together without anyone sitting down. other than that, his formalities, which they agreed to drop whenever speaking to each other during their first conversation, were unsettlingly present. not to mention the additional soft smiles.

the entire scene made her feel like she was experiencing one of those bittersweet goodbyes depicted in fiction. more confusing, though. was he bidding a farewell, or was he just being overly sentimental? she couldn't tell.

"i'll get going then."

"okay. bye," she greeted, waving back. "never come back."

he heard those last few words (which wasn't really her intention since she said them in a way that she was already mumbling), dramatically clutching his hand to chest afterwards. "ouch. you hate me that much?"

she plastered a genuine smile, chuckling. he could admit, it was one a person couldn't help getting incredibly fond of.

"i'm kidding. see you, i guess."

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