Let's Date || Kim Sunwoo

~ 11 ~

"Which one of our parents had this splendid idea?" Sunwoo muttered, taking her hand and walking her to the garden of their house.  

"It was mine," she sighed, going to sit on one of the swinging benches. Sunwoo sat next to her, casually throwing an arm around her shoulders. She scowled at him. 

"If they spy on us through the windows, they're not going to believe we're dating," he pointed out, resting his head on her shoulder. She stiffened, but then forced herself to relax and smiled at him, running her fingers through his hair absentmindedly. 

"Hopefully they finish soon," she said. Her mother had the wonderful idea of doing a cooking date with Mr.Kim and said that they'd have dinner together as a real family. A family. Neither of their parents were giving up on the marriage. Neither of them were convinced. "I hope this whole thing is over soon," she said harshly, still angry at him. All week he'd treated her coldly, and now here he was, trying to act like everything was fine. Trying to act as though he didn't hurt her. 

"Why?" he teased, not seeming to realize the bite in her tone. "Tired of being my girlfriend already?" 

"Yes," she said flatly. "Get your head off of me." 

He sat up, looking at her curiously. "Why are you in such a bad mood today?" 

"Oh, I wonder," she snapped, glaring at him pointedly. He opened his mouth to say something, but she held up a hand, stopping him. "Nevermind. Don't ask again. It's none of your business. It's not like we're friends or anything." 

Comprehension filled his eyes, but she got up and walked away. 

"Seolhee, wait!" he said, rushing after her. She spun around, narrowing her eyes at him. 

"They can't see us from here," she said, her voice barely containing her anger. She'd walked deeper into the garden, and she was telling the truth, neither of their parents would be able to see them. "So leave me alone. Find yourself a corner of the garden and sit and meditate or something." 

"But what if they walk over-" 

"Then we'll say we're having a lover's quarrel or something!" she shouted, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "You're right, I'm tired of dating you. I'm tired of having to pretend everything is fine while we're at school, and you want me to do that now too? Are you serious? Go find yourself something to do, I'm leaving," she snapped, walking away. 

Originally, she hadn't intended to leave the house, but that's exactly what she did. She walked and walked, not really knowing where she was going until she stopped walking and found herself standing in front of the giant house Eric lived in, a place similar to hers. She rang the doorbell without hesitation. 

One of their servants let her in. Most of them already knew her, since she was always hanging around at his house. 

"He's in his room, Miss," the lady said, bowing to her. 

"Thanks," she whispered, immediately running up the stairs to his room. She wished she could jump them two at a time, but her legs were too short. So she just ran faster. 

She knocked on his door and it seemed like an eternity before he opened it. 

When he did, her face crumpled, and tears spilled down her cheeks. "Eric," she said softly, swiping at her tears. "I think I've made a mistake. I'm... I..." she trailed off, not really knowing exactly what she was trying to say. 

Eric reached forward, giving her a hug. He patted her back comfortingly. "What's wrong?" he asked, throwing an arm over her shoulders and leading her into his room. She sat on the edge of his bed and he removed his arm from her shoulders, sitting by her side. 

"I don't even know," she murmured. "Well... actually, I do know. It's everything. I started this fake dating thing because I didn't want my mom to get married to Mr.Kim and because I didn't want to have Sunwoo as my brother. So even though fake dating means we have to spend a lot of time together now, I thought it'll be okay, and it'll all be over soon. Plus, I was hoping my mom might call off my engagement with Hyunjae. But nothing's working out the way it's supposed to," she whimpered, hiding her face behind her hands as more tears fell. "It still seems like my mom is going to marry him. Sunwoo was so nice to me at first that I thought maybe, just maybe, we could be friends, but then suddenly he was mean again, and it was back to normal. I have to meet Hyunjae this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday. And to top it all off, I'm on my period." 

Eric rubbed her back, not saying anything. Then, "do you need any painkillers?" 

Seolhee couldn't help laughing a little. "No, I'm alright. I had some earlier." 

They fell into silence again, and she could tell Eric was thinking about what he should say. 

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment. "I didn't mean to unload all my problems on you." 

"Hey, friends are here to support each other, right?" he said gently. "And listen Seolhee, things aren't working out right now, but don't lose hope, alright? If Sunwoo's hurting you like that, just distance yourself from him whenever you can. Focus on acting lovey-dovey in front of your parents or something, I don't know. As for Hyunjae, he's dating, right?" 

Seolhee nodded. 

"If he's dating other girls, he's probably not interested in you. This means that he might be convinced to break off the engagement, even if your mother won't. And as for her marriage... we can always find a way to disrupt the ceremony," he said lightly. "We can steal the rings or kidnap the groom or priest or something," he suggested, a teasing grin on his face. 

She laughed again, feeling a bit better now. "Thanks," she said softly. "I'm lucky to have a friend like you."

***

A/N 

From now on I'm going to be updating this book every Thursday and Friday☺️