𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗬﹕heeseung

－ 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

Third person

Aera doesn't know how she was able to survive the week when for five days, she had done nothing but attend her classes with dark circles under her eyes. If only she knew what becoming a business major would turn her into, she would've chosen a different path.

With the bright rays of sun passing through the window, Aera woke up without a scowl on her face, that happening for the first time in a while. Miyoung had her morning class and Jiwoo was probably out for a morning walk, resulting in her being all by herself. She was free for the whole day, which means she got all the time to herself, and Heeseung.

Okay, so maybe this day feels so much better because of him. They promised they'd see each other again on this day, and thankfully she hasn't heard anything from him that involves canceling their plans. She didn't hear much from him this week, aside from their short conversations through texts every night and one time Aera bought a drink from the grocery store and it just so happens that Heeseung was working that day too. 

Grabbing the box of cereal and fresh milk, she tossed her phone just as she texted what time they'll meet.

The following minutes go on peacefully, not until she heard a doorbell, signaling someone was at the door. Aera knows it can't be either of her roommates, they have keys to let themselves in. She stood up and went directly to the door. Aera opened the door and came to a full view of her mother.

"Ma? What are you doing here?" Aera

"Morning visit? Let me in." Her mother commands, entering their dorm, and began to inspect the room.

"You didn't leave a text or call." Aera stated, following behind her.

"Where's Miyoung? Jiwoo?" Mrs. Han asked.

"Miyoung's in class. Jiwoo went out." Aera answered.

"I see. Well, what about you?" She plopped comfortably on the sofa, raising a brow.

"I'm going out today, with someone." Aera said as she went back to her sogged cereal.

"A friend?" She asked.

"You could say so." Aera shrugged.

"A male?" Aera stopped eating midway, knowing she was about to be interrogated by her mother once she answer.

"Yeah..." Aera turns her head.

"Oh, dear." Mrs. Han rubbed the creases on her forehead as she muttered.

"Before you start, he's a friend. I just met him and he's nice. There's nothing wrong with being friends with him, okay?" Aera defensively exclaimed because she knows what was coming.

"He's part of the male species, Aera, there is something wrong."

"What? Ma!" Aera scolded.

From the very beginning of her growing up, her mother was overprotective over boys (love, per se), much more than her father even.

"Having a boyfriend is no good for you, Aera. They'll only distract you, it's worthless. You must know better than love and sparks. Your heart is a vulnerable thing, it is not made to be broken." She well remembered what her mother said when she was young. And while she thinks it didn't make sense (because sure, she does believe not all men are like that), not following her mother's structure caused her to have a love interest behind her back, and that did not age well.

"Didn't I tell you-"

"Let's not have this conversation. Not today, not again." Aera admonished, earning a dismayed sigh from her.

"You got a man break your heart once, don't let it happen again." Mrs. Han said one last time, her eyes showing pure distress.

And Aera's aware of that. Her past heartbreak crumpled her for several weeks. But now she's old enough to know better than lending all her love for it to be thrown away again.

She'll never go through that again.

━━━━━

"Hyung, hyung." Unbothered by the hoarse voice calling him about ten times already, Heeseung slapped away the hand on his shoulder and covered his ears with his pillow, remaining still on the bed as he wants to continue sleeping.

"Heeseung hyung, wake up. It's 12:30 for God's sake. My mom's been knocking on the door." Riki groaned and rubbed his face.

Riki's attempt of waking the older up became successful as Heeseung forced himself to sit up with his eyes only half opened. He gets a clearer vision of Riki's bedroom, two bags of chips on the table, and game consoles left on the carpet. The curtains were set aside and the sun automatically glared straight at his face.

"Shit, what time is it?" Heeseung groggily asked, looking around for his phone.

"12:32." Riki replied, throwing Heeseung's phone which was nicely caught.

He unlocked it to see the notifications, not expecting to be bombarded by texts coming from one person: Aera.

Aera
Let's meet at 12:30? We can eat lunch together again somewhere else.

It's 12:33.

"Shit. Shit." Heeseung chanted while recklessly running around the room for his bag. He put on his hoodie over his head and grabbed his other sock under the chair.

Riki's gone to the bathroom until he heard a mess. His eyes stared confusedly at Heeseung who was putting his shoes on.

"I forgot I'm meeting someone today." Heeseung said to answer the younger's questionable stare.

"Got to go. Remember everything I taught you last night." Heeseung pointed at him as he walks outside the door and left.

"The hell was there to remember?" All he could remember was the level of the video game they played, not even a single thing from the lecture stayed on his mind.

━━━━━

It's been more than forty minutes of Aera sitting near the fountain, waiting for Heeseung to come. He did reply to her last message saying that he was coming, so it gave Aera a tiny assurance that that guy isn't ditching her.

'Please don't make me wait any longer. Please don't make me wait any longer.'

Aera's silent prayers were heard as the moment she glanced up, she saw him jogging toward her. She abruptly stood up, Heeseung bending down to rest his hands on his knees catching his breath.

"Ran a marathon?" Aera asked, causing Heeseung to let out an airy laugh.

"Nah, had a hard time finding a parking space. I had to go all the way there so, it took me long." Heeseung explained, pointing to the far end.

"Hence why you're late?" Aera asked.

"I overslept and just woke up when you texted me. My fault, sorry." Heeseung sheepishly answered.

"Well, at least you didn't ditch me. I was beginning to think you were playing around with me." Aera feigned a downcasted sigh.

"Never would I do that? Here I am." Heeseung smugly presented himself.

"You up for something to eat? I found a nice place right down the corner." Aera recommended.

"Absolutely." Heeseung didn't need to be told twice.

"My treat this time, yeah?" He added, in case she planned to take her wallet out.

"Since you were late anyway, sure." Aera laughed.

With that, another day was well spent with them. Maybe they could do this again next weekend?

━━━━━━━━━━