fictitious. ― ʜᴀɴ ꜱᴇᴏᴊᴜɴ

― twenty four

"now?" this piqued seojun's interest as he leaned forward, grabbing her hand to stop her focus on her nails and give it to him instead. "what is it?" he questioned in concern, wondering if there was something wrong. iseul pursed her lips, looking over the boy's face as she took in all his features. she really hated gowoon for being such a good wing woman. 

"now, i don't think i want to leave just yet." she quietly admitted, squeezing his hand tight. 

-

"iseul?" the girl groaned, pushing away the hand that was shaking her awake. "iseul." the second time, she finally registered the voice, sitting upright in surprise as she looked over at the culprit. 

"grandma?" she reached up with her right hand, placing it gently on her grandmother's face, surprised at the contact of their skin as her eyes widened in surprise. "it's really you." she quietly whispered to herself, not believing that this was real. what's going on? she wondered to herself, looking around to see that she was back in her old room. "what happened to me?" she questioned.

"what are you talking about?" her grandmother questioned in confusion, staring at her grandchild as if she had grown another head. "it's time for school, hurry up and get ready." she ordered, slapping the girl's back before leaving her room. iseul stared into space, collecting her thoughts as she processed her current situation. 

"seojun." she quietly mumbled to herself, grabbing her phone from her bedside table. scrolling through her notifications, she saw updates from the twitter accounts that she followed talking about true beauty. clicking on a few, she caught up with the story, realising that everything that had happened with her wasn't part of it anymore. 

locking her phone, she nibbled on her lower lip, her heart racing as she was torn between everything going on right now. there's no way it was just a dream. she thought to herself. standing up, she hurried over to her bedroom window, ripping the curtains apart.

opposite her window stood yeosang getting ready for school, fixing his tie in the mirror. her sudden burst had caught his attention, turning his head towards her as he looked at her in confusion. "what is it?" he called out, his window already slightly ajar.

"wasn't it real?" she asked, hoping he would understand what she meant. 

"wasn't what real?" he fired back, finishing off his tie before making his way over to the window. "what are you talking about?" he added, opening his window further. 

"did i seriously dream everything?" she questioned, more to herself than him. "then you don't have a secret crush on me too." she added without much thought. her eyes widened in surprise, looking over at yeosang who was reflecting the same expression. 

"h-how did you know?" 

iseul choked on the breath she was holding. there was no way her subconscious would be able to make all that up when it's true. she thought that coming back would be a relief, but now that she was back, she didn't want to be here. not without finishing everything that she needed to get done. 

the torn feeling that she had been experiencing had just confirmed everything. there was no way she could just leave that world like that. building a life in the two worlds made it even harder to choose. although iseul knew what choice she had to make since there wasn't anything that really held her to the other world. her parents were never around and her best friend wouldn't be by her side anymore, but there was one thing.

"iseul," yeosang called for the girl in concern. "why are you crying? i'm coming over, hang on." iseul reached up, feeling the tear that had stained her cheek. finally coming to term with the feelings that she had been denying. she thought that if she didn't fall for him then it would be easier to return. it wouldn't hurt as much, but she was wrong. 

"i like han seojun."

lifting her gaze, she noticed that the house had disappeared. with wide, teary eyes, iseul turned around to see that her room had shifted to the other room. "iseul, your breakfast is going to get cold."

"ahjumma?" the girl was overjoyed at the sight of her housemaid, running up to the woman and giving her a tight hug. "i'm so happy to see you!" she exclaimed, surprising her as she gently patted her back with a soft laugh.

"me too." she agreed.

"ah, i need to get to school!" iseul exclaimed, stepping back and towards her closet. 

"iseul, it's the weekend." minjoon reminded as the girl froze, realising how stupid she must've looked. 

"ah, right." she quietly nodded, putting back her uniform. "ah, my phone." she patted her pockets, walking over to her bed. "i won't be having breakfast, i have to meet someone this morning." iseul informed minjoon as she found it under her pillow. hurriedly, she opened seojun's contact before messaging him to meet up with her.

"no worries, i'll leave it for later when you get back." minjoon assured before leaving to get to work. 

iseul grinned after realising that the boy had read her message after the little number one disappeared. not waiting for a response, she threw her phone on the bed before turning to her closet. 

"now to pick what to wear."