Karma ━━ Jake Sim

𝟭𝟳 ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏⠀Try Me

"I could be." She mumbles.

Contrary to her dismissive tone, however, she follows his advice.

"Wait. No no no -" Jake tuts as he watches her next movements, "- You're crossing it over the wrong way. You're meant to do that part from the front."

"Well, you should've said from the front!" Sujin huffs, frustratedly undoing the action.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were hanging on to my every word now."

She scoffs, "Am not!"

He raises a brow, boyish and challenging, "Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am n-" Sujin cuts herself short, not about to spend an entire afternoon delving into an elementary school squabble. She sighs, "I'm not doing this with you right now."

"Ah, it was fun while it lasted."

After a couple more minutes of trying in heavy silence, Sujin stops mid-knot to trudge over to the remaining seat in front of the Headmistress' desk, flopping into the leather with a dramatic humph.

"I give up!" She whines to no one in particular, "Whatever punishment she'll give me for it - it can't be worse than trying to do this shit."

Jake chuckles, sparing another glance at the now-defeated girl sitting next to him. He eyes the tired expression clouding her features and the half-tied mess loosely draped around her neck.

With a hesitant sigh, he brings himself out of his chair and onto his feet.

"C'mere."

Sujin meets his gaze with an unimpressed one of her own.

"Oh, so now you're being nice." She drawls.

"I've always been nice." He shrugs, extending a hand to urge her out of her seat.

"Pfft." She ignores the gesture entirely, pulling herself to her feet to stand in front of the boy. Much to his surprise, she unravels the tie from her neck and holds it out to him with a barely-compliant sigh, "Make it quick, Sim."

Jake grins, "Challenge accepted."

He steps forward to take the accessory from her grasp. As he starts with popping the collar of her button-up, Sujin does her best to suppress the unfamiliar shiver that runs down her spine as his deft fingertips brush against the nape of her neck. There it is again - Zing! - but he doesn't seem to notice, too focussed on getting the positioning of the tie just right before properly doing it up.

When he's finally satisfied with the proportions, he starts on a classic Windsor knot.

Wider end over the other from the front.

"Do you actually not think I'm nice?" Half-preoccupied, Jake can't help but wonder aloud.

Through the loop below, and back towards the left.

"Why does it matter what I think?" Sujin murmurs, distracting herself from anything but the boy's repeated feather-like contact with her skin.

"It doesn't." He lies - it matters what everyone thinks, actually - "'M just curious."

Around to the right, then up again through the middle.

They've never been quite this close before, Sujin realizes. He smells of summertime and fresh laundry. Citrusy, crisp and airy.

Wait- What were we talking about again?