before & after ‣ 엔하이픈

008 ; present

"You pay for my food." Aeri gave him a taunting smile as she also handed him a can of cold soda. "After all, you paid the first time I snuck out and you invited yourself."

"Look at little Aeri, keeping the tradition alive. I got to say, I would've been flattered if it meant not putting my wallet on a diet." He said with a scoff at the end before he headed to the cashier with his other free hand holding the food he got for himself.

She would've joined to help him at the very least but she found herself in a petty mood, hence why she immediately sat at one of the empty tables (although none of the tables are really occupied when she goes there to take a visit because it was, after all, the middle of the night). In a few minutes, he finally arrived to tell her that they should wait for the ramen to cook for a bit all while he hands her the cold soda she remembered handing to him earlier.

"So what's your deal tonight? Broke up with your boyfriend?" Sunghoon asked bluntly, his soda making a fizz sound as he opened it.

Aeri rolled her eyes. "Is that really the best guess you can come up with?"

"Well, I've had my suspicions."  He shrugged. "Would you like to hear it?"

"Alright then. Let's see what ridiculous thing you've come up with this late in the night." She said, crossing her arms as she fixed her posture, making it seem like she was all prepared to listen for what he is about to say.

"You're in love with Jake." There, Sunghoon has said in one sentence everything anyone ever needed to understand what she was going through at that moment. "I caught you looking at him and Bora when they were talking at that hallway. When I asked you then, all I needed was for you to confirm what I saw."

Aeri sat there, confuddled whether she would finally open up to someone about this secret she's been holding with Jake or if she should continue what she has always done and that was to keep the words on her tongue behind her lips. But the only response she could think of was to check on their ramen that had been cooking for four minutes now. Sunghoon didn't utter a word when she stood up from the table and only did the same as what she has been doing until they were back on the table they were sitting at.

"Does this mean I'm right?" He asked just before he took a bite of his food.

Aeri had already taken a bite before she gave him a reply. "Is that all your suspicions?"

"He's your secret boyfriend. I don't know when you got together but it couldn't have been that long because he just broke up with Bora just before the summer." Sunghoon adds. "Although, I don't know why the two of you are quiet about it."

There wasn't much to hide from Sunghoon anymore because it pretty much seemed like he already guessed almost all the right answers to the seemingly puzzle she has created for her own life during the summer. The only thing he was really wrong about was calling Jake her boyfriend because as far as she's aware, they weren't even official. Thinking about it now, it was even more appropriate that they call each other a fling rather than what everyone in their right mind would think they are.

And so, she sighed. "I hate you and I hate you even more for what I'm about to tell you." She glared and as always, he remains unfazed by it all. "You're partially right. Jake and I are in somewhat of a relationship but he's not my boyfriend. We're not even official yet. It began shortly after he broke up with Bora. And yes, I am in love with him. That's why I'm condemned once more to the solace of the night."

"And you guys are keeping it all a secret?" He asked and she nods. "Why? Surely you would appreciate it when all the boys of our school would stop trying to ask you out. Do you know how many of my teammates in the soccer team have a crush on you? Imagine how Jake have been taking it, hearing about them making all sorts of plans to ask you out."

Aeri sneered. "That is, if he really did like me enough to care about me to that extent." Her bitterness was evident from that line alone. "We kept it a secret because we didn't want to attract any more attention."

"Is it because he's still talking to Bora?" He continued to ask, as if his only ever agenda tonight was to learn more from her. "Plus, if it makes anything better, you can both stay single for all you please but you will always be popular."

"You weren't here to see the extent of his relationship with Bora. You wouldn't understand where my worries is coming from." She looked at him just after she finished the ramen she's been eating throughout their conversation.

Sunghoon frowned. "If you have worries to begin with, does that mean he hasn't been treating you well since the beginning of this, well, whatever it is that you two have."

"Of course not. He does treat me right, it's just, there are moments where I wish that when he looks at me, his mind isn't seeing Bora." Her voice gets quieter as she spoke the last words.

"If you had to wish for that when you're together, then I really doubt he's treating you the way you deserve." Sunghoon looked at her, as though he was hoping his words would pierce right through her heart and she would understand what he was trying to say.

But when Aeri is reminded of whom she was talking to, she groans as she buried her face into her palms. "I can't believe I'm telling you all the things I swore I'd never tell a soul."

He laughed. "You might not realize it, but having someone to lash on actually brings another kind of comfort." He says, winking at her only to earn a look of disgust from her, which he didn't take offense at all.

"Whatever." Aeri rolled her eyes but really, that was her best attempt in not agreeing with him because his words hit something in her that she wasn't even aware that was there. "Let's go back. I think I'm already good for the night unless you want me to continue emptying your wallet."

"Nope, you're going to go home and hopefully, have a good night sleep to get the blues completely out of you. Sad little Aeri is not good for my wallet." Sunghoon said, grabbing both her shoulders as he pushed her gently out of the convenience store.

She chuckled. "Thanks for the food, Sunghoon. Finally, you did something worthwhile in my life."

"I have driven you to school several times now and suddenly this is the only worthwhile thing I've ever done for you?" He laughed.

"Yup." Aeri smirks, walking ahead of him as they went back to their respective homes together.

What Sunghoon didn't know was that buying food wasn't the worthwhile thing he did for Aeri that night, it was the fact he accompanied her when even she, herself, was unconvinced she needed anyone.

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