before & after ‣ 엔하이픈

010 ; present

 "Jake, it's alright. All I really wanted to hear from you was the truth. I never needed anything more than your honesty, that you trust that I'd understand whatever it is." Aeri spoke, keeping her voice low enough so that only he'd be able to hear. "You have to leave now. We're attracting a crowd and you know how I feel about the public." 

As though it was only now when the consequences of his decision sunk in, Jake's face morphed into another kind of worried, one that could only mean that he was concerned for how the people around them would react after what they had just witnessed. Aeri believed he hadn't realize what he was doing and only did what he did because he saw her, or at least, that was the reasoning she was convincing herself to believe. 

"R-Right. I'll talk to you later, Aeri. You look nice today." He smiled, as though everything has always been fine, as if they hadn't spend the last few minutes apologizing over a fight that far exceeded the ones they used to have. 

When Jake finally left, Aeri took the opportunity to finally take a seat next to Haesu and Seeun, who were both looking at her with disbelief, like they couldn't believe what had just unfolded in front of them earlier. She was barely surprised when the two of them began asking questions about it, wondering why she was speaking with someone she swore she didn't like and what in the world they could possibly be talking about. But even when Jake had made a spectacle of his apology, she kept her word to him that she wouldn't say a thing about them by deflecting every possible question the girls threw at her. And while she did already violate it once by telling Sunghoon, his was a different kind of violation, something she should be more angry about because it was one against the number of people waiting for both their downfall.

By the time the first half of their class ended and their vacant time began, Aeri excused herself from her friends who were just about to invite her to sit with them in the cafeteria. While opting for acting like any other day seemed so ideal for her situation, she didn't have it in her yet to see Jake and possibly insinuate another interaction that may possibly be the last nail to her social coffin. As soon as she steps out of the room, she was just about to walk to the back of the school and hide herself for there for the entirety of the period not until she felt a hand enclose on her wrist, caging her on their grip until she could not move from where she stood.

"There you are. I thought you would've already ran away by now." Sunghoon's ever so annoying voice rung in the empty chambers of her ear. "Or you were just about to and I so happened to have stopped you?" 

Aeri aggressively pulled her wrist away from him, which fortunately didn't took much of her effort. "What are you talking about? And where the hell did you come from?" 

"Aw were you looking for me earlier? Sorry about that, ran out of cigarette and had to buy some new ones." He said, giving his pocket one nice tap. "Anyway, rather than running away, how about I get you out of here? After all, I do owe you a ride." 

She was wondering what brought this upon or where this offer was coming from. "Why are you offering this to me?" 

Sunghoon sighed. "Stop acting like you don't know where I'm coming from, Aeri. And like I said, I owe you a ride." 

Aeri looked around her, only to now realize that people were still watching her all while their eyes bounced back between her and Sunghoon as they conversed. She wondered what they were thinking of at that moment, if they were judging her the same way her mother was talked about by their neighbors who would pass by their house and speak about the fate their great family befell in. With no more choice left in her arsenal, she whispered an agreement to Sunghoon, who immediately grinned as he grabbed her wrist softly this time as a contrast to the grip he had just moments ago. This hold was only meant to guide her to where his car was and while she disliked the amount of looks she was getting, she was suddenly comforted by the fact that the topic shifting to her and Sunghoon was rather more tolerable than the truth of her affair with Jake.

In some ways, Sunghoon was not only doing her a favor by getting her out of this situation but for also shifting the topic of the school further from the truth. When she glanced over to her savior, he saw that he was more focus on the path rather than the girl tailing behind him. The side of her lips raised into a grateful smile because he was becoming more and more like a friend to her ever since he came back.

But as she recalled the childhood they both shared, she realized he has always been like a friend to her and while they did annoy each other to an extreme extent, somehow they always manage to find different ways to be of service to the other. How has she only saw that the relationship they had wasn't always darkness? That it wasn't always about making the other miserable through different tricks and exaggerated psychoanalyzing? 

"Can you calm down for a second? If you move any more than what you are already doing, your knee is going to continue bleeding!"  A six year old Sunghoon kneeled on the hard cemented ground to treat the wound Aeri got from chasing him around with a bug she caught from a nearby tree. 

"Ouch! Are you sure you know what you're doing?!" Aeri hissed in pain the moment the cotton touched the graze on her knee.

"Of course, I do! I always watch mom do this for me." Sunghoon defended his faux credibility. "This is what you get for chasing me with that bug. I told you anything that looks like a cockroach freaks me out." He scoffed as he placed a pink adhesive bandage on her knee. 

This time, it was her turn to scoff. "What kind of six year old boy is afraid of a ladybug?" She said as she watched him stand up from the ground as he extended a hand to her. "What?"

"I'm helping you stand." He said, not taking no for an answer as he grabbed her right hand and pulled her up. Luckily, the wound didn't affect much of her ability to stand or walk. "Come on. I'll ask our maid to make you your favorite dessert."

"What for?" She frowned. "I tripped because I was chasing you, not the other way around."

Sunghoon sighed. "Just come with me." He said, dragging a young Aeri inside his home where the maid immediately welcomes them and without even requesting it, she made both their favorite desserts because almost everyone from his house already knew the girl as though she was part of the family. 

Aeri felt something sink within her stomach. He really never changed.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

you guys are not prepared for when i start writing abt hoon and aeri's past