before & after ‣ 엔하이픈

017 ; present

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AERI

"Are you going to talk to Jake today?" Sunghoon asked only a minute after Aeri settled inside his car.

Aeri glances over to him with a glare. "Jeez, whatever happened to good mornings?" She asked, a subtle attack to dodge the question but when he quickly caught onto it, she scoffs. "No, I'm not going to talk to him today. Probably when I'm ready to kill myself."

"And you say I'm dramatic." Sunghoon said, finally starting the car and driving off to their original destination. "The other coffee is yours. It's just how you like it: sweet." He had a sheepish smile as he stated that.

Looking over to the cupboard and sees two cups of coffee but seeing as the one was already half empty, she knew immediately which was her supposed sweet cup. She wondered when he even had the time to buy two coffees this early in the morning, unless, of course, he woke a little earlier and thought it would be nice to grab a cup of coffee. But, if that were the case, she didn't see the point of even going back for her since she could always go to school alone just as she always had before he came back from another country. 

The drive wasn't by any means quiet, but it wasn't the same noise that used to fill the car. They used to argue all the time, always forcing him to stop at every corner just to drop her off because she found it quite annoying having him join her every morning. However, this morning was particularly different because they were too civil with another, too okay with each other's presence and somehow amidst of this indifference, they both seem the least bothered by it. 

For some odd reason, Aeri found an unusual sort of comfort from Sunghoon right after their encounter in the convenience store.

When Aeri realized they were finally at the parking lot, she made a weird request that even made Sunghoon confused. "Don't park in the corner. I hate walking."

He raised an eyebrow. "But people are going to see us?" He points out her biggest fear.

She did fear attention, however she feared the prospects of being tired even more. Aside from that, after his wake up call yesterday, she realized that people were going to talk nonetheless about the two of them because they live next to each other. So people shouldn't find the idea of them as bewildering as the thought of her and Jake, because her going to school with Sunghoon actually made more sense.

"We're neighbors, if they can't put two and two together, then this school doesn't deserve the reputation it has." Aeri argues as she points over to a parking space that was so much closer to the entrance. 

Sunghoon, unable to argue any further, just went along with what she said and decided to park the car where she pointed at. Her coffee was nowhere near empty, unlike his which was nearing the bottom of the cup so she took the coffee with her along with her bag that she dumped at the back. As soon as she and her neighbor got out of the car, eyes immediately jumped between the two before an assumption and conclusion forms in their minds. 

"I guess you just gave people another thing to talk about." He said, swinging his bag to his back as he follows her while she strides toward the exit.

Aeri scoffs. "We're friends and neighbors, what more can they possibly get from that?" 

"Now we're friends?" There was a teasing smirk on his face, the one that usually annoyed her more than it should be. 

"I can always take it back." 

"Nope, little Aeri. You can't take back something you already said." He winks. His playful side soon dissipates when he sees his teammates in front of them, leaning over the lockers as they converse with themselves. "I'll go with my friends now, you can walk yourself alone?"