pulling on cosmic strings ꩜ pi hanwool, study group

2. another chance

Hanwool's face twisted slightly in confusion, "Caught up in what?"

Fidgeting with the edge of her skirt, Minju quickly came up with an excuse, "Girl stuff, it was an emergency."

"You ran half a kilometer out of school for girl stuff?"

Minju narrowed her eyes at him, "It was an emergency."

"Just earlier you were scolding us about playing hooky," he teased. "Can't believe you went back on your word in less than an hour."

"First of all, I told you it was a personal emergency." Knowing sticking to that excuse would get her nowhere, she puffed her chest and crossed her arms, "Second, maybe I wanted to try it after all."

Hanwool snorted, "You?"

Feeling offended, Minju playfully shoved him, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, just didn't take you as someone who wanted the whole school to know you were playing hooky before fifth period," he shrugged. "You sprinted out the school gates, dead center, in broad daylight."

Minju shifted awkwardly, "Everyone saw that?"

Hanwool simply stared at her with a bored expression, a silent confirmation.

"Maybe we should go back, we were probably gone for too long." Minju started to walk past him when he grabbed her wrist, holding her back.

"Thought you wanted to play hooky?" Hanwool raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm done playing. It's not that fun anyway." The truth was, Minju needed some time to herself to figure out what in the world was going on.

Hanwool's face perked up, "Come on, you didn't even do much. Everyone already saw you leave. Stay and play hooky with me."

Minju was silent in thought. Noticing her hesitation, Hanwool lowered his grip on her wrist to grasp her hand, and led her to the parking lot near the school.

They stopped in front of his motorbike. Hanwool took one of the helmets placed it on Minju's head, adjusting the straps.

"I didn't say I was going with you," Minju huffed.

Hanwool clicked his tongue, "Just accept it."

The moment her helmet straps were on right, his eyes lingered on her face for a moment, before putting on his helmet and settling on the bike.

"Get on."

Minju contemplated for a moment before lifting one foot over the bike and getting on behind him. "Don't do anything stupid."

She heard a chuckle before the bike drove off at an alarming speed. Minju hurriedly clutched onto Hanwool's sides before she could fall off.

"What part of 'don't do anything stupid' did you not understand?"

Hanwool laughed, "Hold on a bit tighter."

Minju circled her arms around his waist, her hands held tightly around his midriff. As they continued to drive, she rested her head on his back.

Thinking back, Minju wasn't sure when the boy who's waist she currently embraced changed. Perhaps it was the way he wanted to protect everyone around him that made him a target.

He shielded everyone he loved with his own body, the arrows hitting his back in sharp thuds, yet his face would betray no emotion. It was as if none of it mattered. He never reached out or asked for help, like he could handle it all by himself. He couldn't.

Minju should've tried harder to help him back then. Crossed the line. Kept pushing until he finally broke, so that he could share all his suppressed tears with her. God knows she wouldn't have minded it. Maybe they could've gone through it together.

Minju sighed as she nuzzled further into Hanwool, comfortable in his presence.

She missed it.

She missed him.

Minju was being given another chance. The universe gave her another chance. Only an idiot would be foolish enough to not take it.

It was on the bike that Minju made a silent promise to herself. No more regrets.

This time, Minju would protect him at all costs.

‧｡ ₊ ⭑˚ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹

Author's Note

These first two chapters were mainly to provide some background on the plot. From now on, I'll try to alter the Study Group plot just a bit to fit this concept. What do you guys think so far? Any predictions?