SOFT SPOT • Kang Wooyoung | Weak Hero Class

xii ✷ Where the Silence Stays Soft

⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

That night, the streetlamps painted their long shadows over cracked sidewalks, pooling gold light in quiet patches. Yeji sat on the edge of her bed, the curtains drawn tight, her phone resting uselessly beside her. Her fingertips hovered above the screen - not to call, not to text, just to feel something that had once meant connection.

The silence of her room was deafening.

She wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel - closure? Relief? She'd talked to him, seen him, even argued with him. That should have been enough. But it wasn't. Not when the ache had settled into her chest like something permanent. Not when every memory from before-the way he used to grin without thinking, the sound of his laughter when it was just for her-kept playing on loop, sharper and louder in the quiet.

In another life, maybe they would've stayed close. Maybe nothing would've gone wrong. But this life... this version of their story was built on things they didn't say, and truths they weren't ready to face.

And she was tired of pretending she didn't care.

Yeji lay back, pulling the blanket up to her chin, eyes fixed on the ceiling. Somewhere deep down, she wondered if Wooyoung was thinking of her too. Or if tonight, like so many nights before, she'd be the only one staring into the dark, remembering things too brightly.

The next few days passed like smoke-there, but impossible to hold.

Yeji slipped into routine as if she'd always belonged there. But she hadn't. And she knew they knew it.

She was always a beat behind the rhythm of her new class-too quiet, too still. The teachers smiled, but they didn't ask too many questions. Most students didn't either. She didn't mind. Blending in was easier than standing out.

Except for him.

Wooyoung was everywhere and nowhere at once. Some days, he acted like she was invisible. Other days, he looked at her like he could see every part of her she was trying to hide. But he never said anything. And she didn't ask him to.

They moved like ghosts past each other-haunted by the same memories, avoiding the same truths.

Until the rain came.

The rain had started as a whisper-light droplets tapping the pavement-but now it fell in sheets, soaking the world in silver and sound.

Yeji stood at the edge of the school gate, arms wrapped around herself, blazer pulled tight. Her eyes followed the drops racing down the iron bars in front of her, pretending she wasn't waiting for anything. Pretending she didn't mind the rain.

But her bag was already damp at the edges.

Everyone else had gone. The courtyard was nearly empty now.

And then, behind her-footsteps. Unhurried. Familiar.

She didn't turn.

"Hey," Wooyoung said softly, and she finally looked up.

He stood there, rain flecking the shoulders of his blazer, holding a black umbrella in one hand-already open. A few strands of his hair clung to his forehead, wet from not using it yet.

Without saying anything else, he held it out to her. No smirk. No teasing. Just eyes-steady, quiet, like this wasn't a big deal even though everything about it kind of was.

Yeji blinked. "...What about you?"

He shrugged. "I'll run."

She hesitated. One beat. Two.

And then, instead of taking it, she stepped closer-into the circle of his umbrella.

Their shoulders brushed. Wooyoung froze.

"...You don't have to run," she murmured, barely above the rain. "Just walk with me."

He didn't answer right away.

But his hand tightened slightly on the umbrella handle.

And that was enough.

They walked like that-silent, close, the world shrinking down to the sound of raindrops above them and the faint warmth between them. Her sleeve brushed his. His heartbeat was loud in his ears.

He glanced at her once, just once.

And she was already looking at him. Not smiling.

But her eyes held something soft. Something new.

And his chest felt too full.

So he looked away again-grinning to himself like an idiot.

Yeji saw it.

And didn't say a word.

But her cheeks flushed, and somehow, the rain didn't feel so cold anymore.

AUTHOR SPEAKS !

SOOOOO yes, as promised, here is a chapter for all of my readers 💁🏻‍♀️🫶🏻

hwheheheheheheh

- ANDREANA / AC / EYZEYYY