short | chw.

0.6

"done," hyungwon said, lifting the revised paper he did. hyemi startled and got up quickly when she realized she was napping on the desk. she felt a small dribble on the edge of her lip and blushed in embarrassed. hyungwon handed her a tissue. "good sleep? it's already six o clock."

"what?!" hyemi exclaimed, breaking the silence in the library. she received a few glares and spoke much softer, "why didn't you wake me up?"

"sleep is good," hyungwon raised his index. "and i figured you need it."

"this is my work yet you did it," hyemi whined, tugging on hyungwon's sleeve. "this is not what i meant by help."

"it's finished anyways. are you hungry?"

hyemi bit her lip when her stomach echoed a growl. she slowly nodded, making hyungwon smile. "me too. i have been craving to go to this certain restaurant for weeks. do you wanna come?"

"sure, i have nothing else to do." hyemi lightened up, since hyungwon already took a load off her shoulders. "who's paying though?"

"obviously me," hyungwon scoffed. "i wouldn't ask if i didn't have the money, and besides, i'm being a gentleman."

hyemi had a big urge to pay for dinner because hyungwon helped her enough, but if that's what he wanted hyemi wouldn't force her intentions on him. it was then she remembered hyungwon was trying to be as nice as possible, so she shouldn't ruin her chances.

hyemi gathered all her stuff, and hyungwon beckoned her to the exit of the library. once they were outside, he turned on his phone that was buzzing with multiple messages. he sighed and turned to hyemi, "do you mind people tagging along for dinner?"

"not at all," hyemi shook her head. "are they your friends?"

"they think we're friends but personally, i like to keep my space from them," hyungwon shoved his phone back into his pocket and heaved another heavy sigh. "so i was hoping you'd say no."

"oh!" hyemi gasped. "then i mind, because i'll feel uncomfortable."

"well, i already texted them it's alright, so i guess we'll have to deal with them." hyungwon flashed a smile.

it wasn't long until they arrived at the restaurant. hyungwon mentioned it wasn't a long walk, so they didn't need to take a taxi.

hyemi got excited when she realized it was japanese hot pot. hyungwon saw how happy she looked and felt relieved that he was doing something good for once.

"hyungwon—ah," a voice from the back of the line called. both hyemi and hyungwon turned their heads to see two boys waving at them. they approached hyungwon, holding up a high five and they did their handshakes in front of hyemi. one of them looked down at her and smirked, "who's this? why didn't you tell us you had a girlfriend?"

hyungwon was alarmed and caught hyemi turning pure crimson. he was in the middle of two choices, but he considered that hyemi might be uncomfortable when he said yes as a joke. "she's a friend." hyungwon responded. "lay off the idea of relationships, okay?"

"he's dodging the topic," one of them guffawed. "we all want someone to love, it's nothing new."

"hyungwon's friend, why don't you tell us your name?" hyemi saw a notable feature and it was his dimples. she found it quite cute. "my name is jooheon."

"i'm hyemi, nice to meet you." she smiled back at jooheon as he reached out for a shake. hyungwon watched intently for any unnecessary moves because he was feeling protective, and he didn't want any awkward moments to happen.