𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐲 || 𝐤𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐣𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠.

5

it was the next day and school was almost ending. dahee was relieved that her hair covered the bandaid on the side of her forehead. it's a good thing she didn't have any close friends that she spends every minute of the day with. because it gives her the reason to not look up as much that day, in order for her hair to stay put at the side of her face. not only did she have a bandaid over a cut at the side of her forehead, the side of her cheek was also littered with small cuts.

the bell then rings and the class starts packing their things. dahee finishes packing right as hongjoong does and the boy approaches her table. "shall we get going, now?" the girl nods, keeping her gaze down.

during the walk to hongjoong's place, they talked quite a bit. dahee didn't want him assuming that something was wrong if she kept quiet the whole time so she tried her best to reply him how she usually does. she also made sure that she walked on his left so he wouldn't accidentally see her cuts.

when they reached his place, they immediately got started on studying. it was chemistry; dahee's favourite. it used to be hongjoong's favourite too before he stopped studying so now he has no idea what the teacher talks about every chemistry lesson. but with dahee teaching him from the very start, he slowly understood more and more. by the end of that day's session, he felt proud of himself. he didn't think he could be able to take in one whole chapter but the girl was like a miracle worker and he was a hard worker.

"good job today, hongjoong. you're doing great, keep it up!" she compliments the boy, slowly packing her stuff up. the boy grinned at her, eyes forming pretty crescents. "hey, are you hungry? i can make us something for dinner," he asks as he stands up to stretch.

dahee glances at her wristwatch, seeing that it's now later than she ended yesterday. dad is probably out getting drinks so if i get home even later, he'll probably already be asleep by then. she decides to stay for dinner, thinking that it's the best option. she nods up to the boy, smiling. "sure."

she sees the boy blinking profusely at her and she stares back at him in confusion. "is there something wrong?"

"your face.. what happened?" usually a question like this is pretty offensive to girls but dahee knows what he's referring to. the bandaid on her forehead and the multiple little cuts at the side of her face that she didn't want to cover because it'll be way more obvious.

"i don't what you're talking about," she immediately moves her head so that her hair covers it up again, nervously chuckling. "dahee," he sits back next to her. he gently grabs her chin, moving her head so he can see the left side of her face. "you have cuts all over your face, what happened?"

his hand stayed on her chin while the other softly touched the cuts, trying to see if she reacts to his touch but she remained still. his close proximity sent her heart racing, her body frozen. and as if she's snapped out of a trance, she gently pushes him away. "i-it's nothing. i tripped and fell face first on the pavement on the way home last night. it's no big deal." she lies, avoiding eye contact. she hoped that she sounded convincing but the silence was nerve wracking.

"tsk, if you had just let me walk you home last night," hongjoong jokes, playfully rolling his eyes. she looks at him to see him smiling at her. "well, no excuses tonight. i'm walking you home, sweetheart. who knows what might happen later? a girl as clumsy you should be taken care of." he winks flirtatiously, biting his lower lip.

dahee lets out a chuckle, relieved that he bought her lie. "well, i'm gonna go make us dinner now. you can chill on the couch and watch tv or something, okay?" the girl nods, making her way to his couch and leaning against it. sitting on the dining chair for hours made her back hurt so it was relaxing to finally sit on something softer.

-

it was about two hours later and the two teenagers were finally making their way to the girl's house. the whole time hongjoong was attempting to cook, it was a mess. in the end, dahee had to help turn whatever he tried making, into something edible for the two to eat for dinner. she didn't expect him to be so clueless about cooking since he seemed pretty confident when he offered to cook.

and then the rest of the evening, as well as their walk to dahee's home, was spent with the two having an actual conversation about the most random things. the girl didn't think they could click that well but they did. hongjoong was pretty entertaining when you actually have a full conversation with him. though he threw flirty comments here and there, he was really easy to talk to. and she liked that.

"oh, we're here." dahee stops in front of her apartment building. "thank you for sending me home." she slightly bows to him, fiddling with the hem of her jacket. it was sort of her habit to do that when she was nervous. "oh no, i'm walking you right to your door, sweetheart. we don't know what might happen on the way up," he teases her, pulling her wrist as he walks into the building.

dahee snickered at the pet name. it's only been a few days but the boy seems to already like calling her that a lot. she takes a quick glance at her wristwatch, seeing that it's late and her dad is most probably wasted and knocked out already. she mentally sighs in relief. who knows what might happen if he sees a boy send her home. he would go completely nuts.

once the two reached her unit, they stopped in front of her door. "okay, we're here now. thank you for sending me all the way home, hongjoong." she spoke gratefully. she felt bad that he did this because of the lie she told him. "no problem. be more careful next time, alright? don't want cuts all over your pretty little face now do ya, sweetheart?" he raises his eyebrows, smirking at the girl.

dahee rolls her eyes playfully, smacking him on the arm lightly. "shut up and go home already." he laughs at this, enjoying teasing the girl. "will do, sweetheart. i'll see you tomorrow." they wave at each other and dahee watches as he makes his way to the elevator, waving one last time before the elevator door closes.