Thursday, November 12
Hanbyul awkwardly stood outside the door, hesitating to enter the house. It surprised her to have made it this far, even after telling her over-protective friends where she was going, but now, she was too scared to walk in.
"Aren't you coming?" Haruto asked, turning around once he didn't hear the chattering female beside him. He raised his eyebrows, observing the girl.
"D-do you live alone?" She suddenly questioned, throwing him off-guard. He hadn't really thought about a backstory to himself and just picked up the girl because their homework was piling up — and he had a plan to carry out too.
"Is that stopping you from entering my house?"
The words made Hanbyul step inside quickly, huffing as she walked all the way in, brushing past Haruto as she made her way towards the living room. The male chuckled to himself, closing the front door and walked to the room Hanbyul was in. She sat on the couch, her feet awkwardly propped up as she tried to appear comfortable.
"Nice house," she commented, and Haruto had to stifle a laugh, seeing her odd behaviour. Why does her awkwardness amuse me? He thought, thinking if his humor had taken a fall.
The Watanabe Haruto who laughed only at his dark humor now finding amusement in a nervous girl?
The raven-haired male raised his brow, looking at her feet on his couch. "Down," he simply stated, and Hanbyul immediately got the message, keeping her feet down and sitting politely like she does.
"Sir, yes, sir." Haruto had to hold back another laugh at her words. He was sure he wasn't supposed to hear them, and seeing the girl's wide eyes, he pretended to not hear it.
The duo started working on their homework for the week, helping each other. Though it was mainly Hanbyul helping Haruto, the boy had some moments where his words sparked something in the girl's mind.
After a while, Haruto offered to get them some drinks, leaving to the kitchen. Hanbyul checked their science textbook, writing the items and following Haruto to ask if he had the necessary ingredients for their experiment.
"Ruto, do you –" She was cut off by her phone ringing, the girl pulling it out of her pocket. Her body froze as she saw the caller ID, trying to calm her breathing as she unconsciously took steps backwards.
'Oppa' flashed on the screen along with a picture of Hanbyul had taken with Hyunsuk. The ringing echoed in the empty apartment as she thought of what to do. She accidentally bumped against a vase stand, dropping the glass sculpture on it. Hanbyul let go of her phone to grasp onto the falling statue, failing to catch it, resulting in both her phone and sculpture on the floor. One of them — if not both — shattered into pieces.
Haruto's hand froze halfway as he took the drinks out of the fridge at the sound of the glass statue shattering. What the fuck? The words kept repeating in his head as he walked out of the kitchen, seeing the mess in front of him.
The brunette crouched on the floor, her fingers running through her hair, muttering words to herself. Haruto saw her phone on the floor, and he wondered if she saw anything to shock herself as she wasn't a naturally clumsy person.
"I'm really sorry, I really am," Hanbyul repeated, kneeling on the floor, not even daring to look up at Haruto. "I didn't mean to." The crack in her voice notified the boy of her defenseless state.
Her apologetic nature would compel her to do anything. Might as well ask her to come to that party with me. Haruto immediately changed his facial expressions from a blank to one of anger.
"Why are you so fucking clumsy?!" The raven-haired male sighed, dragging his hand down his face. "Now I have to clean this up!" He raised his voice, hoping it would work on the girl.
Hanbyul stood up, offering to clean. "I'll do it. I'm sorry, please–" Haruto tilted his head, rolling his eyes at the girl.
"Leave it." He pursed his lips, sighing again. Hanbyul stopped in her place, wondering if the sculpture wasn't worth as much as she thought. Practically seeing her thoughts, Haruto clicked his tongue, gesturing the girl to move away. "The last thing I want is you getting hurt and your brother coming for my neck."
Hanbyul's mouth opened slightly, gaping at his words. Did I hear him right? Is he worried about me getting hurt? She thought, but that didn't last long. "It's –"
"Not that I care about you getting hurt," he added, and the slight smile on Hanbyul's face fell. Of course not. "I would like to not get punched and protect this." Haruto gestured his face, and the girl had to hold back an eye roll at his oozing confidence.
"I'm really sorry. I'll make it up to you!" Haruto's eyes lit up at her words, but he covered it quickly.
"How?"
"I'll buy you a new one!"
Haruto crossed his arms over his chest, intimidatingly looking at Hanbyul. "Do you know where to buy one? Do you even know what it looks like?" He asked, knowing well she didn't.
"No, but –"
"Look," he paused, pretending to think, "there is this Christmas party I have to attend. And it's compulsory I bring a date." Haruto observed as the brunette's eyes widened, understanding where it was going.
"You want me to go as your date," Hanbyul spoke, knowingly looking at the tall male. Something didn't click in her head, and something told her the statue wasn't worth going through the hassle of promising him to be his date. Why does this seem like a setup?
"Well, yeah. It's better than having some girl my friends choose, clinging onto me like a leech." Haruto shrugged, and somehow these words had more of an impact than his initial plan. The boy watched Hanbyul's confused face rest into a blank expression, solemnly contemplating her choices.
Though she didn't want to admit it, the thought of some random girl next to Haruto angered Hanbyul. She didn't know why, but she nodded to his offer. "I'll come," she said, "but only because I owe you one," she added, not wanting Haruto to get any ideas about her messy feelings.
"Okay, then."
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Tuesday, December 8
Choi Hanbyul didn't know how to break it to her best friends. How was she going to tell them she was going to a Christmas party with their gang's rival leader, Watanabe Haruto?
Oh, hey, guys. So, a little something happened, and I owe Haruto a favor. And he asked me to go to his Christmas party, so I agreed, and yeah, I'm going. Bye! Hugs and kisses, I love you all so much. Please don't kill me.
Sounds legit. I'll freestyle the rest.
She walked from her locker to the cafeteria, knowing the boys were waiting for her there. There were still a few weeks till the party. Maybe I don't have to tell them now. She wondered, not seeing the black-haired face genius standing in front of her.
Watanabe Haruto playfully held his hand out to stop her, but the girl was too lost in thought and bumped against it, startling herself. Her arms flew back, causing her to lose balance, but luckily, Haruto was in front of her. The boy grabbed onto her arm, the other hand around her waist to ensure safety.
"What's got you thinking so hard, jagiya?" Haruto inquired, the smallest of smiles on his face. "I can't have you falling for anyone else." He replaced the smile with a smirk, causing the girl to let out a laugh.
A month of tutoring and Hanbyul could calmly acknowledge Haruto's flirting, and no matter how flustered she was, she hid it expertly. It was almost like an inside joke of theirs; the constant flirting. Haruto's cheesy — and still failing — pickup lines never failed to make Hanbyul laugh.
And her laugh — no matter how much Haruto denied it — never failed to make him smile.
"Are you on your way to the cafeteria?" Hanbyul asked, walking towards the said place as Haruto followed her.
"Nope, I'm leaving early today. Need to give my measurements for my suit," he answered, lightly brushing his hand against Hanbyul's as they walked.
Hanbyul frowned, subtly taking a step back to avoid the electric rushes she felt as their knuckles touch. "Measurements? Is it a fancy Christmas party?" She inquired, visualizing her dress to see if it was fancy enough.
"No, my suits are too tight and small now. I'm a growing man, you see." Haruto puffed his chest out, and Hanbyul didn't hesitate to guffaw, covering her mouth when she saw the boy glaring.
"Right, I see it."
Haruto shook his head, remembering the reason he approached her. "What's the color of your dress?" The brunette tilted her head at the question, her cheeks flushed as a small smile came on her lips.
"Are we matching?" She turned her head around, not wanting Haruto to see her reddened cheeks. But he didn't need to see her face. As a reflex, Hanbyul's hand kept clenching and unclenching, signaling she was feeling overwhelmed, making Haruto smirk to himself.
"Yeah, obviously. What is the color?"
"Don't have to work hard, my dress is black." Hanbyul patted Haruto's shoulder as he looked taken aback.
He ran his fingers through his hair, tilting his head at the younger. "Black at a Christmas party?" Hanbyul stopped in her tracks, turning back to look at him.
She nodded. "Yep. Celebrations aren't really my thing," Hanbyul answered, dusting off the invisible dirt on her skirt.
"Okay, then. Black it is, jagiya."
Hanbyul waved goodbye to the older as he left, quickly scurrying towards the cafeteria to meet her friends. Just as she walked to the outside tables, she saw a few boys getting up from the table — probably to find her. Seeing her arrive, Junghwan told the others, sitting back down.
"What were you talking so long with Haruto?" Asahi asked as Mashiho handed the girl a strawberry milk. Obviously, they saw — or just instinctively knew — she couldn't get anything past the MAGNUM boys.
"Another study session," Hanbyul smoothly lied, gripping onto her skirt tightly. Yoshi, sitting next to her, saw this, immediately knowing she wasn't speaking the truth.
He couldn't help but think that Haruto did something or said something to her — not thinking about the possibility of Hanbyul hiding the things they did on her own will.
"You are lying. What happened?" He questioned quietly, not wanting to gather attention on them. "Did he do something? Han, don't hide and tell us –"
"Ruto is just being a cringey flirt, you know. It makes me uncomfortable." Hanbyul sipped on her milk, avoiding eye contact. The only ones she could trust with whatever happened between Haruto and her were Yedam, Doyoung, and Yoshi.
Of course, she never told them all the exact details, but she needed to tell something, so the boys would believe her at times like this.
"Oh, okay, then."
How long do I have to keep this up?
***
oof did hanbyul fall for the trick or did she agree bc she couldnt stand imagining another girl with ruto ?? tbh idk either let's go with whatever you please
also these two casually flirting is what im living for BIG OOF
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