'' ᶠʳᶦᵈᵃʸˢ: ᵗʰᵉ ᶦˢˢᵘᵉ ʷᶦᵗʰ ᵗʰᵉᵐ, ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵒˡᵘᵗᶦᵒⁿ ''
✧─✧──✧─────────────────────────────✧──✧─✧
A month had passed since their first encounter at their spot.
With every day that had passed by, Nari and Sunoh had spent more and more time with one another, and soon it felt unsettling for both of them when they were apart. They became a source of warmth and comfort for one another, and their separation affected them more than they would've ever wanted it to.
During lessons they exchanged glances, used every opportunity they could to work together, and hurried over to one another as soon as the teacher would leave the room. They would share their notes, point out one another's mistakes, and doodle in one another's books.
During break times they wandered around the parts of school that no one else bothered to go to, having short conversations about things that didn't even matter like what their favourite cake was and how spicy they liked their noodles. Their voices would be quiet, their gazes soft, their arms brushing against one another's as they walked side by side.
During lunch times they sat in their spot, pulling one another close and occasionally commenting on what was happening in the courtyard below. Sunoh would run his fingers through Nari's hair gently while she absentmindedly drew patterns on his arms.
While some days were full of soft-spoken words and gentle touches, others were full of heart-wrenching sobs and desperate embraces.
Sometimes Sunoh broke down after spotting Jojo happily laughing with her friends, or even after just thinking about her and what had happened between them. On those days, Nari would pull him close and stroke his back while he would bury his face in the crook of her neck and sob.
Sometimes Nari's composure would snap after seeing a couple do something she used to do often with Tae-joon, or after a boy wearing a football uniform would appear in her line of sight which would naturally trigger her memories of her ex-boyfriend. On those days it would be Sunoh's turn to pull her closer while stroking the back of her head, allowing her to sob into his chest.
And sometimes they just felt overwhelmed by everything that they had been through, allowing their tears to silently fall down their cheeks before disappearing into the fabric of Sunoh's red scarf which he wrapped around the both of them as they cuddled on the top step.
The first time that this had happened, Sunoh had rested his head on her shoulder while whispering, "I trust you." His voice broke from the weight of emotion the words held.
Nari had leant her head on top of his and sniffled before whispering back in an equally quiet voice, "I trust you too."
Ever since then, they didn't speak on those days. They didn't have to.
─🌊─
Sunoh began to hate Fridays. He would always be left to sit on the step alone, wondering where Nari disappeared to every Friday and whether he had the right to ask her about it or not.
As close as they were, they only ever spoke to one another about little insignificant things while never mentioning what was going on beneath the surface. They could feel one another's pain and neither of them wanted to add to it so they avoided topics that could possibly trigger either of them. The issue of Nari's Friday disappearances seemed to fall under a trigger category and so Sunoh couldn't bring himself to ask no matter how curious and left out he felt.
Instead, he made the most of Thursdays by making them the designated day for skipping their last few lessons to spend more time with one another.
That's exactly what they were doing now: ignoring the sound of the bell announcing the end of Thursday's lunch break while leaning together against the banister of the staircase, Nari drawing patterns on the open palm of Sunoh's hand while he rested his head on her shoulder.
Nari took in a deep breath and Sunoh raised his head to look at her, knowing that she was about to tell him something important. He averted his gaze to their hands as Nari stopped doodling on his palm to thread her fingers through his. He gave her hand a small squeeze, a gesture which encouraged her to take as much time as she needed.
After a pause, Nari said, "I don't come in on Fridays."
Sunoh's heart leapt. He tried to conceal his eagerness to have this conversation by uttering a simple, "I know." He didn't want to push her so he waited for her to speak instead of prying for information.
There was a long pause as Nari struggled to find the right words to say. In the end, she settled with, "He plays on Fridays. Down there—on the field—his team plays every Friday."
" ... Oh."
Nari took in another deep breath, eyes focused on Sunoh's thumb which was gently rubbing the back of her hand. "He ... he's the senior that supervises our lessons on Fridays," she admitted, her voice quiet. "That's why I'm never in on that day."
After wracking his brain for a moment, Sunoh let out a noise of understanding as a vague image of a senior boy helping out in their lessons on Fridays appeared in his mind. He had never paid much attention to the older boy—scratch that, on Fridays he had barely ever paid much attention to anything apart from Nari's absence. She was the only thing that could distract him from the gaping hole in his heart, and watching his ex-girlfriend move on without a care in the world became unbearable without Nari around. He didn't have time to pay attention to the supervisor when he was far too busy wallowing in self-pity.
Sunoh made a mental note then to pay more attention to the senior next time. He wanted to see what sort of guy had the guts to hold the heart of someone as precious as Nari only to trample all over it and then leave while she mourned over it's broken pieces.
"I just ... " Nari's head fell to Sunoh's shoulder as she trailed off. The conversation seemed to physically tire her out.
"Please don't force yourself," Sunoh told her softly, squeezing her hand again. "You know you don't have to when you're with me. I understand."
"That's not it," Nari shook her head lightly. "I know that—I never feel like I'm forcing myself when I'm with you."
Sunoh almost smiled. Almost.
"I was wondering how best to ask you to skip with me."
A moment of silence followed her words. Sunoh blinked himself out of his trance before turning to face her as she tilted her head to look up at him without moving away from his shoulder. "You want me to skip with you?" he asked, needing to be sure that he had heard her correctly.
Nari nodded. "I do."
Sunoh continued to stare at her wordlessly for a moment, too entranced in the leaping feeling in his chest to realise what his hesitation to answer might suggest.
Mistaking his prolonged silence as a rejection, Nari lifted her head and averted her gaze as she began to untangle her hand from his. "Ah, that's fine—if you can't or—or if you don't want to, then that's fine—you don't have to—"
"Nari," he called her name softly while interrupting her nervous ranting, tightening his grip on her hand and preventing her from pulling away. "I do—I want to skip with you."
" ... Really?"
Sunoh nodded, relaxing as she stopped struggling out of his grasp and turned to look at him again. "I wanted to ask you about Fridays ever since you disappeared the first time," he admitted, "But I didn't know how to bring it up so I just kept quiet. You asking me to join you now makes me feel so relieved."
"I'm sorry," Nari whispered, her gaze falling away as guilt made her throat close up. "I didn't realise ... "
"It's okay. We'll be spending Fridays together now, so it's okay."
Though Nari nodded slowly, Sunoh could tell from the way that she avoided his gaze that she was still unconvinced. He let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her, gently guiding her head to his shoulder again while he rubbed her forearm. "It's really okay," he reassured her.
"You promise?" she mumbled, leaning into his side.
Sunoh hummed. "I promise."
─🌊─
For the first time since his breakup, Sunoh woke up feeling something other than pain or emptiness. He woke up feeling excited.
It was finally Friday. It was finally that Friday.
The first Friday that he would spend away from school, away from Jojo, away from the constant reminder that he was the only one hurting out of the two of them.
The first Friday that he would spend with Seo Nari.
He got ready in a hurry, throwing on a pair of jeans and a hoodie, slipping his phone into his back pocket and then rushing out of the house. He didn't even glance at his mother who yelled questions after his receding figure such as why he wasn't in his school uniform and where he was going in such a rush, too excited about the day ahead to care about anything else.
Sunoh practically sprinted to the address that Nari had told him to come to, skidding to a halt in front of a small cottage-like house and taking a moment to catch his breath while admiring the scenery. A fence ran around the cottage, guarding the beautiful garden in which many different types of flowers grew in a rainbow of colours. Under a tree standing closer to the house was a porch swing which was gently rocking due to the wind. Potted plants sat beneath the window sills, stretching their heads up towards the sky in hopes of catching some sunlight.
Cute, Sunoh thought as he made his way down the stone path leading to front door. It looks just like a cottage from an old fairy tale.
He rang the doorbell, holding his breath as he prayed that he had come to the right address. A sigh of relief escaped him as the door swung open to reveal a messy-looking, sleepy Nari who could barely keep her eyes open as she blinked up at him.
"Hi," he breathed out, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.
She stood aside to let him in, eyes pooling with warmth as she returned the greeting, "Hi."
✧─✧──✧─────────────────────────────✧──✧─✧
i have the fattest soft spot for these two beans ;^;
i'm excited for them to spend their first Friday together, how about you beans??
anyways, thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)) please vote and comment if you can!! thank youuuuu ❤