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Her silence held the secrets
that her heart can't take,
and that words aren't enough to make.
Her secrets held
the dark stories of her imagination
that only continue to pull her under.
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"Whee?"
The name echoes throughout Wheein's head as if someone had yelled her name across an entire ravine. It suddenly turns off the movie in her head until she could see complete darkness, a low annoyed mumble escaping her lips in response. Strangely, whatever dream she had felt completely peaceful. Normally, none of the dreams she'd have would even be called dreams.
"Angel, wake up. Class is about to end." A sudden tug at her sleeve finally makes her eyes open up to the sight of a beige cloth draped neatly in front of her on the desk which clearly wasn't there previously, though it felt so familiar to her. Wheein slowly lifts her head up, eyelashes fluttering as a small yet powerful yawn leaves her mouth while still oblivious to the work environment around her.
Next to her, Hyejin could feel her heart pace for a moment, I almost heard her voice.
As Wheein's vision begins to adjust the sudden bright lighting in the classroom𑁋which in turn is mostly responsible for her sitting next to the damn window𑁋she looks around to see the other kids beginning to pack up their belongings into their backpack and others who were already waiting by the door for the school bell to ring. Seeing all of that makes some sudden adrenaline to erupt inside Wheein, who quickly stands up to scramble her items into her backpack. That backfires though when some of pencils dropped onto the floor, rolling away from her.
Suddenly, she feels a hand wrap around her forearm, making her dart back to meet brief eye contact with Hyejin looking up at her, eyes seemingly gleaming from the incoming sun rays from the window behind her. She could also see that her outfit was missing a certain element, which makes Wheein's eyes dart from the beige cardigan in front of her, then back to Hyejin.
Did... I just... take a nap... in Hyejin's cardigan? The question gives her an internal freakout session.
"Hey, hey, slow down, we have like... three minutes left. That's plenty of time." Hyejin says comfortingly, directing Wheein to sit back inside her seat. Wheein just watches obliviously as Hyejin assists with picking up her fallen pencils on the ground, in turn making Wheein meet eyes with the three girls across the room, who seem to be trying to hold in their laughter. Before some of the anger could get to her, Hyejin stands up and blocks her view while placing the pencils back on the desk to keep them from falling.
Wheein sighs softly, grabbing the pencils into her hands and grabbing her backpack from the floor and shoving it inside one of the small pockets without bothering to make sure she put it inside the specific one she had. If only she didn't have to wake up from an amazing nap to seeing the three possible girls that have been tormenting Hyejin. And she didn't like the fact that she could clearly see the plastered fake smiles that Hyejin has had on her face𑁋she didn't know whether or not to feel angry, or sad, or both.
"I-I did your assignment for you, if that's okay. I mean, I barely paid attention in class. I basically bullshitted it." Hyejin suddenly says.
The words make Wheein faintly smile in appreciation.
Hyejin angles her head to the side as she watched Wheein swing the backpack over her shoulder, all while getting an observant look at her face. Hyejin could feel the goosebumps dance up and down her arms from the sudden cold air that circled around the small classroom, making her wrap her arms around her body. Even Wheein could feel the rush of cold air too, making her grimace in place.
However, Wheein suddenly remembers Hyejin's cardigan on her desk, so she swiftly picks it up and unfolds it from whatever formation it was in. As she does, she waves the cardigan in front of Hyejin's face, but the girl stops her.
"Keep it," Hyejin says quietly, a small smile on her face. "You seem very tired today, and, well, you could use it as a pillow for the rest of the day. You looked very... comfortable in it, from the looks of it."
Wheein blinks a couple of times as if trying to determine what was real or not. She looks down at the piece of clothing in her hands and secures it tightly under her armpit. However, without hesitating to stop herself, she tries to wrap it around Hyejin.
But Hyejin just continues to resist, insisting with a flushed face, "No, keep it, okay? Just𑁋I can always get it back after school."
A frown tugs at the corner of Wheein's mouth as she secures it back under her arms tightly, nearly hugging it as if it was her own.
"Oh, and one more thing."
The words make Wheein lift her head up curiously, before completely freezing up in place as she abruptly felt Hyejin's fingers gently caress at her cheek. It made her heartbeat quicken in just a single moment as she felt the girl's nails graze ever so lightly upon her face, taking a couple of long seconds for it to reach the side of her face to brush some messy strands of hair behind her ear. All that... to brush a couple strands of hair away from her face. All that, to nearly make Wheein suffer from a heart attack in her classroom. Gosh, she could've given her a warning at least.
The action even makes Hyejin somewhat tense up too as the both of them find themselves seemingly getting lost in eye contact with each other for a couple of moments. It makes Hyejin swallow thickly in her throat. And before she could say anything, the bell rings, and the two of them swiftly separate themselves into the lost hallways without a proper goodbye.
Although the two of them were far away from each other, the lingering smiles don't leave their faces until they reach their next class.
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"Hey, kid!𑁋Oh gosh, is the kid sleeping?"
"From this angle, it looks like she is."
"Falling asleep at the lunch table, that's a first," The voice stops briefly. "Should we just sit somewhere else?"
"No, I need some backup without you trying to ruin all the plans I have."
"Unnie, it's just one simple decision for one simple event."
"Whatever."
Much to their perspective, Wheein wasn't asleep𑁋just resting her head on top of Hyejin's cardigan, with the faint scent of the girl trailing around her. Hyejin's scent emitted a floral fragrance to her𑁋something she somehow expecting coming from a person like her. A flower: something beautiful, something that just brightens up when the sun rises. That's it, Hyejin's a flower.
She still felt very tired, with apparently the long nap in class not being enough to take her out of her insomniac mode. But as she could hear the familiar voices approaching, she lifts her head up with fluttering eyes to see her senior acquaintances approach her table with specifically Yongsun seemingly having a frustrated expression.
Byulyi's face brightens up to the sight as she turns around to face Yongsun with a teasing smirk. "Well, look, the kid is wide awake," She nudges the older girl annoyingly. "Good luck to you, Miss Student Council."
Wheein rubs at her eyes as Byulyi and Yongsun both place their trays on the table and sit down at the same time, like mirror opposites of each other. That is, until Yongsun plops down a planner in the middle of the table before flipping throughout several different pages of notes as if she was planning some form of week-long event. Wheein's eyes just widen to the sight as her curiosities made her adjust herself closer towards the journal with Hyejin's cardigan wrapped tightly in her arms𑁋perhaps this is why she can't be apart of an active task such as the Student Council.
Yongsun finally reaches whatever page she has been looking for, clicking a pen as her eyes look up to meet Wheein's tired ones.
"The decision is simple; it's for the end-of-year prom for both juniors and seniors...."
Prom? Isn't that in like... 1 or 2 months? Wheein asks herself. She could honestly care less about prom for anything. Normally, for any school event she had been forced to attend to, she would always stick to being in the sidelines while she watched everyone else had fun.
In all honesty, she didn't mind not mingling in the fun, since she had always been apparent for taking in the smallest details just from her eyes. She didn't like the idea of being watched, or being apart of crowds, since she knew her perceived lack of social skills and anxiety would take over her. She preferred being at the edge than being in the middle, as she knew she wouldn't be watched by anyone else since she was alone.
"...and Byulyi and I were arguing about whether or not it should be a masquerade party or not."
Byulyi is quick to jump in in a teasing tone once more, "She picks the stupidest things to argue over!"
Yongsun lightly slaps the short-haired girl's arm. "Come on, this is our last year in school and my last year being apart of Student Council, so I want prom to be meaningful to me as much to everyone else," She faces back towards Wheein, who looked slightly overwhelmed. "So, what do you say, Wheein-ah? Masquerade or not?"
Now it's Byulyi's turn to face towards the younger girl with pleading eyes, yet Wheein didn't know what side either of them were for. She could pick one and make the other anger, or vice versa. At this point, it'll happen regardless. As Wheein leaves her eyes with Byulyi, she looks at Yongsun to see that she also had the same pleading face. It overwhelmed her from their laser of eyes on her, but she sighs to relax herself off.
"Um..." she murmurs in a way as if she hadn't used her voice in years. She glances between Byulyi and Yongsun, who seemed to be both glaring at her at this point. After a couple of moments of thinking, she settles her gaze down at Yongsun's journal to make the decision. "M-Masquerade?"
"Booyah!" Byulyi suddenly exclaims loudly, nearly dragging part of the cafeteria's attention on her. "And for that, Wheein-ah gets an exclusive ride on my motorcycle since she's a friend now. All free, no tax included. What do you think about that, Yeba?" She reaches over to poke at the older girl's cheek, to which Yongsun responds with a weak shove.
Well, Wheein guessed that just confirmed the rumours of the motorcycle that circulated around the school. Along with that, the word 'friend' sends some weird shivers throughout Wheein's body. The thought of befriending two people (well, she wasn't entirely sure about Yongsun yet) who were also a year ahead of her gives her some mixed feelings.
Yongsun just rolls her eyes as her pen marked a check on a section of the paper.
"Masquerade it is then," she says in a disappointing tone. However, she looks back up to meet Wheein's overwhelmed expression, making a smile brighten onto her face. "Really though. Thanks, Wheein-ah, I appreciate you making the final decision," She says the last part of her sentence all while holding a glare in Byulyi's direction, who still had a victorious smirk on her face. "I'll bring this up with Bomi-ssi and Chorong-ssi after lunch. Now, we can finally have a lunch in peace."
Byulyi picks at her food excitedly before motioning in Wheein's direction once again.
"Just saying, about the motorcycle ride, I'm being serious about that." she says with a wink.
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Wheein finds herself trailing down the familiar vacant hallway, arms still securing Hyejin's cardigan close to her body. She had realised she hadn't met up with Hyoyeon in a while, so she decided to give the woman a visit despite not meeting her up on her usual schedule. The woman had been out for most of the week for family reasons, so today would only be the last opportunity Wheein would see her as the weekend was right around the corner.
As she approaches the door, Wheein stands on her tippy-toes to get a glance through the window to confirm that she's there.
And she is.
Wheein takes in a breath as she secures a grip on doorknob, looking down the hallway once again to see if anyone was following her, before heading inside. Immediately, being inside the room somehow cut all other sounds from the outside. So as Wheein finally makes it inside𑁋somehow Hyoyeon not noticing her yet, who trailing towards the storage closet𑁋she releases another breath, this time loud enough for Hyoyeon to hear.
The woman peers her head curiously out back into the classroom, immediately noticing the girl in an instant. She sets her art supplies back down before heading back inside the room to make sure it was actually Wheein she was looking at.
"Wheein?" Hyoyeon calls out, making her way towards the girl as Wheein sat herself down in a chair. "What are you doing here, sweetie? You know you didn't have to come in this day. I got nothing here to be cleaned up after, surprisingly, as it was a free day for the kids today."
Wheein clears her throat, "Y-Yeah, um..." Her voice trails off as she places Hyejin's cardigan on the desk, smoothing it out with her hands. "I just, um, wanted to check up on you. Is everything okay? H-How's your family?"
Hyoyeon wipes her hands with a dampened cloth, speaking, "Ah, yes, I'm doing well. My brother, Mingu, just so happened to involve himself in a minor car accident. He's doing fine fortunately, and he says he remembers you too. He hopes you're doing well." She smiles to the thought as she grabs a chair and drags it closer to Wheein's direction.
A small smile crosses Wheein's face. "Tell him I said I wish him luck on his recovery."
"I definitely will," Hyoyeon confirms, eyes wandering over the girl to see her grasping onto a cardigan that didn't seem to match at all with her outfit. "Say, is that yours? Is it somehow 40 degrees in March?"
Wheein could feel her face grow red as she looks down at Hyejin's jacket.
She shakes her head, "No, I'm𑁋um, it isn't mine," Her voice wavers from her flustered nervousness. "It's uh, actually𑁋it belongs to the Ahn Hyejin... the new girl, do you remember her?"
Hyoyeon faintly grins, as if teasing, "Of course I remember her. You mentioned her quite specifically the first time you talked about her."
Wheein's blush on her face only grew. "I... fell asleep today in class, and I woke up with her cardigan. She told me I-I could keep it as a pillow if I fell asleep in other classes... which I ended up doing, so..."
Now it was time for the grin to be wiped off Hyoyeon's face, who scoots closer to get a better look at Wheein's face.
"Let me guess," she starts, sighing. "couldn't sleep?"
Wheein nods her head, ironically in the midst of a yawn bubbling up her throat. Hyoyeon also just shakes her head too as she reaches over to fix the girl's messy bangs.
"I'm sorry that happened to you, honey, I'm sure you're really tired, right? I can take you home once I'm finished, if that's fine with you," the woman asks, frowning. Wheein just nods again to her offer, laying her head back down onto Hyejin's cardigan once again. Hyoyeon simply observes the girl before smiling again. "But it seems to me you're getting along with the new girl quite well, hm?"
Wheein flusters up once more to the thought of it. "I-I would say so. She... she makes me happy and... I hope I make her happy too. And, uh𑁋"
Suddenly, the sounds of voices make Wheein shut up. The voices were faint, yet both Hyoyeon and Wheein heard it. It sounded like a girl, no, it sounded more like a couple of girls𑁋probably around two or three at most. Wheein finds herself curiously standing up to head to the door and to look out the window, seeing nothing from her limited vision. But as she opens the door, she glances to the left and immediately, her eyes widen.
"Hyejin?" The calling of her name was so devastatingly quiet for the girl to be able to hear, but Wheein could clearly see Hyejin just a couple of metres away from her𑁋the girl looked exhausted and out of breath, and as Wheein tried to look around for the extra voices that may be the perpetrators, she wasn't able to find anyone around.
It takes some moments for Hyejin to finally look up, with arms hugging her body self-consciously, she could see Wheein waving in her direction all while holding a door open... for her? For some reason, a strange feeling ends up crawling up her spine, but she quickens her pace as she approaches the room, and without hesitation, walking inside.
She's met with a room of silence, and upon glancing around, she could clearly see it was an art classroom from the amount of sinks and paintings and drawings that hung across the room. Her eyes take in for a moment the largeness of the room from other classrooms, before directing her gaze to a woman approaching her.
"Well, hello there, what's your name?"
"Um..." Hyejin coughs from her out of breathness. "Hyejin... Ahn Hyejin."
The woman's eyes bright up as she glances between Wheein𑁋who was sitting back down at the table𑁋and back to Hyejin with a flushed expression.
"It's nice to meet you, Ahn Hyejin. My name is Hyoyeon, but you can call me Miss Kim for now," Hyoyeon gazes towards her with a slight smirk. "You can take a seat if you'd like for some time, as I'm just preparing to leave so I can take your friend here home." She points in the direction of Wheein.
Hyejin gets lost in thought for a moment to the relationship Wheein had with this woman. She had assumed she's the art teacher as judging from the painter smock she was wearing, or from the obvious environment she was surrounded in. And comparing that with Wheein's adoration for drawing and art, she wasn't that much surprised that they were close. In fact, it gives her some relief to know that Wheein had an adult to talk to who cared about her. Much to Hyejin's demise, she doesn't have anyone like that in her life. And if she does, they don't seem to show it often. Or at all.
What surprises her though is that the woman seemed to knew that she's friends with Wheein? No one else could have mentioned her at all, unless... Wheein has talked about her before?
It gives her a jolt in her stomach. "I'm assuming you've known Wheein for a long time?"
Hyoyeon hums, "Mmmh, yes, ever since she was a very, very young actually."
Hyejin glances in Wheein's direction, seeing that the girl was resting head laying on her cardigan once again. It makes her facial features soften from seeing that, a light blush dusting upon her cheeks.
She then returns her gaze towards Hyoyeon, seeing that the woman was struggling to find something inside of her purse. As Hyejin opens her mouth to speak though, Hyoyeon only interrupts unknowingly, "I'll be back you two, I forgot to grab something by the teacher's lounge. I'll be quick." before dashing out of the room, and leaving Wheein and Hyejin to silence together.
Hyejin just stands at the front of the room, unsure of what to do. She keeps her eyes in the direction of Wheein, who only continued to sit in silence𑁋Hyejin was convinced that the girl was either asleep or just sitting there very quietly.
As Hyejin makes her way towards an empty seat at the table next to Wheein's, she places herself down on the seat before clasping her hands together. From where she sat, she could see that Wheein's eyes were closed and her breathing was steady. The girl looked so relaxed and peaceful with sleeping𑁋if she actually was𑁋that Hyejin finds herself admiring with her own eyes.
"Angel?" she calls out softly, hoping that Wheein would hear.
And she does.
She could see the girl's eyes flutter open slowly just like it had in their English class. Wheein's vision blurs for a moment, but she could clearly see Hyejin sitting not that far away from her, gazing at her intently.
"Hey," Hyejin says almost silently. "Thanks for... letting me come inside the room."
Though Wheein had her head laying down, Hyejin could see a light smile at her lips and the dimple on her cheek deepen, and it makes calm down.
"Um," she finds herself about to say something she might regret, and she hated that feeling. She knew what she wanted to say but she couldn't get herself to state it. It was like a ride or die sentence, or a sentence that may determine the future, which it will. "Is it okay if I say something?"
Wheein doesn't move from her position, but knowing her, Hyejin knew she was listening in some way. Wheein could feel the nervousness course throughout her body all while not knowing what Hyejin wanted to say. Did it involve her? Well, of course it involved her. Did she do something wrong? She tries to think if any of her actions did anything wrong, but she couldn't put a finger to it.
"I know you haven't known me for a while but..." Hyejin's voice trails off as she loses her train of thought. "...I really appreciate what we have so far. A lot. I'm really glad to have met you, so thank you so much for that."
Wheein didn't know how to react to that on the outside, but in the inside, she can feel the evident racing of her heart.
"And this morning, when you held my hand all of a sudden," Hyejin continues. "Can I... can I ask why?"
Hyejin didn't exactly expect a verbal response, but for some reason it had been bothering her for most of the day. Not in a bad way𑁋in a way that makes her long for an answer. She had been caught up in negative thoughts, when suddenly Wheein holding her hand made it seemingly... all calmer in almost a single moment.
"Sad." A voice brings Hyejin back to reality, making her put a stop to her thoughts as she gazes back at Wheein. Did she hear that correctly? "Y-You looked sad, so I... held your hand."
The softness in Wheein's voice made everything around Hyejin just pause in place. Though it was only a few words, just hearing her voice for the first time made her heart race and the nose-scrunching smile on her face to grow even larger. And oh God𑁋if she could explain the amount of relief that went through her body; she surely didn't expect Wheein to speak at all, let alone answer her question.
But before she could say anything, the door swings open, revealing Hyoyeon dangling a set of car keys in her hands.
"Ready to go now?" she asks.
Wheein lifts her head up to give a slow nod to the woman, but she didn't forget to give Hyejin back her cardigan. She takes the piece of clothing in her hands before playfully throwing it in Hyejin's direction with a cheerful smile struggling to come off her face, as if she had accomplished something really big. Which she did𑁋to Hyejin, at least.
For some reason though, an idea pops into Hyejin's head.
"Miss Kim?" she asks, making Hyoyeon turn to her direction with an attentive expression. "I don't have anyone to take me home. Is... is it okay if I ride with you too?"
Hyoyeon looks overwhelmed for a moment as her gaze switches between both girls.
She just shrugs, "I don't see why not." and gives them both a smile.
Wheein and Hyejin both exchange a look between each other, as if trying to communicate through their eyes. And as they all leave the room together, with Hyoyeon ahead and the two girls trailing behind, Wheein could only think a moment longer.
There wasn't any doubt she may be falling for Ahn Hyejin, even in the slightest. Yet for some reason, the feeling scared her, and she didn't know why.
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oh gosh this chapter idk how i feel about it
ALSO BABY WHEE FIRST WORDS TO HYEGI IM SO PROUD
pls the way i added in some ✨tension✨ when i'm excited to write more of that
help the gay in them is showing a lot and we're not even in double digits yet
it's currently 5am when i'm publishing/writing this so my writing suCKS but i may go back and fix/edit when i have time
i hoped you guys liked it a bit heh