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"oh." jungwon stopped on his tracks, making jiyeon too. she glanced at him in concern. wondering why he suddenly paused. "is everything okay? what's up with you?"
he wasn't sure about what to answer. he's never been close to love anyways right?
there she sensed it. once jiyeon saw his face, she knew what was going in. "let me guess, you've never been in love haven't you?"
jungwon was flustered. he withdrew from her grip and put on a poker face, looked back on the road and walked pass jiyeon.
jiyeon responded with a frown. "wait up." she whispered, holding onto his wrist. "you can't just leave me here. it's not safe."
he gazed down on her. she looked scared. jungwon couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. "i won't. your dad might kill me if i do. he dosen't trust me with you. what more could he do if he realizes i'm the reason for your trouble."
"good that you know— anyways, i'm sorry for bringing the mood down, i didn't mean to." she said, resting her hands inside her pockets.
"you're right. i have never loved anyone yet." he suddenly stated, looking down with a smile.
"h-how? with that face? gosh girls would come running for you."
"then how come you're not running for me?" jungwon grinned, grabbing her from the waist. jiyeon choked on her breath, immediately stepping away. "are you crazy?"
"i guess." he lifted his shoulders, proceeding to walk ahead without her. "you're keeping a secret kang jiyeon. don't worry, i won't force you to tell me."
she looked at the guy in shock. why was he suddenly making these kind of moves? "well, here's your street. you should get going."
jungwon pointed towards the long path, jiyeon's house almost visible from afar. her eyes followed the direction his finger was pointing to. "i don't want to go home."
"huh? don't you have a curfew to follow?"
"i don't care. i break it everytime when i'm with my friends." she answered, passing her street and hopped to the one across.
"are you coming with me or not?" she turned back to him who seems pretty worried. "stop worrying i'll be fine. my parents won't even notice i'm not at home, they barely care to think of my existence if ever i am."
"fine. but if something happens to you, you're taking the risk."
"yeah, yeah, whatever."
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"i'm hanging out with an actual child." jungwon muttered under his breath. as of now, he was standing in front of the shore while jiyeon was cartwheeling on the soft sand.
she seemed so unbothered. forgetting about jungwon's presence and just putting her energy to whatever the hell is happening.
the boy had enough and approached the girl's figure. he caught her legs, causing jiyeon to stop moving. "what are you doing? let go." she hissed.
"what is up with you? why are you suddenly being playful. it's 11:00 PM jiyeon. you should be sleeping by now."
jiyeon gave up and sat on the sand, hugging her legs.
"if this was about what i said earlier, don't take it personally. i know you don't like me, i'm not forcing you to."
"it's not that."
"—i know about the deal yena and sunoo made between you and me."
he slowly gazed to her, a sad smile was printed on her face.
"i know if i say no, you'll leave the school, but if i do say yes, would your feelings for me really be sincere?"
jungwon couldn't think of a reply. the thought of him just using jiyeon to prove his point towards his friends made him feel bad. of course he still wanted to leave the school, but the risk of having to hurt jiyeon? he couldn't let that happen.
"i can't answer that question."
"why not?"
"because i don't know how. falling in love is something i lack in. how am i suppose to answer that when i have no experience myself?"
"i'm sorry for this mess jiyeon. if you want me to stop coming near you, then i'll gladly will—"
"yeah you probably should."
"you really do hate me do you?" he fought back, sitting beside her on the sand. "i don't hate you. it's just...i don't really believe in it anymore."
jiyeon grabbed a stick near her and started drawing on the sand, chin resting on her knees. "don't go wasting your time. trust me, being in love is the last thing on my list right now."
"i don't want to close this deal."
"huh? excuse me?"
"it's clear that you're scared to be with someone again. now that i'm here, i guess it wouldn't hurt if i try to make you change your mind..even if i don't know the feeling i want to experience."
he smiled to himself, standing up to walk near the clear shore. "you seem interesting jiyeon. 31 days of trying to figure out things with you? that dosen't seem so bad."
"jungwon. you don't understand the reason i want to stop—"
"keep your secret." he cut her off. later on splashed water near her, jiyeon's shoes and socks getting wet. "i'm not part of your past so i don't have any caring to know about it."
"you brat. how dare you? these shoes are expensive as hell." she whined and kicked the sand towards him. "we should get going. it's almost midnight." continued jiyeon and took his hand to pull him out of the shore.
jungwon smiled throughout the entire walk. he felt happy to know that maybe, just maybe, with jiyeon's help, feeling that feeling can get easier. "why are so eager to be in love anyways?"
"so that my friends will stop teasing and nagging me about why i have never went out with anyone yet."
"and you want to go out with me?"
"at first i was being forced to go out with you. why would i ask someone to go out with me the first time we really had an actual conversation?"
"you have a point. i'll give you that."
"but i started to feel curious. it's not the worst thing to try it out. besides it's just a month. if no feelings were shared, then so be it. you'll know when it's real someday."
she squeezed her hand tighter with his after hearing those words. "you know..."
"maybe a month stuck with you, wouldn't hurt."
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