nostalgia, fifty-two.
❛ too much peace ❜
The struggles of being a new student was something Yebin never had to experience. For eighteen years, she'd lived in the same house in the same neighborhood, and had gone to the same school with the same friends- give or take. But, as she stepped into Haean High School for the first time in several weeks, everything felt alien to her.
She'd seen it in the movies. All the heads turning as she walked through the corridors, and the whispering that came after that. She didn't blame them, though. If someone had gotten hit by a car on their birthday, she'd probably be talking about them too.
That didn't make it any less easier, but Yebin tried to make things as normal as possible. After all, she was exactly like she was before. Math hadn't gotten easier, so that was proof in itself. In all honesty, it seemed harder. As much as she tried, nothing seemed to be getting through her head. Maybe it was the aftermath of the accident, or just her brain being its useless self. Deciding it was the latter, she walked off to lunch trying to seem as nonchalant as possible.
"Thank you so much." Yebin bowed as the lunch lady handed her tray, biting her lip as she balanced it with one hand. Her bright blue cast wasn't coming off anytime soon. Wobbling slightly as she walked, she craned her neck around the cafeteria, looking for a place to sit.
She sighed in relief after spotting them. "Ah, thank god I found you guys. I thought you were avoiding me or something."
Jin Micha and Go Taeri exchanged discreet glances as Yebin set her tray on their table, plopping down on the chair across them.
"Are you- sure you're talking to right people?" Taeri asked. They hadn't spoken in months, not since the confrontation.
Yebin furrowed her eyebrows, desperately trying to rip open a pack of chopsticks with one hand. "What do you mean?"
"You made it clear that you never wanted to talk to us again," Micha murmured. "What we did was pretty bad."
"Oh." Yebin looked up at them, before shrugging. "Well, I forgive you guys."
"What?"
"What?" Yebin hummed. "Come on, I'm hungry! Let's just eat."
From a distance, a few students were sending glances at the three girls' table, wondering what on earth was happening. Everyone knew about the drama, these two boys included.
"It looks like they're harassing her," Huening Kai remarked, observing the inaudible scene.
"They're not even saying anything." Taehyun sighed. "Maybe they're okay now. You know how Yebin is."
"She wouldn't just forgive them after what happened. I heard her dad ran his car into their front door in the middle of the night, out of revenge."
"Do you believe every rumor you hear?"
"Why would I not?"
Taehyun slapped a palm to his forehead at Kai's answer, and when he looked back up, the boy gave him a look that worried him.
"Don't do anything embarrassing-"
"Yebinnie!" Kai shouted from across the cafeteria. He laughed nervously trying to ignore everyone's eyes that had turned to him. "Come sit with us!"
Yebin blinked. "But, I'm sitting with my friends."
Taehyun narrowed his eyes at Taeri and Micha, who were continue to whisper while Yebin was looking elsewhere. He shook his head. "Come here, Yebin. We have to show you something."
"You guys don't mind if I-?"
Taeri slowly shook her head. "Oh, no- yeah, you can just go."
"Okay!" Yebin stood up, giving them a smile. "See ya!"
Taehyun walked over to help her with her tray, sending Taeri and Micha one last glare as he led Yebin to their table.
"So, what did you have to show me?"
"Nothing," Taehyun answered her. "Why are you sitting with those snakes?"
"Taeri and Micha? Ah, don't worry, we're all good now."
Kai sighed sharply. "Didn't they send your mom an anonymous picture that almost made you move away?"
Yebin paused, before shrugging. "Everyone deserves a second chance."
"If I ever saw their faces after what they did to me, I'd just-" Taehyun slid a finger across his neck and clicked his tongue. "But I'm not you, so."
"Anyway!" Kai let out an awkward laugh. "Yebin, can I sign your cast?"
"Sure." Yebin smiled as the boy excitedly grabbed a marker.
Kai tried to find a free space on her arm cast. "Wow, there's tons of messages- and a threat? Who's Xiaohui?"
He glanced up at Yebin, who didn't seem to hear his question. She was too busy waving at someone who'd passed by, and that so happened to be Lee Kiyoung.
"Ew, why are you waving at him?" Kai asked incredulously. "Don't wave at him!"
"Why not? He messed up, but that was a long time ago," Yebin explained, tilting her head when Kiyoung sent her a worried glance before simply walking away.
Taehyun scoffed. "What's he even doing here? Didn't he graduate?"
Kai shrugged. "Some basketball mentorship, I heard."
"You know, Yebin," Taehyun sighed as he wrapped an arm around the girl, patting her shoulder. "There's such a thing as too much peace."
The girl shook her head as she laughed along with them. She seriously doubted that.
Peace was good. Yebin was perfectly at ease as she entered her room, pulling her phone out as she tossed her backpack to the floor. Her first day of returning to school wasn't as stressful as she'd expected, and now all she had to was wait for Jungwon. After they'd agreed to study at the library, he said he'd drop by her house so they could leave together.
She was just opening her phone to look through some old pictures again, when her window opened on its own, knocking her off balance in shock. So much for peace.
"Yah, what are you doing?!" Yebin asked, stamping her fists on the floor as she stared at the boy who'd just climbed through her window.
Jungwon shrugged, patting his school uniform down before running a hand through his hair.
Yebin sighed. "You know you can just walk through the front door, right? My entire family loves you."
"I know." Jungwon grinned, pulling Yebin up from the floor she'd fallen on. "It just seemed cooler."
When she got to her feet, he jumped on her bed and let out a breath. "Okay, I'm tired from climbing."
It was her turn to pull him up, and the girl tried hauling him by the arm, to absolutely no use as he dragged her down with him. Yebin sighed in defeat as she lied next to him, and Jungwon turned to face her with a frown.
"It's never as cool as they make it seem like in the movies."
"What?"
"Climbing in through the window."
"Ah, like how those damaged 'bad boys' do it?"
"Yeah."
"Wait, wait. I can do a reenactment of the main character." Yebin paused, before gasping dramatically. "But- you're so cold to everyone, why are you so nice to me?"
"Because..." Jungwon trailed off. "You're hot."
They fell into a fit of laughter, and Jungwon suddenly shook his head. "Wait, wait- no, because you're my weakness."
"Please, their weakness is their lack of character. Those 'bad boys' really think wearing a leather jacket is a personality trait." Yebin laughed. "Then if the girl wears glasses, she's automatically a genius nerd. Like bitch, I wish. I've had these for years and I'm still dumb as fuck."
"I saw this movie where the guy like growls and shit," Jungwon added, earning a snort from the girl.
"Then it gets all steamy, and there's always that scene-" Jungwon rolled over, propping his arms by either side of Yebin's head as he hovered on top of her. He stifled a laugh, trying to stay in character. "You dare disobey me?"
"N-no, of course not-" Yebin covered her hand over her mouth, but one look at Jungwon's face and she was cracking up again. "Sorry, I can't do this!"
Jungwon held back a smile as she threw her head back in laughter, jokingly leaning in as he kept a serious look on his face. "No! You're only mine, don't even look at that ceiling fan right there, got it?"
Yebin was at a breaking point, about to completely lose her shit when the door suddenly swung open.
"AH!" They heard a scream, and both looked over at Han Yeori, who looked utterly mortified. Without context, it was Jungwon on top of Yebin, their faces mere inches apart. The girl immediately shut the door, her footsteps echoing as she dashed down the stairs.
"No, wait! We weren't doing anything!" Yebin shouted. She exchanged looks with Jungwon, who had rolled over to lie beside her, and silly grins appeared on their faces as they fell into loud laughter once again.
"They turn eighteen and think they can pull this shit?" Han Yeori muttered to herself as she stalked into the kitchen, wishing she could wash her eyes out with holy water.
"Everything alright, dear?" her grandmother asked from her usual seat by the dining table, working on her crochet.
"It's just-" Yeori was cut off when Yebin and Jungwon came down the stairs with their coats, carrying their backpacks as they giggled like children.
"We'll be at the library, halmeoni!" Yebin beamed, waving the woman goodbye before walking out the door.
Her grandmother smiled at the couple as they left, but it slowly faded away as she turned to her other grandchild. "Yeori, does Yebin seem- different?"
"I don't know." Yeori then glanced at the window, where she caught sight of her older sister tripping over the porch steps. "Yeah, never mind. She's still stupid. Why?"
Han Sarang watched as her granddaughter made her way to her bike, laughing along with Jungwon as they pedaled out towards the streets. She didn't know what was off, but the girl just seemed a little too happy for someone who'd just recovered from an accident. Then again, her Yebin had always been a happy kid.
"Nothing, dear." The elderly woman cleared her thoughts away. "Forget I asked."
a/n. pov: i watched one of those netflix teen romance movies and was cringing my ass off the entire time so i had to rant 🙂 but i did have fun writing this chapter :>
also sorry for not updating yesterday, i was packing but now that i'm on vacation i still plan on updating everyday! this book's coming to an end omg i'm kinda sad lol