Third person.
Tiptoeing to the kitchen, Haerin peeked her head out from the door to see if Yejin's inside. Fortunately, she is, reading a book for her test tomorrow while munching on her home-baked cookies. Haerin sat down next to the older.
"Want some? I made it." Yejin offered her the food she baked in the morning. Haerin took one and as always, it tastes great. As she swallowed, Haerin tapped the older girl's shoulder, getting back the attention. Yejin shifted her gaze to her, raising her brow as Haerin was looking at her as if she wanted to say something.
"Go on, tell me." Yejin prompted.
"How would you know if you like someone?" Haerin let out the question that has been stuck in her throat since the other day.
"What's the question for?" Yejin asked back and made a face.
"I just wanna know. You had exes before so you probably know it already." Haerin answered.
"First of all, most were just flings. And, I'm no love expert, you know." Yejin asserted, closing her book.
"Come on Yejin-ah, I am in need of help." Haerin slightly whined, earning a long sigh from Yejin.
"I don't know um- well, I guess it starts with the butterflies in the stomach and being excited around them. You blush more often and get flustered when they talk to you. Like, you feel safe and comfortable with them. And there's no day that you don't have them in mind." Yejin explained with hand gestures, having Haerin listen to her attentively.
"That's still confusing. How can I be sure of my feelings?" Haerin groaned.
"Give it some time to figure it out, and get to know that person more along the way too. Love sure can be confusing and complicated, but as long as you're happy, what could go wrong?" Yejin responded with a little shrug. Haerin calmed after hearing that.
"But don't waste too much time, you might just end up getting hurt." She warned, getting a quick nod from Haerin.
"Damn, I thought you're no love expert? Thank you, though." Haerin snorted.
"I am not! But hey, YOU are in love? Who-"
"Hold up." Haerin cut her off, taking a look at her phone after receiving a message.
Haerin's face lit up, her lips curving upwards as her eyes read the text from someone.
"What is it about?" Yejin asked.
"Uh, a friend wants to hang out." Haerin started, pressing her lips in a thin line as she slowly stood up, walking sideways until she left the room.
"Ooh, she's in love. Wonder who?" Yejin chuckled to herself, bringing herself back to studying.
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"Why are we here?" Haerin asked the boy beside her, looking at the place they're in just now.
"Cause I found out there's a shop that sells perfumes." Sunghoon replied. Haerin snickered on his response, not quite expecting that.
"Sweet, cool, okay." Haerin replied unenthusiastically.
Haerin gazed around the small place Sunghoon brought her to, taking a glance at the shops and restaurants that are side by side. It was nice yet loud. Aside from the perfume shop that Sunghoon wants to go to, she wasn't looking forward to entering any more shops... that's what she thought.
Sunghoon, who was also looking around while walking straight forth, stopped when he felt Haerin tugged his sleeve. He looked at her to see her fixated on a shop full of stuffed animals and accessories. Haerin looked away to meet his eyes, having a sly smile as she pull him directly inside.
"It's so fluffy!" Haerin gasped, squeezing the stuffed cow animal she pulled from the shelf. Sunghoon let out a laugh because she was practically squealing at each of the stuffed toys.
The wide smile on her face made Sunghoon unknowingly crawl a smile on his as well. The adoration in his eyes was definitely something else, but he (and Haerin) was too oblivious to realize that.
"Hoon! This penguin looks literally like you." Haerin giggled while showing Sunghoon the stuffed penguin she found. It's true, maybe because the penguin's thick eyebrows are similar to Sunghoon's.
"I'm getting this." Haerin added, hugging the soft penguin in her arms.
"I'll get it too then." Sunghoon stated and grabbed the same but different color penguin.
"Let's pay?" Sunghoon asked and Haerin nod.
They went towards the counter, greeted with a small smile by the cashier. When Haerin was searching for her wallet, Sunghoon was looking at the hair clips that were hanging on the side, finding a butterfly clip on the bottom.
Sunghoon suddenly remembered the time Haerin once wore a butterfly clip in the university, which was the next day after they became 'friends'. He took one of them and added the clip on the counter to buy, without Haerin noticing.
Getting out of their first shop, they went on walking while checking the other small shops they see.
"I see the perfume shop." Sunghoon said and led the way inside the shop of perfumes.
Not wasting the time, Sunghoon and Haerin went inside the pink and white colored shop. The aromatic fragrance soon came into their nostrils as they come in.
"This is good. This is not. Nice." Haerin commented on the first three she sniffed.
"Do you like this one?" Sunghoon asked, letting Haerin smell the perfume too closely.
"No." Haerin grimaced. Sunghoon tittered and put it back.
"Perhaps this suits you, don't you think?" Haerin indicated, giving the perfume she saw to him. Sunghoon inhaled the smell multiple times and agreed.
"It does. I'll take it." Sunghoon said without hesitating.
Haerin already picked for herself, and both were satisfied with what they chose. Just in time, a perfumier appeared behind the counter.
"Hello! Are you ready to pay?" The woman asked, flashing a smile to them- particularly to Sunghoon.
"Yes." Sunghoon muttered, not looking directly at the woman as he put down his and Haerin's perfumes.
"Our shop has a 50% discount for couples this week." The woman abruptly announced while doing the payment, her eyes slowly looking up to Sunghoon with a shy smile. Sunghoon's face didn't look interested at all, while Haerin was trying to know what she's trying to imply.
"If you don't have a girlfriend yet, we can be the couple instead." The woman inserted to shoot her shot. Sunghoon widened his eyes for a bit, but his face didn't react more, and wasn't stunned.
The other girl wheezed, looking away to stifle her laugh. One look back to this woman who tried to flirt and Haerin would burst out laughing.
But Haerin's eyes widened in shock the next second as Sunghoon surprisingly grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him.
"I already have a girlfriend." Sunghoon uttered in a serious voice, no hint of playfulness or whatsoever, and that shocked Haerin more. She removed his hand that was holding her waist, but the latter quickly put his hand back.
The woman's smile dropped and blinked twice, uttering a sheepish laugh out of shame. She inserted the couple's perfumes in a paper bag, mumbling words to herself angrily.
And so they did get a discount.
"I apologize for saying that out of blue, have a nice day you two." She handed the two paper bags to them, bowing, and didn't dare to look at them.
"Thank you, goodbye." Haerin spared a quick smile before they went out.
Once they're outside, Haerin freed her waist from his grasp and looked at him dead in the eyes with arms crossed, expecting him to say something.
"Hey, first of all, she was trying to hit on me! Besides, at least we got a discount?" Sunghoon scratched his nape, showing his paper bag.
"Yeah, whatever. Now can we go, and something to eat?!"
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It was past 6 pm when they arrived at their last place, the Han River. They were sitting on a bench under a tree, staring at the sun that's beginning to set, the golden sky reflecting above them.
Sunsets are always fascinating to see. The calming presence of a sunset can make anyone's day better just by looking at it. It symbolizes peace and serenity, but at the same time, it signifies letting go.
Serenity. Just like sunsets, they're each other's serenity.
"The sunset looks extra beautiful today." Haerin spoke softly.
"Hm, you're right." Sunghoon said.
Sunghoon slowly took something out from his pocket before giving it to Haerin.
"A butterfly clip? What for?" Haerin chuckled.
"Butterfly clips look good on you." Sunghoon answered her, looking at the sky that got darker.
Too many butterflies, Haerin could feel it in her stomach as well.
"Thank you." Haerin said. She put it on her lap and gently ran her fingers through her brown wavy locks to make a half ponytail, using the butterfly clip to let it stay like that.
"I wasn't wrong." Sunghoon grinned, earning a laugh from the girl.
"Haerin-ah..." He called her name.
"Yes, Sunghoon?" She looked at him.
"What if I told you that I-" Sunghoon's phone suddenly rang loudly inside his pocket, cutting what he was about to say.
Sunghoon didn't look happy after checking who's calling him. He pressed the end button and put it back in his pocket, confusing Haerin.
"Who's that?" Haerin asked.
"Ah, it's just my mom, no worries." Sunghoon said and faintly smiled.
"Then you should've answered it! What if it's something important?" Haerin exclaimed and slapped his arm.
"I don't wanna talk to her." Sunghoon blurted out, lowering his head.
"Oh, is there something wrong?" Haerin asked.
"Family problems, I guess." Sunghoon chortled.
"Oh. Well, if you need to talk about it, I'm here." Haerin faced him and lifted her hand, causing Sunghoon to nod.
"Let's go home now, shall we?" Sunghoon changed the mood and stood up.
"Wait! I thought you were going to tell me something?" Haerin asked. Sunghoon's mouth opened to say something, but he groaned instead.
"I don't remember anymore!" Sunghoon whined. Haerin laughed and stood up.
"Too bad, I was looking forward to it." Haerin grinned and lead the way, followed by Sunghoon who grumbled slightly.
He didn't forget it, he just didn't have the courage anymore.
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HELLO! I'm so sorry cause it's been a while :( Many things happened the past few weeks so I've been really busy and didn't have time to write.
BUT ANYWAYS I'M SO HAPPY FOR ENHYPEN <3