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If you can't fly, then run. Today we will survive
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With her hands securely hooked around Sunghoon, Ji-eun happily dragged him with her as they both walked away from Mr. Park's house. The girl had no common destination in mind and just walked as far away from his house as she possibly could.
After finally finding a cute bench under a cherry blossom tree, the girl placed her backpack down, making Sunghoon sit next to her as she did so. The boy obediently complied with her unspoken order, and quietly sat down beside the girl.
"You won't." The boy finally said, a comforting smile appeared on his lips as he locked eyes with Ji-eun.
"What?" She muttered in confusion, drawing in deep breaths to calm herself because of all the walking they did.
"You won't lose me.." Sunghoon breathed out, clasping his hands together with Ji-eun, softly gazing directly into her eyes which were locked with his.
A calm, serene yet overwhelming moment that was filled with emotions blissfully blanketed the atmosphere around them. Ji-eun could feel her heart palpitating in her chest as Sunghoon's intimidating gaze pierced into her, making her flustered.
The boy's cheeks were undeniably tainted red as he gently held the girl's hand in his. His heart was fluttering and his brain was going crazy, malfunctioning over how close he was with Ji-eun.
Immersed in the quiet yet heartfelt moment, Sunghoon's head was slanted as he slowly brought his lips closer to Ji-eun's but the girl didn't lean in. Judging by the girl's reaction, Sunghoon pulled away, rubbing the back of his neck due to feeling a bit guilty.
He hadn't seen Ji-eun for an entire week and it did indeed drive him crazy, and even though he wanted to kiss her so badly, he couldn't. He wanted to make sure she was also alright with his actions so he didn't force himself onto her.
"Sorry..about that-" Ji-eun mumbled out, dropping her head down feeling a bit embarrassed due to her frozen reaction when Sunghoon was leaning in to kiss her.
"Don't be. If one of us should be sorry right now it would be me." The boy started off calmly, dropping his hands in his lap as he looked straight ahead of him.
"After I came back that night from the rink...I was too scared to go back home so I stayed by Taehyun for the rest of the day. When my father found out, he was pretty furious. Of course, I couldn't stay by Taehyun for too long so I had to go back home and that's when he decided to 'ground' me. The usual you know.."
Sunghoon's tone gradually grew lower by the minute.
"He didn't let me leave the house nor did he want me to go to school. He said I was being punished. I couldn't really call you because the man took my phone-" he chuckled dryly, raking his hair back with his fingers.
"Every night I did go out to the rink, without his permission but that was way too late. I had hopes that I would meet you but it never happened. Whenever I went I'd see you leave the same exact time. I thought maybe you needed the space and so did I..."
Sunghoon was fiddling with his fingers as he explained the situation he was in to Ji-eun who was attentively listening. Before, she was left in a bit of a hazy sadness but with the boy now by her side, the sadness was no more. She was elated that she could be with him, sit next to him and talk to him.
"Hoon- I-" the girl broke out in a low cry, cupping her hand on his soft cheek. "Can I hug you?" She asked and awaited for him to give her approval before tightly wrapping her arms around him.
Ji-eun's warmth enveloped Sunghoon as he quietly hugged the girl back, relaxing into the comforting embrace of the girl that he truly loved. Again, he was going crazy. His heart was pounding, fluttering, rapidly beating in his chest as he fixed himself more into the embrace. His stomach was infested with swarming butterflies that fluttered around, making the boy feel all tingly inside.
Ji-eun on the other hand was also slowly losing her sanity. Her cheeks were heating up and a warmth grew in her chest as she rest her jaw on his shoulder, savouring the hug.
The cherry blossoms from the tree slowly began floating down as a gently breeze swooshed by, cute pink flowers slowly glided in the air before decorating the ground around them.
"You're so cute!" Ji-eun exclaimed, tilting her head up as she gazed at Sunghoon who couldn't hold back the smile that played on his lips. She gently kissed the boy on his cheek before hastily getting up from the bench, looking away from him.
"You know, you really don't have to explain yourself. I understand. I just wanted to make sure you were okay..." the girl said, letting her brown hair flow freely as a soft breeze brushed by. Looking down at the pink flowers that continued to dance as it reached the floor, the girl was so engrossed in the pretty scenery that she hadn't noticed Sunghoon looking at her. Ji-eun's figure was glowing in a golden colour as the sun's ray bounced off her, her brown strands of hair were now defined as the golden light filtered on it, illuminating her perfectly imperfect figure as she stood there, self absorbed, smiling down at the cherry blossom that rested in her palm.
In his eyes, the girl was absolutely perfect to him. The way she walked, talked, cried and even laughed. He thought she was perfect, every aspect of her.
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"Do you think he'd be mad? Your father, you know because I dragged you away from him." Ji-eun chuckled as she walked down the street leading back to Sunghoon's house all while eating her ice cream that Sunghoon bought for her on their way back.
"Hmmm? My father...I can't really say but you really showed him up back there." He gasped but it soon turned into a laugh. "Did you see the look on his face? It was priceless!" Sunghoon was laughing as he recalled how the girl he liked stood up to his father, something he hardly did.
"Though we both got in trouble for going out at 12 in the night I wouldn't change it for the world." Ji-eun smiled cheekily, taking a bite of the waffle cone that the ice cream was in.
"And I wouldn't take back what I said that night."
"What?"
"Do you want me to say it again?" Sunghoon flashed Ji-eun a grin, running his fingers through his hair as he slowly slid his tongue over his lip.
"Sure..." she said hesitantly, turning all her attention to him.
"I, Park Sunghoon, would like to date, you, Yang Ji-eun because I am undeniably deeply in love with you."
Ji-eun was left frozen in her tracks as she looked at Sunghoon, dumbfounded but also overly happy. Did I hear right? Did Sunghoon just officially confess to me?? The girl's mind was in confusion as she looked at him with wide eyes.
"What! Again!? You told me this before?!" She exclaimed as she questioned the boy who kept silent while she was slowly losing it.
"Yeah I did, but you fell asleep on my shoulder before I could even finish."Sunghoon chuckled teasingly as he watched Ji-eun's jaw drop.
"Now that I finally got that off my chest...again, all I need is your answer." Sunghoon quickened his pace as he continued to walk down the empty street. His heart was thumping due to his first official confession where he was actually confident that he truly did love the girl.
"Well here's my stop. See you around? Maybe at school, who knows?" Sunghoon said, avoiding eye contact with Ji-eun once again. The flabbergasted girl was left watching the boy as he walked up the steps of his porch before disappearing behind his closed front door.
Ji-eun placed a hand over her heart, gently biting her bottom lip as she stood there, still staring into space.
He likes me!
He wants to date me?!
Oh god- am- am I dreaming?!
Ji pinched her cheeks but when she opened her eyes she was still standing at the entrance to Sunghoon's yard.
"Oh my god!!" The girl squealed excitedly to herself, throwing her hands up in the air out of sheer happiness.
Ji quickly took a bus home. It wasn't that much of a long drive from where the girl lived so it wasn't that scary to travel alone. When she finally reached home, she kicked off her shoes and threw her backpack down before running up to her room, burying her face into her pillow.
Ji-eun was overly excited, her head was still replaying Sunghoon's words on repeat and the smile on her lips just continued to grow wider and wider.
Ji-eun was also madly in love with Sunghoon and had already made up her mind to accept his proposal. For starters, she knew her dad was fine with it and her mom wouldn't really have that much of a problem with her daughter dating, just once she knew who it was so there basically was nothing holding Ji-eun back from taking a step further.
The two highschoolers really did like each other and it was just a fact neither of them could deny.
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