༊*·˚ fools
just like she'd told myunghee earlier in the week, she went to pierce her ears somewhere in the shopping centre she frequented and had a look around for any cute clothes or nice shoes until her time to catch the bus to her therapist's office came. her session only lasted an hour like the usual and the lady complimented her on the new cartilage piercing then they discussed her week.
her therapist was a nice lady in her middle thirties who was very understanding for people from her generation.
afterwards, she headed to an art shop she frequented to buy herself some wool for a new crochet project she planned to work on starting tonight. the selection was endless.
she picked out three colours and took them to the cash register seeing that it was renjun behind the counter.
"hey, long time no see!" he enthused.
renjun had always been a good guy to her but he was closest to donghyuck so they never really spoke.
"hey..." she grinned, reaching for her wallet in her bag. "i didn't know you worked here? did you start recently?"
"two weeks ago," he recalled. "that'll be five thousand."
"card." she slipped her cars out the wallet.
"how've you been doing?"
she shrugged as she typed in the pin. "same old, you know? what about you?"
"same old," he repeated.
she smiled at his comment and took the bag from him. "i'll see you around, jun."
he nodded and she left.
hyerin considered going to the ice rink again but she'd have to go home and grab her shoes then come back again and that was a waste of a trip so she just went straight home and worked with the new yarn she'd bought. besides, it's not like she needed to go there all the time since she didn't compete anymore.
a few hours later, her uncle came home and invited her out for dinner since they didn't have anything cooked plus he thought it would be a good idea to have some quality time with her so she got ready in a dress and put a coat over herself because it wasn't quite warm yet.
her uncle drove them to a nice sushi place knowing that she loved sushi and it'd been some time since she last ate it otherwise she would've told him. he ordered a big platter and for once she was thankful she didn't eat a lot during the day.
"i know you don't really like me asking but how's school been? i haven't asked that in a while," he said.
she shrugged her shoulders, picking at her nails. "there's not much to say. the same old stuff, you know?"
he nodded.
"i got my ears pierced again today. look, i'll show you!" she was careful with tucking her hair back so she wouldn't touch the area and leaned closer to him.
"it looks cool! how long are you going to be in pain for?"
she snickered at the way it was phrased. "a few days maybe?"
he winced. "sounds very painful."
"it is what it is. gotta feel pain before you feel beauty, i guess," she said. "what about you and work? anything out of the ordinary?"
"honesty, i see more words on a piece of paper every day then there are words in the encyclopaedia so," he shrugged, "it is what it is, as you say."
she did a bread smile and their drinks were served a second later.
"i'n going to go out next friday with my friends, is that okay with you?"
she laughed. "why does it look like you're asking me for permission when it should be the other way around?"
"i'm just asking..." he trailed off.
"it's fine with me. i'll probably stay home the whole evening so if you stumble your way through the door, i can help you up the stairs this time so you don't sleep on the floor again," she recalled.
"thank you."
the relationship she had with her uncle was more of a best friend sort of thing than a parent. of course, he still was her only parental figure but he didn't want to bring himself to have the "father-daughter" relationship with her because he was aware he wasn't her biological father and he didn't have intentions to become a parent when he did. hyerin didn't have any complaints with his method of bringing her up but it's not like she knew any other.
"i saw donghyuck on my way home a few days ago."
her body stiffened.
her uncle noticed and stopped. "is this a sensitive topic for you?"
"no," she mumbled, picking up some uramaki. "continue."
"yeah, i saw him walking with a younger girl in uniform. i think it was his sister, i'm not sure since i don't know what she looks like but she resembled him a lot. he looked sad."
she scoffed.
"you guys still aren't friends, i see."
"and i don't think that'll change."
he hummed. "well, that's up to you. if you want things to change you have to do something a little differently to get a different reaction than usual."
"i didn't say i wanted to change our relationship." she shook her head.
"but i can tell you do."
"what gives?"
he shrugged his shoulders with a smile. "just a sensation."
"well, our geography teacher put us as partners for a long group project last week," she explained. "we're doing the work separately because he can't even look at me so, given that, i don't think our relationship will change any time soon."
"you should talk to him."
"he's not going to listen to me. besides, all i get from him is constant words of abuse so i don't need to hear that more often than i already do," she spoke.
he raised a brow. "do you want me to talk to him?"
"no, i can handle him. i know what he's like."
"if he goes too far–"
"i know," she assured. "i'll speak to you. i don't have problems doing that; i just like sorting things out by myself."
they got home at around eleven after and since he needed to wake up early tomorrow, he went to shower first then she followed and laid in bed for a while looking at her camera roll and the pictures from today to see if any were worth posting. she found two and uploaded them then discarded her phone on her bedside table to go to sleep.
she didn't sleep well that night.
"hey, myunghee, you wanted to see me?" she asked, arriving at her school's rooftop.
"yeah, it won't last long."
hyerin noticed the uncomfortable look on her friend's face and frowned, reaching a hand out for her but myunghee slapped it away.
"why did you do that to him? huh?" myunghee raged, invading hyerin's personal space.
"i- i don't know what you mean-"
myunghee shoved her to the ground and hyerin fell on her ass.
"this is your fault."
hyerin started to get up and stand opposite her friend. "what's my fault?"
"you're to blame for what happened!"
myunghee shoved her by the chest and hyerin was so close to the edge that she fell back but managed to grip onto the edge of the building with one of her hands.
"myunghee! please help me up! i don't know what i did wrong!" hyerin screeched, tears flowing down her face as she grew more panicked.
"goodbye." and myunghee had the most sinister smile on her face as she ripped hyerin's hand off the edge of the building and she fell down three floors.
but just before she hit the bottom, she woke up.
hyerin shot up in her bed with her heart beating at a rapid speed.
the nightmares were never going to stop.
once she came back to reality again, she laid her head back down and attempted to get some shut eye but it was proven to be difficult when she twisted and turned for a long time before sleeping with the light on.
˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗
her uncle was out of the house before she'd even woken up the next morning so she went on a video call with myunghee to keep her company.
"you look like you haven't slept in so long. how long did you sleep for? were you staying up playing games again?"
hyerin huffed. "no, i actually went to bed at a decent time i just... had a nightmare so i struggled to go back to sleep again."
myunghee frowned. "again?"
"yeah."
"was it really bad?"
"you were the antagonist, actually," hyerin spoke with a smile as she got out her moisturiser. "you invited me to the school rooftop then threw me off it."
"oh, what the fuck?"
"yeah. not cool of you."
"why did i do that?"
hyerin shrugged. "i don't know. when i asked, you were just blaming me for what'd happened." she gulped, knowing very well where that nightmare could've stemmed from. "anyway, let's move on. bowling later? i'm excited."
"me too! finally a time where we can all hang out."
the conversation continued until myunghee had to go for lunch with her family since they hadn't eaten as a family all week.
hyerin took the time to eat, wash up the dishes and pick something to wear. sweater, blouse, straight cut trousers and some nikes would do it.
when she was completely ready, she waited a little in the living room for dongmin's car honk from outside and when she heard it, she picked up her bag and pounced out the door to join her friends.
"you look cute!"
she chuckled. "thank you."
always myunghee hyping her up.
when they arrived, dongmin went to sort things out with the person behind the counter to get them a game and the two girls went to grab drinks.
"i didn't eat a lot for lunch cause i bought us snacks," myunghee whispered to her. "which was a shame because i really liked the dish my dad made."
hyerin took hers and dongmin's drink to one of the rows. each of them used the little table looking thing to take a picture and write their names to keep a score for the next three games.
it was going well and dongmin was in first place, hyerin in second with only four points difference and myunghee unfortunately last. much to her dismay, she wasn't as good at bowling as she thought she was but she quickly got over it by eating a pack of oreos.
during the second game, a group of boys came to the strip beside them.
donghyuck.
"what the fuck is he doing here?" myunghee murmured, standing up.
donghyuck was with his other friends that weren't the ones he usually hung out with in school. jaemin, jeno and that.
he was laughing and smiling throwing his head back with a drink in his hands so distracted he hadn't noticed her yet but when he did, his smile disappeared and his face fell.
hyerin looked away as it was her turn anyway and she wasn't going to let donghyuck ruin the fun.
"do you reckon he followed us here?"
"myunghee, this is a public place and he seems to frequent it often so perhaps it was just a coincidence," dongmin reasoned.
"literally nobody asked you."
"wh-"
she went to pick up a bowling ball to throw it.
just as hyerin was waiting for her turn at the back, she felt some hot breath on the back of her neck.
"i didn't know you were this good at bowling?"
donghyuck.
"there's a lot you don't know about me anymore, donghyuck," she scoffed.
"i beg to differ." he rolled his eyes. "how about a little competition between us two?"
"no."
"why not? scared you might lose?" he taunted with a smirk.
"i'm here with my friends to spend time with them not to play your petty games."
"suuure."
he was annoying.
"okay, you know what? fine. i'll compete with you when this round finishes," she stated, crossing her arms and facing him.
he looked good.
"good." he smiled. "now, let's make a bet. what do you suggest?"
"whoever wins buys the other a milkshake from the counter?" she pointed to the eating area.
the milkshakes there were pricier than usual but that's because they were the best milkshakes around and used to be both their favourite place to get a one.
"deal." he put his pinky out and she looked at it then back at him with an eyebrow arched. "to seal the deal?"
"you do that with a handshake. not a pinky promise."
he rolled his eyes and walked back to his group since they were all waiting for him anyway.
"what was that?" myunghee questioned.
"donghyuck wants to compete against me. whoever wins, gets a milkshake that the other pays for," hyerin explained. "my turn?"
she went to play her turn and the two friends shared a look.
<3
donghyuck is such an asshole in this fic you guys will see