༊*·˚ fools
"i was thinking about adopting a dog."
hyerin's eyes widened at her uncle's words. "yes! excellent idea. but why are you thinking about that now?"
he shrugged. "i feel like it would be nice. besides, i've always wanted to own one ever since bruce died."
bruce was the family dog he had growing up. a large dog one of those muscular ones with pointy ears and gruff barks. there was a picture of the whole family in the living room with the dog.
"i'm thinking about a big, fluffy dog that can also be used as a guard dog."
hyerin laughed. "guard dog? why do we need a guard dog?"
"well, just in case, you know? you can use your scary dog privileges to go on those walks you used to go with donghyuck on," he suggested.
she considered the thought but it was a good idea. the reason she hadn't gone out on walks as often was because she was afraid of what could happen. it was better to be safe than sorry.
"what about jeju?"
he shrugged. "she just sits around on the windowsill all day and sleeps. i don't think she'll have a problem."
hyerin snickered. "i'll brain storm names."
"i'll go around looking at shelters and stuff during my days off."
"when are you next off?"
"tomorrow."
she hummed. "oh, um, did you get the email about the geography trip? it's in six weeks."
"i haven't seen the email, no."
"yeah, it's basically just information about the trip and how much needs to be paid," she informed.
he nodded. "i'll sort that out for you."
"thank you."
"oh, hey, before you go..." he mumbled and reached over to grab an elongated cardboard box. "i bought you these." he pushed the box in her direction with a big smile.
"what is it?" she nervously grinned as she took the box from his hands.
"open it."
inside the box loosely wrapped in tissue paper was a pair of skating shoes. brand new and so shiny.
"i know you have a pair but those are years old and i figured if i got you some new ones that it could motivate you to skate again," he explained.
tears brimmed her eyes and her chin wobbled but she composed herself and embraced her uncle in a hug.
"thank you."
the gesture took him by surprise since they didn't hug each other much only when either of them really needed one so it took him a second to hug her back.
"hey... what's this for?" he cooed, stroking her hair.
"for what you do for me."
hyerin always felt like she owed her uncle everything because he was the one that took charge of her upbringing when her mum died unexpectedly. he didn't think he'd ever have to raise a child, especially all by himself but he did a good job at it.
"come on, we're not going to have an emotional uncle-daughter moment." he chuckled. "save that for graduation."
"all right. okay. i'm gonna test these out." she turned her attention back to the shoes. "thank you."
"stop thanking me and get yourself ready. i'll drop you off." he smirked and pointed to the stairs.
˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗
"you are not naming your dog an actual person's name," myunghee, strongly, disproved.
"is she supposed to name it peanut butter or something?" dongmin scoffed.
"what's wrong with peanut butter?!"
"okay..." hyerin interrupted them before an argument could transpire. "i don't even know what kind of dog he's going to get. so the name depends on the breed. i'm not going to have a big, strong dog and have him named peanut butter am i?"
"well, i think peanut butter is a good name..." myunghee mumbled under her breath.
"is the dog yours?"
she raised her hands up in defence.
their conversation was cut short when the sound of laughter resonated outside. donghyuck and friends, obviously.
"i would love to punch him one day. get that smirk off his face," dongmin stated making the two girls look at him.
"yeah, dream big my boy." myunghee patted his shoulders and guided him away inside.
hyerin looked over her shoulder and exactly as she did so, donghyuck peeked behind him and they met eyes before she quickly turned back around again.
later that day just before lunch, she had gym class and when she headed to the courtyard half the class was already there talking to the teacher so she joined them minding her own business and waiting for it to begin.
"good morning, for the next few weeks i'll have you in pairs because we'll be playing sports that require more than one person. the pairs i pick today will the pairs you have for the rest of the year and no, i can't change them so don't think of asking." with a smirk on his face knowing students never liked that, he began to read out who the pairs were.
although hyerin didn't talk to the majority of her class, she just hoped she didn't get donghyuck.
"hyerin and," she uncrossed her arms and stood up straight, "jaemin."
strangely, he was one of the better options.
hyerin scanned the area to search for him and he was already walking towards her with a soft smile leaving donghyuck giving a death glare behind him.
"hey," he whispered to her.
"hi."
after the teacher read out all the names, he sent them to do warm-ups in pairs.
"how have you been doing?" he asked her.
"fine. you?" she kept her answers short but polite.
"cut the crap. i know hyuck's been giving you a hard time," he empathised with a small smile.
hyuck.
oh, she hadn't heard that name in a long time.
"it's fine, i'm used to it." she waved her hand to dismiss his statement.
jaemin frowned. donghyuck's constant bullshit wasn't something she should be used to hearing.
"i've spoken to him because i noticed the other day in class you weren't... you seemed a little sad so i figured he had something to do with it. i don't get why he does it, it's been two years i don't know why he hasn't moved on?"
she shrugged. "your guess is probably better than mine. you know him better than i do."
"at one point it was the other way around."
hyerin gave him a weak smile. as much as she loved to be reminded of the good times before everything went hill, a second later she'd remember donghyuck would prefer her dead over alive and is reminded of the reality she's in.
"anyway, what are you doing this weekend?" jaemin stretched his arms.
"i don't have anything planned, why?"
"renjun's hosting a party and i want you to come." his lips curved into a smile. a genuine smile.
hyerin let out a chuckle. "you want me to come?" she cocked a brow up at his proposition.
"actually, renjun, chenle, jisung and i want you to come. mark, too."
"you guys discussed this?"
"yeah."
she didn't know how to feel. whether she should've laughed or been happy.
jaemin could tell she felt uneasy so he spoke again.
"listen, if donghyuck comes at you with some shit i'll personally tell him to piss off, that sound good?"
"that sounds like you'd receive an ass whooping from him."
"i can take donghyuck on," he mumbled. "so? what do you say?"
"i don't know..."
"think about it. do you still have my number?"
she shook her head and jaemin's face slightly fell. "i got a new phone and changed my number so i had to ask for everyone's contacts again because i lost the other one."
"oh, um, in that case, i'll give you my number after class then you can text me, ok?"
"ok," she confirmed.
the corner's of jaemin's lips upturned into a smile when he could see the improvements.
"okay, class gather up."
<3
funfun