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without the faint sound of the autumn breeze brushing through the bushes and trees, the two students would be sitting at this bus stop in complete utter silence. after covering up their bruises and scrapes, haeri checked the bus times only to realize they would be stuck waiting for another fifteen minutes.
they both had tried to spark up a conversation several times but each attempt only managed to get a one sentence response before they sat quietly beside each other once again. all of these failed attempts eventually led to the two of them giving up on trying to be extroverted and allowed themselves to be consumed by the silence.
"oh!" beomgyu exclaimed in shock at the sudden weight on his left shoulder. cautiously turning his head, he was surprised to find haeri resting her head on him. despite the initial shock, he couldn't help but laugh a little at her as she furrowed her brows and scrunched her nose, annoyed with her own hair that was tickling her face.
hesitantly, the boy slowly lifted his free arm and brought his hand close to her face. he tucked her hair behind her ear, careful to not wake her as he could only imagine how exhausted she must be.
suddenly, the sound of a phone notification caused beomgyu to flinch; haeri let out a low grumble due to his movement. in a panic, he quickly pulled his hand away but sighed in relief once he heard a soft snore escape from the girls mouth.
the phone went off once again and when he confirmed it was not his, he subtly peered down at haeri's lap.
mrs. kim
haeri, where are you? are you okay?
you're usually home by now.
i'm sorry but your parents are asking for you and they don't seem to be in the best mood...
i really hope you're okay but you should get here as fast as you can before they get worse...
a wave of confusion and worry washed over beomgyu as he read the messages. he felt partially guilty for reading something he knew was not his business at all. however, out of the three emotions and feelings that overcame him, the former two seemed to overpower the latter by a landslide.
and as much as he wanted to ask her about it or even answer the texts for her, beomgyu was well aware that this should not concern him at all. he may just be overthinking after all but even if he wasn't, this was likely something that he was not meant to know of; something haeri might not feel comfortable with him having knowledge of. "i really hope you're okay too..." he whispered.
beomgyu slowly began to rest his head on top hers until he saw their bus slowly beginning to approach them. "haeri," he spoke softly as he poked her arm. the girl muttered out words that beomgyu couldn't comprehend as she stirred around, her head digging deeper into the side of his neck.
the boy tensed a bit, not used to this new physical touch and weird feeling in his stomach from it, but as the bus drew closer to them, he shook it off and continued to poke the girl in attempt to wake her.
"haeri, the bus is here," he informed her. "you really have to get up now."
haeri slowly opened her eyes but swiftly jumped to her feet when she noticed the bus pulling up in front of them. "holy crap, the bus is here!" she exclaimed. "let's go, gyu!" she pulled him to his feet and dragged him with her up the stairs and to a pair of open seats.
in the midst of haeri ushering beomgyu into his seat, the boy felt his face warming up. as he took his seat, he kept his head down and shifted his eyes to his hand; specifically his hand that was intertwined with hers. why hasn't she let go yet? he wondered, raising his gaze to the girl beside him, subtly staring at her through the cracks in his hair. and why am i kind of hoping she never does..?
while beomgyu let his questions and thoughts run around his mind, haeri was struggling to keep herself from dozing off yet again. being a student for several hours and then a teacher for an additional three surely seemed to have tired her out.
her attempt at staying awake was beginning to fail as her head began to droop down and her eyelids grew heavy. but the sudden vibration in her open hand caused her head to instantly shoot up. haeri let go of the cold slim hand that she had unknowingly been gripping onto to properly hold and check her phone.
the second she pulled her hand away, a frown was pasted onto the long-haired boys face. his hand that had begun to feel so warm in her grip returned back to its original freezing state just as he was starting to get used to the new, comfortable sensation.
finally bringing his head up, beomgyu glanced at the girl who was intently staring at her cellphone. however, the expression on her face was one that he had never seen on her before. one that he never wished to see on her or anyone else in fact. one that he was all too familiar with himself.
anxious. distressed. fear.
as he examined her, he noticed how her right leg was now bouncing at a rapid pace, occasionally brushing against his leg. how her eyes were wide and frantically reading over the texts she had received over and over again. how her fingers were shaking as they hovered over the digital keyboard. and how her chest quickly rose up and down as she took more frequent breaths than before.
this won't do... ugh, screw it!
beomgyu swiftly snatched one of haeri's hands off her phone and held it between both of his own. "i'm sorry for suddenly, um, holding your hand, but i need you to look at me," he stated as he gave her smaller hand a slight squeeze. the girl turned off her phone before hesitantly turning to face her friend. "i know you probably don't want me to see you like this but i promise, it's okay. just look up, yeah?"
haeri shook her head, using all the strength in her to hold in the tears that were threatening to fall. "it...it's fine. i-i'm okay." she choked out.
"i know i need tutoring and all but i'm not stupid, haeri," beomgyu lightly joked. "let me help you like you've helped me, okay?"
the sincerity in his voice luckily did not go unnoticed as haeri slowly nodded before lifting her head to properly look the boy in the eyes. beomgyu sent her a small smile which she tried her best to return but in the end, all she could do was let out choked sobs, trying to stay as quiet as she could in order to avoid gaining unwanted attention from the other passengers.
"hey, hey... focus on your breathing not on smiling back," he ordered before taking slow deep breaths, demonstrating for the shaking girl. "copy me. deep breaths... in and out... take your time..." haeri nodded and began to mirror his actions.
after a few minutes and plenty of words of encouragement from beomgyu, haeri finally managed to get her breathing under control. "i'm s-sorry you had to see t-that," she muttered out. "thank you though..."
shaking his head, beomgyu gave her hand another reassuring squeeze. "there's no need to apologize. i'm glad i could help!" he grinned, beginning to trace circles on the back of her hand.
"and just in case you're worried about this... i'm not going to ask you or have you tell me about what happened or what's wrong. we really only met a few days ago so i doubt we're close enough for you to be comfortable telling me and that's perfectly fine."
haeri examined the boys eyes as he spoke and unknowingly began to smile at the notice that he meant every word he said. she brought up her other hand and added it to their little stack. beomgyu's eyes grew wide at her action but soon felt himself relax when she started to trace shapes on his hand instead.
"seriously, thank you..." she spoke softly, eyes drifting down to their hands. "honestly, i'd say i surprisingly already feel pretty comfortable around you. and after today..? i have no doubt that we'll grow closer in no time."
following her gaze, beomgyu shyly whispered. "me too..."
when haeri lifted her gaze back to the boy, she caught sight of her work place from the window. she quickly retracted her hands and pressed the button to let the bus driver know she was getting off and grabbed her bag as she stood up.
"this is my stop," she informed beomgyu, noticing the slightest bit of confusion laced in his expression. as she was about to step off the bus, haeri turned back and waved to him. "but text me when you get home, okay, gyu? bye!"
all he could do was give her a quick thumbs up and a small wave through the window before the bus began to drive off.
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tw : abusive behavior (ends at the ✧)
"and why are you getting home late this time?" haeri heard her mother question as soon as she stepped through the door. as she took off her shoes, she released a shaky sigh before cautiously making her way to the living room.
haeri stood stiffly in front of her parents who were sat on the couch, staring her down. "you should answer your mother when she asks you a question."
"yeah, you're right, i'm sorry." the girl bowed in apology and mentally prepared herself before standing up straight again. "i was asked to tutor my classmate by a teacher so after school, i went to the library to tutor them."
a scoff escaped from the middle aged mans mouth. "as if you would be asked to tutor with your grades." haeri looked her father in the eye as he stood up and walked towards her.
"what? but-"
as she began to try and defend herself, haeri was cut off by a loud thud and pain that shot through her leg. the girl hissed in pain and looked up at the man before her. he roughly pushed the girl down, forcing her to kneel. "you should think twice before lying to us. we're your parents after all, show some respect."
"i didn't lie to you though!"
her father angrily brought up his hand and harshly slapped her face. haeri shakily rose her hand and cupped her cheek. the stinging pain must have spread across her entire face as the girl was now beginning to feel the same thing in her eyes and nose. "and now you think it's okay to talk back to me? just how stupid are you, for fucks sake?" the man roughly ran his hand through his hair, huffing in anger.
haeri watched with her now blurry vision as her mother walked over and stood beside her husband. the woman stared down at her pitiful daughter with crossed arms before shaking her head and going back to her seat. "you know what? i don't even care why you're late anymore," she waved her off without even batting an eye in her direction. "just get out of our sight already. nobody wants to watch you cry."
✧ gladly. and with zero hesitation, haeri got up and sprinted to her room, locking the door behind her. she immediately threw her bag on the floor and then sprawled onto her bed, letting the tears flow freely down her face as she stared at the ceiling.
they're so unfair. she couldn't help but rant to herself as she had no one else to go to about this. why have me answer your questions if you're not going to believe me anyways? like where is the logic in that?
and they didn't even tell me why they were asking for me! was it just so that they could do all of this?!
the girl continued to cry for roughly twenty minutes before her cries transformed into quiet sobs. she pushed herself off her bed and wiped away her tears as she dragged her feet across the floor and to her bathroom.
when her eyes landed upon her reflection in the mirror, haeri wasn't even surprised at how dead she looked. her eyes and nose were red and puffy from how long she had been crying. the path her tears took down her face was clear as day. and her one cheek where she had been slapped was bleeding due to her dad using his hand that held his wedding ring which ended up slightly cutting her.
she blankly stared at herself before turning on the sink faucet to wash her face. after drying her face, haeri let out a tired sigh as she bent down to grab her first aid kit from the cabinet. but when she bent her knees, she groaned in pain, completely forgetting about them being injured as well.
the girl limped back towards her bed after cleaning and treating her injuries, not forgetting her scraped knee that she had gotten earlier. haeri slowly laid on top of her comforter with her head resting against the wall, closing her eyes in attempt to relax and ignore the lingering pain from the rubbing alcohol on her cuts.
however, the constant buzzing from her phone caused her to sit up and groan. "of course someone decides to spam me and blow up my phone right now, right?" she muttered in annoyance. "the one time i actually want to be left alone..."
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i didn't plan on ending there originally but i felt like it was getting a little too long so...
thank you for reading this chapter!
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