༺♡༻
"they left me." beomgyu said, his voice almost as quiet as that of a whisper.
haeri's eyes softened as she watched the boy lower his gaze to their intertwined hands, knowing that he was trying to avoid looking at her. "that's terrible, beomgyu..." she muttered, giving his hands a light squeeze, hoping to be of some sort of comfort.
with a slight nod of his head, the boy hummed in agreement. "yeah, it sucks... truthfully, i'm not sure if i regret eavesdropping on their argument or not. was it better for me to know why they decided to go? or perhaps i would be happier if i was ignorant as to why they left me?
"and then a few years after that, my aunt ended up divorcing my uncle and walking out too. so, now it's just me and my uncle..." he revealed, letting out a bitter laugh.
haeri's furrowed her brows, confused by the sudden laugh. however, although she had a feeling there was more to his story, she knew that he would reveal it all with time. there was no need for her to learn everything all at once, especially if he was not willing to share it all just yet.
'baby steps.' haeri thought. 'no need to rush.'
"i'm so sorry, gyu. thank you for telling me," she whispered calmly. "thank you for trusting me enough to tell me all of this too; i'm sure it wasn't easy."
beomgyu finally raised his head and when he met haeri's tender gaze, he felt all the tension in his body slip away. "thank you for letting me be able to trust you." he softly replied with a faint grin. "you have no idea how much it means to me..."
haeri scooched forward the slightest bit and gently pulled the boy into her embrace. although he was caught off guard, beomgyu quickly made himself comfortable in her arms and returned the hug, greatly appreciating the gesture.
"honestly, i'm not too sure if this is out of line for me to say, and i'm sorry if it is. but, your parents are wrong for what they did.
"they had such a loving and obedient son who appreciated all of their efforts to play with him and didn't ask questions when he was told to do something. being a parent is a big responsibility that takes a lot of energy, it's true; but by having you, they accepted that responsibility. they should've thought about whether they were ready or not before, not after. it's unfair for you."
listening to how haeri's voice broke more and more with every word she spoke, beomgyu found himself beginning to tear up. and when she pulled away from the hug, he was surprised to find that she too had tears hugging the rims of her eyes.
"i hope you're well aware of all of that," she strictly stated, pointing at him almost as if she was a nagging mother. "i hope you know i meant everything i just said as well. you didn't deserve to go through that at all. nobody deserves that." haeri tried her best to keep herself together, but once she let out one choked sob, everything began to spill out.
beomgyu was shocked to see her burst into tears, but strangely enough, he was touched. she was crying for him and that was something no one had ever done before. it showed how much she cared, and for that, he was beyond grateful.
this time, beomgyu was the one to gently tug her into his arms. "hey, why're you crying..?" he asked in a hushed tone, soothingly rubbing her back. "you're going to make me cry too, silly..." he let out a sniffled laugh.
"i just hate how terrible people can be, especially to those they're supposed to love." haeri explained through her sobs.
he wasn't sure if it was because of her words or hearing her cry that had made him so emotional, but whatever it was had finally caused beomgyu to break into tears as well.
hugging each other a little tighter, the two teenagers cried in each other's embrace. haeri's head rested comfortably against beomgyu's chest as she gripped the back of his shirt between her finger tips. and beomgyu tucked his head into haeri's neck as he gently held the back of her head closer to him, while his other arm was tightly looped around her waist.
they remained like that for several minutes, taking all the time they needed to regain their composure. once their sobs had reduced to just small sniffles, they relaxed in each other's hold. "so... what should we do now..?" beomgyu asked all of a sudden, causing haeri to laugh. "what's so funny?"
"just asking that out of the blue made me laugh, i don't know." she giggled, pushing herself out of his arms. "what do you wanna do?"
beomgyu shrugged, "i don't know, it's your house. that's why i asked you."
"well, to be honest, there's not much to do here." she said, looking around to see if anything would possibly cause a light bulb to go off in her head. "we could continue the movie or..."
beomgyu tilted his head. "or..?"
"or... we could study!"
"you're joking," beomgyu deadpanned. "as if i'd willingly spend my weekend studying."
"movie it is then!" she beamed, making beomgyu laugh at her sudden outburst of energy.
༺♡༻
an hour had passed and the movie had finally come to an end. ask either of them about the plot of it though and all you would get in response would be blank stares because throughout the entirety of the movie, all they did was chat.
rather than paying attention to the film that played in front of them, they discussed random things such as their interests and hobbies.
"you play the guitar?!" haeri asked wide-eyed. beomgyu laughed at how shocked she seemed to be and nodded. "i could teach you if you want." he offered.
"seriously, you mean it?" receiving a second nod, haeri smiled. "i've always wanted to learn guitar. hyuka tried teaching me a few years ago, but then he got impatient with me and gave up. oops..."
beomgyu chuckled at the image in his head of hueningkai scolding haeri. 'you'd think it'd be the other way around, huh?'
"yeah, seriously, i wouldn't mind. i honestly think it'd be fun, and it'd give us something other to do than just watch movies together all the time; not that i hate doing that though."
"maybe we could switch out our next tutoring session for a guitar lesson instead." haeri offered. "after all, yeonjun told me he won't be able to make it to the next one. and frankly speaking, it already seems like you hardly need my help with how smart you are."
"i'm not smart. you've seen my grades." beomgyu sighed.
haeri gently nudged the boy beside her. "don't put yourself down like that, choi beomgyu. grades are hardly an accurate representation of our intelligence. you're genuinely so smart, like if you really wanted to, i'm sure you could easily become the top of our class."
beomgyu's face flushed from the praise she had given him, barely being able to thank her for her encouraging words.
a buzz from each of their phones interrupted the two of them, leaving them to put their conversation on hold. "it's the group chat." beomgyu told her as she had yet to grab her phone.
haeri raised an eyebrow. "is it yeonjun?" beomgyu shook his head, "huening."
friends by chance, besties by choice
pengkai
hey besties (＾ω＾)
how is everyone on this
lovely saturday??? :D
nuts
what do you want
pengkai
wow okay tyun, i see how it is...
i'm just gonna act like i didn't
see that. (¬､¬)
rihanna
hi hyuka!!(＾▽＾)
i'm good! how are you??!!?
yawn
todays been chill
whats up kai?
pengkai
haeri!!!!! (^o^)/
im also doing good!!!
but im bored :(
yawn
no yeah its fine
just ignore me ig 🙂
steve
you'll live, yeonjun
ben
hey guys
pengkai
ok great everyones here!!!
so whats everyone doing tomorrow? :D
nuts
why
pengkai
(ー○ー)
steve
nothing as far as i know
yawn
im free😛
ben
me too
rihanna
same😁
pengkai
yay!!
do u guys wanna hang out? >3<
nuts
i never even said i was free😐
steve
well are you?
nuts
yeah
steve
well there you go🤗
pengkai
anyways!! how about the mall?
or the park?
or both?
wait can we do both 🙁
rihanna
both sound fun
i'm down :)
steve
sure. doing both works.
ben
yea sounds fun, huening!
yawn
can we eat ramen at the park?
PLS PLS PLS PLS😭😭😭😭😭
GUYS PLS😭😭😭😭😭
it'll add to the fun, trust me!
nuts
are u sure u dont just wanna eat ramen?
yawn
fine! u caught me!
lock me up for my crimes! 🙄
steve
always so dramatic...
yawn
it's part of my charm babes😏
pengkai
i thought u had like a life supply of
ramen at ur house though
yawn
i ran out last night :(
SO PLSSSSSS CAN WEEEEEEEEEE🙁
ben
personally i dont see why not 🤷
rihanna
yeah theres a convenience store
right by the park anyways
yawn
ugh u two are my favs 🫶
nuts
i thought we established how much
u loved haeri already when u said
"HAERI UR THE LOML"? 🤨🤨
yawn
and she just keeps adding to the
reasons why i love her 😍
pengkai
u are NOT dating my bestie 😐
yawn
i meant it platonically geez 😕
even if i didn't, i'm not even
that bad!
nuts
whatever helps u sleep at night...
yawn
GUYS I KNOW HOW TO TREAT
WOMEN C'MON!!!!!! D:
i'd be a bomb ass boyfriend 😛😏
steve
ok so maybe lets get back on topic?
ben
agreed
rihanna
what time tomorrow?
pengkai
how about 1 o'clock? 😁
steve
sure
ben
^
nuts
^
rihanna
^
yawn
^
steve
okay so mall at 1
park + convenience store after
then home
sounds good to everyone?
rihanna
sir yes sir 🫡
pengkai
aye aye captain 🫡
nuts
alright 👍
see u guys later then
yawn
BYE GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pengkai
see you there tomorrow!!! (^^)//
rihanna
goodnight everyone!!!
ben
byebye
steve
night
"do you want to sleep over, gyu?" haeri offered. "y'know, since we're hanging out with everyone tomorrow, we can go together!"
beomgyu pondered on the idea before shrugging, deciding to ignore any possible consequences for the time being and just blissfully spend time with haeri. "might as well, right?"
"right." haeri grinned. "i'll go find you some things to change into and then i'll set up our makeshift beds. be right back!" she announced before running up the stairs in search of loose clothing for the boy to comfortably sleep in.
he watched as she temporarily disappeared from his sight with a faint smile. "choi beomgyu," beomgyu sighed. "there is seriously something wrong with you..."
༺♡༻
u know i had to indirectly mention "i'll see you there tomorrow"
that song is so fire. aoty basically!!!
and... why is writing text parts actually kind of fun..?😟
hope you guys enjoyed this chapter &
thank you for reading as always! <3