emotions | love alarm

7 ~

Chapter Seven

"Ae-ri," he groans as she flips to the final page of her homework, finishing her last problem set. "What do you want child?"

"I'm tired."

"How unfortunate," she mumbles as she calculates the equation.

Sun-oh grabs her arm and slips his arm under her shoulder, intertwining their hands, and laying his head on her shoulder, "Can we go home now?" She scribbles in her answer neatly before closing her notebook and leaning onto his head, equally as tired.

"Yes, we may," she sighs out. Sun-oh offers to gather her things for her as she seemed quite depleted and they clean up their area before Sun-oh offers her her backpack. She smiles at him gratefully and they walk out of the school in a comfortable silence, their shoulders brushing against each other softly.

"You should come over my house," he says as they begin their walk home together. He usually dropped her off first to make her feel safer and offer himself peace of mind. His hand drops down to hers and they hold hands like he had been forcing her to do every time he saw guys looking at her.

"Why do you want that?"

"I get bored."

"If that's the reason you should just come to my house."

The brilliant thought pops into their heads simultaneously. "A sleep over!" They both grin like little kids and begin planning out the entire ordeal. "We could watch movies and share Tiktoks," she smiles. He nods enthusiastically, "Yes, and then we can bake some cookies or something."

"Oh, I have an indoor pool, we could totally take a swim!"

"Bye, you win. Your house it is."

Ae-ri laughs and nods, "Deal."

***

"Passionfruit strawberry is the best," Ae-ri refuted as they sat at a bench to drink their beverages. Sun-oh laughed and shook his head at her pout, "No, banana strawberry."

"Let's agree to disagree," she offered before extending her hand. He smiled and nodded, "You got it."

Ae-ri smiled back at him as his hand slid into hers and watched as their eyes met simultaneously, his gaze warm. She felt a chill run through her system before letting go and sipping on her smoothie. Ae-ri had taken the time to analyze his facial features a while ago when he was too focused on asking questions and decided that her favorite feature was his smile.

His eyes were warm but his smile made her feel safe which was more than she could say for a lot of people.

The most unusual thing of it all is how at ease she felt in such a short period of time. She knew he felt is as well because his body language displayed it. He was no longer tense, he was comfortable being vulnerable, and he didn't mind her bluntness.

"Isn't it weird that we have gotten as close as we have in such a short period of time?"

Sun-oh shrugs at her question, "When two people are meant to be friends, bonding can happen very quickly."

"There is no science to back that up but I'll consider it."

"Dork," Sun-oh teases.

"Simp," Ae-ri shoots back.

They both stop to look at each other before laughing.

***

The next day at school, there is a startling rumor spreading that makes Sun-oh's heart stop and makes Ae-ri's blood run cold.

Hye-yeong and Jo-jo were dating. Not together, but definitely talking.

Ae-ri's grip on Sun-oh's hand tightens and he squeezes back, finding himself being pulled back into the dark places he had shut off as he grew from his past relationship. How did she move on so quickly, he thinks to himself, not knowing how it was possible for her to love someone back that quickly.

Many people give him sad looks as him and Ae-ri descend the hallways. She glances at him concerned and looks at the time before tugging him to the rooftop they first met on. He climbs the stairs sluggishly and when she finally sits down, he's already bursting into tears. She opens her arms up to him, which he falls into almost immediately.

This time she doesn't have to pretend to care--she felt deeply for her close friend's misfortune and knew he felt like he was getting no where. Sun-oh holds her tighter as his mind makes him remember how much pain he was in months ago before he met Ae-ri. He tries to gather his emotions but feels desperately.

"You're gonna grow past this, don't let this phase you okay?" she says as she rubs his back soothingly, cradling his head in her neck.

"I just-I was just learning-"

"I know, baby, I know. But it's okay to fail sometimes. You're still a king, no matter what," she says as she hugs him tighter, wiping the hair out of his eyes. He backs up slightly and she takes the chance to wipe his tears with the pads of her thumbs. He looks at his friend, eyes broken and dark with pain.

"You're still a baddie bro. An 11/10."

"You really mean that?"

"What? Of course I do. She's missing out."

"Thanks, Ae-ri."

"You got it. Now wipe your tears, it's embarrassing."

He laughs breathlessly and thanks her as she gives him some tissues.