After Dusk || Im Changkyun

36. His Smile

Chapter Thirty Six

You watched Rena until she was out of sight, a black car pulling up right in front of you to quite literally block your view of her. A rather expensive car. Changkyun's Porsche to be specific. Surprisingly, there was no one else paying attention to the fancy car so you were quick to pull open the door and slide on in, putting the picture down on the seat. Changkyun grinned as you closed the door, reaching one hand out for you to hold which you happily took. The corners of his lips turned down as soon as he felt his hand in yours, rubbing the back of it with his thumb.
"Your hands are shaking." He muttered, pressing the engine button on the car, revving it up and hovering his foot over the gas pedal and resting his other hand on the wheel.
"No they're not." You tensed up your entire hand, hoping that your muscles would stop trembling. Your hands weren't even shaking all that much, you didn't know how the heck he noticed.
"I told you no coffee. You don't even like coffee." He sighed, magically pulling out of the parallel park he somehow managed to do so effortlessly, spinning the wheel swiftly with his free hand and immediately driving onto the main road. You weren't even going to ask how he so confidentially deducted that you had drank a coffee.
You slipped your hand out of his, placing it onto the wheel, which made him turn his attention towards you. You moved his head back towards the road with your finger.
"Both hands while driving. Focus on the road." You reprimanded softly, leaning over to brush his hair out of his face. His middle part was very terribly done. He wore a random black graphic tee with a blue and white unbuttoned navy plaid collared shirt over it since it was only early spring. However, his black jeans were pretty ripped. Like his left knee was on full display. You took the beret off your head and placed it on his knee, hearing an amused scoff escape Changkyun's lips.
"Are you being an overprotective boyfriend, Eggo? That's my job." He moved the beret onto his lap and took one of his hands off the steering wheel, making grabbing motions at you.
"I know how to drive just hold my hand, idiot."
"If we die, I'm suing you." You reluctantly intertwined your fingers, watching a satisfied smirk spread across his face as he tightened his grip on your hand, resting them on the central console.
"What did she tell you?" He finally blurted out. He stopped the car at the red light and looked to you, his smile from before fading.
"Are you sure you want to know? It's not what you're expecting." You made sure, moving his hair out of his face again. He really should've parted his hair better, it was consistently falling into his eyes.
"It's in the past. I've moved on." He assured, nodding his head at you before pressing on the gas pedal again, except his eyes were still on you. You leaned over, placing the hand he wasn't gripping onto on the side of his face and turning it back towards the busy, crowded road.
"Focus." You scolded quietly again.
"Tell me." He responded instantly, taking a turn that definitely wouldn't take you back to the apartment building.
You assumed he was trying to get as much time as he could. He could get away with a lot of things but not something as obvious as that.
You rested your head back on the plush leather seats, beginning to recite all you had been told in the last hour, except the fact that you knew Changkyun's mother and had been keeping it from him. He stayed silent the entire time, not looking at you even when he stopped at a light. His expression was as frozen as the the chunks of ice that were floating around on the river below. After you finished telling him all that she'd told you, he didn't make a peep, staring out blankly at the road while you both sat there. The only noise you could hear was the song that was quietly playing on the radio, your seat vibrating from the vibrancies of the speaker under your feet. His hand was still held onto yours but all he did was simply turn the wheel with no words uttered. Not even a sound.
"Changkyun, say something, please." You whispered loud enough so that he could hear it over the music,
"I know you're reflecting on everything since it's all practically been a lie, but can you tell me that you're not rethinking everything?"
Everything as in the two of you.
The car got stuck in traffic at the worst possible time. As soon as the car came to a clean halt in the line of vehicles, Changkyun turned to face you. Oh, how you wanted to turn it back but there was nothing on the road for him to focus on.
"You're so anxious." He teased, giving your hand an encouraging squeeze, a small smirk spreading on his face. You eased up at the sight of his face, smiling softly right back at him.
"It's just weird to know. She still cheated but she didn't do what I think she did. I blamed Jooheon hyung for things he didn't really do. That's the only thing that's bothering me right now." He winced as the morning sun shined directly into his eyes, his outward expression probably portraying what is inwards feelings were going through. You leaned over the console, stretching your short arms out to hover over his eyes to at least try to block the sun. He chuckled at your effort, pressing lightly on the gas pedal whenever the traffic moved up. He removed your hand, pushing you back gently into your seat.
"I'm filthy rich but I can't keep myself from getting arrested if you sit like that."
You watched him manage to escape the traffic as it subdued, spinning the wheel with a flick of his wrist. You watched him in awe as he effortlessly strode down the streets with his other hand intertwined with yours.
You hadn't even had your own license for a year yet and he could drive with one hand.
"I'm glad it happened the way it did." He admitted, nodding his head along to the beat while pulling into the parking garage of the apartment building.
"Sure, the three years after that were pretty rough."
"Kyun, you tried to jump off of a bridge."
"Okay, but I didn't jump and I lived. Another thing I should apologize to Jooheon hyung for, I don't think I ever did." He pointed out, parking the car in his designated spot beside his other car. The Rolls Royce was in the company parking garage so that Leo could get to it when he needed to.
"I'm glad I didn't end up with a kid that wasn't mine and I'm happy I ended up meeting the best friend I didn't know I needed." He ruffled your hair up, playfully wrapping a strand of your long dark locks around his finger and bouncing it up and down.
"You need to stop sweet talking every waking hour." You rolled your eyes at the window, knowing not to look at him while rolling your eyes, scared that he'd call you hot again. Or babe. Or anything that wasn't Eggo or Idiot.
You were far too used to Eggo.
"Why don't you do some sweet talking? Get fun for once." He nudged your shoulder with his elbow with that toothy grin of his.
Maybe you could have some fun.
"Are you free after this? Like at 6 PM?" You asked, completely out of the blue. Changkyun seemed confused, wondering if it was a pick up line or a really terrible joke. It look him a few seconds to realize it was an actual question.
"I have nothing to do all day. Why do you ask?"
"Let's go on a date."
"A what?" He widened his eyes at your sudden request. You casually shrugged, looking down at the baby picture you'd kept beside you. You hadn't shown it to him yet. You didn't want him to question it.
"You heard me. Let's go on a date." You affirmed confidently, shaking his arm that was still holding onto yours.
"I'd love to but it's so short notice. We don't really go out on dates and I didn't book a restaurant or anything." He listed out but you simply placed your finger over his lips, shaking your head.
"I have it under control. You go back to your apartment and I'll get you when I'm ready."
You'd never really done anything nice for Changkyun. He'd done so much for you, even if it was small. You don't know what that picture did to you but you just really wanted to see that smile. You weren't even guaranteed the smile but you wanted to try.
Plus, you'd always wanted to plan a date.
A beach date at that.
You began to open the door but Changkyun grabbed your arm, pulling you back before your hand could even touch the handle, making you face him directly.
"We're wearing coordinating outfits."
"What?" You giggled at his serious expression.
"I want endless pictures of the first date my little baby Eggo plans. You can dress me up however you like but you have to coordinate." He threw a thumbs up at you, sliding out of the car with no other words said. He ran over to your side, opening the door for you and holding his arm out, gesturing towards the stairwell that to the lobby as if he were a bodyguard. You laughed, letting him pull you up out of the car, not forgetting to grab the picture before he closed the door and locked the car.