playing with fire || annyeongz

01

Three weeks. It had been three whole weeks since the day Yujin met Wonyoung. In these three weeks, they grew so close, they were almost inseparable. After the first night Yujin stayed over, she couldn't bear the thought of going back to her jerk of a father's screaming and shouting, so Wonyoung gladly allowed her to stay as long as she wanted. So in those three weeks, they were with each other almost 24/7, except for every math period where Yujin walked Wonyoung to her math class, and Wonyoung could be seen waiting outside Yujin's classroom after the end of every math period.

The first weekend that they spent together, Wonyoung insisted on going to the mall, stubbornly refusing to tell Yujin why she wanted to go there until they had reached. Wonyoung immediately dragged Yujin into a clothing store, picking up a black hoodie. "What do you think, do you like this one?" Yujin stared at the hoodie for a moment and replied. "Yeah, I like it, but brighter colours suit you more. Your face is cute, happier colours match it better." Wonyoung laughed. "So you like it? Okay, let's get this one then. Hurry, come here and pick another one!" Wonyoung tugged on Yujin's arm.
"Wha- Me? Huh? For what?" The older furrowed her eyebrows. "Dummy, you need clothes too. You look great in pink and all, but I noticed you like dark colours more. I don't have those kinds of clothes. Ooh, and we need to get you new shoes too! We have a lot of stuff we need to get you, so we gotta be quick, yeah?" Wonyoung wandered off to look for more clothes that Yujin would like, and the older quickly caught up with her. "I-I don't need those! I'm fine with your clothes...I don't want you to spend so much money on me!" Wonyoung pressed a finger to Yujin's lips, quickly shutting her up. "I've never had anyone to spend my money on, so shush and pick out whatever you like. But i'm picking the movies for the next two weeks."

And that was how Yujin ended up with three huge bags of new clothes, two pairs of shoes and a new bag, all chosen by Wonyoung since the older was reluctant to let the younger spend money on her.

Over these three weeks, the pair had learnt a lot about each other. Wonyoung now knew the exact amount of milk Yujin liked in her cereal, and Yujin knew the position in which Wonyoung fell asleep and woke up in every morning.

The pair were now on the couch watching a movie. Yujin's head rested on Wonyoung's shoulder and the younger had her arm around the latter's waist. When the credits began rolling, Wonyoung sat up a little straighter and reached for the remote to turn off the TV.

"Yujin?" The older girl, sensing the seriousness in the younger's voice, sat upright and faced the younger.

"I-I wanted to ask you something, but I don't know whether you're comfortable enough to answer them...You don't have to answer them yet, I understand if you don't want to talk about it..." Wonyoung's finger drew little circles on Yujin's shoulder and she looked down, too nervous to meet eyes with the older. Yujin noticed the younger's unease. Without thinking, the athlete tucked the curtain of hair hiding the younger girl's face behind her ear and tilted her chin upwards to face her, nodding to signal her to continue.

The. younger, encouraged by Yujin's actions, took a deep breath before speaking. "You know, that day we met. uh, during your practice...that headache? Could you tell me what happened? And the nightmares, every night...I'm worried about you..." Yujin frowned a little as she thought back to the day where she had gotten her first headache. She thought of the many headaches that followed, and the alleged memories that came with the headaches.

"It's the same nightmare every time...It's either a nightmare or this other dream. I think it's a good dream? Yeah, pretty much, I think I was pretty happy in those dreams." Yujin tried her best to narrate the dream to Wonyoung.

She ran after the young girl as fast as she could, her hair blowing backwards and the wind in her face. She could hear the girl shout louder as she drew closer. She laughed freely as the gap grew smaller gradually. The other girl wasn't very athletic after all, and she herself was gifted with strong legs and an incredible amount of stamina for someone her age. She could hear the girl cry out something, and somehow, she knew it was her name, even though the words were lost in the wind as she finally closed the gap, and they collapsed onto the grass with a loud yell and the two girls held onto each other, joking and laughing until the sun began to set and streaks of pink and purple were painted across the sky above them.