ROOM OF MIRRORS° h.sj

019

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DOWNTOWN
MORNING
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✧──────✦ bright and early, seojun dragged sumin out to the mall for a gift for gowoon's upcoming birthday. despite knowing his sister better than sumin did, he argued that he still 'didn't know what girls liked.'

so now they stood in a popular cosmetic store that most girls came to shop. the girls already shopping, watched as seojun followed sumin around like a lost puppy, once in a while bumping into her after she abruptly stopped to look at something.

sumin had never worn a full face of makeup due to her strict household, but often smuggled in a lip tint and mascara once in a while. the last time she'd tried, it didn't exactly end in her favor.

she stopped by one that had recently been released and looked at the colors. her hands twisted the cap open and pulled the wand out with a pop. sumin raised it to her lips and applied it to her bottom lip and puckered her lips together.

"i can't see it since i'm wearing some already... come over here!" she called over to the aisle her companion wandered over to.

seojun set down the item he'd had in his hand and walked over to her side. "didn't you just use that on yourself?"

"what's the problem?" sumin looked at the wand still half drenched in the tint. "you think i'm sick or something?" she lifted her hand closer to his face and he tried to dodge. seojun stood bent in a way that couldn't have been healthy for his spine as sumin carefully applied the product.

she nodded as it showed up well, "let's get this one." sumin turned to head down the next aisle, "are you coming?"

seojun blinked after seeing that sumin was no longer in front of him. he slowly let his vision trail in a different direction as his feet followed.

one staircase later, seojun found himself walking to the two person table sumin sat at with a tray of drinks and foods. after putting it down, she pulled the assortment of refreshments off and set it to the side.

"i still don't understand how you drink that." seojun grimaced while referring to her usual tea.

"once you drink it for a while, you'll get used to it." sumin happily sipped on the bitter iced tea through the plastic straw provided. she pushed the cup to the side and pulled the plate that held her sandwich.

after finishing their meal, they walked to the elevator that led to their bus stop. the elevator came to a halt on the level just above the first, and half a dozen men piled in, pushing the two into the corner.

sumin looked up from her phone to see seojun with an arm holding himself up. another man forcefully pushed himself in, causing a chain reaction to push seojun closer to the girl already pressed against the wall.

they both sucked in a breath after their noses just barely swiped the others. the fake wood paneling of the wall was turning out to be quite the attention turner.

"overweight." the mechanical voice of the elevator rang throughout the small box. all of the men groaned and grumbled, but eventually left. seojun pushed off the metal railing and gravitated towards the opposite side of the elevator as sumin did with the other.

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"i'm going to confess." suho confidently said to the jewelry saleswoman. the entire store turned toward him at the declaration. he pointed out the different necklaces and bracelets he wanted and stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets in content.

he looked up to survey the store while the saleswoman opened the glass case in front of him. directly in front of him, staring directly at him, with a slack jaw, stood sumin.

the salesperson handed her a small white bag with her purchase along with a receipt.

after seojun walked her home, she decided at the last minute to buy a matching necklace for her and sujin. there was nothing to celebrate, but today had just seemed like a turning point for her. so when suho walked into the store and nearly bought the entire store, she decided it wasn't a turning point for her, but instead everyone except her.

"hey sumin." he put up an awkward hand wave and covered it with a clearing of his throat.

"nice to see you, suho... big day?" she let out an airy chuckle. while he narrowed his purchase down to a simple pink swan necklace, they walked out together.

she kicked the rocks as they rounded the park that separated the streets. "so who are you confessing to?" sumin knew. the unsettling bubble in her stomach told her everything.

she thought back to her sister's cracking hands on the verge of bleeding. the forcefully pulled hair strands in the trash can of their shared bathroom along with the crumpled papers with red '100's at the top corners had her more than anxious.

"jugyeong," he finally whispered as if he was nervous someone was listening in.

"i can tell she likes you," she stopped and turned to face him. "i'm glad you're finally getting better, really."

sumin didn't wait for a response as usual, and continued down the cracked concrete leading out of the park while suho left on the brick path that stretched across the area.

by the time she got home, sujin had just begun packing for the school trip. it'd just been announced the week before, and everyone was preparing their suitcase for the trip.

"where've you been?" sujin asked her with a smile as she neatly placed her folded sweaters into the suitcase.

"out shopping with seojun. he needed help picking out gowoon's birthday present." sumin set the white bag in front of sujin.

"he always makes the worst excuses to hang out with you." she picked up the bag and pulled out the two boxes within. "what are these for?"

"i just felt like it."

sujin pulled out the matching necklaces and her jaw dropped. "how much were these?"

"the next few months of my allowance," sumin laughed and plucked one of the necklaces out of her twin's fingers.

sujin grinned at the pendent and set it down on her nightstand to continue packing for the trip. "i already pulled out some clothes you might want to take, it's in your room."

"have i ever told you that you're my favorite sibling?"

"i'm your only sibling," sujin threw the things on her bed at her until sumin laid on the ground surrounded by pillows and pairs of socks. "go pack before i turn myself into an only child."

sumin laughed and threw the pillows back onto the bed, "alright, i'm going!"