ʙᴀʀʀɪᴇʀꜱ ❖ ᴋɪᴍ ᴊᴜɴɢᴡᴏᴏ

❖ ꜰɪᴠᴇ ❖

Standing up, she looked at her surroundings one more time before descending the ladder.

She had concluded that Jungwoo had ditched her for probably someone who enjoyed his cute personality.

Wait, what?

He's not cute Aera wtf? She internally slapped herself.

Ugh, she needed to get away from him as soon as possible.

Luckily, he seemed to have decided to leave her first.

Maybe nearly dying shook him up.

Nevertheless, she was glad he decided to find new friends.

He had passed so many of Aera's barriers so easily, it scared her.

In fact, it terrified, horrified and frightened Aera to the very core.

No one, not even him, had managed to pass through the first, strongest barrier so quickly, It was the one that no one had crossed in years. But somehow, he already seemed halfway through.

Aera was desperately trying to rebuild that barrier again, but she feared he was breaking it down faster than she could rebuild it.

---❖---

Aera walked down the corridors, already over the first day of school.

She decided to leave.

Plugging in her earphones, she looked at the song that was playing.

Highway To Heaven. 

She had paused it earlier when Jungwoo saw the title.

God, Aera, stop thinking about him! she mentally chastised herself yet again.

"Jungwoo oppa!" a voice squealed.

Aera winced. Girls like that disgusted her.

Wait...Jungwoo?

She strided forward, realising the sounds were coming from around the corner.

She pressed herself behind a wall, out of sight.

"Heh... you don't have to call me oppa... you're only 2 months younger than me after all." he replied, a hint of impatience laced in his voice.

"Oppa! But I want to! You're so handsome, oppa!" she exclaimed again.

"Look, I don't want to seem rude, but I have someone waiting for me, okay? Making them wait for too long is rude too, you know?" he explained gently.

Typical Jungwoo. Ever the angel.

"No one is waiting for him. You have him all to yourself." 

It was then Aera ever so casually rounded the corner and announced, flashing the girl a smile.

"Yay! Are those snacks for me, by the way? Aren't they? They are right? Thank you so much oppa!" the girl jumped in joy, enthusiastically asking.

"W-what?" Jungwoo stuttered in confusion.

"Have fun, with let me see... Saeri." Aera remarked, leaning forward to read the girl's name tag.

Then, she strode off, boots clicking against the floor.

Jungwoo spun his head to look at the Aera's figure and again to meet Saeri's eyes. 

Then, he ripped himself away from the wretched girl and snatched his snacks out of her long nails. 

He was surprised the bag of chips didn't rip from those claws of hers. 

He sprinted towards Aera and threw himself in front of her, arms spread out as a barrier. 

Aera rolled her eyes.

"Let's not bother each other, okay? Someone clearly wants to be your friend more than I do. Be hers." 

"What happened? I thought we were getting closer? Is it because I took too long in the toilet? If it is, i'm so sorry, I went to buy these snacks and they were meant to be a surprise so you can see why I couldn't tell you-" Jungwoo rambled, in a panic.

He held up his snacks, pressing them into Aera's hands.

"Here. These are for you." 

Aera scoffed.

"Bam!" a bag of chips exploded loudly as she stepped on it with her feet.

He gasped at the sound, staring at Aera in horror.

"Pretty boy, I told you to get lost. Trust me, you wouldn't want me to beat you up. That-" Aera chuckled. 

"would not be a pretty sight. So, leave while you can, and I'll do you the favour of forgetting your existence."

With that, she left a crestfallen boy in her dust.

Good riddance.