Gold | Park Sunghoon

7.5

On a completely different day – lunch time.

It was a normal day for Jangmi today: same fans and admirers, same classes, same training later, and same Sunoo asking her to pick the best selfie for his fans. She was sure that it wasn't going to last for the whole day—like all her days. There would always be a twist somewhere in the middle of the day that would either result in something positive or negative. When her and her best friend got to the lunch table, the twist was right beside her.

It was Heeseung acting strange.

"Oppa, is something wrong?" Jangmi looked up from her the homework she just finished to see the older boy spacing out and staring blankly at the wall. For a person who was always loud and moving, he seemed to quiet and still. She found it a little unsettling. After trying to call his attention for the last five minutes, he finally broke out of his strong gaze and looked at the younger girl calling him. He looked confused as a thought seemed to be swirling in his head. "Are you okay?" She asked him with concern written in her features.

Heeseung was the type of person who always seemed fine. He was always happy and laughing with his friends. Always on the move no matter what—to the point where no one saw his moments of stillness. The younger girl wondered if the way he's been acting today was normal, or if something was bothering him.

"Yeah, I'm okay I guess," Heeseung said softly, quite unsure of his own answer. He placed his chin in the palm of his hand and leaned his elbow on the table, gaze still fixed on Jangmi. "Are you worried about me?" he asked, no mischievousness laced in his voice whatsoever.

Jangmi frowned at the question. "Why wouldn't I be concerned? You're my friend, right?" she told him with a slight pout on her lips. Although he ruffled her hair nonchalantly and smiled, he couldn't deny the fact that he felt a little heartbroken. Did she really just call him a friend? That was the last thing he wanted to be. He cleared his throat before speaking again.

"I-I mean of course we're friends!" The fake enthusiasm and stutter didn't go unnoticed by Jangmi, who was starting to look sad.

"What's wrong, oppa?" She asked him. Heeseung just blinked at her in confusion. He wasn't one to open to others so quickly. He even took a while to open up to his own friends. The older boy just didn't feel so comfortable being vulnerable and open; so, he always kept things to himself. The older boy has always been like that before Jangmi appeared. He couldn't deny that she had an aura of comfort around her. It made him want to lower his guard around her, for her.

And that was exactly what he did.

"The dance team will be performing in the next school assemblies. When I watch the performances, they just don't feel ready," he told her quietly. The people around him were also part of the dance team and he didn't want them to get the wrong impression. They were good, yes, but he felt like they could do way better. "Not that they're bad, I've just seen them do better in the past; and, it seems like they haven't reached it yet," he added to further his point.