𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 ━━━ 엔하이픈

25. heartbeats

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Jake's POV

I watched my old grandfather's grave as it stayed still. Two years. It's been two years since he left me. The guy who was my moral support at each step. After him, the girl who I had once loved the most had also left me. It was always the same. The people I loved the most, they all left me alone in this cruel world. And I had to spend the saddest days all alone mourning. Today was one such day. The day my grandfather died.

It started raining and I had no umbrella with me. But I didn't mind getting wet today. I needed it. I needed it to hide my tears. As someone who never wanted to disturb others by my own issues, these days go very hard on me. I walked down the empty road as everyone rushed towards the bus. I sat at the waiting area as the rain got hindered by the shelter. I cried slowly hoping no one would figure it out.

My phone rang as I noticed Sunghoon's name on the caller id. The guy knew it all and he was worried. But he stopped calling after a while. Sunghoon also knew I wanted to be completely alone on these days so he would stay very quiet. The rain drops, it got heavier. Like my heart. The wound was still fresh. Losing your loved ones felt terrible.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't notice a familiar person run under the roof as well to hide from the rain. She sat beside and eyed me for a while. "Jake?" The girl asked surprised as I looked at her. Aera. Staring at her for a while, I realised how drenched she was as well like me. "Wow what are you doing here- wait." She caught me off guard as her voice slowed down. "Jake are you crying?" The girl softly said in worry as I quickly looked away.

"No." I coldly said standing up, about to walk under the rain again but the girl held my hand. "Hey what's wrong?" She came closer staring at me but I just kept quiet. "Jake are you okay?" Aera cupped my cheeks as I felt even more emotional now. I couldn't hold it any longer. Slowly shaking my head, I gazed down with teary eyes. "Everything's going to be fine okay." Aera immediately pulled me into a tight hug as I hugged her back. I needed it. I needed comfort right now. Sobbing softly, I didn't let go off her and felt her softly pat my back.

"I lost so many of my loved ones. It hurts so much Aera. I miss them a lot." The shorter person didn't say anything for a while until she broke the hug. "People come and go Jake. We can't depend on someone. You lost many. You'll get many more loved ones in the future. Don't give up. Never." She tried making me understand and wiped my tears away as I slowly nodded sniffling. "Now who's being a crybaby?" She teased making me laugh slightly. I hugged her once again loving the warm feeling she was giving me on this cold day.

If only she knew how much she meant to me. How important her existence was for me.

-

Aera's POV

are you home now?

I texted Jake before ringing the doorbell to Jay's house. The guys decided to have a small sleepover so I decided to tag along. But I was worried about Jake. He seemed extremely devastated. I stayed around him for a while trying to keep him calm but I was still worried. The guy made me want to protect him at all cost. His quiet behavior never revealed how he actually felt so seeing him cry made my inner self panick.

Yeah I'm home.

I sighed in relief at his reply as the door opened. "Ayo Choi Aera. Aera the bulldog." Jay sounded drunk. I disgustedly eyed him and frowned at the nickname he newly gave me. "Bulldog? What even. Are you high?" He let me enter as I saw his mansion like house. Sunoo and Heeseung were playing a video game as I noticed the food and fun props all around the table. "He ate too mumy sweets. Don't mind him." Heeseung said out as I chuckled.

"I won!" Heeseung exclaimed happily as I laughed slightly seeing Sunoo and the said guy fight over a game. Jay cleared his voice and looked at us in a sassy manner. "Guys. We need to do this." He pointed at something as my eyes widened. No way. "Karaoke night!" The guy raised his hands cheering as I nodded in agreement.

-

We all laid down on Jay's huge sofas as the owner sang a very melancholic song. Jay was very emo today and his mood swings were out of the world. "Gosh Jay Hyung this song is making me feel sleepy." Sunoo yawned lazily closing his eyes. "Yeah this is boring." Jay stopped singing and threw the mic away as the guy came towards us getting under the blanket and started clapping violently. "Wake up! Don't sleep dumbasses!" Getting annoyed, I threw a pillow at him but he just pulled my hands making me get up. "What do you want? Let me sleeppp."

All of us now sat up in a circle on the floor. "It's time for juice." Heeseung excitedly said out as Jay agreed smiling mischievously. "What do you mean?" I was new to all these so I had no idea about anything. "We will ask the person beside us a question and they will have to spill the real tea. This is a rule. We can't lie." Sunoo explained as Jay proudly hummed along.

"First question- Park Jay." Sunoo looked at the host as he seemed more than prepared. "Tell me the truth. The senior you liked since last year, you confessed to her, didn't you?" Jay's face dropped as he pouted slightly and nodded. "You got rejected?" Jay again pouted as I aw-ed feeling bad for him. "She said I was too young for her. What even is this crap? I'm literally a year younger than her only."

We all laughed and it was now Sunoo's turn and I was supposed to ask him. "Are you dating the girl who said she liked you on camp?" Sunoo tried hiding his smile but badly failed. "Well nothing's official yet okay." Sucks. I patted the guy's back and nodded. It was my turn and Heeseung seemed all ready to ask the question. "Jake or Sunghoon?" My smile disappeared hearing it as I looked down biting my lips. "Come on Aera. You must have someone you like more." Jay commented as the others agreed.

"Maybe I do have someone I like more."

I could literally feel them all going crazy. Their shocked faces said it all. "Who is it?" Heeseung curiously asked as I looked at him feeling my cheeks go a bit red.

"It's...."
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Sunghoon's POV

It was now a free period as I took out my book trying to do my homework. Everyone was either playing around or busy with their friends. Looking ahead a small smile appeared on my face as I saw Choi Aera rub the board. She struggled to rub the upper parts due to her not so tall self making me leave a chuckle. I walked towards her and swiftly grabbed the duster wiping the upper part of the board.

The girl froze at my action as she stayed like that for a while. After that, Aera slowly turned around as I noticed how close we were to each other. My heart was beating immensely fast as the two of us had a long eye contact. The smell of her beautifully shampooed hair reached my nose and her close ups made me go crazy over her all over again.

I noticed how Aera's cheeks slowly turned red as she bit her lips looking down. "Uhhm." One of the classmates cleared her throat as I quickly came back to reality and moved away from her. Aera pushed back her hair and immediately ran out of the classroom as I breathed rapidly trying to calm my heartbeats.

Little did I know, the girl's heart was also beating faster than ever.

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I wonder who Aera likes hmmmmmm 🤔🧘‍♀️🥰