EGOIST (Sang Woo x Fem!OC) [COMPLETED]

16

"Sang-Woo!"

Hae Young finally arrives at the bus shed, though twenty minutes later than what they both had planned. Sang-Woo rises from the seat.

"You took your time." He greets her.

"Cut me some slack, it's our final output for the semester." She tells him, though he didn't have to doubt it. Somehow she looks more and more worn out each time they meet, though it was still such a sight to see her once again, gracing him with her presence with a smile.

"Well, are you ready or what?"

"Alright, where to?" He asks her.

"Anywhere." She tells him.

He nods, heading North from the bus stop, walking side by side at a routine pace. This is how their evening ritual goes. Nightly walks around campus, revisiting his alma mater after work. Besides, Yeouido was closer to Gwanak-gu than Ssangmun-dong, so visiting her was a lot easier now. But since his graduation, he couldn't help but feel as if something was missing in his day to day. He often found himself busy with workloads, and so did Hae Young, that their nightly walks around campus was merely a treat for the week. It was the accessibility he misses, he reckoned, and more spare time. Everything was a lot more different now that she's in the workforce.

"You're finally graduating." He tells Hae Young, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled over them while he was away in his thoughts.

"Don't put it like that, you make it sound like you're years ahead of me."

He smiles even wider.

"Hey, you just graduated last year and it still felt like yesterday! When you were drunk and all, and--"

"--Okay, let's not go there." He stops her.

She smiles. She knew how much that story irked him.

"So what are your plans after university?"

"A publishing company hired me actually." She bites her lip in excitement. Sang-Woo stops in his tracks, staring at her in shock.

"Really?"

Hae Young nods.

"Well, that's great!" He smiles, genuinely surprised and happy for her. "That's-- congratulations."

She giggles. "Thanks."

"And how are you doing Mr. Corporate-Man, huh?" She teases. "I couldn't help but notice your new glasses along with your sharp suit as well."

He bashfully looks away, hiding his hands in his pockets.

"It's nothing special." He says bashfully. "It's the same old thing everyday, nine-to-five. Honestly it gets kind of boring."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He shrugs. "But it pays, I guess. It brings food to the table and eomma is pretty happy so..."

Hae Young just nods.

"Oh-- and how's Gi-Hun?"

Hesitance falls over their atmosphere, or perhaps it was pity. At the time when the two were at their peaks, Gi-Hun wasn't doing very well.

"He's holding up." Sang-Woo tells her, though it was a lot more sugar-coated than what was true.

He recounts the sequence of his downfall; the divorce, the car company, Ga Yeong, and the death of a coworker. Since then, they hadn't seen their friend much.

"Is he still gambling?" She asks him.

"Honestly... We try to stop him, but--Well, it's Seong Gi-Hun."

"Okay, look--" Sang-Woo sighs. "No more talks about Gi-Hun, your work, or my work tonight, okay? We came here to clear our minds."

"Right." Hae Young tells him. But what else is there to talk about?

Just silence, she guessed, when up until that point there was nothing else to share. Just silence.

"Honestly, though." Hae Young sighs. "I will miss this place once I go."

Sang-Woo smiles at the sentiment, because that is exactly how he feels when he walks around the campus with her. Or maybe it's just Hae Young he misses. The late night walks and spontaneous trips to the convenience store; coffee shop dates and staying up to finish their papers. But now it's all reduced to this, but to Sang-woo it was enough.

He also wonders what it would have been like if they had met sooner, maybe they would have had more time to spend together, more stories to tell, to know her through and through like the back of his hand, her memories engraved into his heart. But looking at her now, at the serenity of the February air, he couldn't complain. It wasn't as he wished, but he was getting there. With every stroke of memories with her he cherished, one by one, cut deep into his heart.

"I'm going to miss working in that coffee shop, too." She turns to him with a sentimental smile.

"But tell me, Sang-Woo. Who makes better coffee? Me or that inexperienced barista in your building?"

He just chuckles.

"What? When you bought me coffee from that place, it was horrid!"

"It wasn't that bad."

"Are you replacing me with some other barista now?" She teases.

"No!"

"So tell me, tell me!" She pokes, literally poking at the spots he was ticklish at. "Who makes better coffee?"

"Okay, okay, it's you!" He laughs, begging her to stop. "It's you, okay? Now stop--"

He gently grabs hold of both her hands, stopping her, but also pulling her in close as he grips them. It was sudden, in one whimsical motion, that none of them could really comprehend what had just happened. Though it was Sang-woo who was frozen in place when, in the emptiness of the street, the two stood chest-to-chest. His breath hitches at their closeness. Hae Young just smiles, speaking softly,

"I can see your breath." She chuckles softly. "Are you cold?"

Suddenly, Sang-Woo was just unable to respond.

"Your hands are cold." Her expression then turns into mild concern. In his grip, she wriggles her fingers so that their palms touch. She felt his hands and they were, in fact, ice cold.

"Did you not bring a coat?" She knits her brows together.

"I--no." He manages to stutter out. "It's not that cold out."

"It's the middle of February." She points out.

His face flushes, either from her touch or from the cold. A lump in his throat forms as Hae Young notices his redness.

"Here, let me--" She brings his hands together, cupping her warmer hands around his, rubbing them to insulate heat. And without warning, brings them close to her lips as she exhales.

His cheeks glow an even brighter color.

"There. Better?" She asks him, and he just nods in awe. Though she doesn't let go of his hand just yet as they begin walking. Gently, she takes his left hand with her right and puts them in her coat pocket.

"W-What are you doing?" He stammers.

"So your hand won't get cold while we walk." She tells him. "And if your other hand gets cold, we can switch, alright?."

He doesn't even protest, instead he leaves his hand in her pocket, stiff and cold. And as they walk their usual route, all the while Hae Young never let go. There was a soft lift from the corner of his lips suppressing every power he had. Instinctively, though Hae Young doesn't even realize it, his hands turned to wrap around hers. He was getting there.