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☁︎
that night Sunghoon and i walked home together and he told me he is a figure skater. it did come as a surprise for someone like me who had imagined Park Sunghoon in a tutu.
it's been a week since then and we even exchanged numbers only to text good night to each other every night.
earlier today, i had tried to tell Jay about Sunghoon's figure skating to watch his reaction but it was disappointing since his reply was something like, - "you didn't know?"
Sunoo even told me the reason niki and him had missed school last saturday was partly because of sunghoon's figure skating show. i only realise this later now that they have been at at school since the beginning of the second semester when Sunghoon transferred so it's obvious they knew.
"psstt! Jake, hey!" Jay whispers from behind me.
"what do you want?" i nervously turn my head while our teacher continues expanding some theorem.
"are you free this saturday?" jay asks.
"why?"
"Jungwon and i were..."
"can you guys stay shut at least during classes?" Heeseung grits his teeth from beside and you must be dumb to keep talking when Heeseung tells you to shut up.
after sometime the bell for the fourth period rings and our class breaks into loud whispers and noise of chairs screeching.
i turn around to face Jay and tell him i'm not free on saturday cause i've cram school. before i could turn back to check my schedule, the back door slides open, startling everyone.
Sunghoon's standing there, panting. he has all the attention and he scans the room until his eyes fall on me. hastily walking to me, he grabs my hand.
"borrowing your friend for a while." he winks at Heeseung and Jay and pulls me out of the classroom in a rush.
what the hell? it's the last thing i hear before we are running through the corridors. i don't know what Sunghoon has in mind and i don't ask. instead, i remove his harsh grip on my sleeves and link our arms properly as we run through the way.
when we stop, i find ourselves in the empty arts room.
"we shouldn't be here," i say breathing heavily.
"don't worry, we have phys ed, my class vs yours"
i start walking around the room where there are still paintings and sketches from our last class. i stand before a sketch i drew, a potrait with crooked teeth smiling and funny eyes staring back at me.
"is that Jay?" Sunghoon stands beside me.
"you can tell?" it's surprising cause it barely looks like him. i can only tell because i drew it myself.
he nods. "he looks really handsome in this one", he chuckles.
"why'd you bring me here?" i roll my eyes when i realise he's making fun of me.
"oh, i was wondering, um," he rubs the back of his neck nervously. "if you could come watch me at my skating competition." his eyes are looking everywhere but me.
"when is it?" i ask.
"this saturday!" his lips stretch wider than ever. how come someone who smiles at basically everything i say, is famous for being cold towards people?
"sure, i'll come." i smile back.
"is it a promise?" Sunghoon holds out his pinky finger.
"promise." i link my pinky finger with his and suddenly, everything feels different. my arm that usually feels cold when into his, feels warm suddenly, so do my ears and face. in a haze my fingers slide down Sunghoon's palm. he's still cold it's me who is running hot. he says something but i can't hear him over the loop of echoes in my own mind : i love this , i love this , i love this.
"i won't be at school tomorrow."
"what?" his words jar me out of my bubble. "why?"
"practice."
the fact that i won't see him tomorrow somehow upsets me, a lot more than it should. realising i am still holding his hand, i pull away. my face is a hot mess by now and i might as well be blushing.
i take a step away from Sunghoon. a weird, twisted emotion me has risen, i can't find words to describe. i feel exhausted all of a sudden, like there's a thousand screams in my head all at once but i can't actually put even one of them out.
Sunghoon reaches for me but i push him firmly toward the door as i stumble out of the room, still in a daze.
