✓LOVER BOY | hwang hyunjin

19. Run Away

The sun oozed a glowing day on the earth. Jeongin and Yeseul walked down the pavement, Jeongin rushing his hands over the bordering evergreens leaning over the pickets. He was clueless of how the girl beside him kept taking deep breaths, her heart close to jumping in her mouth.

"Shit. I think we should go back home." Yeseul held her arms close, her face morphing in pale anxiousness.

"Don't mess with me. We're two houses away." He scoffed, not sparing a glance to her.

"Two?" Yeseul choked, her ears drowning in static. "I might throw up."

Jeongin flinched away, his concerned gaze stuck over Yeseul, finally. "Uh... You do look like you'll empty your guts any minute."

"You're seeing it now?"

"Why? You were so excited to meet Hyunjin. Getting up at 6 and claiming to do hot girl shit, or something."

Jeongin stopped, quickly facing the girl, holding her still. His eyes slowly grew wide, the lips hooking up in deep grooves of pure bliss. "Shut up."

"What?"

"Something happened." He leaned closer, a teasing grin on his face. Yeseul scoffed, looking away at the blinding sky. "Tell me."

"No." Yeseul clicked her tongue. Turning back at him, she pushed his head away with her index finger. "You own the biggest mouth, and I don't trust you with secrets."

"You lost your... thing. Eh?" He innocently tilted his head, stubborn on decoding Yeseul's anxiousness.

"What in the world? Aren't you like twelve?"

"I'll keep making worse assumptions if you give me those empty responses." Jeongin rolled his eyes. Yeseul almost throttled him.

"Sassy hoe."

"Hyunjin's secret fan."

"Listen here, boy. We're in the red zone right now. We need to get away before I start oversharing." Yeseul grabbed Jeongin, her fingers intentionally tight on his wrist.

"Gentle, will you?"

"I'm not your mother."

"I'm not your kidnapping victim."

"I didn't say you weren't."

"I don't understand your humour."

"Because I'm elite." She pulled the sulking boy closer, smiling at his frown.

They turned at a corner, the evergreens now replaced by deeply blooming carnations. The air was scented, and Yeseul breathed in deeply, hoping to ease the tight nerves of her chest. Her hand slowly let go of Jeongin. "You are in for a surprise."

"Huh?"

"To be honest, I decided to meet Hyunjin because I still felt like all of it... was a dream."

"I'm lost, but go on." Jeongin matched the pace of the girl. Sighing at the sight of Yeseul. Her eyes felt like they had been curtained up in another walking dream.

"I couldn't even tell Sam about it. He's my online friend. And I feel guilty at times to keep everything so suppressed inside me."

"Huh. Funny thing is that Hyunjin's nickname is Sam. But you don't have to feel guilty. Take your time. Sometimes we need to hold some things, and keep them to ourselves. Don't hurry up. You might feel bad for sharing stuff later."

Yeseul gave him a soft smile. Sighing in the distant scene of what met their eye. She looked down, kicking at a stray pebble.

"If I come face to face with him, I won't know what to do."

"I'm sure he doesn't know what to do either."

"Yeah?" Yeseul chuckled. "That sort of is nice to hear. Makes me less stressful."

"Yeah, because he's literally squinting his eyes at us." Jeongin swallowed hard. Yeseul still didn't look up.

"I can imagine him doing that."

"He's doing it. Right. Now."

"Weird. Are you somehow spying on him telepathically?" Yeseul looked up. Her feet freezing in the ground. "Shit."

"What plan B?"

"Screw this. Run." Yeseul turned on her heels, face ablaze from the boy's gaze. She ran, Jeongin rushing behind.

"I feel like a loser! This is not a good escape plan."

"Jeongin! Shut up and run." They turned at the corner, feet not stopping, although Yeseul slowly forgot the count of them passing by the strange houses.

"He's probably tailing us. Let's give up." Jeongin heaved, his rush dying out. He leaned down, hands on his wobbly knees. "I can't- I can't do this."

"Bro!? Don't give up at this moment! He'll find us." Yeseul frantically looked around, the street unusually silenced.

"I don't even know the whole of story. Why should I run?"

"Nice point." Yeseul looked up at the wall they were hiding behind. It was a good six feet tall. "Get up here."

"Huh?"

Yeseul's ears picked up nearing footsteps. She cursed, pulling Jeongin up, and forcing him to climb the wall. He looked deeply troubled by the idea, but having no other options, he jumped up, struggling to reach the top. "Give me a hand now."

Jeongin leaned down to pull the girl up. "You're heavy." He grunted, breathing out as Yeseul found her balance once she was up.

"Oh shit." Yeseul looked at Hyunjin's visible head over the wall. "Tell me why the hell is that dude heading towards us?"

Jeongin tried climbing down into the garden, but his jacket got caught in a nail. He tried pulling it,but giving up he asked the girl for help.

"You're an inconvenience."

She tried pushing the jacket out of the hold, but Jeongin slipped, his weight dragging the girl along. They both fell on the turf with a loud thud. Jeongin hissed, pushing Yeseul away from him. "Oh no, oh no."

"What? What!?"

"I'm bleeding!"

"Are you being serious? That's a scratch." Yeseul kicked Jeongin's leg away.

"Anyway. This calls for a celebratory dance. We got rid of Hyunjin." Yeseul pumped her arms in the air, a wide smile overtaking her face. "I saved us from lots of trouble."

"Sure." Jeongin sighed.

"Rudeass."

"Guys...?" A new voice called out.

"Good job, Yeseul. You dropped us like an Amazon package in Hyunjin's house. Bezos will hire you instantly." Jeongin patted the girl on her shoulder, limping away towards the confused boy.

Yeseul slowly turned around, her eyes meeting Hyunjin's. They both stayed still with barely any words hanging in their head. The sky bled warmth. And they thought of the kiss.