pavement ↠ kim sunwoo

seventeen

Hana stared at her breakfast blankly. They had one more country to visit and she wasn't sure if she could do it.

She tried her hardest not to give up, but it was difficult when she felt so drained and Kim Sunwoo was around.

At this point, she wasn't even sure if she should blame him.

She especially didn't want to blame him when he came to the hotel cafeteria with puffy, red eyes. "I need to go home."

"Sunwoo, that isn't possible," Mr Kang reasoned, concern in his eyes. "I can't let you do that."

"I'm going," he insisted, sniffling as he caught a breath. This was the second time Hana had seen the boy cry. "I have to, I have to-"

He repeated himself over and over, the teacher and other students looking on in disbelief.

Was Kim Sunwoo showing emotion?

Hana resonated with him a little. She had lay awake every night wishing to go home, crying the same way he did. But for some reason, she felt this was different.

"I can't send a pupil home alone," Mr Kang continued. "Maybe if you could get your parents to organise something-"

"They can't!" He shouted, his voice cracking. "Fuck, they can't."

Everyone watched as he walked away, remaining in shock.

The day trips continued without him, and Hana strangely found it not as interesting without his presence.

On her nightly walk, she found him upon an engraved bench, his hood up and his head down.

He saw her coming, he could almost feel when her presence was nearby. "Leave me alone."

"Let's go home," Hana suggested, the boy's face scrunching up. "I wanted to go home anyway. I'll sort it with my mother and ask her to organise flights."

Sunwoo scoffed, shoving his hands further into his pockets.

"Look," she started, unable to believe she was saying this. "We've not had a good trip because of each other. Let's just end it here, you're clearly upset."

"It's so easy for you, isn't it?" Sunwoo glanced up at her. "You can just call mommy to book a flight, get you out of a shitty situation. Everything is handed to you so effortlessly."

"Our parents are friends," Hana argued. "I'm sure my mother wouldn't mind."

The boy stayed silent, chewing his lip as he thought of what the right thing to do was.

"And don't worry," the girl tried to lighten the mood. "I'll ask her to book us seats at opposite ends of the plane."