our delicate string | 최범규

4: yellow hue.

[ 🪷 ]

THE BOY LOOKED around, as he waited for the girl outside of the noodle restaurant. he had already eaten dinner, however, he assumed Aera had not. he could tell from her sobs over the phone that she hadn't been feeling well. he wondered what happened, but didn't want to bombard her space at all.

he truly wanted to be her friend. she seemed really sweet and actually, kind of funny. he hadn't had many friends-well he has friends but only four close friends, Yeonjun, Hueningkai, Soobin and Taehyun. however, due to the holiday, they were traveling to meet family.

"Beomgyu, are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Yeonjun asked as they were sitting at the picnic bench of their school a few days before holiday break. "we have extra room in the car, i'll need company while talking to my extended family. it's so awkward when i haven't seen them in months."

"i'm sure, you need to go meet up your family, reconnect-it's always good to do that." he smiled. "plus, Hueningkai is bringing me back souvenirs, right?" he nudged the other boy's shoulder.

"yeah, yeah, whatever." he jokingly rolled his eyes. "but, Yeonjun's right. i think you should somehow find a way to enjoy this holiday, even if you aren't traveling. you don't need to travel to have fun." he smiled.

"you're not getting rid of me though." Soobin joked, since he wasn't traveling for the holiday and was planning on staying with his immediate family. "but i know my mom is going to try to spend a lot of time with us since we always say we're busy with school and stuff." he stuck out his pinkie. "you better promise to hang out with me over these two weeks though."

Beomgyu laughed. "you'll have Taehyun too!" he smiled.

"i'm traveling for the first half!" the black haired boy objected. "i need a break from Soobin." he yawned jokingly, receiving a shove on the shoulder from the boy.

"well, trust, we will be blowing up the group chat, travelling or not." Hueningkai said, and all the boys agreed.

Beomgyu jumped from his memory as the girl soon appeared in front of his eyes, smiling. "hope i didn't keep you waiting for too long." she laughed, walking inside.

he chuckled and soon followed in.

[ 🪷 ]

"so," Beomgyu began, as they waited for their food that they ordered to arrive. they sat down across from each other, a small, glass vase of orchids dead set in the middle of the two of them. "tell me about yourself." he took a drink of water from his cup.

"what?" Aera exclaimed. "why me first?"

"because i asked first."

she rolled her eyes and took a drink of water. what was she supposed to say?

i got dumped by the guy who i thought was the love of my life today, the only thing i'm good at is piano and i stay up for hours playing it, like i'm trying to prove something and i have a string attached to my finger to a random stranger i met less than 24 hours ago?

"what were you doing before you met me today?" Beomgyu asked. "let's start there."

"hmm." she hummed, taking a sip of her water on the table. the waitress came over, an older woman, who presumably ran the entire restaurant. she smiled big at the two of them and took their orders. "noodles for both of you?"

"yes please." Beomgyu smiled.

"is it your first time here?" the old woman smiled, taking the menus and tucking them under her arm.