piano girl (이희승) ✔️

// 6

- heeji for life

Lee Heeseung POV

I just follow her around all the time.

At this point, I'm more of her dog than Nana is.

And people know. People notice me following her around. They talk and whisper, but it goes away fast. They get used to it and assume we're dating.

It goes on for the next two months.

We only have one more month left until summer break.

"Hii, Eunji-ah!" I yell when I see her walking through the school gates. She turns around, but instead of cringing at me, she smiles.

"Hi, Heeseung." She says, patting my arm when I catch up to her.

The people around us silently gasp. I know what they're thinking:

Hwang Eunji has never pat my arm before. Let alone touch me.

I return the smile. "You're in a good mood."

"Well, Hyunjin finally scored a date with Felix. So I'm really happy for him."

I grin. "Really? That's great!"

"And he's thriving in Stray Kids, so that's cool too. Apparently, Minho-oppa is a big tease when it comes to HyunLix."

"That's great!" I repeat, and she bobs her head up and down.

I look down at her. Everytime I look at her, I want to hug her. Hold her. 

Kiss her.

But she'd kill me. She'd most likely burst into tears or scream or all three.

So... we'll just stick to hugging. In a few months, if I'm lucky.

"Heeseung, please don't stare at me like that." Eunji says, snapping me out of my phase of staring at her beautiful frame.

"Sorry." I say, and she shrugs.

"Why do you stare at me, anyways?" She asks as we walk to our Physical Education class. "I mean, like, no offense. Ew, that sounded offensive. Sorry."

"Because you're so pretty." I say, then slap myself. Shit.

Eunji's quiet for a second, then she laughs. "Aw, you really think so? That's so sweet. Thank you!" With Nana in her left arm, she hugs me with her right.

I freeze, and she circles around and looks up at me.

Damn, this 5'7" girl.

"Y-you must be in a really good mood, Eunji." I stutter, and she nods.

"I'm just feeling really comfortable around you, Heeseung." She says, and runs off to the girl's changing room.

I stand there for a few seconds, before wrapping my arms around the place where she hugged me.

It wasn't even a hug. She just wrapped her arm around mine.

Damn, this 5'7" girl.

Hwang Eunji POV

"I saw you hug him, Eunji. Admit it." Miyeong says, holding Nana for me as I change clothes.

"Not saying anything."

"C'mon, Eunji!" She complains, and I shrug. She nearly drops Nana, and she hisses. "Sorry, Nana." Mi says, and kisses Nana's head. "Anyways, you did! You did hug Lee Heeseung! Why? You have a crush on him?"

"No, Miyeong. You have to stop pushing that." I slide my gym shirt over my head and take back Nana as Mi changes as well.

"Well, sorry." She says, her heart hoop earrings barely missing the fridge of her shirt. "I'm just saying! When you're around him, you're so different."

"You mean cringing my head off and not enjoying being around him?"

"No- I mean, you used to. It's just, these past few months, you've been... hm, how do I put this? You've been acting like he's your boyfriend. And it's adorable." Miyeong says as she finishes changing. "You know what people are saying?"

I pet Nana's ears. "What? It better not be bad."

She shakes her head. "Nah, definitely not. You would know if you payed attention."

"Just tell me!" I roll my eyes.

"Well, literally everyone is saying 'HeeJin for life' or 'I LOVE HEEJIN!'" She says, going overboard with the last one. I scrunch my nose.

"We're not dating." I say, quickly before walking out of the changing room.

"Yet!" Miyeong adds, and I back kick her. "Ow! Okay, damn!"

Physical Education's over, finally.

I hate sports.

I spot Heeseung, walking across the wide courtyard and about to round a corner. I decide to catch up with him, and start sprinting like I'm running a mile.

"Heeseung-ie!" I yell, dropping all formalities. He turns around with a smile and I cover my mouth. "I- I'm so sorry, oppa." I put Nana down and bow.

He laughs and pats my shoulder. For once, I don't shiver at his touch. "Don't worry about it, Eunji. We've been friends for a while now, we can talk freely."

I exhale, then realize another thing. "That's the first time I've yelled in a long time."

Heeseung gasps, and then hugs me. "What? That's great!"

I freeze as he hugs me.

He's never touched me without my permission.

He breaks apart the hug, leaning over me, Nana barking at our feet, then gasps again. "Wait, I'm sorry! I didn't mean- I didn't mean to hug you without your permission, I'm sorry."

This time, I laugh. "It's fine. I liked it." I open my arms again and let him in for another hug.

"I saw you hugging Heeseung." Hyunjin says as we walk home together. He spent so much time after school for his dance practice, he looked exhausted. Felix had to sling him onto my shoulders just to get him out of the building.

"Yeah?" I ask as we walk to our front door.

"Mhm." He hums. "You must really like him."

"I don't!" I scoff.

"Well, he really likes you." He responds, and I roll my eyes.

"Shut up. We're just friends." I say.

Hyunjin smiles at me and gestures to the front door. I look at him suspiciously, and with my hand (holding Nana's leash), I grip the doorknob.

"Just do it. It's not bad." Hyunjin comforts, and I turn it open.

I gasp.

"He had it sent here-"

I let go of Nana and Hyunjin.

"This morning. Mom and Dad really liked-"

I walk towards it cautiously. I feel it's edges.

"He says he hopes you like it."

I sit down on the bench. I rub my hands back and forth.

"It's from Heeseung." I whisper, tears springing to my eyes.

It's my own grand piano.

        ____________