born too late // chuuves

born too late

"Jiwoo!"

The loud, piercing voice of a familiar senior snapped Jiwoo out of her daydreams. She glanced up to see the lanky basketball player running towards her with a wide grin. She tried her best to grin back as usual.

"Sorry you had to wait so long; practice ran longer than I was expecting. Are you ready to head home?" Sooyoung asked, fiddling with her lanyard full of too many keys.

Jiwoo nodded as Sooyoung began enthusiastically retelling her day and how Haseul had blown up a test tube all over herself during their AP chemistry class.

She nodded along, hoping she appeared as attentive as she wished she were. Her day had been long and stressful with a lot on her mind, so much so that she wasn't able to be her usual chipper self even around her favorite person.

She couldn't help but admire the way Sooyoung's hair blew gently in the wind, or the way the afternoon sunlight hit the older girl's face, perfectly highlighting her pretty features. Jiwoo always found Sooyoung attractive, but right at this moment the only word that could be used to describe her was ethereal.

She was so beautiful, it hurt.

"Hey, Jiwoo?"

"Huh, what?" Jiwoo's head snapped up to look at Sooyoung who was staring at her in concern.

"Is everything alright? Have I been talking too much?" Sooyoung chuckled sheepishly, rubbing her nape.

Jiwoo's eyes widened as she scrambled to clarify, "NO! I mean...no, it's fine, unnie. I'm just a bit tired today, I guess."

Sooyoung hummed in acknowledgement, latching onto Jiwoo's arm much to the younger girl's surprise, "Ah, okay. Well, feel free to sleep a little on the drive home, alright? I fear you're not getting enough these days."

It's because of you, idiot. "You don't have to worry about me, unnie. I'm fine. I'm a big girl, you know?" Jiwoo made a show of flexing her non-existent biceps as Sooyoung laughed. Oh, what a sweet sound.

"Of course, I'm going to worry about you, Wooming. You'll always be my favorite little dongsaeng," Sooyoung chuckled as Jiwoo's heart clenched.

While Jiwoo knew the sediment was well-meaning, the implication hurt so much more.

「Born too late for you to notice me.」

She and Sooyoung had known each other since they were kids; their parents having been close friends and given how timid and shy she used to be (much to Jungeun's disbelief), Sooyoung had always taken the responsibility of protecting her wherever she went. She had expected it to stop after elementary school, but Sooyoung had continued to baby her throughout middle and now high school. It wasn't that Jiwoo didn't want Sooyoung's attention (if she could have it her way, Sooyoung wouldn't look at anyone else but her, but that was just a selfish delusion), she just wished it weren't this kind. Sooyoung however, being the naturally dense and oblivious person she was, never noticed Jiwoo's behavior and continued to treat her as her little dongsaeng. Jiwoo had come to the conclusion long ago that things would always be this way and that there was nothing she could do about it and had ultimately given up the hopes that Sooyoung could possibly see her as more than just a little girl she needed to care for.

「To you, I'm just a kid that you won't date.」

The cold air in the school parking lot bit at her skin, eliciting a slight shudder from the brunette. Jiwoo stared longingly at the deep red letterman jacket slung over Sooyoung's shoulder but didn't dare ask for it. She wasn't nearly bold enough to do that. Sooyoung must have noticed her shiver, though, and soon she felt the warm jacket being draped over her shoulders.