"..."
"..."
There remained a silence between the two bright red teenagers in the room. Eunbi still had her hand out for his number, with a determined yet flustered face, and Taehyun looked like he was still processing what she said.
"I'm sorry?" He tilted his head, making Eunbi gulp. "You," he pointed at her, "want MY number?" The girl glanced around, before nodding. Taehyun could feel his lips curling up, but he held back his laugh. Who knew that THE Cho Eunbi, was out asking for Kang Taehyun's number. Why, it was hilarious. Flattering, even. The fact that she was willing to throw away her pride to ask for his number was so out of the blue. But he kept his face straight. "I can't do that," He said, biting his cheek. The girl's eyebrows raised in confusion as she put her phone down.
"Why?" She inquired, as she kept eye contact. The guy looked aside.
"Why would I want to help you?" He shot back. "Like I said before, you'll just get in the way." The girl slumped her shoulders at his response. Although it stung a bit, she wasn't surprised. Don't get in my way. Eunbi rolled her eyes as she mumbled something under her breath. She stuffed her phone in her pocket before heading towards the door. "Where are you going?" He called out as he got up from the counter.
"Home." The door slammed shut with a loud thump. Taehyun sighed as he raked his finger through his hair.
"Real nice." He gritted his teeth and headed back upstairs.
...
It was a humid day out as the students were non stop talking about the trip. Questions about the camping trip flooded the room as Mr. Yang tried to answer as much as he could. The students were brimming with excitement as they shoved the permission slips onto his desk. All of a sudden, the door shut with a soft thump as a certain dark haired girl made her way to her desk.
Whispers spread throughout the classroom as Eunbi sat with a straight back, eyes half lidded as she struggled to keep her eyes open.
"Damn Eunbi, you look half dead," Haneul muttered, as she stared at her with concerned eyes. The girl gazed at her with tired eyes. Did she really look that bad?
The girl sighed as she rubbed her face with her hand, a meek attempt in waking her body up. But it was true. Her under eyes were purple and her face was ashen. Her hair looked messily combed and her uniform looked sloppy. Taehyun peeked at her above his book, before bursting into giggles. Beomgyu tried to hold in his laugh as well. Haneul looked at the two, biting her lip as they kept curling up. Eunbi threw a lethal glare at the three, before stuffing her face in her arms once more. The kids went back to talking, occasionally throwing glances at one another because of the usually uptight girl.
She had sacrificed sleep last night to focus on her reading comprehension skills. She really couldn't afford to waste this time. She really needed a tutor.
...
The rain pelted hard on the ground as the trees violently swayed from the wind. She should've gotten an umbrella. Eunbi thought to herself, standing in the shade as she watched the kids running home with bright colored umbrellas.
Taehyun watched the girl hesitate to step out into the rain from the school doors. Her face seemed to have a bit more color to it since it was mid afternoon, but her eyes looked dead. It was a bit unsettling to say the least. He glanced at his black umbrella in his clutch, before he stepped out the school doors. Before he could give her the umbrella however, someone beat him to it.
"Yeonjun?"
The boy smiled as he covered her with his umbrella. "What are you doing here?"
"My parents let me stay over for a couple weeks y'know? Let me come back to see my little cousin." Eunbi scrunched her nose as he harshly ruffled her hair.
"Ah! Stop it, stop it! You'll ruin my hair!" He laughed as they started to head home under the umbrella.
Taehyun, who stood at a distance, stared at the pair for a while, before looking back at his umbrella. He stood still for a moment, before opening the umbrella up and walking out the school grounds with an unreadable expression.
...
"So where are you staying for the week?" Eunbi asked as she lazily walked next to the tall guy. The boy pointed to a large building in the distance. They were a large apartment complex that was close to her house. Eunbi frowned. "You're not staying with us?" Yeonjun laughed as he shook his head, kicking a small pebble on the sidewalk.
"You really think I'm gonna be staying in that hell hole? Your parents are nuts." Yeonjun looked at the sheepish girl. She thought back to when Eunbi and her father got into a heated argument two years ago. Yeonjun saw for the first time as Eunbi was kicked out of the house for two days. As they reached towards the apartment, Eunbi hugged her favorite cousin bye, as the sun was starting to set. Eunbi grabbed her backpack and headed out the building. The rain calmed down a bit, but it was still a bit chilly. Her empty stomach growled. Maybe she could stop by at the nearest pizzeria. As she took a left turn, she froze as she saw someone right in front of her.
"Taehyun?"
