Anatomy | Nichojoo

'two

The bus was shaking roughly. The sky turned completely dark, with grey clouds drifting around. It started with a small drizzle and turned into a downpour. The air outside condensed upon the bus windows, making it hard to identify anything outside. The number of passengers decreased each bus stop passed, and eventually only him and the red haired boy remained.

Euijoo sat in the back row of the bus, next to the window. Blasting music through his headphones. The vibe was immaculate. The cooling weather was perfect for him. However, the only unsettling thing was the red haired boy sitting in front of him. The tension in the air was dense, had Euijoo been caught looking at him.

"Why's he not getting off yet? Does he live near me?" Was what's bothering Euijoo the whole bus ride. And as he had guessed, the red haired boy followed Euijoo off the bus.

Euijoo walked briskly, to avoid any unnecessary interaction. Fortunately for him, they parted ways at the traffic junction right by his house.

-

Upon his silent arrival home, Euijoo entered his quiet home as carefully as not to accidentally disturbing anyone's slumber. However, right when Euijoo had successfully made it pass the living room, his mother walked out of her room and stared at Euijoo.

"Why are you home so late? What were you doing huh?! You went out with your friends right! You went to goof off right?! Huh?! You think I don't kno-" His mom was furious, but before she could make further conclusions, Euijoo interrupted her. "Mom, I had to stay in school to complete my project and I missed my bus, please believe me!"

"No! I had enough with you! Get out!" Euijoo noticed his mom was in a drunken state. Her cheeks were flushed red and her breath smelled like alcohol. "Mom, are you drunk?! You want me to go outside when it's raini-" Yet, he was interrupted. " No, I'm not drunk! I'm sober!" His mother seemed determined to kick him out, sober or not.

Her index finger pointed at the door, hands shaking from anger, her face flushed red. Euijoo sighed and walked towards his mother, hopefully succeed in making her go back to sleep.

Instead, his face was met with a tight slap, catching Euijoo off guard. He held his cheek and looked at his mother, "Mom what was that for?!" Mother didn't reply and dragged him to the door by his ear.

"Mom stop! What are you doing?!" Euijoo winced in pain and was eventually thrown out of the house. The door slammed on his face before he could even negotiate any further.

Haneul accepted his fate and sat on the porch. The rain was slowly fading but the temperature was close to 15°C. Each inhale froze his lungs, each exhale condensed the surrounding air. Fortunately, Euijoo was dressed in a thick layer of clothing.

*growl* Euijoo jolted in surprise, he didn't notice that the sound came from his tummy.

"Guess I'm hungry.... I'll go to the convenience store down the road..." Euijoo pulled himself up from the porch and strolled towards the convenience store.

-

Euijoo walked along the path near the convenience store, with his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. His face was slightly red from the prickly coldness in the air and had the occasional sniffles.

The bright neon sign at the convenience store catches everyone's eye, especially at night. The street lamps were dimmer than usual, but still illuminates the paths.

Euijoo had his head down, staring at his shadow. He hadn't noticed someone was walking behind him, wanting to overtake, which resulted in the person colliding into him.

"Tsk" An unknown voice caught Euijoo's attention as he realised he had accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh I'm sorr...!" As Euijoo raised his head, he halted his speech once he recognised that bright red hair.

Euijoo grew silent as he made eye contact with the guy. The intense stare set upon Euijoo frightened him, making him almost paralyzed, rooted at his place for a hot minute.

Euijoo looked down, right where his gaze met the abdomen of the other. His eyes rested upon the outline of the guy's toned abs, mesmerized by the beauty of it's shape.

"Watch where you're going next time." The guy said in a fierce tone, which made Euijoo snap back to reality. The red-haired turned away and continued walking, towards the convenience store.

"Uh...S-so sorry!!" Euijoo bowed a few times before making his way towards the convenience store too.

-

"Well, this is awkward..." Euijoo thought as he found himself scanning through the same aisle as the red-haired guy. "I should avoid him..." Euijoo reminded himself. He walked to the other side of the store.

Ramen noodles, instant teokkbokki, and a can of Sprite, sat in Euijoo's basket. He looked up, above the shelves, and saw a distinct red colour object moving about.

Slowly, it inched closer to Euijoo, revealing the red-haired guy, now strolling through the aisle Euijoo was at.

As Euijoo glanced at him, a glimmer of light reflecting from the packaging in the guy's basket caught Euijoo's attention.

"Strawberry sandwich?" Unknowingly, Euijoo had said it out loud.

The red-haired halted in his footsteps, looked up and glared at Euijoo.

"Shit..." Euijoo thought, "Did I really just say that out loud?" A myriad of thoughts spiraled within Euijoo's mind, anxiety bursting through the roof.

"O-oh... Sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud" Euijoo looked at the other, nervously.

"...Do you like strawberries?" The guy questioned.

Euijoo stared at him, "Huh?" His eyes widened as he heard the guy's question, confused as to why he asked that.

"I asked whether you like strawberries" His time seemed a little more impatient than the last, which made Euijoo jolt from fear.

"Um, I don't mind eating them, but I prefer oranges!" Euijoo said with a slight smile, hoping to come off as polite as possible.

"Ok" The guy looked away and went back to shopping for items.

End of chapter