under your umbrella.

15

"here." yohan hands me the canned soft drink he just opened.

"thanks." i simply says, taking it from his hand as i gulp half the content inside. only god knows how exhausting it is to spend a day at the amusement park, especially with a guy who drives your heart and body insane by just dragging you here in there. now that we're done trying almost all the rides, we made it out there alive and choose to go to a nearby convenience store to charge our body with energy before making our journey back home.

right, my bicycle! i really forgot about that. mom's not gonna like it if i come home without it. 

"i just remember, i gotta go back to school. my bicycle is still there." i turn to yohan, who's busy munching his potato chips.

he nods, "i'll accompany you. i'm sure your house is on my way home."

"you really don't have to. my house isn't anywhere you think is around the corner." as much as it is a good idea, i don't want to burden him anymore. he's already done more than enough for me today.

yohan shakes his head, "no, i insist. i dragged you far until here, i must do it till you reach home safely."

what did i do to deserve him? "if you insist then."

"by the way, where do you actually live? i heard it's in a luxurious neighbourhood." he asks before further stuffing his mouth with snacks. sure, 'luxurious' is the perfect term. anyone who doesn't live there would call that in the first glance. truthfully, they're just posh ignorant snobs' houses. hell, i'm one to talk! i'm a daughter to one.

i purse my lips before fully explaining in detail of the location, "it's pretty far from where you live. not so far from school though. you know that elementary school by the junction a few kilometers away from our school? you take a right, go straight and if you see the tall bushes, there's the entrance to my neighbourhood."

"oh, that route? my younger sisters go to that elementary school. no wonder i passed by you while i was on the way to school the other day. the day you suddenly stopped to give me a ride." he excitedly tells me. what a coincidence, huh? "i was on my way after sending my sisters to school that time. i guess we'll meet each other every morning often, right?"

i lift both of my shoulder, contemplating whether to agree or not to his question, "you can if you caught on my schedule. i'm always early, at least most of the time."

"right, you must have a system. a diligent student like you wouldn't make it to the top if it wasn't for a schedule." how highly he thought of me, whose eyes couldn't see those compliments said about me in myself. do i really leave him such impression? or i'm just too hard on myself to accept everything nice he has to say?

to me, those said "schedules" are hefty and bothersome. it makes me couldn't fit in well because most people would see each other the first thing in the morning. i wouldn't be able to, considering i'm early and everybody else's arrival are around the same minute. not that no one ever greets me, i'm just good at making myself invisible since the moment i walk in.

it is a me issue. yohan isn't so much of a social butterfly as well - considering he said i'm his only female friend - but he still shines. naturally, his looks play the main role for his popularity but the fact that he's a national taekwondo athlete makes him a god in the other students' eyes. even to teachers, he's helpful and actively shown his selflessness. 

while me? i look decent, at least i try to be. i've never been told i'm pretty by anyone other than yeoreum or my dad. yet, it is a lie if i say i've never been confessed to by anyone adequate. that's enough to make me feel good about how i look, right?

but it wasn't yohan who said it. what matters to me is how yohan think of me. who cares if the entire school fancy me but he doesn't? nonetheless, i couldn't just shamelessly ask "how do i look?" to him even if he considers us friends. it's normal, but wouldn't it ring an alarm to him? he's oblivious but- haerin, you're helpless! just ask him, he's literally sitting next to you!