The Boy Next Door

disaster strikes

If I thought that Sunwoo's driving was reckless before, that was nothing.

As soon as I had told him his dad came over to Changmin's house for dinner, Sunwoo's cocky smile fell quickly. He leaped up, grabbed my wrist, and we sprinted across campus to the parking lot.

I knew there was something wrong by the way he had reacted, but there was a sort of thrill when we were running through the dark and empty hallways, his grip on my arm tight.

When we got into the car Sunwoo didn't even put his seatbelt on, he just sloppily backed out of his spot, running over a traffic cone.

"Fuck." He slammed on the breaks, jerking us both forward. "Sorry." He muttered, and then sped forward.

"It's okay," I said as he continued driving above the speed limit. "I'm sure we'll make it."

"It's not--you don't understand." He said, his eyebrows were furrowed. He seemed a completely different person.

"They can handle it," I reassured him, whatever he was talking about.

"I don't---" He suddenly glanced in his rearview mirror and the sound of a siren started coming from behind us. "Fucking god!" He groaned and pulled over on the side of the street.

"Sunwoo," I said, my eyes wide. I knew I wanted adventure, but this was too much. I had never so much as spoken to a police before.

He glanced at me, and his angry expression faded away a bit. His eyebrows softened and he said, "Don't worry, I'll handle it." the policeman knocked on his window. Sunwoo added, "Just try not to look so much like I kidnapped you."

I forced myself to relax as he unrolled his window and the policeman leaned over to speak.

"Good evening." Sunwoo said casually.

"It was good, until you made me have to do my job." The police worker said.

"Just give me the ticket." Sunwoo tapped his finger anxiously against the wheel.

"Excuse me, are you telling me what to do?" he scoffed.

"That is what you pulled me over for isn't it?" sunwoo asked.

The police leaned further down and looked me in the eye. "You alright here miss?" he asked.

I glanced at Sunwoo. "yes," I said, with a surprisingly confident voice.

"Please, just give it to me so I can drive my girlfriend home. I can't break her curfew or else I'll never see her again." Sunwoo said dramatically.

"This true? This is your boyfriend?" The man asked.

I swallowed. "Yeah, he's mine. H-He's my boyfriend, I mean." I cleared my throat.

I saw the ends of sunwoo's lips twitch into a smile.

"700,000 won," The police scribbled something down on a paper, ripped it off the sheet, and handed it to Sunwoo. "And if you're going to go 20 miles above the speed limit right in front of an officer, at least put your seatbelt on out of respect."

"Thank you for your service," Sunwoo saluted him before turning the engine back on and driving away.

Only when the police car was out of sight in the mirror could I breathe again.

"You good?" Sunwoo asked.

The red flags were staring right at me.

I nodded. "700,000 won?"

"There goes my paycheck," Sunwoo said. He didn't sound all that surprised, as if this had happened before.

Suddenly the idea of being with Sunwoo seemed too adventurous. I needed to wait a bit more and analyze him before jumping in. My spontaneity only went so far.