before & after ‣ 엔하이픈

004 ; present

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AERI

It was a calm morning.

Her mother was up in the master's bedroom sleeping the morning away and her brother was sitting right across from her in the dining table, busily reviewing papers. Aeri liked the mornings for this particular reason. She loved spending some time with her brother before the two of them begins with their day and their sorry excuse of a mother wakes up to make both her children's life miserable.

"Do you need a ride to school, Aeri?" Yoongi, her brother, asked.

Aeri raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you start offering to drive me?" Her brother never drives her to school, not when he was too busy with his job and she was old enough anyway to commute.

"I'm not going to be the one to drive you." He laughs at the look of skepticism on his sister's face. "I was talking to Sunghoon yesterday and thought it would be nice if you went to school with him. After all, it wouldn't be weird seeing as how you've known each other for such a long time now."

"Absolutely not! I'm not going to hitch a ride with that annoying guy!" Aeri argued. "You know we're not friends."

Yoongi maintained the smile on his face, unbothered by the negative reaction he was getting all over from Aeri. "Yes. I distinctly remembered what you did to their dog. But he isn't as bad as you say."

"Then you probably don't know Sunghoon." She scoffed. "I'll get going now before you suggest any more funny idea."

"Alright. Be safe." He laughed. "Do you need money?"

"No thanks. You can keep it." Aeri says out of the goodness of her heart, knowing that if she had said yes, her brother would've given her more than he could afford.

Opening the gate to her home, Aeri locks it just behind her and began walking to her school. The weather was nice and while she did share such an awful conversation with her brother, the day was starting out to be a good one. She almost basked into the joy of having a serene moment to herself, if not for the car honk that echoed through her left ear.

Aeri sighed, knowing all too well who owned the car that was now parked next to her. "And just when I thought I was going to have a good day." She looks over to Sunghoon inside the car, who seemed too please with himself.

"Well look who I caught. Come on, get in." The ever so smug look plastered on his handsome face.

"No thanks." Aeri glared at him before starting to walk, but Sunghoon always knew what to do to get in her nerves. Even while she was walking in a faster pace than earlier, the car never seemed to leave its spot next to her. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I wasn't really asking when I told you to get in." He wore a proud smile on his face.

"And I wasn't joking when I said no thanks!" She said as she began walking again but like earlier, his car followed her until the tolerance she had left were merely nonexistent anymore. "Oh for heaven's sake!" She said as she opened the door to the passenger seat and stompingly got in.

Sunghoon was even more pleased with himself that he got everything he wanted. Angering her and getting to drive her to school.

"There! Are you happy?!" She angrily asked even though she knew the answer.