before & after ‣ 엔하이픈

006 ; past

flashback to the summer (2)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

AERI

Like every night, Aeri tried her best to minimize the volume of the sound she made every time she would make a step closer to her house's gates. Not that it would alert anyone immediately if she did make a sound, however too much of it would've woken up her brother who was a light sleeper and have caught her many times before this.

Before her father's death, their house had been filled with helpers who made sure that their family never had to lift a finger when it came to household chores. But once the tragedy struck the family, each one of them left until what was left of the great Min family were the three of them and a hefty amount of inheritance that their mother had illegally touched. One of the helpers who left was the guard that used to stand in front of their gates morning and night to ensure their safety. Aeri, the selfish person she was, was thankful that no one guarded her only means of escape during the night, otherwise she would be force to stay in her room and deal with the demons of her mind all by herself.

She and Jake had agreed to go out that night and meet each other to where they always do: the convenience store. The funny thing that she never stops thinking about is how it was only a week ago when she considered Jake's existence to be worthless to her own. However, there she was, not long after, a little excited to meet with the person whose eyes she only met every now and then whenever she would pass through the hallways. Perhaps a little too excited that she would like to be.

As Aeri closes the gate behind her, her eyes took a double take on the house standing next to hers. The home of the annoyance who left her four years ago and hasn't returned since. It wasn't as though she was waiting for Sunghoon's return, if she were to be honest, she was actually dreading the fact that if he does go home, he was for sure going to catch her doing what she was about to do and what she has always done.

Getting her mind off that boy from her childhood, she heads to where she and Jake said they would meet and like every time since the two got to know each other, he was already there waiting for her.

"Hey! You're early." Aeri runs up to him as she quickly glances over to her watch.

Jake smiled. "I figured it wouldn't look to good if I were the late one between the two of us. I was the one who extended an invitation in the first place." As he spoke, he began to walk to his car where Aeri followed behind him.

She merely laughed at how much importance he puts in punctuality when really she cared very little about it. "You think too much about things that should be thought so little."

"Your first wise sentence of the night. At the very least, leave something for when it's midnight." Jake said, making it sound as if she were a whole lot smarter than what she really is. "Now then, get inside the car so we can begin the long night ahead of us."

"I'm putting all my trust in you on this one night." Aeri jokingly teases but from the way his face formed right after, she just knew, he wasn't going to let her down tonight.

Rather than the car being filled with their nonsensical conversations and abrupt confessions, it was surrounded by the tunes blasting from the radios. Songs that made Aeri want to sing her heart out as she stared at the city lights under the moonlit night. When she sang out loud, Jake always found the opportunity to join her and it made the experience all the less embarrassing. But even after ten minutes into the ride, she didn't have an ounce of a clue as to where they were heading.

However, she kept her curiosity to herself to keep the magic of surprise alive.

And when they finally arrived, Aeri was thankful that she knew how to keep her mouth shut because their destination did not disappoint her at all. A drive in theater was visible at the front window and a movie she was all too familiar with was playing on the background. Home Alone was a movie she and her brother used to watch as kids during the holidays and it was one of the rare moments they got that give them the liberty of acting like children.

For Aeri, Home Alone was her only chance to pretend that she had an ordinary life. The stereotypical one that was both easy and difficult.

"How did you know I loved this movie?" Aeri asked Jake who parked the car in a space where they could see the huge screen perfectly.

Jake looked over at her and his eyes widened when he saw how bright hers had been. "I remember one time one of my teammates thought he had a chance with you if he knew what your favorite movie is. So, somehow, it has become common knowledge to us."  He seemed embarrassed as he explained how he found out that Home Alone was her favorite. "Sorry if it sounds weird."

"It's alright. Not that I'm not used to it anyway." She shrugged as she wore her usual beautiful smile.

As soon as they got out of the car and bought food from the concession stand, Jake opened the back of his car and put a blanket on it just so they'd be able to sit comfortably while they watched the movie on the big screen. Looking around, Aeri noticed that many of the people there were couples on a date, evident by how they held each other in a manner she's never been held before.

Aeri was never the romantic type of person. At some point in her life, she has come into terms that there was no way she would ever experience or feel what she sees from the films she would watch whenever she got the chance. But there she was, sitting at the back of the car of the man whom she has considered most her life to be so stereotypical as they watch a movie in the most cliché way possible. And she liked it. She liked sitting next to him, laughing with him when a funny scene would come up and sharing their only popcorn because they refused to buy two.

Her gaze falls over to Jake, whose eyes stayed at the movie as the light that came from it illuminated his perfect side view. How has Aeri never realized how good looking he was? Not when she spent two years going to the same school as him and passing by the same hallways.

"Jake." Aeri called out to him. He hums as he gazed at her. "Thank you for bringing me here. I really do appreciate it."

"Hey, I promised you a good night and I wasn't about to disappoint you, queen bee." He smiles but rather than looking back towards the big screen, his eyes lingered on the girl. "You know, this is the first time I'm seeing less of your blues and more of your light."

She laughed. "I have been a little sadder than I should be since we first met." She confessed. "But you have the weirdest talent of making me forget what I was even sad about in the first place."

"That makes me glad. To know that you aren't always suffering from whatever it is that's weighing you down." He says. "But you look more beautiful this way, Aeri. I should probably bring you here every night to keep you this way." He teased.

Aeri felt the ache in her cheeks for smiling too much, something she hadn't felt for so long, not since Sunghoon left and she was left with no one to mess with. Her heart was unexpectedly beating so fast as his gaze continued to lock unto hers, as though they were the most beautiful thing each of them has seen. 

And before she could take another blink and breathe in a sharp breath, she felt his hand caress her cheek until it slithered its way to the back of her head as he gently pulls her into a kiss. The first thought to come to her mind was how soft his lips was and how intoxicating it moved onto hers. She was frozen for a second before her mouth began to move the same way he did. It was evident that the two of them knew what they were doing, however that hadn't stop them from reeling into the moment, from basking themselves in a gentleness of being unafraid to take a step forward because a sinking feeling tells you that this won't hurt.

This wasn't her first time kissing someone and most especially not her first time being touched, however, this was the only time she has ever felt this amount of affection. That night she was drunk with it. 

Perhaps, she will forever be intoxicated with the affection of that night. 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
AUTHOR'S NOTE :

it's funny how i just realized that when i write kissing scenes, i have to listen to the right song before i can actually write it.

also i have a quick confession. i actually don't know who aeri is gonna end up with cuz i have not mapped out this story yet haha so whoever she ends up with will probably depend on how i feel when im writing the ending chapters (or if i get those fate tickets)