Secretly Yours, (Enhypen Jay X Female OC)

Ch. 12: The Summer She Was Still Pretty

"Ah, thank goodness, exams are finally over!... How'd you do?"

"I was doing great, actually... Until PE."

By the time summer break had finally arrived, I had already gotten used to my feelings for Sawol. Of course, my feelings for her haven't even dissipated one bit. In fact, they seemed to be getting worse and worse with every passing day.

I just kept on falling for her no matter what I did, so it's actually a miracle how I managed to find a way to hide it well. As much as that was a stupid decision, I still didn't think Sawol would have been happy to know about them, anyway.

"Hey, that's okay! At least, you passed!" I tried to comfort her as I placed my hand on her head and then ruffled her hair.

It annoyed her, though, and she hissed before pulling away and glaring at me. I just smiled nervously as I held my hands up to show her that I would stop. And then we continued walking.

"I'm sure it's not that bad, anyway," I tried to assure Sawol. "After all, you haven't even seen your grades yet."

"Right. After all, whatever I get, Dad will never be contented anyway."

Sawol's words made me pause in my steps, but she didn't even stop walking at all as I watched her.

Ah... right...

Well, I guess I kinda knew about that ever since she talked about it once to me when she started high school. But it seemed to be getting worse as time passed by.

I guess... that's just one of the reasons she turned rebellious.

.

.

.

Sawol hated her father.

And I guess... I hated him, too. How could I not? Sawol had always been someone I cared about deeply, and I knew she never really hated anyone so easily. So once I knew that that's how she felt about him...

It was so easy to say all that back then, honestly.

Not anymore now that so many things have happened that I can barely bring myself to face Sawol's parents. Not especially when I haven't even seen Sawol either since that incident two years ago.

"Is it just me or is the train taking longer to get to Daegu today?" I ask out loud all of a sudden, making the kid beside me turn to me from the book I had let him borrow.

The look in his eyes behind those glasses of his sound so much nicer now, though. And so does his tone as he speaks, which almost surprises me as I turn to him as well. "Maybe you just need to find yourself something to do again... Or maybe you haven't been to Daegu in a while?"

"Haha, you caught me," I reply with mock enthusiasm while smiling mischievously.

Again, that doesn't impress the kid, making him return that mean look in his eyes as he looks at me.

And then he digs in his own bag and brings out a book, one that I didn't really expect him to have after everything he's said to me so far: a romance novel.

"Oh, don't give me that look! It's my sister's. She made me get it for her before I took the train to Daegu," the kid defends himself as he avoids my gaze.

Nevertheless, it makes me laugh as I take the book from him and start reading the synopsis on the back cover. "... story about love that was meant to be but not to last... huh."

"Why? Does it sound familiar?" the kid asks as he continues reading the book in his hands.

"Well..." I purse my lips before a nervous laugh escapes me. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to say that it does."

"Really? Why? What happened and who was it with?"

"Hey, just focus on that book you're reading because I promise you that's much more interesting than my life."

The kid hums in annoyance as he narrows his eyes at me, but he eventually looks back at what he was reading... but not before trying to ask again.

"... What was your person like?"

My eyes widen and I freeze, before several memories flash before my eyes, and I find myself unable to find anything to describe Sawol. "She's... well..." I stammer for a moment, my eyes wandering around the train car, and then to the book in my hands, and outside the window, and back to the kid before a single word pops up in my head.

"... Beautiful. She was beautiful. Inside and out..."

"Of course. Otherwise, why else would you have loved her?" the kid replies, but something in his tone sounds rather apologetic.

I just chuckle at it as I open the book he had given me. "Yeah... you're right. Maybe that's exactly why I loved her."

.

.

.

"You know, for one, I'd thought you had better plans for our summer break instead of just hanging out over that wall all over again," I told Sawol as I looked up at her from my yard, and there she was once again, sitting atop the infamous wall that had such an impact in our lives.

"I guess I could have plans if I had someone to do them with," she replied rather sassily, swinging her legs back and forth and tapping the wall with her heels.

"What about Yunjin?" I asked in return as I sat down on the grass.

"She's busy with family stuff," she replied as she plucked a weed growing through the stones making up the wall.

"Sunghoon?" I asked, tilting my head.

"He won't reply to my questions... Instead, he's telling me to just hang out with you," Sawol replied as she began picking the weed apart.

"... What?" I mumbled under my breath before I tried to shake away the flustered feeling that was growing inside me. And then I looked back up at Sawol as I asked another question. "What about your parents? Don't they have any plans to take you out?"

At that, Sawol stopped what she was doing, before she looked at me and just stared... not a single word coming out of her mouth, and making my flustered emotions return as I find myself unable to look away from her.

"... W-w-what?" I asked, stuttering much to my wish to keep hiding my feelings for her.

And then she spoke. "Isn't it obvious?" And she looked away from me as I noticed her cheeks turning red. "I came here because I wanted to hang out with you."