paper rings | shinyu tws ✓

nineteen

Shinyu sighed for the fifth time. It seems like he's really not in a good mood for today, since he's never been this distracted when studying before. He went to the library when the vacant arrived.

He drowned himself in studying. The exams are coming up, and he can't afford to stay distracted. After almost thirty minutes of docking his face down and reading his notes, he craned his neck and massaged his nape.

He's feeling thirsty. He wandered his eyes around, and he could only spot a few students. He sighed, stood up, gathered his things, and jogged outside the library.

He jogged his way to the nearest snack bar to get himself a drink. But his feet trailed off when he noticed a familiar figure standing in front of the vending machine.

Shinyu could feel his throat drying up, and a series of questions lingered in his head.

"Heck, am I seeing things now?" Shinyu whispered and shook his head upon noticing his odd behavior. He continued walking towards the vending machine and stood besides the same figure, but Shinyu froze when he caught a familiar scent soothing through his nose.

The sound of a loud thud echoed through the empty halls, and a hand quickly took the can of Coca-Cola.

He instantly turned, much to his surprise. Sooji was already looking at him with a confused stare.

"Uh, um." Shinyu shifted his head left and scratched the back of his head when he returned to Sooji.

Suddenly, awkwardness lingered between them. Sooji faced the vending machine and faked a caugh to somehow ease being frozen up. She turned her face away and closed her eyes tightly. I should've run away a moment ago. She uttered it in her mind.

"He-"
"Ho- ah," both of them started speaking at the same time. Sooji was supposed to say, Hey, while Shinyu was trying to ask, How are you?

"You go first," Shinyu mumbled while his hands travelled inside his pocket, trying to search for coins. When Sooji noticed the frown in his face the moment he realised that his pocket was empty, Sooji offered her extra coins.

"Here." Shinyu can't even look at her directly. He just stared at her palm, which had coins in it, and hesitantly took them from her palm. Sooji bit her lips and busied herself with opening the cola.

Shinyu got his drink too, timidly. When he got himself a drink, he turned to Sooji.

"Thanks...?" he mumbled, unsure if it's the right thing to say at the moment.

Little did Sooji know, Shinyu's head is currently in a mess. He didn't expect that he would casually run to Sooji here, and what the hell? He even swallowed his pride because he thought Sooji would be transferring, and now she's right there besides him, even offering him a damn coin.

How is he supposed to feel? Happy? Sad? Thrilled? He really doesn't know. Remembering the conversation they had, he knew something had changed in their relationship. But acknowledging whether it's a bad or good thing confuses him.

"Hey, aren't you going to talk? You're not mute." Sooji tried to lighten the mood with her usual fierce voice.

"Why are you here?" Shinyu asked.

"Don't miss me? You were practically desperate to see me just last night." Sooji smirked, finding a new way to annoy Shinyu.

"Don't be too proud. I was just worried that you're so weak that even a single tiny drop of rain can threaten your life." Shinyu rolled his eyes in the middle of uttering. She could hear Sooji chuckling.

"But, what? You're worried?" Sooji gasped, acting like she's shocked. Shinyu shook his head.

"Aren't you transferring?" Shinyu took a sip from his drink, and he could feel Sooji freezing up. But she covered it with shrugging.

"Well, I did talk to my parents. Ah, forced, rather. And they settled with me staying for this year." Sooji took a sip on her drink too. Shinyu found himself staring at her.

"So, you're transferring next year?" Sooji heaved a sigh. "Yep, but the man told me I can stay here until I graduate only if my grades will be better," Sooji casually muttered after sighing, masking her obvious contradiction.

"Why does it involve your grades though?" Shinyu asked curiously, completely trying hard not to assume that maybe they're already friends (?) due to the fact that they're casually talking now, as if they didn't want to cut each other's heads off just a few days ago.

"Because I'm so close to failing off? They're still my parents, and I don't really know have any say anymore. They can do whatever they want to me. I don't care. And I'm really facing great risk of repeating the year, so I'm kind of still having a hard time. I really wanna graduate here." Shinyu gulped after hearing Sooji's long statement.

Suddenly, it brought him back to the days where they were so close to cutting each other's throats. To every annoyance they felt whenever they caught each other's eyes. Shinyu suddenly felt something in his chest.

"Argh, why am I telling you this anyway?" She rolled her eyes at the sudden realization. She turned her head away and started to walk.

Shinyu held his breath. Am I really in my right mind now? He thought before stopping Sooji.

"Hey," Sooji stopped and turned to him, brows colliding upon his sudden call.

"I-I.. I can help you with your grades." And Sooji suddenly wanted to choke in her own saliva. Shinyu ruffled his own hair, not acknowledging himself anymore.

note
｡𖦹°‧
random question, who's your bias in TWS? cause mine is shinyu >3<