paper rings | shinyu tws ✓

thirty

Won Sooji

After contemplating, I finally asked what I'd been scared to ask for the second time. Even if I already knew what's going to be his answer, there's still hope inside me that something will change. Please.
 
"Do you like me?" His smile grew bigger. Damn that smile, it's making me even more nervous, and I swear, if he will tease me for this and annoy the hell out of me, I'm done! I'm going to hate him foreve—
 
"Of course, yes, so much. Not just like, I love you so much, Sooji." My eyes widened at his sudden confession. I can't believe I'm finally hearing this from him. And of course, I wouldn't let this moment go to waste like he did last time.
 
"I like you too!" I replied excitedly, and I could see his eyes glittering with joy. It was all so sudden that I didn't even notice that he pulled me closer to him, embracing me tightly as if he didn't have any plans on letting me go. I could hear the fast beating of his heart as I laid my head on it.
 
He finally let go of the hug, and now he looked at me with a proud smile. "Look at you, finally loving me after multiple attempts at murdering me in your mind." He cracked a chuckle, which made me instantly frown. 
 
"I don't actually know why it has to be you, there are so many handsome boys—" he said, covering my mouth with his right hand while throwing me a glare. 
 
"They can be more handsome than me, but they can't replace my top one-ranking title in this school." He smirked and winked at me. God, he's back to his arrogant self again. But I like it, I want to even annoy him more because he's cute when he's annoyed.
 
"Really? But I prefer handsome boys than smart boys." He draped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me to walk faster. "I don't have to compete because your heart belongs to me. It beats me for me, and I trust you, so why are you threatening me now?" 
 
I cracked a chuckle while we were on our way to Mrs. Kim's office. When we finally got the key to the storage room, we immediately went back. Our hands were intertwined while walking through the hallways, but we immediately separated them when some students would walk past us.
 
We both had a big smile when we returned to Mrs. Kim, who kept looking at us with curiosity. She looked at me, and I gave her a little thumbs up, which made her smile too. She understood it quickly. 
 
"Thank you, Shinyu, and Sooji. We have an extra 15 minutes, so you guys should rest before the cleaning time." Mrs. Kim nodded and left us. 
 
Shinyu and I looked at each other and chuckled. There's something in the air that has changed. It feels lighter and happier now. 
 
We both looked at each other after Mrs. Kim left, and I swear, I think we're going crazy. We would stifle a smile whenever our eyes would meet, and I can't even stop myself from doing so. I'm just so happy now that we finally expressed our feelings to each other.
 
I should thank Mrs. Kim personally later, because she was the one who urged me to make this happen. 
 
Shinyu and I stared at each other. I raised a brow when I noticed an unfamiliar smirk tacked on his face. "What?" 
 
"Let's ditch the cleaning time?" he whispered as he slowly leant his face against my right ear. I gasped and immediately threw him an amused glance.
 
"Wow, Shinyu? The most responsible student in this school... is finally inviting someone to ditch the cleaning hour?" I can't believe this, but I'm more than happy to say yes. Damn, this guy is really making me go nuts. He shakes his head.
 
"Stop referring to yourself as just someone. You're... you're the one I love, so..." I stifled a laugh. You know, for someone who hated this guy so much in the past, I always find it amusing to think that we're in a situation that's kind of a relationship right now. 
 
"Damn, you're the one flirting, but why are your ears redder than mine?" The smirk in his face vanished and instantly covered his ears. He scoffed. "For someone who just confessed to me earlier, you seem to be enjoying teasing me, huh?"
 
I chuckled. "We confessed to each other, and yes, you can't do anything about it. I like teasing you," I replied.
 
"Whatever, so let's go?" He offered his hand to me. I looked around and saw my other classmates goofing around and having conversations with their own groups. Everyone is too busy to even notice our missing presence.
 
I gave in a smirk after thinking of it. I accepted Shinyu's hands, and he instantly smirked as he pulled me after him. I almost want to curse him again for running so fast. I almost stumbled after him, but he was quick to slow the jog and held my shoulders to aid me.
 
"You're so unathletic!" He chuckled while I struggled to catch my breath. I glared at him, and his eyes immediately softened. His hands quickly travelled above my head and ruffled my hair. 
 
"But I love you, so it's okay. Let's just walk. We're already far from them anymore." I looked away because why the hell is he saying he loves me openly now? I'm not ready to hear it every single day, and I think I'll never recover from one single I love you from him either.
 
So I have to counter it. Let's see who's weaker.
 
"I love you too." He stopped ruffling my hair and immediately looked away. I could see how hard he tried to stop himself from smiling. He even bit his lip and lowered his lip, but his smile is visible even from that angle. I smiled.
 
Weak!