off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ sixty three

Only now did it occur to Narae, that she had spent the last few days filled with worry. First, Taerae's sour mood had caught her attention, and though he was feeling a little better these days, he still wasn’t back to normal. He insisted he was fine, and yet she couldn’t help but notice the forced lines of his smile. After all, she knew him so well. He couldn’t lie to her very easily.

Then, Vicky had suddenly stopped coming to summer school. She was supposed to be here today, but hadn’t shown up. Worse, Narae's messages had gone unanswered, which only invited more questions. Had she gotten sick, maybe? But this was the middle of summer, hardly the time for colds... If only Jiwoong worked here during summer school, she would have been able to ask him. Showing up to her house uninvited was probably not very polite either. How was she supposed to alleviate her worries and make sure Vicky was alright?

As she pulled on the last of the weeds invading the school's garden, the answer finally came to her. The student council was in charge of overseeing student attendance, and she had an in with them — Gunwook. Maybe if she asked him, he would know what was going on. Hopefully.

She quickly shed her gloves and left her tools nears the flower beds, walking with a determined gait towards the school. Some peace of mind would surely put her in the right mood to come back down and finish her work. As she climbed the stairs to the floor the student council office was, Narae took in the strangely quiet atmosphere. Everyone was in class now, and it was unusual to walk alone in these often crowded hallways.

Still, as she reached the right floor, she recognized one person walking in her direction. He was a member of the student council, the same one she'd talked to that time when she'd brought food for Gunwook. The same one that had assumed she was his girlfriend.

"Oh, hey!" she called after him, waving her arm. "I'm looking for Gunwook, is he in the office? Is he busy?"

The sudent stopped dead in his tracks, looked at her face for a second as if he was trying to remember who she was, then smiled. "Ah! Yes, he's in there. He shouldn’t be too busy since classes have already started, so you can go in there and see your boyfriend."

This time, Narae didn't leave him a chance to walk away before she could clarify the situation. "Thank you, but he's not my boyfriend."

It was hard to explain how the student's facial expression shifted. His smile fell and his eyes narrowed, and for a second, Narae almost felt herself straighten up. It was as if he was doubting her. But... Why? Did Gunwook really have a girlfriend, and this student had simply assumed that she must be the one, since she was coming to see him? That seemed like a possibility, but it didn't feel likely for Gunwook to even have time for dating. He was always working tirelessly!

"I see," he finally said, shrugging. "Well then, see ya."

With that, he left, and the atmosphere lightened up. Already brushing off the strange experience, Narae made her way to the door of the student council office. She knocked lightly, heard his voice from inside, and pushed the door open.

Gunwook had been surprised to see her last time, but this? This wasn't surprise. As he'd turned his head towards her, he'd jumped in his chair and gone completely red. Indeed, he did not seem busy, as there was no pile of paper on his desk, but he looked like he'd been running a marathon. He stuttered and stammered indiscernible noises, before finally taking a deep breath.

"Narae," he huffed out, still red. "What brings you here?"

"Hi! Well, Vicky hasn’t come to school yesterday or today. Do you know what's going on with her?"

Before answering, he pushed his chair back and rose to his feet. Narae closed the door behind her and let her eyes follow him, as he made sure to remain standing a few meters away from her. His posture was all kinds of wrong, back curved and shoulders slumped all at once, somehow.