Stuck | Park Jisung [ONGOING]

E I G H T E E N

Naeun left her evening class, drained. The extra classes were exhausting, but the girl had no choice but to take them. She needed to keep up her credit requirements to maintain her scholarship, since there was no way she could pay for university out of pocket. In this economy? No way.

She walked to the nearest bus stop and sat down on one of the benches. Naeun was already not strong due to her low iron, and all the walking she had to do around campus wasn't helping. She took a moment to relax, closing her eyes and letting out a long breath she didn't even know she had been holding.

The girl didn't even realize the extent of her tiredness, because the next thing she knew, she was fast asleep on the bench. The hours were passing by and it was gradually getting darker and darker.

And being outside that late at night is never safe. Ever heard of stranger danger?

A drunk man who had come back from a bar down the same path was stumbling by and came upon the sleeping girl. A smirk spread across his face as he approached the bench.

He waved his hand in front of her face, shaking her lightly to make sure she was actually asleep. Luckily for him (not so lucky for the girl), Naeun was a deep sleeper. She once slept through the dorm's fire alarm going off and the screeching of girls running around trying to get out of the building.

What a pretty little thing The man muttered under his breath, licking his lips devilishly. He looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone passing by before carefully hooking his arm under the girl's bare legs, "accidently" raising up her skirt in the process.

"Yah! Put my girl down!" A voice yelled from the end of the street, running toward the two.

It was Jisung, and the look in his eyes could murder someone itself.

The perks of being athletic, Jisung was able to quickly catch up before the man could run away with Naeun. He panted slightly, his fingers encircling around her wrist.

"Put her down," Jisung said firmly.

"And who are you?" The man said back.

"That's none of your business," Jisung spat. "Put her down, or I'll call the cops."

"These kids, always ruining the fun," the man grumbled under his breath, quickly dropping the girl and making a run for it before he could actually call authorities.

Jisung was quick to catch the girl before she hit the concrete, enveloping her in his arms. Naeun's eyes fluttered open, looking up at the boy with a confused expression.

"Jisung? What are you doing here?"

He let out a scoff of amusement, brushing some hair out of the girl's face with his fingers. "Do you really have no idea what just happened?"

"Nope," Naeun shook her head. "I was dreaming about an all you can eat buffet, and you woke me up right before I could dig in."

She noticed how he was wearing his racing attire. A conversation from last night reminded Naeun that he had a race that night.

"Don't you have a race? Why the hell are you here?"

"The race is over, don't you know how late it is?" He affectionately flicked her on the forehead. Extremely lightly, of course.

"No, I just sort of fell asleep," Naeun shrugged. She noticed the blood starting to trickle down his forehead, concern immediately washing her.

Naeun sat up, pushing some of his hair back and noticing the bandaid on his forehead. It seemed like he already had an injury there and it got reopened.

Jisung's heart fluttered at the slight contact, completely forgetting that he was in pain.

"Did you get hurt? What happened?"

He chuckled at her concern, shaking his head. "I'm fine, it's just a little injury. The glass of my dashboard shattered and it cut me."

"Are you okay?"

Those simple three words sent Jisung's heartbeat racing. He saw the genuine concern in her eyes and his heart swelled with affection. He almost forgot why he was out here in the first place.

"I'm okay," he chuckled. "I'm about to go to the pharmacy to buy some band aids. Want to tag along?"

"Uh, sure," Naeun replied. Only then was when she realized she was still sitting on the ground in Jisung's embrace and immediately sat up.

He stood up after her, dusting off his pants before the two started walking. Jisung realized how short her skirt was, and how the wind was starting to pick up. Without a second thought, he removed his racing jacket and carefully tied it around the girl's waist.

"Oh, thanks," Naeun replied, slightly smiling.

"No problem," he replied, tugging on her arm to walk faster. 

After Jisung had gotten his bandaid and cleaned up his wound, he walked Naeun back to her dorm. He felt happy and content, finally able to spend time with her without any third parties. Those weeks without her had been exhausting for him.

"I really like you, you know?" He said randomly as they walked.

"You've told me," Naeun casually replied, acting like it didn't affect her as much as it actually did.

"But I'm stuck in the damn friend zone," he muttered under his breath, sighing.