before & after ‣ 엔하이픈

025 ; past

flashback to their childhood (2)
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AERI

Aeri was twelve years old when Sunghoon's parents had dragged her along one of his first games.

Until the present, Aeri never understood why his parents thought it would be a good idea to bring her all the way there but being away from her home is always an opportunity to not be alone with her mother. The summer brought upon a different kind of heat, but thankfully, Mrs. Kang, the Park siblings' nanny, brought an umbrella and shielded both her and Yeji from the hot rays of the sun.

"Look, it's Jake! Let's wave, Aeri!" Yeji tugs on the ends of Aeri's shirt to make her wave over to Jake.

Aeri hesitated at first since she wasn't much of a fan of Jake because of a petty reason that was more her problem than his. To her, he seemed too perfect, as if he was taken straight from a novel and brought to life in the form of a scrawny twelve years old boy. And, she hated perfect things because in the face of it is the realization of her own shortcomings to become one.

Still, she couldn't say no to the younger who was half her age. So with a sigh, she waved to Jake alongside Yeji, who seemed more enthusiastic than she was. Jake, catching a glimpse of it, seemingly blushed when he and Aeri met eyes. He shyly waved over to them before running to the team where she finally caught a glimpse of Sunghoon, who was crazily focused on the coach's briefing.

"What's taking the game so long? I want to watch!" Aunt Iseul, Sunghoon's mother, exasparates as she holds a camera that's pointed at her son. "Are the two of you thirsty? Do you want water?" She asks both Aeri and Yeji.

Aeri shook her head and smiled, whereas Yeji agreed to being thirsty and was handed a bottle of water by her mother. A whistle suddenly echoed through the field and everyone was now all eyes on the players who were currently in position and ready to play. And as the game started, the crowd of parents began to scream for their children, each cheering them on as they hope their child would score a point. She kept her eyes solely on Sunghoon only because he was the one she truly knew in the field, but oftentimes her eyes would stray away to look at Jake, who played really well.

"Jake and Sunghoon are good." Aeri commented.

"I want to say some of the credits go to me, I did teach them." Uncle suddenly answered, looking over to Aeri, who simply laughed at how smug he looked and even funnier when Aunt suddenly smacked him in the head. "You should've joined them, Aeri. I bet you would just be as good, you do spend a lot of times with those boys."

"No! Someone as pretty as Aeri shouldn't be part of such a violent sport." Aunt argued, earning herself a chuckle from her husband.

Aeri only blushed and went back to the game that was still going on. She didn't expect that it would go on for another hour, but by the end, the victory did eventually go to Sunghoon's team. Everyone in his family was roaring in pride, even Yeji herself who was now in the arms of her father as they all jumped in happiness because their eldest just won the game alongside his best friend whom he was hugging in the field.

She didn't want to seem like she was intruding in their celebration as a family and was about to step away but his mother had quickly grabbed her before she could go away and hugged her tightly as she pulled Aeri in the celebration.

In all honesty, Aeri loved Sunghoon's parents. The only ever real connection she had with them was that they were neighbors, but whenever they saw her, they always took the chance to ask her about her well-being and even going as far inviting her in everywhere they go. One of the many examples is this game where she didn't have any business being at but in the end, she was still dragged to and even invited in the celebrations.

When the team finished celebrating, Sunghoon ran towards his family and jumped to hug them. Each of them offered their eldest a congratulation and when he finished thanking them, he heads towards Aeri, who merely crossed her arms as she gave him a smile.

"Well, that was a game." She said.

"Oh don't kid yourself, Aeri. I was good." He smirks before engulfing her in a hug, one that wasn't as tight as what he gave his parents but a hug still. "Told you I'd win." He whispered.

"As arrogant as always." She scoffs, giving him a pat in the back as a response to his hug before pushing him away and watching him go back to his family.

The family began to move to approach Jake's parents, who was busily congratulating their only son. Aeri stayed at their back because she wasn't that keen to meeting the other's parents, and thankfully, Mrs. Kang seemed to have chosen to do the same and joined Aeri in watching the Park and Sim family converse with themselves.

But much to Aeri's surprise, Jake had pulled away from the conversation and headed over to the girl who was still under the umbrella because she wasn't enjoying the heat of the day.

"Hey." Jake says, still shy after knowing her for more than three years now. "I didn't know you would come."

Aeri shrugged. "Neither did I. But Aunt and Uncle invited me, so I thought why not?" She casually says. "Congratulations, by the way. You've gotten better since I last saw you play."

He smiled, blushing again as his cheeks turn into a tint of pink, but Aeri thought none of it. Everyone blushes when they're complimented. "Thank you. You look—"

He was cut off when his parents suddenly called out to him, leaving him with no choice but to excuse himself from Aeri, who didn't even get to hear what he wanted to say, but she didn't even care so it wasn't much of a problem for her to set the knowledge aside.

"You're going to break a lot of hearts in the future, Aeri." Mrs. Kang abruptly tells her.

Thinking back to it, Aeri remembered scoffing at the idea of being a heartbreaker because she has always been under the impression that boys would not be able to see anything worth liking about her.

However, the irony of becoming queen bee yet not being chosen by the one she did love was a laughable fate.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

child aeri is so hard to write bc im not used to writing a version of aeri that isnt in love w jake