before & after ‣ 엔하이픈

027 ; present

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

AERI

Aeri had to walk to school the next school day because Sunghoon was forced to stay at home by his mother, and as funny as it was, that also meant he wouldn't be there to drive her as he usually does.

Which was fine, really. His recovery meant much more than her own convenience, and his mother worrying too much was something she has seen and always understood. If she wanted him to stay at home, then Aeri quickly knew that's exactly what he'll be doing. Still, she was surprised with herself by how lonely the silence had made her feel.

She didn't even realize she was no longer accustomed to being on her own at the mornings, not until she entered the school still reeling from the loneliness despite the crowded halls that awaited her. Even when Haesu and Seeun managed to get a hold of her and bombarded her with gossip they heard this morning, she wasn't used to not passing by one jock who never failed to create new ways of getting her attention. 

However, the loneliness had come to a stop, when during their vacant time, an unexpected individual decided to join her and the girls' table in the cafeteria, earning the whole table a bunch of stares from everyone sitting around them. Next to Aeri was Jake, who sat next to her so carelessly that she almost stabbed him with the chopsticks she was holding. 

"What the hell are you doing?" Aeri grits her teeth as she whisper out those words.

Haesu and Seeun looked at each other before gazing back at the pair sitting across them. "U-Uh, do you need to tell us something?" Seeun asked Jake because this situation has never happened. 

"Haesu, Seeun, can you leave the two of us for a while? I just need to speak to Aeri." Jake flashed them with a smile. 

The girls, confused as they were, didn't have a choice but to leave them because Jake did ask for some privacy and based on how crazy they were for him, whatever Aeri could do to stop them won't suffice if it were him asking. So, with a look of terror on her face, she watched her friends walk away from her, leaving her alone with the guy who seemed to be more present in her life after their breakup than her prior. 

Dropping the fork she was holding, she looked at Jake and crossed her arms. "Have you gone crazy? I thought we were done talking, why do you keep bothering me? Especially in public?" 

Jake sighed as he faced her. "You told me to figure out what I wanted the other day. And I figured it out now." 

Aeri sighed. "You really want to discuss this right now in front of all this people? And seriously, do you really think it's a good idea to tell me that you finally figured out that you want to be with your first love after all?"

"I figured out that all I wanted all along was to settle this thing with you. You're right, I want to be with her, but funny enough, I can't be with her because I care for you, Aeri." He says, but even when it touched a cold part of her heart, she still rolled her eyes. 

"You confessed to Bora while we were together." She reminisced. 

"I said I cared for you, not that I didn't wrong you." Jake frowns, which instantly makes the corner of her lips twitch into a smile but she had fought the urge. "I haven't been good to you and I don't want to continue hurting you, Aeri. I've known you longer than I've known anyone in this school, you're someone I won't stop caring for. So, I won't do anything that may hurt you, even if that means not dating Bora."