off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ eighty two

Out of the blue, Narae had invited Lilah and Vicky to hang out, citing the horribly warm weather as the perfect excuse to get ice cream together. Lilah had accepted on that alone, always up for a nice sweet treat in the summer. Add to that a little shopping, and Vicky was in too. After all, once summer break would be over, they would not have as many opportunities to have fun.

The only problem was, Narae was running late, leaving Lilah and Vicky alone to wait for her. In complete silence, that was. The two of them, though both Narae's friends, didn’t know each other very well. And though they were sure they had enough things in common to get along, one of those things was that they were both awkward. Standing side by side, neither of them dared to talk, only sneaking glances at each other from time to time, to make sure the other wasn’t mad at them for some reason.

Long sighs of relief escaped their mouths when they finally spotted Narae arriving in the distance, running like an Olympic athlete. She stopped before them, heaving like a dog left in a car for too long.

"Whew, sorry for being late! I missed my bus."

"No worries," Lilah immediately reassured her.

Vicky nodded fervently. "Yeah, it's fine. Now that you're here, we can just get our ice cream."

That was the first thing they did, eager to get some coolness in their bodies after being in the sun for so long. Once they finally had their ice cream cones in hand, the girls moved to a bench under the shade of a tree, enjoying some leisure before they would eventually get onto the shopping. Halfway through her ice cream, Vicky turned to the two girls.

"So, um, Narae. Is there any reason you asked us here today? It was a bit out of the blue," she chuckled.

It almost seemed like Narae had forgotten. "Oh, right! I have a crush on someone!"

Her sudden, unbothered admission of such a thing ripped out gasps from the two girls' mouths. Eyes wide and jaws agape, they remained silent for a second, while Narae kept on eating her ice cream, as if absolutely nothing had happened. Seeing that she wasn’t planning on surrendering any more information, Vicky cleared her throat.

"Oh my god, you do? Who?"

Lilah chuckled awkwardly. "Well, um, I think I know..."

"It's Gunwook."

Though the initial topic had shocked both of her friends, the name of the one she liked did not. After all, Narae did not have many male friends, most likely due to her brother's protectiveness. If there was anyone she liked... Well, it had to be Gunwook. The two of them were always stuck together, helping and understanding each other in ways they just didn't find with anybody else. It was a given these feelings of friendship would one day turn to something more.

"Wow," Vicky breathed out. "I knew you two were friends, but I didn't expect you to have feelings for him."

Narae shrugged, a chipper smile on her face. "Well, he's just a great guy. He's so caring, and patient with me, I'm not used to being treated like that. I feel comfortable with him, like he'll just accept me no matter what. Oh, and he got me super cute personalized gardening gloves! It's just... I've never had someone care for me like that."

In a way, all of the people in her life had always been caring for her, in the way one does for a lost child who constantly needs assistance. Her parents still treated her like a baby, her brother followed her around to make sure she wouldn’t get into trouble, even her friends seemed to act like she was in another dimension, and couldn’t understand the way the world went. Gunwook, on the other hand, stood equal to her. Sometimes, it even felt like he placed himself below, treating her like she didn’t deserve. It was something she wasn’t used to, but coming from him, it felt comfortable.