rumor has it | poly! baek dohwa & go eunhyeok

5 HEARTS

"So? Don't get it twisted." Eunhyeok locked gazes with Sarang as he carefully said his next words. "I'm the one who's clinging onto her. Not the other way around. I don't expect her to be monogamous with me."

He picked up Sarang's fallen phone from the floor and handed it back to her before he grabbed her wrist and led her out of the classroom into an empty hallway to get away from all the chaos.

"Eunhyeok." Sarang pulled her hand out of his warm grasp, stopping him in his tracks. "Why'd you do it?"

"..."

"We both know that you don't condone cheating because of what your father did to your mother, so why on earth did you make it seem as if you would be okay with it?" Sarang stared at him with a scrutinizing expression, trying to understand his actions. "We're not even a couple for god's sake."

"You're right. I don't condone cheating." Eunhyeok rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand before responding. "All I know is, the only thing I wanted to do was protect you at that moment. I knew how it would look if I said those words, but I did it anyway because I didn't want you to suffer alone."

"I'm not your girlfriend and you're not my boyfriend, so you don't have to fight my battles for me." Sarang ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "Let's just go back and clarify with the others on this matter."

"You're pushing me away again." He gazed into her eyes as if he could see the true intention behind her words.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sarang broke eye contact with him, pretending that the smudges on the window next to her were far more interesting.

"You think I don't know you by now?" He watched her use her pointer finger to trace imaginary shapes on the window. "You would rather sit there and take all the judgement and criticism by yourself rather than let someone help take the burden off your shoulders because you don't want to hurt anyone else."

"..." Her back stiffened as she heard the truth behind his words and he watched her drop her pointer finger from the glass window.

"We both know that you only pretend to be strong on the outside because you think that you're all alone in this world." His tone was soft as he observed her. "But you're not."

"..."

"You have me."

"That's what they always say. They say that they'll always be there for me, but when times get too tough, they all leave in the end." She finally turned around to face him with both of her fists clenched and with unshed tears in her eyes.

"But you and I both know that I'm not everyone else." He leaned closer, grasped both of her clenched fists, and uncurled them and the both of them stared down at the crescent shaped marks that her nails had left behind. "I'll always take your side."

"You can use me. Hurt me. Or use me as your shield. Whatever it is, I'll gladly accept whatever comes next." He stared into her eyes as he unknowingly spoke words that would cause Sarang's heart to waver. "We're each others' ride or die until the end."

"Promise?" She searched his eyes for any hint of deception as if she couldn't believe his words the first time.

"Promise." He smiled as he grabbed her pinky finger and interlocked it with his own to pinky-promise just like they used to do as kids.

Thump... thump... Her heart unconsciously started to thump unsteadily at his bold words.

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"I'm not going to school for the next couple of days." Sarang informed her childhood caretaker as soon as she arrived back home. "I'm feeling a bit under the weather."