✧ eighty nine

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Usually, Gunwook would never look out the window of the student's council office. There was nothing to see there, as the flower beds had long been abandoned, slotted to be replaced with bike parking spaces. And yet, today, as he wrapped up his work and threw his jacket on, Gunwook passed by the windows for no reason at all.

Maybe it was fate, maybe it was instinct, but this time, there was indeed something to look at. Gunwook wondered if he'd missed a notice on the fate of the flower beds, because Narae seemed to be planting seeds into its forsaken soil. She was minuscule from here, barely a dot upon the horizon, yet he noticed as she took off her gloves after a job well done, and gave them one last glance. Then, she shoved them into her bag, and spun on her heels, ready to go back home.

Always a stickler for rules, Gunwook would never usually run in the hallways, but if he ever wanted to catch up to Narae, he had no choice but to up the speed a little. And anyway, there wasn’t a single soul in these corridors, the lucky students had already left by now. Apologizing to the gods of school rules, Gunwook sprinted as fast as he could, eager to reach the gate before Narae would leave.

One thing he had underestimated though, was Narae's ability to get sidetracked. So much so that, when he finally reached the gate, she was walking behind him, humming a song, light on her feet. He tried to catch his breath, suddenly regretting his impromptu workout.

"Oh, Gunwook?" she said as she noticed him, her voice higher-pitched than he remembered. "You're going home too?"

Gunwook wasn’t sure what, but there was something a little different about Narae. For a second, he looked at her bangs, trying to evaluate if she'd cut them, searched for the blue strand in her hair to make sure it was still there — nothing had changed physically. It was more in the way she carried herself, in the way she pinched her lips.

"Yes, I am. How are you doing?" he asked, brushing off this weird feeling.

"I'm good! How about you? Not too tired?"

He chuckled wryly, feeling the strain in his shoulders. "Not any more than usual. So, um, wanna walk home together?"

"Ah, I'm taking the bus," she said, but a smile quickly drew itself on her face. "But you can walk me to the stop."

Well, it wouldn’t be as much time spent by her side, but Gunwook could satisfy himself with those five minutes. As the two fell into step together, he let out a breath, his heart tightening. And here he'd thought he'd stopped being so nervous around her.

"By the way," she spoke up before they even crossed the gate, "would you like to come to the roller skating rink next Saturday?"

The sudden request halted him in his tracks, and he turned to her with raised eyebrows. He watched as she nipped at her lower lip, her eyes fixed on her joined hands. Narae was rarely nervous, yet he could feel a tense energy radiating off of her. And of course, it didn't fail to make him nervous, too.

"Um, me?" he asked, his voice nearly breaking. Just him?

It seemed Narae could read his thoughts. "Ah, um, Yanmei organized it, and all our friends will be there! We thought it would be nice to hang out all together before summer ends."

So it wasn't a date, Gunwook thought, before mentally slapping himself on the forehead. Of course it wasn't a date! And quite frankly, he was relieved it wouldn’t be just the two of them. As much as he craved those little moments with just her, any extended period of time by her side pushed him nearer and nearer to the edge. He needed to stay in control.

"Yeah, I should be free. I'll come too!"

Gunwook certainly didn’t expect Narae's entire face to lit up, her lips stretching into a bright smile. "Great! Thank you so much!"

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