off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ ninety nine

After being stuck in her penthouse for so long, finally going outside felt like a miracle for Irang. Per her doctor's advice, she'd taken it easy and had avoided any extended periods of walking, but he'd finally greenlit her complete recovery. Of course, she still needed to be careful, and racing someone was definitely out of the question for the next several months, but she could walk! She could go out and see the world and enjoy herself out of her room.

Naturally, the first thing Irang had wanted to do after earning her freedom was to go on a date with Yujin. He'd been over at her apartment very often, but it just wasn’t the same as an actual date. Not to mention, she was tired of being babied. Neither of them had come up with particularly exciting plans, instead opting to walk in the city together, and to let their whims take them where they wanted. Though they usually would have held hands, Yujin had insisted on linking arms, so she could lean on him as she walked. She'd sighed and rolled her eyes, but had eventually relented. Linking arms wasn’t too bad either...

"Are you sure you're okay?" Yujin asked for the tenth time in the past hour. "We can take a break if you need."

She clicked her tongue, turning back to him with a face she knew not to be very intimidating. "I told you, I'm totally fine, it doesn’t hurt anymore. That being said, I could use a break... I'm hungry!"

At least that would put an end to his worrying, if only for a bit. Tasked with a mission, Yujin searched on his phone for cafés around them, and quickly pulled her to the highest rated one. While he ordered at the counter, Irang waited for him at the table outside, basking in the summer sun. They had to take advantage of the heat while it was still there. Soon, the city would cover itself in the warm colors of autumn, and with it, the rain would make itself a regular guest.

Just as Yujin came to the table with a tray in his hands, Irang's phone buzzed with a new message. As she quickly checked it, Yujin pulled the chair besides hers and distributed the drinks and food between them, scooting under the meager shadow of the transluscent pergola above their heads.

"Ugh, I can't believe school is starting soon," Yujin muttered as he stabbed his straw into his milkshake.

Irang lifted her head, taking a second to register what he'd said. "Oh, yeah, time's going way too fast. But at least we'll get to see our friends again."

"I guess, but I'm not really looking forward to studying..."

"Okay, but we'll get to see each other every day! I'd say that's..."

Her sentence drifted off as her phone buzzed again, wiggling upon the metal table. Irang's eyes drifted down, but Yujin kept his eyes on her, fighting the human body's instinct to follow the direction of the sound. It was only because he'd made sure to look at her that he noticed as her smile fell, her eyebrows knitting together in an emotion he couldn’t quite describe. His first thought was that it was worry, and he immediately hoped nothing had happened to someone in her family.

She was staying silent for a little too long.

"Is everything okay?" he spoke up hesitantly, fiddling with his straw. It was hard to tell how many questions were too many. "What's going on?"

When she finally lifted her head to look at him, her lips were pinched together, her nose scrunched up. It wasn't worry, Yujin judged. It looked more like embarrassment. Unease, even. He instinctively straightened up, his heart slowing down cautiously.

"It's, uh, it's from a classmate," she said, her voice a little raspy. "I think he just... I think he just told me he liked me?"

It was a good thing Yujin had been too nervous about something happening to her family to take a sip of his drink, because he would have spit it all out. Choking on a gasp, he looked back at her with wide eyes, as she nervously scratched behind her ear.