4AM °HOSHI

12

soonyoung dragged a long sigh for the nth time. he pouted while fiddling his phone with his fingers and stared at the ceiling. one of his leg lazily dangled off the bed.

he had been messaging yooji since taekwondo practice was over, however there was no single response from her. he rolled to his side and listened to the gentle sound of the rain hitting the glass panels.

he felt bored, especially when his obnoxious parents were out for a night ball organized by their primary school alumni committee.

he sighed again.

'can you be quiet oh my god,' soon-ah said sternly. she rotated in the spinning chair, her eyes never leaving one of soonyoung's many japanese mangas. 'you are so disturbing.'

soonyoung shut his eyes. 'mind your own business.'

she slammed the book shut and returned it on the shelf. she traced her forefinger along the spines, in search of something that interested her. 'who are you messaging the whole time?'

'yooji,' he muttered. 'she didn't reply anyways; i'm just checking.'

soon-ah suddenly jumped on the bed, landing on him. soonyoung let out a painful grunt and tried to pry her hands off of his face. 'kwon soon-ah!'

she didn't move and stayed on top of him, their position resembling a plus sign. 'you are in love, aren't you?'

'if you forget that i'm a black belt then now i kindly remind you that i can strangle you in a blink of eye. kwon soon-ah get off me!'

his sister was fearless. 'so indeed you are in love with yooji huh? since when?'

'shut up! i am just worried.'

'oh, why?' she smirked.

'she didn't look too good at school earlier,' soonyoung explained. soon-ah sat up in alert and he almost puked from the sudden pressure.

'oh god, why? she was still looking fine this morning,' she raised her hands in mid-air, as she debated about yooji's condition.

soonyoung was pretty much annoyed, because he also didn't know about anything. 'get out of here, kwon soon-ah. i'm going to bed.'

but his sister only fetched another manga out of the shelf and sat back down on the chair. 'says who?'

'dude! just get out or i'll delete you out of existence,' he groaned in mock anger.

soon-ah clicked her tongue. 'you can't do that to me.'

'master kwon is dancing off his butt tonight and no one else is in the house so yes, i can.'

miraculously, the door bell rang at the right minute. soon-ah stuck her tongue out at him. 'now you can't. sorry, but your senpai is back.'

'go answer the door and come back,' he said reluctantly, feeling defeated by everything.

however, being the nasty younger sister she is, soon-ah shook her head. 'nope.'

'coming!' soonyoung let out an annoyed shout and rolled over the bed so that he could get the door.

he wore his slippers and slid down the hall. pulling the strings of his loose sweatpants, he opened the door and dodged, just in case his father surprises him with something. anything.

he was ready, but nothing came whatsoever. he expected to see his parents' shoes in his squatting position, but instead, he only saw a pair black leather oxfords and white socks drenched in rainwater.

he stood up immediately and met the crying eyes of a girl. 'yooji! what are you doing here?'

appeared on his doorstep, was yooji soaked in water. she was still in uniform, her hair completely wet and as soonyoung pulled her inside, the dripping form left traces of water drops on the flooring.

'oh my god, you are so wet.' he closed the door and took her bag, leaving it in the doorway. 'stay here, first let me grab you a towel.'

he was about to leave, but she walked to him for an embrace. she rested her forehead on his shoulder and uncontrollably broke into sobs.

'yooji! don't cry!' he nearly shouted. he was dumbfounded at her sudden outburst, and his sweatshirt was immediately dampened with the rain and her tears.

soon-ah, who had been alerted by the noise outside, went to see what happened. she immediately hurried back to her room for some dry clothes and a towel to help.

she returned and wrapped the towel around her shoulders, looking at her brother with worried eyes. soonyoung slightly shook his head, signaling that he was just as clueless.

soon-ah brushed away her hair gently and gasped. 'good heavens. yah, kwon soonyoung, she is burning!'