detention » vernon

八

vernon and ella had been walking through the city of seoul for around 15 minutes. thankfully, their school was in the middle of the city, so there was plenty for them to do.

"seriously, where are we going? i'm getting tired," ella groaned.

"it's not that far from here, shh," vernon responded.

and he was right. they finally stopped in front of a large sign that read 'namsan park'.

"here we are!" he said. "have you been here before?"

ella shook her head. "no, but i've always wanted to come here."

"what, really? i always go here when i want to escape my parents. my apartment is pretty nearby."

the two began to walk into the park. vernon walked ahead at a fast pace, but ella was taken aback by how beautiful the landscaping was, so she kept pausing.

"hurry up!" vernon snapped her out of her thoughts, and she realised that he was pretty far ahead. she ran up to his side and they continued to walk together.

the path they were on leads to the n seoul tower, at the top of namsan mountain. since it was spring, the path was lined with many cherry blossom trees. ella looked up, seeing the tower behind a couple of trees, and she turned to vernon in awe. "are we really going to walk up this?"

he only chuckled. "it only takes around 10 minutes if you walk fast."

"really?"

"yeah, come on! i'll race you!" and off he went.

ella laughed at his changed behaviour and began to run after him. she felt refreshed, feeling the cool spring breeze flow through her hair, now that she had a coat on to keep her body warm.

soon after, they finally reached the top of the mountain. usually, the place would be packed with people, but since it was a weekday, it wasn't that busy.

ella excitedly ran over to a viewing platform and leaned against the railing. she could see the whole of seoul city from there. she took her phone out of her pocket and snapped a few photos. after spotting vernon standing a couple of meters away, she pulled on his arm.

"let's take a selfie!" she happily suggested.

"ew, no, i don't do selfies," he refused.

"shut up and smile." ella held up her phone and took some photos without warning. vernon's face was completely blank in all of them, causing ella to laugh.

"hey, delete those!" he groaned.

"never!" ella put her phone away and started to look around the place a bit more. on the other side of the mountain, she spotted the famous 'locks of love' bridge, just like the one in paris.

ella grabbed vernon's arm once again and dragged him over to it. "look!"

she went closer and examined a few of the locks. friends and couples had written their names on them, and had locked it onto the railing.

"do you want to do one?" vernon asked. ella's face lit up, and she nodded.

vernon walked over to the mini stall where you buy the locks, and he came back with one less than a minute later. it was a white one, with a pink heart in the middle. ella took a pen out of her bag and thought of something to write.

"what are you going to write on it?" vernon watched her, deep in thought.

"hmm.. i know!" ella smirked to herself as she wrote the word down in black marker.

"..chogiwa? what the fuck?"

"yeah!"

"you're insane."

"i know! now where's the key?" ella held her hand out, and vernon gave her the key to lock it onto the railing.

after she made sure it was locked on properly, she looked up at vernon. "this lock means that we have to stick together, okay? if you ever have problems with your parents then let me know."

vernon gave her a bright smile. "alright."

just then, a drop of water landed on ella's nose. she looked up at the sky and noticed that it was beginning to rain. "shit!" she gasped.

"come on!" vernon slipped his hand into hers and tugged her along with him. they began to run down the path they came up, trying to find a shelter for them to stand under.

by the time they found a shaded bus stop, it was already too late, as they were soaked in rain.

ella doubled over, attempting to catch her breath. vernon sat down on a bench and wiped the raindrops off his face. moments later, ella took a seat next to him.

"so what are we going to do?" she finally said.

"we can wait for the rain to die down, but it doesn't seem like it will anytime soon," vernon replied.

"shall we just wait for a bus, so we can go home?"

"okay."

both of them had stopped talking, and there was a weird atmosphere in the air. ella kept her eyes fixated on the road, watching the vehicles drive past. vernon's eyes shifted from here to there, unsure of his emotions and what he was about to say.

"ella."

she felt a weird sensation in her stomach. it was the first time he had called her by her name like that. and it felt different.. in a good way.

"..yeah?" she turned to him.

vernon gazed back at her with a wavering smile. "can i tell you something?"

"i guess..."

"ella, i like you."