tangled; park woojin

27

Maybe her mom trusts Soojin now, because she was letting her daughter commute again. Soojin and Woojin walked to the bus stop as they always have a little after 5 PM. It felt safe to go home later than 4:30 now, because Woojin is there. Not that she relies on him though. Just five minutes ago his bag almost got caught by a speedy motorcycle.

Soojin pulled him towards the sidewalk just in time. At first he had no idea what just happened, but after a few seconds, he realized.

"Hey!" Woojin yelled at the driver, but he was already gone. He then slid his bag back on his shoulder.

"That is why your bag has two straps," Soojin scolded him. "Wear it properly so it doesn't happen again."

"It was his fault," Woojin said. "And by the way, it looks cool on me like this."

"Suit yourself."

Woojin wore his bag like that for the next few minutes. After a while, though, he absentmindedly slid the other strap on his other shoulder. Soojin wanted to say something snarky about this, but the bus has already arrived. She became more interested in getting an actual seat inside.

The ride went smoothly. Before she knew it, they already arrived in her stop. Like the last time, Woojin got off with her. Soojin thought it was pointless to tell him he didn't have to. Maybe he was coming with her because he was going to bully her into telling her mom about Buzzer Beat. Yes. Knowing him, that was probably it.

"I'm really going to ask Mom today," Soojin said.

"I know," Woojin said.

"So... you can go now, I guess?"

"Yeah, as if. I want to meet your mom."

Soojin stopped. "What?"

"Just to say hi," Woojin said defensively and made Soojin start walking again. "I mean, she's probably seen me hang out with you. I don't wanna be labelled as that delinquent that her daughter's friends with."

"Delinquent."

"It's the hair," Woojin explained.

"And piercings," Soojin added. "See, this is why pink hair is cuter."

"Ugh, we're talking about Woo Jinyoung again," Woojin whined. "Let me know when you're done squealing over him and his stupid braces."

"I never squealed over Jinyoung," Soojin denied. "And his braces aren't stupid."

"Sure, you haven't."

Soojin just rolled her eyes at him.

They continued walking until they eventually reached the boutique on Soojin's block. Soojin stopped walking again. Woojin gave her a look.

"Isn't your apartment over there?" He pointed at a building not too far away. "Didn't we stop here last time, too?"

"What? Oh, that." Soojin felt it was necessary to explain herself. "This'll sound stupid, but my mom kinda sorta doesn't really like you..."

"What'd I do?"

"Nothing. She doesn't like boys in general."

"That's not fair. Don't you have guy friends other than me and Youngmin and Donghyun?" Woojin asked.

"Woo Jin—" Soojin began but Woojin cut her off.

"Real friends."

"What does that even mean?" Soojin asked him and lightly punched him on his left side.

Woojin just shrugged at this. "No offense, but it's like, 2017. Is a boy even allowed to breathe in your direction when your mom's around?"

"It's complicated," Soojin replied, not wanting to talk about this. She'll just get frustrated at her mom again, which wouldn't really help as she's currently trying to soften her mom's heart into letting Soojin go to Buzzer Beat. She was starting to hate that damn festival.

Thankfully, Woojin gave it up. After saying goodbye, Soojin then walked to their building and got in the elevator. After arriving at their floor, Soojin suddenly found it hard to continue walking and began dreading what kind of storm she's about to stir up in the next few minutes. Or hours. Depends on how brave Soojin will get.

However, when Soojin entered their unit, she was greeted by her mom in a formal dress and slipping on her heels.

"Honey, you're here," Soojin's mom said. Shr walked towards Soojin and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Would love to chat but my boss invited me over for dinner, and I still have a few errands to run on the way."

"Oh. Now?"

"Yup," her mom answered. "I'll be home a little late, so don't wait up. And no parties or whatever you kids are up to these days."

"You know I'm not the type to do that," Soojin said.

"Of course you're not," Mrs Yoon said. "I just noticed you're becoming a bit of an extrovert lately, that's all. I heard from Hayun that you're making new friends."

"I am," Soojin confirmed. "They're nice to me."

"That's great, then," Mrs Yoon said.

"And they're male," Soojin made sure to mention.

Her mom, who was checking her reflection in the mirror, stopped to look at Soojin. "We are going to talk about that later."

"Oh. Great. 'Cause I also have something to ask you. I was going to ask you now, but since you're busy..."

"Thanks for understanding, sweetie. And give me your new friends' parents' contact details just in case."

After getting her purse, her mom left their unit. So much for getting her permission.

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im back! hopefully for good lmao but i still have tons of post finals stuff to finish yikes