sweet lies. / skz hyunjin

[ 十二 ]

/ third person.

hyunjin and suni were walking through the grocery store together. suni was busy reading through the shopping list as hyunjin was looking for a particular something.

"i feel like felix's family runs out of milk every 2 days. he is obsessed with cereal, it's kinda creepy at this point," suni says, wanting to make conversation with the tall boy. but he seemed very focused in his thoughts.

"hey, suni, i will be right back. i'm just... gonna look at the cool laundry detergents!" he lied, rushing off as soon as he figured out what he wanted to get.

suni just chuckled at the boy and continued to shop for the things on the list.

hyunjin was looking for gifts that he could give suni's siblings. he didn't know why he wanted to get things for her siblings besides just wanting to impress her family. he was going to get suni's sister a dress and was going to get suni's brother a cd with good songs he could dance to.

he spotted a small pink dress with sequins over it and smiled. he chose size 6 and then rushed over to the music section. he chose the cd with his favorite upbeat songs that he thought a little kid would enjoy dancing to. quickly, he bought the things then shoved the bag in his backpack to keep it a surprise. catching up to suni, he smiled.

"how were the laundry detergents?" the girl chuckled, reaching for a gallon of milk which happened to be out of reach.

hyunjin grabbed it for her and put it in the cart, smiling brightly at her. "wonderful."

"i think that should be it... let's pay for this now?" she said, moving to the cash registers.

we paid for everything then realized that not all the groceries could fit in the bike baskets. "i can carry them, you can just guide the bikes!" hyunjin suggests, making suni's heart subtly flip.

"i should've seen it before," hyunjin hears suni say under her breath.

"should've seen what?" hyunjin asks curiously, adjusting the grocery bags in his hands.

"he never really loved me. i did all the work in the relationship, to be honest. i would be the one asking for dates. or hugs. or saying 'i love you' first. eh. it's behind me now. at least i have experience for the future, right?" suni says, deep in her thoughts.

this made hyunjin sad. he thought that suni deserved the whole world, yet some boy decided to lose this beautiful girl's trust.

"you know, my favorite of his lies was either 'you can open up to me, i will listen to you' or 'i love you, too.' hyunjin, have you ever experienced love?" suni asks, looking at the boy with curiously sad eyes.

"uh... not really," he responded, looking down at the ground.

"sorry, this must be awkward to talk about. felix used to cover his ears whenever i would mention my ex's name," suni says, suddenly giving hyunjin a wide smile. "thank you for everything, by the way. i wouldn't be coping so well if it weren't for you."

hyunjin felt his face heat up and smiled shyly back at the girl. "don't worry about it. i simply enjoy making you laugh."

they stopped at felix's house where suni gave the groceries to his mother. "thank you so much, suni. you're seriously an angel!"

"no problem, mrs. lee! oh, and it wasn't just me. hyunjin carried those groceries the whole way!" suni says, pointing at the boy who was holding the bikes and the rest of the groceries at the end of their driveway.

"oh! thank you, hyunjin!" hyunjin heard the older woman say. he bowed in response, smiling shyly.

"bye now!" suni says, waving goodbye as the door was shut. she ran over to hyunjin and grabbed the bikes out of his grasp. "oh, i love mrs. lee! she's really sweet."

hyunjin gasped, remembering the gifts in his backpack and suddenly felt excited. "are your siblings home?"

suni nodded her head. "yeah, you can meet them if you'd like."

"i'd love to," hyunjin responds, a smile plastered on his face.

they stopped in front of suni's house and suni knocked on the door as hyunjin parked the bikes in the driveway.

"hi, mom! i'm back," he heard suni say. "mom, hyunjin is here, too. he helped me with the groceries."

"really? where is he?" her mom responded, and hyunjin walked slowly to the doorway.

"hello. i'm hwang hyunjin, a friend of your daughter," hyunjin bowed with a polite smile on his face.

"oh, hello, young man! a pleasure to meet you," her mom offered a hand for him to shake and hyunjin happily took it with both of his hands.

"mom, where's maei and jungi?" suni asks, walking into the house.

"in their room. oh, and hyunjin! come in!" her mother welcomed in the boy. "you can follow suni to meet her siblings."

hyunjin bowed again as he rushed to follow suni. she opened a bedroom door and inside was jungi and maei, playing rock paper scissors on the floor. as soon as they saw suni, they excitedly got up and hugged her.

"hello! guys, i brought my friend with me. his name is hyunjin," suni says, pointing to the boy behind her who gave a little wave to the little kids.

"wow, he's really tall!" maei says, giving hyunjin a hug in which hyunjin gladly returned.

jungi was much more of an introvert and smiled at his oldest sister as maei talked to hyunjin.

"i got you guys gifts," hyunjin says, surprising suni. he pulled out the bag in his backpack and gave them their gifts happily. "i'm not the most creative so i hope this works."

"ah, thank you, oppa!" maei says, putting her dress on top of her pajamas. "it's really pretty!"

jungi was silently smiling down at the cd, looking back up to hyunjin. "thank you!"

hyunjin giggled, jumping around. "ahh they are so cute!"

hyunjin was playing around with the kids when he looked at his watch. "oh, i have to head home now. see you two next time!"

the kids pouted as they watched hyunjin leave, but suni walked him out with a truly happy smile plastered on her face. "thank you... you're really thoughtful. my siblings don't usually like my friends as much as they like you. especially jungi. you're magical," suni says as she watched him walk to his bike. "thank you."

suni walked over to the boy and hugged him before he could kick the kickstand up on his bike. hyunjin smiled, his cheeks rosy. they pulled apart, but hyunjin didn't want to ever leave. he glanced down to her happy lips and felt his heart beat out of his chest. "i'm sorry, but i really want to do this," hyunjin says, leaning down to kiss the girl.

but it surprised him when she kissed back. the girl who was previously broken was kissing him back.

but it was going too well, too fast. something ought to go wrong.