"Well, I mean— you are from Mars, so I guess."
He suddenly gasps, and I look up faster than I've ever looked up before in my life.
"Y-You admitted to it." He stutters, and I can't help but release a laugh when he looks down on the grass in shock. "Now you really believe me?"
"No, I'm just kidding."
He shoots me a glare as I burst into helpless laughter, nearly crumpling my homework when I roll on the grass.
"That's not funny." He says seriously, and I'm still laughing when he suddenly pulls me up from the grass.
My lips press tight in surprise when he pushes me against the trunk of the tree, his face so close it takes my breath away.
His eyes look even more beautiful closer.
"Admit it." He repeats, and his eyes blink slowly. I'm afraid to move a single inch as the laughter fades away from my lips.
"Admit that I'm from Mars."
"I-I mean..." My words cut off by itself when he tilts his face downwards, hand tightening on my shoulder.
"No excuses."
I can't even breathe.
"Okay!" I shout, my heart racing as I finally shove him back. "Okay— I believe you, you're from Mars. Gosh, Taehyung, too close."
"You better believe it." He sniffs when I turn my flaming cheeks away. My heart's in my throat— blood roaring in my ears as I take a deep breath.
When I think I've finally calmed down enough to breathe normally without looking like I'm hyperventilating, he suddenly pokes his head exactly two inches from my eyes.
"Need help with your homework—"
"Pause!" I yelp, the racing in my chest back again as I scramble backwards with two hands outstretched. "Pause right there."
He looks hurt.
"I was just trying to see if you needed help with your homework..." He mumbles as I stare at him with widened eyes.
"S-Sorry." I say quickly, my mind spinning. "Promise I'll buy you a burger later, okay?"
That's all it takes to turn his mood upside down.
"Hamburgers?!" His lips split into a smile as he falls back to the grass. "I can't believe you have hamburgers here, too."
See— he's just a kid. I convince myself as I laugh along forcefully. -Hamburgers make him this happy.
"S-Sian?"
"My hand is red again."
The pencil I'm holding slips from my hand when I see Taehyung look at me, his gaze wavering as he glances back at his bloodstained palm.
He's bleeding.
For the second time in just a few days.
Immediately abandoning my papers, I quickly shrug off my cardigan and give it to him, alarmed at how fast the red was soaking through the fabric.
I can see scarlet on the grass.
"Come with me." I say, gripping his wrist and pulling him towards the infirmary. I knew that the nurse was out for lunch break, so it would be empty.
