The New Girl | 𝘈𝘛𝘌𝘌𝘡

Awkward

I don't know if it's the deafening silence or the palpable awkwardness that makes this car ride so unbearable, but either way, I cannot wait to get out.

"You could talk to me, you know," Seonghwa mutters as if I'm not sitting within earshot.

"I have nothing to talk about." I turn my back to him and stare out the window of his car, focusing my attention on the passing trees outside.

"Fine..." he huffs. "Well... I've been spending more time at home with Yujin. She's getting very into Rapunzel lately... doesn't seem quite as interested in the Lion King sadly."

I glare out the window, refusing to look at him. "You can't use your little sister as bait to make me like you again."

"Come on now, Anna, are you really so ready to be done with me?" I can feel those warm, brown eyes staring over at me. Curse all of the red lights on the road.

When I don't respond, he sighs. "I finally got a chance to talk things through with Yeji noona. I told her that I felt terrible for what I did. She has a boyfriend now, and she seems really happy. She agrees we both have changed a lot since—... you know."

"Well, I'm glad you made peace with her," I huff. At least he had the decency to apologize.

"Fine then, enlighten me," he pulls the car into a parking spot along the road and sets it in park. "What's the worst thing you've ever done?"

"We don't have time for this," I hiss. "Yoongi is getting engaged tonight."

"My dad briefed me on the plan. That's the only reason you're in the car with me right now, right?" He looks at me with an unamused expression. "But I'm sick of you treating me like shit because of something I did before I even met you that I regret more than anything. So tell me, what's the one thing you regret the most?"

I grit my teeth and glare back at him. "I'm not doing this right now; not with you."

"Too bad," he says calmly. "If Yeji noona can forgive me, I don't see why you still insist on pushing me away. So tell me, what is your biggest regret?"

"I—..." I look down at my hands and smooth down my dress, debating if I could make a break for it. "I would never do what you did."

"And I would never have done it if I could go back in time, but I can't," he points out.

My stomach tightens with my own regret, the memory of December coming back too quickly. "I'm the reason my family died."

The car goes silent, and I can see Seonghwa's face fall through blurry eyes. We just stare at each other for a minute, my vision clouding as my eyes fill with tears.

He finally breaks the silence with a soft tone. "I'm sure that's not true."

"It is," I nod sadly. "There was a blizzard in Chicago when I came home for Christmas... They hadn't gotten chains on the car yet, but I begged them to come pick me up from the airport..."

I sniffle and wipe my eyes, and Seonghwa waits silently for me to continue. "The roads were icy and someone slid right into us... my—my dad—he died on impact, and my brother only made it to the hospital. If I had just taken a cab—"

"—Anna, no." Seonghwa reaches across and takes my hand. "You are no responsible for what happened. It was an accident, and you had no power over that situation. You had no way of knowing what would happen."

He pulls out a pack of tissues from the glovebox and hands them to me. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you to tell me."

"No, it's not your fault," I wipe my eyes and sigh as I see eyeliner smudged on the tissue. "Rose is gonna kill me for ruining my makeup."

He laughs lightly. "I can help with that, actually."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "You know how to apply girls' makeup?"

"My mom broke her wrist when I was in high school, and my dad and Joong hyung were both terrible at applying makeup, so I did it for her." He smiles proudly, but when he notices my apprehensive look, he chuckles nervously. "Did you bring anything with you?"

"I've got eyeliner and lipstick." I pull the makeup out of my bag and hold it out in my hand. "I've never been good at doing makeup."

He smiles softly and wipes my eyes gently with a tissue. "That's because you don't need it, but tonight is a special occasion, so let's not let Uncle Yoongi see his daughter cry on his big night."

I sit still for him while he carefully fixes my makeup, and somehow, it looks better than before once he's finished. I look back at myself in my phone screen in surprise and then back up at him. "You're hired."

He laughs, a light and airy laugh that instantly lightens the mood in the car, and the boy that helped me find my dorm has suddenly reappeared. "Sorry, but that's part of the premium boyfriend package."

And just like that, the air is heavier and the car has fallen silent. I'm curious to know if Seonghwa can hear my heartbeat as he hovers closer to me until his lips barely graze mine.

My voice is no more than a whisper. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You know me, Anna," he says against my lips. "You know how much I care about you."

I just sit still, unsure of whether to push him away or pull him closer. But instead, we both stay frozen like this.

Until a phone buzzes.

Seonghwa pulls away with a sigh and hands me my phone with Kihyun's contact photo on the screen. I tap the screen to answer and put it on speaker. "Hey Kihyun."

"Anna, thank god, why aren't you at Yoongi's yet?" My father's boyfriend sighs with relief through the phone. "Your dad—Yoongi started panicking but he didn't want to seem pushy."

I hear my phone buzz on the other line and when I look, Mingi is calling me. Seonghwa gives me a confused look, but I shake my head and return my attention to Kihyun. "We're almost there, just had a bit of a delay. I'll call him and let him know so he stops worrying."

"Thanks sweetie. See you tonight!" He chirps before ending the call.

"We should get to Yoongi's. Kihyun says he's worried about us," I tell Seonghwa, who's face is buried on his own cell phone. "Seonghwa?"

His head snaps up at the sound of his own voice and he nods distractedly. "Right, yeah, let's get going."

He tucks his phone into his pocket before putting the car into drive, and I tilt my head curiously.

"Something wrong?" I ask, and after a beat of silence, he shakes his head.

"Not at all," he tells me. "Mingi thought he'd left his keys to his dorm with you, but he found them."