partners ⁀➷ k.sw ✓

4

I quietly sipped on my soup, on my phone because it was awkward and I didn't really want to make conversation with him. I told myself I wasn't going to interact with him other than school related things, so I'm kinda breaking my own rule, but I feel bad for him.

"Jihyun. Do you want my meat?"

I look up at Sunwoo and he's looking at me, wide eyes with his spoon filled with pieces of meat. I never would have thought he'd ask me to have his meat, I mean, he's Sunwoo.

"Why don't you eat it?" I ask him.

"I figured y-you should have it.." he stutters.

"Well, you should have it." I shake my head no.

"You've been so nice to me today, and meat is pretty rare in seaweed soup. You should have it." He argued.

"You're a guest, why don't you have it? It's your bowl." I argue back.

"I should be nice and give it to you as a way of paying you back!" He pouts his lips.

I guess that was cute. Boys like him always try their hardest to seem manly and cool, but it's obvious he's cute instead. And the thing is, he's actually embracing it and showing it off. I'm surprised, this boy is something different.

"It's just meat, Kim Sunwoo. You can pay me back by working hard for our project." I give him a small smile, rejecting his meat.

"Working hard for the project isn't enough.. you let me stay over for longer and you gave me seaweed soup! Not to mention, a can of milk tea! That's so rare for me, I never have homemade food like this!" He exclaimed excitedly, ranting on like a little child.

For a rich popular boy like him, I'm surprised he doesn't have actual stocks of meat in his house. I think he's just acting like this because he wants me to think of him as someone better than just a popular boy. I'm not really buying it, but whenever he smiles, it's a different story: his smile actually makes me think he's a genuine nice person.

I can't fall for his tricks. Freshman year I fell for a popular boy because he kept feeding me lies, and in the end he just fucked me over. Sunwoo's exactly the same.

You're probably thinking I should cut him some slack and get to know him, but the amount of trust issues I have is astronomical. I could never trust someone like him again.

"You don't have many friends, do you?"

I get taken aback by his sudden question.

"Why are you asking me that?" I giggle nervously.

"Judging by the way you act, you get flustered over the littlest things. You never talk to anyone unless it's for school. You only talk to Eric, once he comes back anyway." He squints his eyes, looking at me.

"I understand why, though. I heard stories about you in freshman year. I understand why you're the way you are now." He tilts his head to the side.

I gulp, starting to feel a little shocked. He knew exactly how I was and why, he knew what happened to me. I didn't like that he knew exactly everything about me.

"So are you talking to me out of pity?" I raise my eyebrow at him.

"No, I-"

"If that's the case, if you're really talking to me out of pity, you can get the hell out." I finish.

"Jihyun.." he mumbled, avoiding eye contact with me.

"I knew it." I laugh a little bitterly.

"I think it's time for you to leave."

I stand up, walking to the door. All of a sudden he stopped me, by giving me a hug from the back. My eyes widen, my whole body freezing up. His body warmth was really strong; his whole body was hot.

Wait, not like that.

"L-Let go." I try fidgeting out of his embrace.

He only held me tighter, resting his head on my shoulder. I gulp, feeling my heart beating even faster. I can feel him breathing on my neck, and I didn't like how I felt because of it. I was flustered once again. Damn you, Kim Sunwoo.

"K-Kim Sunwoo.. I said let go." I try getting out of his embrace.

His strength was no match for me. Every time I'd try to get out of his embrace, he only held me tighter.

"Kang Jihyun." He breathes out.

"W-What? What?!" I raise my voice a little, embarrassed and angry that he made me feel this way.

"Don't make me leave,"

"Please." He whispered.

"Kim Sunwoo. What do you think you're doing?"

"Don't be mad at me, don't be upset, please. I don't talk to you just because I feel bad, I talk to you because I really like talking to you. I didn't realize it before, I thought you were an ordinary girl, but you're a real friend. To me." He left me speechless.

"I know you judge me differently and I know you think of me badly. I don't blame you, people like me have hurt you before.. but please, you're really a real friend to me."

His grip on me finally loosened and I was able to escape from his arms. I turn around, facing him. I scoff, feeling my heart dropping down to my stomach and I didn't know why.

"I'm not your friend. I'm nowhere near that. Why be friends with someone like me?"

"Because you're different! You're a real person." His voice lowered.

"I can actually open up to you, unlike others.." he looked down at the ground.

"Kim Sunwoo, you're speaking nonsense. It's time for you to leave." I shake my head.

He looked back up at me and opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped himself and said nothing. He nodded quietly, going upstairs to grab his backpack. He came back down and I lead him to the front door.

"Bye, Jihyun.." he mumbled.

"Bye."

I close the door once he leaves, locking it.

"I'm not your friend. I'm nowhere near that. Why be friends with someone like me?"

"Because you're different! You're a real person."

"I can actually open up to you, unlike others.."

"Don't make me leave..."

I shake my head vigorously, forcing myself to get the thoughts out of my head. How lame of me, to actually feel flustered because of him. Just lame. What's wrong with him?