Book 2: Seven Demon's Hearts

Episode 44: The Trigger

Episode 44: T h e  T r i g g e r

The world seemed to slow down as her feet came to a stop. He was handing her over the strawberry ice cream he had brought her while they both laughed at something she said.

"Wonho."

It took the boy about three seconds. One, to react to the familiar voice. Two, to look down at the girl he was with. Three, to turn his head and finally face Sera.

Sera didn't like crying in front of anyone, much more in public. So one could imagine what it took for her to place on a small smile and try not to blink her eyes too much. The last thing she wanted was to look like a pathetic and emotional fool.

"Sera..." Wonho's eyes widened with shock, taking a step forward. "Babe. What are you doing here?"

She narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brows together at his question. "What am I doing here?" She repeated, making sure he had actually asked her that. "That's interesting because I have the same question. Why are you doing here at the movies? You told me you were going home. So why are you here and why--" she looked at the girl who was innocently looking away somewhere else.

  Wonho snapped out of his daze and quickly placed his hands on the girl's shoulders. "Her? Sera, I didn't tell you? Yeah, of course, you'd be confused. You wouldn't know about it. See, this is my childhood friend, Lisa. I didn't even know I'd be coming here today until she surprised me with movie tickets. I hadn't seen her in over five years so you could imagine how excited I was!"

Sera looked back at the girl who glanced up at her and gave a tight smile back. "Hey." She waved.

"Sera," Wonho walked over with a pout. "You didn't really think I was lying to you about something? You know I wouldn't--"

"Don't touch me." She shrugged his hand off her bare shoulder, then glanced up at his shocked face apologetically. Sera was still confused, so his words only sounded like an excuse. Maybe he was being honest. Or maybe he wasn't.

"Hey, I understand you might be surprised but you don't have to be so mean." He lowered his gaze, taking out his vape and sneaking a quick puff. "Besides, I really was going to stay home today. Otherwise, I wouldn't have told you I couldn't hang out today." He blew the smoke out and locked his eyes on her suspecting gaze. "The real question is, why are you here?"

Wonho didn't have to keep guessing for long as Aiko appeared from the automatic sliding doors, looking back at Sera with relief. However, as his eyes trailed up to Wonho's smug face, anger took over him.

She looked up at Wonho, flustered. "M-My cousin just wanted to see a movie."

"Your cousin. Strange option for a family-friendly movie." Wonho dragged another breath from his vape.

"Well, I could say the same to you and your friend," Sera argued back.

"Hey, sorry! I really didn't mean to make things awkward here. We were actually texting a few days before I came back to Korea about this movie because it was so popular in the States. I was just curious about it so I suggested we go see it--stuff like that between friends is really not a big deal when you're abroad. Wonho didn't actually want to go, so I kind of forced him just for fun." Lisa stepped up to his defense.

"Lisa, right?" Sera forced a plastic smile on, pulling her hair behind her ear as she examined the girl. Her body was definitely skinnier than hers' but overall she was average in the face compartment. Either way, Sera still had her guards up. Wonho had never mentioned a childhood friend who was studying in the U.S. to her.