𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘, 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔

two.

-   ͙۪۪̥˚┊❛ [CHAPTER TWO] ❜┊˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
  ﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉﹉

IN WHICH THERE IS
A STRONG SENSE
OF NOSTALGIA.

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A puff of air can be seen coming from jieun's mouth. her hand flies up to her mouth, cupping them in front of her lips as she blows warm air on them. she shuffles her feet, jumping slightly to keep herself from freezing. despite it being summer, today was rather cold.

"i really should've listened to him," she grumbles. jieun looks up in time to see the catching point of her best friend's performance—something she can't quite describe. but true to his word, the crowd circling choi yeonjun begins to clap in awe, their eyes sparkling in the dark.

jieun feels her breath get knocked out from her lungs as she stares wide eyed at yeonjun. a bright smile stretches across her lips; she claps and yells encouraging words to the boy. his facial expression cracks, the faintest smile appearing on his chapped lips before straightening again to match the mood of his dance.

the audience begins to clap as yeonjun's performance comes to an end.

the crowd begins to disperse. some walk up to talk to yeonjun, some take a few steps forward to leave some cash in a clear bucket the boy placed on the ground, and others simply just walk away.

the crowd seems like a blur to jieun: she's in a daze as she stares at a shop behind yeonjun while her thoughts run wild.

jieun shivers once more as a gush of winds goes by.

"hm?"

the girl feels something soft and warm land a top of her head. her vision is temporarily dark as a pair of slender hands tug something over her head swiftly. she blinks when she sees yeonjun standing in front of her with a sheepish grin on his lips.

"i told you it was going to be cold tonight," he says softly, reaching behind her head and grabbing hold of the hood of his hoodie. he pinches the fabric, rubbing it in between his fingers as he waits for jieun to respond.

the girl hums. "i forgot."

yeonjun chuckles, pulling the hood over her head. "you always forget."

a sigh leaves jieun's lips, her arms moving upwards to hug herself in an attempt to warm herself up quicker. she looks at yeonjun, her lips pursed. "are you sure it's okay for me to borrow this?" she asks, looking down at the black hoodie that covers her frame.

the boy nods. "yeah," he replies. "it's not cold for me, anyways."

jieun rolls her eyes. "okay," she says, dragging out the o, "but if you start whining about how cold it is—"

"i won't!"

jieun laughs, "whatever you say, jun."

they start to walk down the street, comfortable silence following them. yeonjun hums a tune before he stops. "oh," he says, "i forgot. but what were you thinking about back there? you seemed out of it."

"what i was thinking about?" she asks, repeating the same phrase to herself afterwards with a small voice. yeonjun nods in response. jieun looks into his eyes for a split second, noticing the golden specks of light coming from the street lamps swimming his brown eyes.

"...nothing." jieun finally says, returning her gaze to what's in front of her.

"right," yeonjun slowly says, taking one last look at his friend before turning his attention back in front of him.

silence falls upon them again. yeonjun doesn't mind the silence; quite on the contrary, he likes it. just having his friend by his side is enough for him. he glances back at jieun, noticing the look in her eyes. he smiles, thinking about how it's normal to see jieun caught up in the many thoughts that swim in her mind. yeonjun returns to humming a random song that's been stuck in his head for a while.

jieun keeps her gaze on the ground. she thinks back to how it's always been a routine: her heading down to the shopping district of the city with yeonjun while he busks and she cheers him on.

yeah, it's always been like that.

a routine.

a routine she, honestly speaking, never wants to end.

as her mind wanders, jieun can't help but to think about the what if's. what if their friendship loses its spark? what if their friendship falls apart like a thread of string that keeps getting stretched out until it's no more? what would she do then? would they find their way back to each other, or would they just simply pretend that neither exist? it's a thought that she can't bear to imagine.

she wouldn't like for that to ever happen.

jieun hums in confusion when her body bumps into something. she looks up, seeing yeonjun's back in front of her.

"yeon... jun?" she says, tilting her head.

he abruptly turns around, catching the girl off guard. his hands fly up, and he grabs jieun's cheeks with his hands, pinching them.

jieun whines, trying to swat his hands away.

"what are you thinking about that's making you look so sad?" yeonjun asks, giving her cheeks one last squeeze. he keeps his hands on her cheeks as he peers at her.

the girl stays silent for a moment before replying. "well," jieun says, "i was just thinking about how we've been friends for a long time."

yeonjun grins, pulling back his hands and leans away from jieun. "besties since first grade, right?"

jieun smiles, nodding.

"geez, and now we're in our second year in uni."

they joke about how they're old when the apartment complex that they live at comes into view. yeonjun and jieun jog up the stairs, walking down the corridor of the apartments. they stop in front of two doors across from each other; jieun and yeonjun face each other.

yeonjun salutes to the girl. "see you tomorrow, captain."

jieun laughs, saluting back to the boy. "see you tomorrow, soldier."

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UNFORTUNATELY,
I LOVE YOU.