innocent | HHJ + SRJ

39

🌼🌼🌼

H W A N G  H Y U N J I N

i started catching my breath after i danced. i am currently in the dance studio by myself. i told yeji earlier that i will be staying late to dance. what happened yesterday afternoon got stuck in my head.

what i did was tell her the truth, that there shouldn't be any feelings involved in what we're doing. but remembering the look on her face when i told her that makes me feel guilty. i don't want her to be like that. i don't want her to be sad.

but what am i to do then? how can i tell her that i don't like her like that without making her sad? why is this so hard anyway? i don't like her that way right? yes, that's right. i'm just feeling all of this because i grew fond of her, she's a close friend of mine now. yes, that's right.

i grab the towel i have and sat down beside my bag on the floor. i wipe the sweat off of my face and neck. i got my water bottle out and started drinking from it. my eyes focussed at the side of my bag when i heard my phone go off with multiple notifications. what's this? did yeji forget to tell mom again that i stayed late to dance? tsk, that brat.

i put all my stuff in my bag, ignoring the continuous buzzing from my phone. i'll just go home, it's almost time to lock up the dance studio anyway. i turned the lights off and closed the door behind me. it was faint but i can hear the soft tapping of rain from outside. so it's raining, probably why there's a lot of notifications.

i continued walking on my way to the school's exit. i unzipped my bag and dig my hand inside, wishing i brought an umbrella. i continued doing that until i felt the familiar shape of the thing i'm looking for.

" there you are " i muttered to myself as i pulled the umbrella out of my bag. i zipped my bag and continued on my way.

as i get closer to the exit i can hear some footsteps too. actually i'm not sure if that's footsteps or just the rain. i shrug it off, maybe it's just some of the school staff or someone else.

i am walking down the stairs and just in front of me is the exit. i stopped walking midway the stairs when i saw someone standing in front of the exit. i didn't have to look twice, i know who that is. what is ryujin still doing here? wait, did she wait for me? no way.

" he- " i was about to call for her attention when suddenly someone arrived from around the corner of the hallway.

it was seungmin. why is he also still here? i thought he has plans with serim? i watched as seungmin made his way to ryujin, an umbrella on his hand.

" ryujin "

i watched as he stood beside her. they were talking for a while, but i wasn't able to hear them, and then ryujin started laughing. my eyebrows furrowed as i feel this weird feeling. her laugh is different. why is it different?

her laugh now looks way much better than any of all the ones she did when she's with me. what's this? what's happening? the way her eyes genuinely wrinkle into crescents, the natural tune that left her lips, the way how her smile nearly tears apart her cheeks because of how wide it is. it's all different.

i know i've seen her smile and laugh lots of times but this, this is the first time i saw her like this. the first time i actually see the ease in her eyes. it was as if before she was full of imperceptible discomfort compared to how she looks right now. was she faking it all before?

i noticed how her shoulders are more relaxed, only realizing now that they weren't like that before. she then softly hit seungmin's side with her elbow, the same genuine smile on her lips. " pssh, come on lover boy " she teased seungmin, who is now carressing the side of his stomach that just got hit.