𝐔𝐍𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘, 𝐈 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔

three.

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

IN WHICH
THEY TALK.

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JIEUN has a thin blanket wrapped around her as she leans against the railing, looking down at her hometown's lights beginning to luminate the streets. the ends of her lips are tugged slightly upwards to form a small smile. she can see two little kids, a boy and girl, playing at the front of the apartment complex.

the girl laughs quietly. "just like us in the past," she hums. jieun continues to look down at the kids playing, a fond smile playing on her lips as she reminisces her childhood memories of her and yeonjun. she sees the two kids slow down and take a seat by a lone, scrawny tree off to the side of the apartment complex. there, the boy and girl stare forwards, talking and laughing.

jieun smiles, letting her mind wander through the maze of memories she's made with yeonjun. she thinks that sometime among their shared laughter and painful nights of studying in their middle school years, she had fallen in love with the boy who likes to dye his hair a different color what seems like every month and still manages to have hair afterwards.

the door to the roof creaks open. the noise doesn't bother jieun as much as it usually does. truth be told, she didn't even care about it. however, she did care about the footsteps she heard approaching her.

"oh? they remind me of us back then," says yeonjun as he moves to stand by the girl. jieun glances at him from the corner of her eye; she chuckles, shaking her head. in turn, yeonjun stares at her with an eyebrow cocked upwards, an amused smile plastered on his lips. "why are you laughing?"

jieun raised her hand to cover her mouth. "you're wearing that same old stupid hoodie you got... geez, how long has it been since you got it? two years?"

yeonjun gasps, his hand flying up to his chest as he places his hand on it. "you did not just insult my hoodie."

the girl scrunches her nose and nods. she chuckles afterwards before tilting her head as she examines the hoodie.

"what?"

"...it used to look bigger on you when you got it," jieun says, looking at yeonjun.

yeonjun plasters a look of disbelief on his face. he looks down at his hoodie once, and looks at jieun afterwards. "how?"

jieun grabs at the material on his shoulders. "it's tight on your shoulders, and it's not as loose as it used to be at the bottom."

shivering, jieun sneezes when a breeze sweeps by. "if i get sick..." she mutters, shaking her head.

yeonjun laughs at the girl. jieun looks up at the boy only for her vision to turn black.

"what the..." she says, "did i black out or something? oh my gosh, that would be so embarrassing if i did, um—" jieun lifts her hand to touch her eyes only to feel that something is laying over her head. it's not until the familiar scent of yeonjun's favorite cologne fills her nostrils does she realize that yeonjun has given her his hoodie. she takes it off her head and squints her eyes at him.

"why'd you give it to me?" she asks. "i've plenty of your hoodies and sweaters already in my closet."

"the more the merrier i guess," yeonjun says, shrugging his shoulders. "plus, you just sneezed and shivered. you'll end up getting sick at this rate if all you have is that thin blanket to cover up."

jieun turns around, facing forwards to hide the smile creeping on her lips. she sees the two little kids still sitting by the tree. she chuckles, "they really do seem like us back then, don't they?" yeonjun hums in response as it becomes completely dark. they hear the little boy and girl squeal in the dark before running into the apartment complex.

"are you ready to go back to college soon?" pipes yeonjun, looking up at the night sky.

college.

the girl can't help but frown at the thought of going back to college. it's not that she has a problem with the school—no, it's not that. she honestly enjoys going to their college and studying the material she enjoys learning. what makes her sad about college is that it's the last step they, she and yeonjun, take before becoming adults, before looking for a job and house to buy, before officially growing up. she's scared of that thought—growing up, that is. will she and yeonjun continue to be friends in the future? or will they grow apart like most people do after high school and college? will they become someone of little importance in the future?

"you're spacing out again," says yeonjun, twisting around to face the girl. "what's wrong?"

jieun sighs, twirling around to look at her best friend. "i... i am excited to go back to college—"

"—but?"

"but i'm afraid of what comes afterwards, you know?" she says. "we're in our second year now. we're so close to graduating and... well, anything can happen in that span of time. what if we aren't friends anymore by the time we graduate and we become mere strangers to one another when we grow up?"

yeonjun begins to laugh, to which jieun frowns at, hitting his arm. "jun, i'm being serious! stop la—"

"ji," says yeonjun, staring at her. jieun gulps, waiting for him to continue as she gulps. "we'll always be best friends."

with that, jieun lets out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. "promise?" she asks.

grinning, yeonjun nods and stretches his hand out, his pinkie sticking out. jieun smiles, wrapping their pinkies together and touching thumbs afterwards.

"promise."

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UNFORTUNATELY,
I LOVE YOU.