metal straw | ast. cha eunwoo

nine

Eunwoo sat on the bus, spacing out as he waited for the bus to start moving. A few passengers kept filing in and among them was Soyeon. He lifted his head slightly to see her more clearly, over the stranger's head in front of him. He noticed a glum look on her face as she continued to fiddle with her tie. Unfortunately for her, the only empty seat was surprisingly next to Eunwoo. But Soyeon ignored it and went to hold onto one of the hanging straps once again. And just like other days, she was attempting to keep her balance and kept swinging side to side, following the motion of the bus. He watched how she couldn't entirely reach the straps and had to stand on her points. How she kept staring at the empty seat beside him but continued to stand tall with her decision. How she kept bumping into the man behind her and apologising repeatedly.

Annoyed, Eunwoo rose from his seat and walked up to her. She turned to the sudden footsteps behind her and saw Eunwoo right in front of her.

"You looked ridiculous," he uttered bluntly, his eyes still avoiding hers. Just before she could do anything, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her to an available seat. He gently pulled her down to sit, not noticing the flustered crimson colour on her face.

Soyeon quickly attempted to stand back up before he gently pushed her down once again but this time, he paused to look at her, his hands remained on both of her shoulders.

"Just sit down," he said, immediately earning a hesitant nod from her. With that, he let go of her and placed his hand back to hold the straps while the other held onto his bag, looking as if nothing happened.

After a few seconds of silence, only hearing busy streets outside, Soyeon sighed as she suddenly sunk into her seat, finally resting her feet and arms. She looked as if all tiredness finally escaped her body and she was finally able to rest.

Eunwoo scoffed, "Already having second thoughts?"

In an instant, Soyeon cleared her throat and sat back up. The smile on her face disappeared and a frown took over. She stared out through the window and acted as if her enjoying the seat didn't happen. "What do you mean?" she questioned back.

"You looked peaceful sitting down. So do you regret not sitting beside me—"

"No," she cut in, "I told you I'm supposed to leave you alone and that's what I'm trying to do. So no, I don't regret it."

"Well, you're not doing a good job at it."

Soyeon sighed silently before turning around to glare at him. Eunwoo finally looked back at her and instead of looking intimidating, she looked odd with her eyes bulging out with her lips still down in a frown. He accidentally let out a chuckle which caused the girl to scoff back in disbelief.

They soon felt the bus slowed down to their stop. People cleared the way as others went down and exited. Soyeon quickly ran out first, with Eunwoo walking close behind.

He chuckled again as he followed right behind her with a little distance between them. He immediately went silent just before she spun around to glare at him. The second she turned back and continued her journey to school, Eunwoo let out a soft snicker as he proceeded to stare at her from behind.