metal straw | ast. cha eunwoo

seven

Eunwoo walked out of the stalls dressed up in extra gym clothes he left. He didn't mind wearing them, all he needed to worry about was Soyeon concerning about him. He finally stepped out of the bathroom to find Soyeon waiting for him outside.

"Cha Eunwoo..."

Her voice squeaked as if she was unsure if she should call out to him. She stood there awkwardly, standing only a few feet away from him with both of her hands behind her back. She slowly started approaching closer towards him.

"Your hands, have you treated them?" she asked suddenly, worriedly.

He looked down at his hands and realised he had completely forgotten about them. It was healing slowly but were still blushing bright red and bruised, gradually showing signs of it swelling.

Eunwoo was suddenly fazed when the girl grabbed his wrist and pulled him to sit on a nearby staircase. She let go before pulling out a small pink box from behind, setting it down beside before rummaging inside to find what she needed. Eunwoo instantly recognised it as the same box he saw her carry.

"You should've gone to the nurse or at least get them treated at home," she sighed before pulling a few cotton bud and a small bottle of ointments. She poured a bit of it onto the cotton bud before turning back towards his hands. She gathered up her courage and patted his cut with the cotton bud before immediately earning a hiss.

"Sorry," she mumbled before repeating gentler onto his knuckles. She dabbed on it a few times more before putting it away. She grabbed a new one, applying the same ointment on it before turning back towards him. Only this time, she hesitated.

"Can you... Is it okay if you..." she trailed off again, seeming hesitant as to how she should ask.

It took Eunwoo a moment to realise what she was trying to say. His hands were all treated already, so the only thing left was the visible cut on his face, just below his eye. He responded to her by lowering his head towards her.

She cleared her throat, after realising how close he was. She took a deep breath before applying the ointment onto his cut. Eunwoo bit his tongue to stop himself from hissing. He seemed a bit lost as she treated his cut, trying to find somewhere to look. His eyes wandered about before naturally landing on her. He watched to at how focused she was on his cut, how her lip ends kept moving side to side or how her nose twitches because of the cold temperature. He had completely forgotten about classes.

After a few moments, she was finally finished and threw the two used cotton buds into the nearest trash bin. Without looking back at Eunwoo, she packed up her things.

"From now on, I'm going to leave you alone."

Eunwoo's attention was instantly pulled to the sudden words she said. Seeing how silent he was, Soyeon decided to continue.

She sighed, "You got into a lot of trouble because of me, so I thought maybe everything will stop if I stop appearing beside you. That way, you won't get hurt more often."

He was too confused about what was happening that he didn't know how to respond. Just a day ago, they were laughing outside the cafeteria and the next day, Soyeon wanted to stop talking to him? Eunwoo kept his eyes on hers, searching to see if she was serious.

"Don't miss me too much. I'll leave you alone now," she smiled at him and stood up before walking off into the hallway.

"Soyeon," he called out to her, unbothered if he was disturbing a class or such.

She stopped her tracks and turned to him hesitantly. Once she did, Eunwoo boldly walked over to her and stopped only when he was close and he had to look down to see her.

"Here," he held her metal straw out towards her.

"Oh, thanks," she mumbled as she gently took the long object from his hands. "Remember to keep putting ointments on your cuts, okay?" she reminded him before finally speeding off, leaving Eunwoo to watch her disappear through the door.