metal straw | ast. cha eunwoo

eight

The next day was the same as always to Eunwoo, other than the massive thinking of Soyeon's decision to stop talking to him, thinking it would stop the problem from following him. He was so focused on the situation that he didn't realise he had passed by the café, breaking his record of a morning with a cold fresh beverage. But he didn't want to fight against her, so he decided to do the same.

Ignore her.

Eunwoo snapped himself out of his thoughts and immediately climbed onto the awaiting bus. He sat in his usual spot, by the window. He sighed, causing a small spot to turn into a mist of vapour. Just as it began to fade, he suddenly saw Soyeon behind. He eyed her walk side to side, her white shoes captivating her attention. She suddenly came to a stop when she noticed the bus started to move without her in it.

"Hey, wait! Wait!" she screamed, slapping her hand against the vehicle. She hastily climbed in, thanking the driver for stopping.

Noticing how the only seat available was by his side, Eunwoo moved his bag that was once sitting beside him and placed it on his lap, his eyes stayed on her and her only. She saw him and immediately turned her heels to face the front instead. She held onto the hanging strap above her and stood there before the bus began to move.

Eunwoo was confused at first but decided to just let it go. He smiled at her attempt to keep still. He watched as she kept swinging side to side, suddenly following the motion of the bus. At first, he thought Soyeon looked cute with her standing on her points to reach for the straps but soon, he felt guilty. Because of what happened yesterday, she refused to sit next to him, even if it meant going against her comfort zone to avoid embarrassment.

Without warning, the bus suddenly came to an immediate halt, causing passengers to lean forward due to the impact. Soyeon, however, was too slow to not hold back and stop herself from flying forward. She stumbled forward instantly before she was suddenly frozen in place. Her hand was no longer holding onto the strap and she expected face to meet its fate with the pole in front of her face but it didn't come. She was frozen.

She slowly turned her head to find Eunwoo inches away beside her. One arm held her around her waist, restraining her from falling any further, as the other held onto the straps so they both won't fall. He was bending down to reach her waist, so the distance between their faces was only inches away. She glanced back at him completely frozen.

"You okay?" he asked calmly.

It was simply when the bus started moving that Soyeon realised the situation they were in. She shortly pulled his arm away and stirred her eyes away from his.

"Wait, sir! This is our stop! Wait!" she shouted as she sprinted and climbed off once the bus stopped again, Eunwoo walking far behind her.

As they walked further, Eunwoo suddenly heard chiming sounds. Familiar ones. He traced to where it came from before his eyes landed on her bag. At first, he figured it was her turtle keychain attached to her bag but he had another idea as to where it might come from. She looked back confused and noticed how strangely he was staring at her bag. She paused for a moment before swinging her bag from side to side, suddenly creating the same chiming sound as before. Soyeon's eyes widened, finally noticing it was her metal straws shaking.

"A-Ah, sorry," she felt her face flush, quickly taking out her metal straws and held them tightly in her grasp, stopping all chiming sounds.

Eunwoo didn't mind those sounds anymore. It let him know that Soyeon was near.