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19: that kid is kinda... fit

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t h a t  k i d  i s  k i n d a  . . .  f i t

          Knock. Knock. Knock.

          Now all that could be done was to wait. Heart hammering against her ribcage like a songbird straining to be set free, she leaned against the wall beside Sunwoo's door and waited for someone to answer. Everything had gone smoothly so far — she had managed to not miss the bus this time, her hair wasn't an unruly mess as it always was, and her outfit actually looked... decent? Is there time to check again? Her hand slipped past white fabric into her pocket to take out her phone and make sure she still didn't look completely bizarre.

          On Friday, she and Sunwoo had agreed that she'd come over to his some time during the weekend to begin the music project, and eventually they had decided on Sunday. Why was her heart beating so fast? Wincing, she slapped her hand against her chest. Stop beating so fast! What in the world is wrong with this thing?

          There was a click as someone turned the handle on the other side and Song Jiyoo jumped up, pushing herself off the wall. A head peered around the frame. "Jiyoo? It's so nice to see you again!" Sunwoo's sister, Mihyun, grinned and ushered her in. 

          As Jiyoo awkwardly shook her coat off her shoulders and placed it on the hook, Mihyun began to chatter to her as if they'd been friends for years. "Oh, and I loved that lip tint! Sunwoo told me you helped him pick it out."

          While Jiyoo definitely was an introvert and would probably prefer people not talking to her at all, it helped her feel at home to have someone talk to her so familiarly. She smiled. "Oh it's nothing. He told me he bought you socks last year." Mihyun gagged at that.

          "Don't even speak to me about those socks," she chuckled. "They were hideous. I have no idea where the boy even got them."

          "Is that Jiyoo's voice I hear?" came a distant shout. "It's lovely to have you here again, honey! You should come more often — Sunwoo actually tidied his room for once!" Jiyoo smiled shyly at the sound of Sunwoo's mother's voice and quickly appeared in the living room, from where the sound came, to greet her with the standard 90° bow. 

          Mihyun emerged a few seconds later, her lips suddenly twisting into a smirk. "You know what, Jiyoo," she said, obviously trying to stop herself from smiling, "why don't you stay here? I'll go tell Sunwoo to hurry up: he's in the shower right now. Mum, how about I help you hang the laundry?" Sunwoo's mother tilted her head in confusion. "There's a mountain of it in the kitchen and I think you'll really need some help." Eyebrows furrowed, the woman followed her daughter out and Mihyun ducked her head back in to say: "See you!"

          Left alone, Jiyoo stood for some moments, blinking.

          Well, I'll probably be here for a while. Gathering her composure, she began to pace around the room, glancing through all the different decorations and photos hung about the walls. She walked slowly, the warmth of the family pictures seeping into her skin with the same sensation as the sunlight on a melting autumn day, her eyes scanning past memories framed against the whitewash dating several years back. This is so cute. Jiyoo paused beside a photo of Sunwoo.

          He was about eight years old in the picture, beaming bright and wide, clearly in that sort of moment in childhood where one smiled as widely as one could for photos before dashing off to continue playing. There was something so strange about seeing him so young, frozen in time on the wall of his home, perpetually in that moment in time.