Wonderland || Park Sunghoon

seventeen

Sunghoon held out the flowers towards her, waiting. But she just stared at them for a moment, tears building in her eyes. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, and suddenly he felt scared. Maybe he overstepped? Maybe he shouldn't have gone to get them? 

"Are you okay?" he asked her softly. 

She gently took the flowers out of his hands, stepping forward and... 

Wrapping her arms around his waist. 

He froze, certain that she'd be able to hear the rapid beat of his heart. 

She was hugging him. 

"Thank you," she whispered, crying into his chest. "Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me."

Jake... help me. What do I do now? 

How was he supposed to comfort her? Was he supposed to hug her back... yes. Probably? That might be a good idea. 

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her too, hoping that it would bring her some comfort. He wasn't sure what to say, so he just patted her back and let her cry. 

After a minute, she stepped back, wiping her face with the back of her hand. "Sorry," she muttered. "I didn't mean to-" 

"It's fine," he said quickly. "Are you alright now?" 

Nari nodded. "Yes, thank you," she said softly. "Really, thank you so much." 

"It was nothing," he whispered back. He wanted to say more, to keep talking, but he didn't know what to say. He just knew that he didn't want to go. 

"Don't say that," she told him. "These are really important to me. It's a lot more than nothing, so thank you." 

"Can I ask you something...?" 

Nari laughed at him, wiping her eyes again. "You asked me a question to ask me another question," she teased. "But yes, go ahead." 

"Is there any special someone you were planning on giving these too?" he asked slowly, unable to meet her eyes. Instead, he looked at the lilies in her hand. 

"Yeah," she said, laughing a little again. "My dad." 

Sunghoon looked up at her, suddenly feeling relieved. "Really? Wow. That's really sweet, is it his birthday or something?" 

She looked down, still holding onto her smile, but tears started running down her face again. "No," she whispered. "Today's the anniversary of his death."