"Seolhee, when are you going to stop?" her mother snapped at her daughter, ignoring the fact that Sunwoo was standing by the door, his fingers hovering over the doorknob. "The both of you, stop this foolish game of yours."
Sunwoo walked over to Seolhee, interlacing their fingers. "Love isn't a game," he said flatly.
Her mother scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You're in love? Are you serious? I don't believe that, not for a second."
Sunwoo shrugged, looking wholly unconcerned. "Okay, believe whatever you want," he said, tugging Seolhee forward. They walked towards the door together, and he opened it for her. "Where do you want to go?" he asked, squeezing her hand comfortingly. He opened the car door for her, and when she glanced back at her house, she thought she saw her mother's shadow from behind one of the curtains. Watching them.
She got into the car and Sunwoo closed the door behind her, jogging to the other side and sitting in the driver's seat.
"How has she been reacting?" Sunwoo asked, starting to drive the car.
Seolhee shrugged. "She yells at me whenever I get home. She never used to talk to me, but suddenly she's always on my back," she said, laughing humorlessly. "You?"
"My dad's furious," he admitted. A shadow crossed his face. "Really, really furious," he said, his voice dropping, his tone changing.
She glanced at him, concerned. But he looked up, flashing a teasing smile at her. "Where do you want to go?"
"Maybe just for a walk?" she suggested after a moment. "I honestly can't think of anything I want to do," she said, leaning back and closing her eyes. "You come up with something."
Sunwoo turned the music on and they drove in silence for a while, her eyes closed as she let the calming melodies help take her mind off of everything else.
"You know, you're not that bad now that I'm getting to know you," she said after a few minutes, keeping her eyes closed. She heard him laugh, and a small smile came to her face.
"Neither are you," he joked. "Seriously, I can't see why you didn't like me. Everyone likes me. I'm Kim Sunwoo."
Seolhee opened her eyes, looking at his proud expression. "You're sarcastic and annoying."
"So are you."
She hesitated, then nodded. "Fair point. But you also made fun of Eric. And me, when..." she trailed off, not quite wanting to admit how much people talking about Hyunjae had hurt her. That was when her dislike for Sunwoo really started. He was the most popular person at school, so when he'd joined in with the teasing, suddenly everyone felt like they could. Suddenly she was the main topic of conversation, her and the fact that her fiancé blatantly didn't care about her.
"I'm sorry," Sunwoo said after a moment, pulling into a small parking lot and stopping the car. He looked into her eyes, his gaze sincere. "I didn't realize it would hurt you like that," he continued, seeming to know what she was thinking about despite her having not said it. "I just thought it was a joke, and it was funny," he said, half-smiling at her, a sheepish expression on his face.
She gave him a small smile in return. "It wasn't funny," she said softly. "But it's alright. I've... It's okay," she said, though she wasn't sure if she meant she'd forgiven him, or that she was okay with what Hyunjae was doing. She wasn't sure if she meant it for either one. "Anyway," she said quickly, changing the subject. "You didn't have to stop the car to apologize."
"Please, you're not that special," Sunwoo said sarcastically, and she glared at him as he continued. "I thought it would be pretty to watch the sunset from there."
Seolhee followed his gaze to a pedestrian bridge that was over a highway. A smile came to her face and she unbuckled her seatbelt. "Let's go!"
He took her hand again as they walked to the bridge, and she couldn't help it, she kept glancing down at their hands.
"What? Does it make you uncomfortable?"
Seolhee shook her head. "No, it's just... I mean, you don't have to hold my hand now. We didn't even really have to go on this date. It's just so our parents can see, after all."
"No, it's not."
Her heart skipped a beat.
"If people at school see us, or even random people who know us from the news and stuff, if anyone takes a picture of us and posts it, and somehow that gets back to our parents... they'll be more convinced. But if they somehow were to find out that we only pretended to go on a date but then immediately parted ways afterward, they'd know for sure that it's fake."
"You have this really well thought out," she murmured, letting go of his hand to lean against the railing of the bridge. The sun was starting to set, and it was beautiful. It was breathtaking. "I should take pictures of this," she whispered, opening her bag to reach for her phone.
"I got it," Sunwoo said. "I'll send them to you."
Seolhee nodded, turning her attention back to the sunset. "It's beautiful," she said softly, turning around to face him. He was holding his phone in his hands, taking pictures, and his eyes widened as though he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.
"It is," he agreed, looking at her for a moment before his gaze fell to the floor.
"You know what we should do?" she said, leaning back against the rails and looking at him. "We should have a picnic."
"That sounds fun," he agreed, looking back up at her. He looked around, his eyes lighting up when he saw a convenience store. "I'll go grab some food," he said, starting to walk away. "I'll be right back!"
She nodded, turning back around to admire the sunset, but a few minutes later her phone made a sound like she'd received a message.
Seolhee pulled her phone from her bag, finding that it was an Instagram notification. "I have to turn off those notifications," she muttered to herself, knowing that they'd drive her crazy now that school was in session. But when she opened the post, her eyes widened and she couldn't stop the laughter that escaped her lips.
So that's what he'd been doing when she turned around. That was why he'd made that expression.
Pursing her lips together in an effort not to show her silly grin, she liked the post and left him a comment.
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A/N
Just wanted to note that while I created the insta post (what do you think?!) the pictures aren't mine☺️
Also... extra chapter because THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 1K!!!!
