In Between Worlds | Lee Juyeon x Reader

Chapter 3:

[ photo from above is the customized shirt ]

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Last night, I finally fell asleep earlier than I've expected.

I fell asleep at exactly midnight, which made me happy when Aunt Yongsun told me about it. Yes, I know that we both stayed up late because I was teaching her how to use the sewing machine she bought for me months ago but it made me feel a little better than before. And since I had two mannequins at home, I removed the clothes of the earlier designs and switched them with the new designs that Aunt Yongsun and I made from both our impulsive thoughts.

I realized how I never even got to do this with my own mother, which is upsetting but I was glad that my aunt wasn't that paranoid about her actions anymore.

I just wanted to make her proud because she's the only piece of family that I have left.

"I'll be going!"
"Be safe!"

She reminds, waving goodbye as I make my way outside of the house. I walked down the streets with a brighter feeling, later making my way to sit down at the bench where the bus usually stopped for me. As I saw the blue school bus, I raised my hand up in the air as the vehicle parked in front of me, the door opening as the driver finally let me in.

Great, now, my classmates are smirking at me like I'm a living comedy show.

"Why don't you sit next to me, Y/N?!"

I heard Jungwoo's voice echo around the bus loudly, causing me to take my earphones out while I walked through the aisle of the bus. As I was trying to find a vacant space, I felt uneasy with the awkward silence as I suddenly felt a shoe pressed against my ankle, causing me to fall down on the ground. They erupted in loud cackling once again while I tried to mind my own business, rubbing off the pain from my knee away as I noticed a spot darken.

The loud thud formed a bruise. Goddamn it.

"Clumsy much?"

Jungwoo's annoying voice made its way inside my ears again, enough to cause a headache. Then, I gasped at the cold, damp feeling across my neck, looking behind me to see Chaeyoung and her friends point their fingers at me while they laughed. I started getting up from the ground with an uncomfortable look on my face, trying to ignore the smell of strawberry milkshake from my neck down to the back of my waist.

"You must really hate this flavor!"

I exclaimed, trying to play it cool so that it seemed like this situation never affected me. However, it did affect me badly, considering how loud the laughs were when Chaeyoung poured it all over me.

"What the fuck are you saying, weirdo?"
"I'm just saying that you wasted money buying a cup of milkshake only to pour it all over me."

I shrugged, looking over to my drenched shoulder before staring at her once again. She seemed disgusted at how I acted when, in fact, none of my reactions were true. I was acting brave but in reality, I wanted to die and escape this fucking embarrassing situation.

"Chaeyoung, I might look ridiculous right now but at least I smell good. Most boys love strawberries and maybe that's why they like me just like what your filthy mouth spreads around the halls."

I faked a laugh, proceeding to take off my blazer as I threw it outside the window of the school bus. It was a great thing that I never fixed the embroidery last night since the time I'd spend on it would be useless for today. Everyone on the bus looked at me like I was a peculiar, dumb girl who was feeling a little confident even if I didn't have the "right" to feel like it. It still felt like I did win because I finally stood up for myself even if I was trying to cover up the fact that I was scared of what they were going to think of me.