forget-me-not || lee dohwa

𝐆𝐲𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 '𝐂𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩' 𝐚 𝐁𝐢𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲

Gyeoul Takes 'Crying, Shaking, Throwing Up' a Bit Too Literally

Gyeoul realized that she wasn't the only one who lived in the library.

Dohwa's friend Haru had noticed her several times, tilting his head out of curiosity. He was quiet and observant but, just like the others, he forgot her again and again as well. Though he wasn't much of a talker, Gyeoul had tried to make conversation with him purely because she had seen him be friends with Kyung in the comic.

It wasn't until his peaceful face transformed into a grimace at Kyung's mention did she realize that she couldn't be more wrong. "He's cruel to Danoh," Haru said, sitting across from Gyeoul at the library table, "I'm not friends with him. It's just my set-up."

She stayed away from him after that despite getting a positive feeling from him. More often than not, people who disliked her brother, and there were many of them, automatically wrote her off as unlikeable as well. They had a habit of interacting with her much later, only to say, "Oh, we thought you were a bitch because you never talk to anyone. We thought you'd be like your brother."

But Baek Gyeoul had always been the polar opposite of her brother. She was introverted and insecure and shy and a bundle of nerves who hated changes.

However, the circumstances she had unwillingly found herself in forced her to adapt.

Gyeoul realized that this Kyung was not going to go out of her way to care for her. Not when he was adamant that they were unrelated. She couldn't believe she was saying this but she craved to be seen and to be remembered. Gyeoul found herself cursing all the times she had wished to become invisible so that everybody would just leave her alone. Now, all she wanted was someone to talk to.

Unable to help herself, Gyeoul set out towards Kyung's classroom, hoping to find him there. She tried not to look at the other students and kept her head down, avoiding the blatant stares that she was getting.

Kyung was sitting at the back of the class, by the windows that opened out into the hallway. Shuffling towards the window next to him, Gyeoul called his name excitedly. He whipped his head in her direction as the students in the room fell deadly silent.

"Are you on break?" Gyeoul asked, not noticing the effect her presence had had, "Do you want to get lunch together? I thought you'd come find me yesterday so I waited. Did you have a Stage—?"

He had already darted out of his seat, striding out of the class towards her. "What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded as his classmates broke into whispers, "Didn't I tell you not to come to my class?"

"I...I didn't know..." She stammered, taken aback by his harsh reaction.

Kyung gripped her wrist and began to drag her away, "Did you find 'Trumpet Creeper'?"

She dug her heels into the ground, forcing him to stop walking. "Am I allowed to come to you only when you need something?" Her eyebrows furrowed from the hurt.

"Why else would I want to see you?"

Gyeoul hated that she cried this easily. She twisted her wrist, trying to get out of his grasp, "Let me go, Kyung. It hurts."

He recoiled and let her go as if burned. His expression slowly morphed into one of anger, "I'll come to you when it's necessary. Don't show your face here again."

Gyeoul backed herself against the wall, sniffling quietly as Kyung stormed away without another word.

"Please," she said into the emptiness, "I just wanted to go home."

☄

"You're very ballsy."

Gyeoul jolted, slamming the door of Kyung's locker shut. She acted as if she had been caught committing a crime. Which was true, in a way, since the A3 boys or however they were called were more or less untouchable.