PUSHING DAISIES ⁀➷ ⁿᶜᵗ ᵈʳᵉᵃᵐ

❀ xiii.

"you good?"

a worried yangyang shot an antsy sulhee a nervous look, the brunette halting her actions to nod profusely at his words. though not convinced after ten minutes of watching the other prod around with her lunch, the male dropped the subject. he knew what she'd gone through, though he wasn't sure the brunette was aware of that, and had every reason to still be out of it. he was just glad that day by day, she'd seemed to be getting perkier.

at the end of the day, progress was progress.

the teen had began actually talking to him on a morning for one, and that was a big thing. it used to be difficult to even get a greeting out of her, but recently she seemed more talkative. however today? sulhee sat with her hands balled in a fist, safe when she was prodding at her food with a fork.

he wasn't sure what was going on. obviously people had set backs in things like this, but the way the brunette kept her fists balled and kept glancing down at them? something seemed off to him.

something seemed off to sulhee, too, but she knew exactly why. she should've figured that after the rather emotional chat she had with mrs jung she'd be out of it for a few days, but she couldn't seem to get herself to concentrate on anything. and her palms ached.

"hey," yangyang started. sulhee looked at him expectantly, her previous stoic expression becoming a small smile. it was all she could muster. "there's a new student starting tomorrow that i need to show around. care to join? it'll get you out of geography."

"deal." she muttered after not much thought, flashing a slightly wider smile, too wide it hurt, and going back to prodding her lunch. she should've probably stayed home to rest, but she knew that if she did, a days rest would turn into a weeks.

she couldn't fall into self-destructive patterns. not when things were seemingly looking up for once.

an off few days sounded better than going back to how she was.

yangyang wasn't too convinced that she was all that okay, but regardless, the male continued to blabber on about anything that came to mind. it seemed to have at least snapped sulhee out of her thoughts, the girl dropping her fork to rest her head on her hand as she listened to him.

it was comforting to know his incessant rambling could actually do some good.

the brunette absentmindedly reached a hand up to brush a stray hair out of her face, and yangyang cut himself off mid sentence as he saw the dark crescent moons dotting her palms, each surrounded by a faint purple bruise.

sulhee placed her elbow back on the table and propped her head on her palm again and yangyang watched her intently this time, watching as she winced slightly. it would have been unnoticeable if he hadn't noticed her hands.

"all good?" she asked, noticing he'd completely stopped talking as he gaped at her. her gaze watched as his flickered between her eyes and her propped up hand and the teen's breath caught in her throat as she moved back in her seat, clenching her hands into fists and bringing them to her chest.

"oh. i-" releasing a shaky breath, sulhee debated what to say. well, she wasn't sure there was much she could say. the male looked at her the way someone would look at a child who'd lost her toy and if anything, that made her feel worse.

the pity in his eyes.

why did everyone feel bad for her wherever she went? even strangers online were so quick to try and wrap her in bubble wrap and shield her from the outside world.

yes she appreciated the concern, but she just wanted to be treated like a normal person.

she could guarantee that if she hadn't just lost her best friend not too long ago, people wouldn't even bat an eyelash.

she checked her watch. 12.53pm. lunch was over at 1. she could last seven minutes.

"wait - im sorry." yangyang spoke abruptly as he saw the girl bring her clenched fists up to her chest. "i didnt mean to-"

"lets not talk about it." she cut him off, sounding rather more forceful than she hoped to. yangyang's expression showed a hint of shock at her snapping before he just nodded. "okay, we won't. but if you-"

"'if i need anything i know where to find you' yes, i know."

"i was actually going to say if you feel your hands getting sorer, get them checked out. you don't want an infection."

sulhee's lips parted slightly to form a slight 'o' as she shuffled nervously in her seat, placing her palms on her knees as a wave of embarrassment washed over her body.

that's what she got for assuming things.

noticing her expression, the male beside her flashed a small smile. "infections aren't fun. i once got this really bad one in my knee after falling off my bike as a kid. because i was so embarrassed, I didn't tell anyone I'd hurt myself so i pretended i didn't, left the would and ended up having to get it drained. six hours in A&E? i wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.  actually? im really petty so I probably would."

sulhee laughed at his story. she wondered how he could so casually change the tense atmosphere to a more relaxed one. it was definitely a gift, one she for sure didn't have.

lately, she'd had a talent for making everything depressing.

she admired the male for how easily he could diffuse a tense situation. she was also thankful that he didn't seem to pity her quite as much as she thought he did. yes, he was worried for her, but with carved crescent moons in her hands surrounded by developing bruising she wasn't sure she could blame him for being concerned.

it just felt nice to have someone treat you like normal.

she definitely appreciated that, so much so that a wide smile formed on her face, this time one that didn't hurt.

hellloo aaaa I'm actually back to enjoying writing this <3

also yall are REALLY blowing this up so omg, tysm 😭 literally three days ago we hit 5k (which is crazy) and now we're well on our way to 6k which is EVEN MORE crazy so tysm! knowing ppl are enjoying my writing is the best feeling <3