second lead. | 정원

chapter 46.

a/n; thank you for 100K reads :(

xlvi.

"She was the first to know."

Jungwon uttered, looking at his shoes as he walked down the pavement. His hands were inside his blazer's pockets as the girl hummed in response beside him. "I don't know if I regret telling her or not. I don't know Yunseo that well."

"She promised not to tell anyone."

"But we don't know if she'd actually keep it," Jungwon sighed, running a hand across his face and stopping on his mouth. He gave his lips a quick smack for saying something so idiotic. He wasn't thinking when he said them, again.

"Yunseo wouldn't do that," Mira insisted. "Right?"

"I don't know, Mi," He replied unsurely. "I don't know."

"Stop saying 'I don't know' it's getting annoying," She scoffed, looking away. "And please tell me why you decided it was a good idea to leave your bicycle at school knowing we have a month's break after this?"

Jungwon halted and Mira was sure he just realized he brought a bicycle to school. It looked like he forget about his transportation for a moment and was reminded about it when she notified him. "Do you want to go back and get it? I can accompany you," She offered.

However, she was the one who got surprised instead. His next words made her mouth gape open in disbelief. "It's not mine. It was the school janitor's but I swear I asked for permission beforehand."

Mira squinted her eyes as she looked at him in suspicion, tilting her head slightly to the left. "Okay I was lying I didn't ask, but I gave it back. You see?" Jungwon admitted, scratching the back of his neck, and grinning awkwardly. "At least you didn't have to go with someone you hardly know, right?"

Mira exhaled through her nose, knowing he was talking about Jae, the boy she taught yesterday at school. She still wondered why Jungwon stuck around late at school. The girl had a reason for staying, but what about him? What was his reason?

And why the heck did he go as far as stealing someone's bicycle? So many questions ran through her head but they remained unanswered. Wait, but what happened to the janitor yesterday?

"Punch me," He spoke out of nowhere, earning a puzzled look from the girl as she stared at him bewildered. "As hard as you can."

"Why?"

"Punishment, I guess? I deserve it," Jungwon insisted, grabbing her hand and positioning it in front of his stomach. He made her form a fist before putting his arms down by his sides, welcoming the upcoming pain he would receive.

"Are you sure?" The girl chuckled nervously. That one time on the rooftop and during the school trip was an instinctive move. This was different. If she was told to punch someone purposely, she wasn't confident if her impact would be as powerful as her previous ones. Jeon Mira was more effective when she punches instinctively or unconsciously.

After counting to five (three actually, she swung on three), the girl gave Jungwon the hardest and most powerful (kinda) punch she has ever initiated. Things went south because Mira was the one who got hurt instead. His stomach was as hard as a brick wall.

"That hurt you?" Jungwon taunted, pursing his lips to hide his growing smile.

"Yeah-"

"Well, it felt like a flick to me," He shrugged. The girl could see his broad shoulders moving up and down indicating he was silently giggling. His laughter stopped when he received another punch. "Ow!"

Jungwon rubbed the back of his arm, his face contorted in pain. It hurted more than the stomach one. "Did you do martial arts or something?" He asked while wincing.

She didn't.

Mira only learned how to fight and defend herself by watching a couple of YouTube videos during her free time. She didn't even make an effort to try out the actions, only lying on her bed as she observed each technique. The girl crossed an arm over her chest, "I can do a roundhouse kick at you but do I want to?" She ridiculed.

"Yeah, and I can fly to the moon but do I want to?" Jungwon retorted back, earning a glare.

She forgot he used to do Taekwondo. He could send her to Hongkong with a single kick if he wanted to, or maybe to a place where even Google wouldn't be able to find her ass. Perhaps she could ask Jungwon to teach her some moves?

"Oh my gosh, is that Mira unnie!?" A familiar high-pitched voice screamed as the pair looked at the other side of the street, finding Kim Jieun, the eight-year-old kid who was friends with Hyunjoo, waving a hand happily. "Mom, look!"

Jieun's mother was busy paying for the ice cream she bought with the flavor of mint chocolate, her daughter's favorite. The woman told her to wait as she took out her money from her handbag, handing it to the parlor. Jieun tugged on her mother's dress again. "Look!"

"What is it?" Her mother finally looked down at the child, wiping away the small bit of ice cream she managed to get on her cheek before averting her eyes over to where the young girl was pointing. The face of Jeon Mira coming into view made the woman smile.

Mira bowed her head in politeness before making her way towards them. Jungwon followed after, awkwardly standing at the side as he watched their exchange. Though, his presence was soon acknowledged when Jieun threw a snarling comment at him.

"Oh, it's the punk again."

To Jungwon's satisfaction, the young girl earned a scold from her mother, making the boy purse his lips into a thin line, his dimples appearing.

"Mira, is this your boyfriend, perhaps?" Jieun's mother inquired, a gentle smile on her face as she extended a hand to him for a shake which Jungwon happily accepted with both hands.

The teenage girl was panicking on the inside. She glanced at the male for a second, before shifting her eyes to Jieun who was enjoying her ice cream, before looking back at the lady. A tight smile formed on her lips as she avoided her query, "Mrs. Kim, this is Yang Jungwon..."

"Is this the boy Jieun was talking about when you came to pick Hyun up with someone? She told me he was your boyfriend and that he was a friendly and handsome guy—"

"I never said that, mom. I said he was really annoying and mean for—" Jieun's mouth was shut closed by Mrs. Kim. It was pretty obvious that the woman was trying to change the story by adding some minor changes to it. Her daughter was not fond of Jungwon.

"Jieun, behave."