say you love me | choi beomgyu 최범규

⌦ 10

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the two teenagers stared at eachother in disbelief for a few seconds before beomgyu spoke up, "w-what are you doing here..?" haeri let out a sigh and made her way over to the swing set. the boy hesitantly got up and made his way over to her, taking a seat on the adjacent swing.

"oh," she started, "just some family problems, nothing too big." she shrugged while keeping her eyes glued to her feet which were digging into the wood chips. "i just needed some fresh air so i decided to come here."

beomgyu nodded in understanding. "what about you though?" she asked. and in an instant, their roles swapped; now he was the one staring at his feet while she eyed him, waiting for a response. "i'm not trying to pry or anything, i'm just curious. you left in such a rush earlier and, i don't mean this in a rude way or anything, but you didn't seem too be in the best state when i got here." he raised his head at her words and finally managed to muster up enough courage to look into her eyes.

"what are you talking about? i'm fine, nothings wrong." he awkwardly laughed, "why would you think that?" he was panicking and this didn't go noticed by haeri. honestly speaking, his panicked state was rather obvious so most people would probably be able to notice it without a fail.

"well, you've got a few cuts and bruises on your face and arms. plus," haeri pointed to his one arm, "you were holding your right arm pretty tightly when i saw you on the slide. you seemed like you were in pain so i was a little worried and curious, i guess." the boy guiltily looked down at his arm before heaving a sigh.

"me too."

confusion was written all over haeri's face as she turned to face him. "wha-"

"i'm here because of family issues too," he cut her off. "as for the arm... um..." he began to hesitate and haeri saw that. either she was really good at reading people or beomgyu was just too easy to read. probably the latter though.

haeri patted his shoulder in hopes of comforting the boy and smiled at him, "it's fine, you don't need to tell me." she reassured him. "but, i'm willing to listen to you if you ever need someone to talk to or open up to, okay?" beomgyu's eyes visibly widened a bit at her words and tears began to build up. haeri's eyes softened at the sight of the tears and slowly pulled the boy into a hug.

"please don't cry, oh my god... i'm sorry..." she rubbed his back.

beomgyu hesitantly hugged her back and let out a few sniffles. "thank you..."

"for what? i haven't done anything..."

"no ones ever said something like that to me," he mumbled. "so hearing that from you... it just means a lot..."

s small smile made its way onto haeri's face and she slowly pulled out of the hug but left her hands on his shoulders. "of course! i know we kind of just met and all but, i really do mean it so please don't hesitate to message me or call me!" the two smiled at each other before haeri gasped in realization. "wait, we didn't even exchange numbers earlier. here," she handed him her phone, "just put your number in."

and he did exactly that. "thank you again, really. oh, you might want to check your call log though." haeri cocked an eyebrow. "you have like 20 missed calls from someone named 'hyuka.'"

the girl quickly took her phone from his hands and checked her missed calls and he was right. there were exactly 20 missed calls from her best friend. haeri felt an immense amount of guilt when she saw them, remembering how worried he was about her a few hours ago.

"sorry, just give me a minute, please..." she muttered, beginning to type an apology message to kai.

"um," the boy hesitantly spoke. "i hope you don't mind me asking but, just out of curiousity, who called you so many times?" beomgyu felt an unknown pain in his chest from the smile that almost instantly appeared on haeri's face from his question.

"oh, they're just my best friend," she responded. "he's been with me since we were kids and he's been by my side ever since! i really couldn't ask for a better best friend." and before they knew it, haeri was rambling nonstop about huening kai and funny memories that they shared.

the pain in beomgyu's chest seemed to be getting worse from listening to haeri talk so fondly about her best friend. he had never felt this pain before and he had no idea as to why he was feeling it now. regardless, he tried his best to shrug it off and just ignore it for the time being.

eventually, haeri seemed to have noticed how much she had been talking and quickly apologized to beomgyu. he assured her that he didn't mind but deep down he knew he was only telling her this so she didn't feel any worse than she already seemed to be feeling. "anyways, i have to get home now before my parents realize i'm gone," she spoke as she rose from the swing. "i'll text you when i get back so you better do the same!"

beomgyu chuckled. "yes ma'am." he jokingly saluted and the two of them shared a laugh once again.

haeri regained her composure. "please head home soon too, okay?" she held out her pinky to the boy. he looked up at the girl who was staring down at him with a pleading look, ushering him to seal the promise. but, beomgyu found himself hesitating to bring his hand up to do so as he really did not want to go back home tonight. "c'mon, gyu! you can't stay out here all night, it's already late and cold. plus, you need to treat those cuts and bruises."

he tilted his head at the nickname. "gyu?"

"oh sorry, that just slipped out i guess..." haeri let out an awkward laugh and began to avoid eye contact with beomgyu until she felt something wrapping around her finger. she looked down at her hand and then to the boy in front of her.

"no, it's okay! i kind of like it," he smiled up at her. haeri froze as she stared at him. this was the first time she had seen him smile so brightly; it seemed so genuine and pure. her heart practically skipped a beat at the sight. "and i promise to head home as well... in fact, i'll walk with you!"

haeri instantly shook her head. "no no no, you really don't have to! like i said, i'll just message you!" she was aware that she was now the one panicking but the last thing she needed was for him to find out what her parents were like. especially because they had really just met today and she didn't want him to start pitying her or something like that.

before beomgyu could insist on walking her, she quickly darted towards the entrance of the park. "goodnight, gyu!" she waved. "get home safely!"

beomgyu laughed in disbelief at how fast she had ran away. "you too! goodnight!" he shouted back. and just like that, she was out of sight.

the boy sighed. "what's going on with me?"

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hopefully you guys aren't as displeased with this update as i am lol

thank you for reading! <3

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