- about you ╭ park gunwook

05 - change

gunwook's mind was too occupied, "oh yeah. i'll be right back, mom." sprinting back upstairs, he sorts through his clothes, changing out of his uniform quickly before naeun arrives. 

running back downstairs, he helps his mom prepare. setting the table and helping her cook. "gunwook, did naeun help you in class today?" he tries his best to keep a straight face.

his ears perk up, and a slight tint of peach was shown across his cheeks — which makes him upset. why was he so tense at the slightest mention of her? day by day, his unbothered persona was washing away. "yes, mom. she also introduced me to her friends. then we walked home together." his mother nods, smiling.

"naeun has always been kind to you. you guys go to the same school now, it's the perfect opportunity to be friends — you're not children anymore. okay?" she says quietly, kissing his head.

his dad buds in, "gunwook treat her well. she's not your enemy. the past doesn't matter anymore." he throws his head back in annoyance. "i know, dad."

before the conversation could continue, the doorbell rings. gunwook opens the door, welcoming the kang family. it wasn't irregular for their families to see each other this often. however, this time, gunwook was watching his every move around her. 

as naeun enters, the two give each other quick glances. "here's some side dishes my mom made for you. enjoy them." she hands him the food, looking away from his direction.

gunwook rolls his eyes at her. "tell your mom, thanks. uhm. you can take any seat at the table now." he directs her to the dining room.

as they situate themselves, naeun's mom begins to laugh, "look at them. they refuse to even hold eye contact when talking. so childish." both families giggle at the pairs behavior.

both naeun and gunwook were too flustered to defend themselves. they keep their heads low, taking small bites out of their food. what made matters even more awkward was the fact that they were sitting directly across from each other, face to face.

"i don't understand why you kids hate each other so much. you guys have lots in common. it's about time the bickering ends." gunwook's dad chirped.

naeun mumbles, "i... i don't hate gunwook." she quietly corrected. it was evident she was embarrassed to admit it, but nonetheless she looked gunwook straight in the eyes this time.

he looks up at her as well. the sudden eye contact made him choke on his water. "ahem. i... also, don't hate naeun." he admits monotonously. 

"that's good then! you both should start hanging out on weekends and in school now. gunwook is a good guy, naeun. you should give him a chance." gunwook's dad suggests proudly.

she briefly smiles, wiping her mouth. naeun was so doomed, his father had shipped them. "i'm done eating, i'm gonna go wash my dishes!" naeun gets up and makes her way to the kitchen.

"i'm also finished, i'll go help her clean up!" gunwook fake smiles brightly at the table, speed walking to the kitchen before the families escalate that conversation.

"there's no way i'm going back out there." naeun sighs. gunwook nods his head in agreement, "i'm gonna go hide in my room."

naeun grabs his arm before he could leave, "don't leave me here, gosh. let's watch TV in your room until my family's ready to go." she retorts.

"fine." they quietly walk past the dining room in hopes that no one will see them. "where are you guys going?" gunwook's mom questions.

"we're gonna watch TV. good bonding strategy, right?" gunwook says sarcastically smiling. naeun crouches, hiding behind gunwook as they continue to head upstairs.

naeun follows quickly, closing the door shut, exhaling loudly. she plops onto his bed, covering her eyes. "my family will never let me live this down."

he sighs, "for future references, we spend lots of time at school together and hang out at lunch every day." gunwook instructs.

"tsk. it's not like you have anyone else to spend lunch with anyway. so you wouldn't be lying if you said that." she laughs.

gunwook side eyes her, tossing a pillow at her head. "it's so hard tolerating you. get out of my life." he grumbles.

she stops laughing, getting up to fix her hair, after the pillow manages to mess it up. "you're such a piss baby. take a joke." she tosses the pillow, aiming at his head. before it could hit him, he caught it.

"nice failed attempt." he snickers, placing the pillow back to its respective spot. naeun ignores him as she's still fixing her hair, she wanted to smack that grin off his face.

"hey. don't ignore me." he says, nudging her. she smacks his hand away before he can pester her any further. "you're the worst." she sighs.

"but you said you don't hate me." gunwook smiles, not in an endearing way but in a teasing way.

"i don't." she agreed blatantly. he expected her to follow up by roasting him or something. but she stayed silent after that. she meant it — she doesn't hate him.

for some reason, it stuck with gunwook. a few months back, she'd rather die than admit so. now, she does it without hesitation.

she picks up the TV remote from his nightstand, scrolling through movies on netflix. "what do you wanna watch, hm?" she asked, in hopes of changing the topic.

gunwook didn't answer, she turns back to see him just gazing at her silently. naeun was confused. he was just sitting there with no emotion on his face, eyeing her.

"okay, ignore me then. i'll choose and you have to watch it even if you don't like it." naeun brushes off. she didn't want to endure the awkward confrontation. 

he doesn't move an inch. naeun continues to search for a movie while he just stares at her. gunwook was aware he'd been watching her for too long, but he couldn't get himself to look away.

— naeun was pretty. she always had been.

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a/n ₍ ᐢ..ᐢ ₎

YAYAYAYAYAYY progress between our lovely main leads 👩🏻‍❤️‍💋‍👨🏻 anyways i'll bring back junhyeon in the next few chapters bc i miss him