- about you ╭ park gunwook

06 - suppressed

naeun decided it was best to watch ratatouille. she knew he liked the film. in short, she knew everything about him. it was the effect of growing up together.

as the movie plays, gunwook finally peels his eyes off her. "i like this movie." a slow smile creeps onto his face.

naeun turns to him, "i know you do. the rat kinda reminds me of you. that's why i chose it." she beams proudly. she comfortably situates herself, tossing the throw blanket over her.

"get out of my room. and give me my blanket back." gunwook snatches the blanket away from her, using it to cover himself instead.

"augh. just shut up and watch the movie then." naeun gives up, she rests her head on a pillow and quietly observes the movie.

gunwook feels bad for taking the blanket from her, but he can't get himself to return it. he was not a fan of having a soft spot for her - it made him feel weak.

naeun tried to keep her focus on the movie, but the dim lighting had made her drowsy. her eyes began to slowly shut, and soon, her breathing patterns slowed down. she'd fallen sound asleep.

gunwook notices due to her pause of shuffling around. cute. she looked cute, her hair falling perfectly in place, too. now, he returned the blanket.

he spreads the blanket over her in hopes that she'll obtain some decent rest while she's here. gunwook grabs a plastic water bottle and leaves it by her side so she won't be thirsty when she wakes up.

he realizes the TV brightness might disrupt her sleep. he lowers the setting and mutes the movie completely so that she'll sleep soundly. "the things i do for this girl..." he mutters under his breath.

a brief knock on the door was heard, gunwook gets up opening the door. "can you tell naeun it's time to go?" gunwook scratches his nape.

"she fell asleep, mrs. kang. i don't wanna wake her up. she seemed pretty tired today. if it's alright with you, i can carry her to your car..." gunwook was unsure but offered to do so anyway.

"i'd appreciate it if you could, gunwook!" mrs. kang was overjoyed - she knew there was no one else out there who could treat naeun better. it was too obvious.

gunwook nods. he tucks her into the blanket and gently carries her downstairs and into the car. both sets of parents watch him in awe. it was refreshing to see them get along.

he quietly closes the car door, waving the kang family goodbye as they thank him for the heartfelt gesture.

gunwook walks back into the house, and his father ruffles his hair up. "you like her." he laughs. it was so unbearably obvious to everyone.

"believe what you want to. she looked tired so i just helped her this once." gunwook trudged back upstairs. he knew his father was 100% correct - but he wouldn't verbally admit it so soon.

the next morning, naeun wakes up. she realizes that she fell asleep at his place as she's snuggled up in his throw blanket. she buried her face into her pillow in embarrassment. how could she be so comfortable in his presence?

her mom barges into her room, calling her awake. "you have school today, wake up! gunwook carried you to the car while you were sleeping. you should thank him."

"i'll be up soon. i think i left my purse at his house too, i won't have lunch money for today." naeun groans as her eyes are still half shut.

her mom scouts around her room for a bit, and the purse is nowhere to be seen. "you left it at his place. you can borrow pocket money from me. after school, you can go pick up your purse."

naeun drags herself up, whining at the top of her lungs. "i have to face him again after yesterday. i think i'm gonna lose it."

-

getting ready to leave the house, she spots gunwook from afar walking to school. naeun jogs up to him from behind. "gunwook. i left my purse at your house. can i come by after school to get it?"

"you're not gonna say good morning to me? and yeah, you can drop by after class. you also forgot your sweater here." he says, nudging naeun's shoulder.

"good morning, gunwook. also, thanks for carrying me yesterday. i still have your blanket. i'll return it later." naeun sighs.

"keep the blanket." gunwook shocked himself. he'd never imagine lending her his belongings so easily. he hadn't realized that he was being too generous. it was troubling, trying to hide his feelings was harder than he thought.

"really? thanks...! do you think we can go to your house during lunch? it's too cold out today, i need my sweater." in that moment, naeun questioned herself.

usually, she'd just suck it up and refrain from asking for favors to minimize interactions with each other. but ever so suddenly, she felt comfortable around him.

"you can have my sweater." gunwook removes his uniform sweater, handing it to her, his name was embroidered onto it.

"but won't you be cold?... thank you, gunwook, for everything actually, i appreciate what you did for me yesterday." she hesitantly takes the sweater.

"i have my uniform blazer in my locker, i'll be fine without it. also, i... don't hate you, naeun. it's not like i ever had a problem helping you." he mutters, trying his best to stop himself from smiling.

gunwook was internally screaming at himself. he really didn't want to like her romantically. before, he had an emence control over his feelings and emotions. clearly, it was short-lived.

"you're so nice to me these days. if you have a crush on me, just say it. i won't bully you." she taunted him jokingly.

she believed it was simply him forming newfound respect for her. naeun couldn't imagine gunwook developing an interest for her - he had specific standards.

naeun felt cozy in the sweater. she was smiling widely, the sweater was warm and comfortably fitting. her smile was something he couldn't dismiss. gunwook wanted to tell her that she looked as beautiful as ever.

but he couldn't.

there was a boundary between the two that was sworn, not be surpassed. gunwook wanted to sleep off his feelings for days now, but it'd only eat him alive in the end. the truth was, he was afraid. he was afraid he'd only push her further away if he expressed his interest.

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a/n ₍ ᐢ..ᐢ ₎

I AM BREWING 🙏 JUNHYEON CAMEO IN THE NEXT CHAPTER 😍🫡