before & after ‣ 엔하이픈

007 ; present

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AERI

"Aeri! Hey, stop!" Sunghoon chased after Aeri as she let her first thought decide what she'd do the moment she saw Jake and Bora together: walk away.

"Leave me alone, Sunghoon." She tells the person who was trying his best to catch up to how fast she was currently walking. But when she felt his soft hand encircle itself on her wrist as he pulled her so that she'd be facing him, both of them were caught by surprise because of how unfamiliar the expressions were on their faces. "What do you want?"

"What's happening with you? All of a sudden you stop walking then the next you're running away." Sunghoon asked her, the mischievous and smug tone no longer can be heard, only curiosity and concern remained.

Aeri merely stood there, trying to search for the right words to tell her neighbor. Endlessly, she searched for a response that didn't have the words 'Jake' and 'heartbroken' to it because in doing so would mean revealing the one thing she and Jake agreed to never tell a soul. But as she stood there, eyes gazing at Sunghoon's familiar ones, she came to realize that she knew him too well, she was aware of the perceptiveness he possessed. It was one of the many things about him that annoyed her; he always saw right through her. Even back then when they were kids and she was trying to hide the fact that she was going through something, he always knew there was something weighing her down.

While they did possess a hate-sort of relationship, no one knew each other better than Aeri and Sunghoon did.

"Don't concern yourself too much with my business." That was the one thing she says to him before attempting to pull away from his hold, yet she failed horribly as she felt his hold tighten. "Let me go, Sunghoon!" 

"What's wrong, Aeri?" This time, he asked softly. It brought her back once more to all those years when she would accidentally injure herself and he would always be there to ask her if she was okay just after letting out fits of laughter for being so dumb sometimes. It was baffling how confusing and complicated their relationship was. She was well-aware they weren't friends, but they didn't hate each other enough to always let the other kneel on the ground in pain alone. 

A part of Aeri almost spoke the truth that couldn't escape the folds of her mouth, but her shear will had only grown stronger right after his departure. "Please, Sunghoon. Just not today." The defeat in her tone had thrown Sunghoon off, which led to his grip loosening, allowing her to pull away and run off to somewhere that didn't have Jake or Bora.

Somewhere that didn't have anyone that entailed misery to Aeri's supposedly quiet life. 

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Min Aeri was many things but being honest was not her. 

Growing up, she grew up settling for less, never complaining even when she hated what she was receiving or how she was being treated. She thought by the time she was a mere push away from young adulthood, she would grow out of this habit of keeping things to herself and finally have the strength to speak her truth. Yet there she was, months away from college life and still locking away her feelings even when she felt a pain in her chest when she would glance over to Bora's direction and be reminded of what she saw on that hallway.

When Haesu and Seeun would ask why she was being more quiet than usual or where she headed during their vacant time, she would do what she has always done since the semester began: She lied. 

Aeri may not be honest but she was undoubtedly a liar. Not only to everyone around her but especially to herself. 

By the time school hours had come to a finish, Aeri rushed out of the room, barely even muttering a farewell to her supposed friends but she doubted they would care that much that she left the way she did. The hallways never seemed packed to her, not when the students always made sure no one blocked her path when she was heading towards the building's exit. She almost let out a sigh of relief, she thought she could finally enjoy being away from the stuffiness of the attention brought by their ever scrutinizing gazes. She thought she was finally far from Jake but to her surprise, she sees him at the exit of the school, talking to a friend as they laughed about something she couldn't quite discern. 

Aeri imagined being ignored by Jake as she endeavored to walk past him, just like they have always done since they agreed to keep whatever they had to each other, but she was surprised when she heard her name being called out. 

"Aeri!" It wasn't Jake's voice, that alone she was sure. She turned her head and saw that it was the person he was talking to that had hollered her name. "Do you need a ride?" The guy courageously took his chance to ask the queen bee out. 

Before she could reject him, the person next to him had already stolen her chance to do so. "Why are you bothering her? She probably doesn't even know you." Jake laughed it off to make it sound casual, to make it seem like they haven't seen the traces of each other's souls. 

"Hey! Why are you speaking for her? So, Aeri? What's your response?" The guy brushed Jake off quickly as he returned his gaze back to her, who now was facing them completely as she crossed her arms. 

"It's funny how you think I'm ever going to say yes to someone who's not even interesting enough for me to know the first letter of your name." Aeri tilts her head as her lips formed into a mocking smirk. "Now, leave me alone." 

Before she could turn completely and continue walking over to the gate of the school, she didn't miss the chance to meet Jake's eyes. His familiar gaze trailed her path and she saw it, the hesitance to approach her because of their agreement to keep them a secret. But when she had come into terms that he wasn't going to step beyond the line the two of them had made, she walked away in hopes of achieving what she has been wanting to do since earlier: Get away from this place. 

But there was something so ironic about hating what you thought you wanted just moments ago. When Aeri was sure she was significantly far from the school, distant enough so that she wouldn't have to pass by people she went to school with, she suddenly felt a hand enclose on her wrist. While it may not have been as gentle as the grip Sunghoon had on her earlier, she was familiar with this one as she had all summer to get used to it.

When she spun around, she saw the eyes of the man she learned to love over the summer. "Are you okay?" Was the first thing he asks her when her gaze locked upon his. 

Aeri, all of a sudden, remembered everything that had unfolded in that abandoned hallway and so she effortlessly pulled away from Jake's hold. "Where were you during our vacant time?" She didn't bother beating around the bush and instead went for the hit. 

The abrupt change in Jake's expression gave away that he knew immediately where she was heading by her question. "W-Why are you asking?" 

"Why are you dodging the question? You just have to answer, Jake. Where were you during those hours?" Aeri felt the seeping anger at the middle of her chest, fueling the rage escaping through every words coming out of her. His silence was deafening. "Fine, I'll answer it for you. Why in the world were you talking to your ex in an abandoned hallway?"

"I don't think what I talk about with Bora or anyone concerns you anymore, Aeri. Why are you even so bothered by it? Alright, I spoke to her, but should that really be a big deal?" His response felt as though something about mentioning what she saw had triggered something in him. 

"It bothered me that you talked to her in that hallway because it was so damn obvious you were hiding, Jake! What was I supposed to think when I saw you? How was I supposed to react when I caught you in a hidden place with the girl you struggled to move on from during the summer?!" Aeri hadn't meant to let her rage get the best of her but she knew if she didn't speak now, she would never be able to. 

"Why does Bora bother you so much, Aeri? What does she even have against you? You already have me, so I don't get what's the matter with you right now and why you still think of everything that way!" She noticed how hard it was for him to not raise his voice on her but somehow residues of it still escaped as his volume would increase in some words. "You already have me, Aeri. Stop this."

Her hands had turned cold as her mind only spoke of one sentence. One response to a supposedly assuring declaration of feelings.

"I wish I could believe you, Jake. But I was with you all summer." 

You can act all high and almighty with the captain of the soccer team now yours to claim, but you'll never replace Bora in his life.

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