Behind The Scenes ༻ Park Jisung

༻ 31

'cause you just want it so much
a touch
from your real love

༻

Aruna couldn't think.

Her legs shook under the table as she bounced it repeatedly. The gum in her mouth followed the same rhythm as she chewed, a mindless activity that she used to distract herself from the noise surrounding her.

She looked down at her phone. Three minutes had passed since she last checked, but time seemed to drag on, unwilling to release her from its sluggish grasp. She hated it.

"Jisung," Jiwoo's accusatory yell sliced through the dull hum of the lunchroom, momentarily disrupting Aruna's detached state. "You took my cookies!"

Jisung gasped. "No I didn't. Why would you accuse me?"
"I saw you eyeing them earlier."
"They looked bad," he grimaced.

That pissed her off even more as Jisung immediately apologized.

"If you didn't lose your cookies I totally would eat them because they looked so scrumptious," he said, trying to change his tactic.
"Oh yeah," her eyes narrowed. "Forgot someone stole them."
"Hey, it wasn't me!"

Aruna couldn't find herself to even wonder about their relationship anymore. She was just too tired. Their conversation was just part of background noise, almost muffled to her.

Her stomach churned as she thought of how practice went again. It was horrible. Even her members seemed to be a bit out of it and they never were.

Her legs quickened their pace. Her gum was chewed faster.

Minju was exhausted, her voice was less enthusiastic than the past practices, Eliana couldn't keep up, her energy draining quickly, Aster was trying to lighten up the mood with some jokes  here and there, but Ciela, being too focused, wouldn't allow it.

They were a mess.

Aruna wasn't sure what was specifically wrong with her but she knew she was doing bad. She saw the way the members looked at her differently, almost so grossed out of her moves, her fluidity, her body. She wanted to cave into a hole and never leave.

Her legs stopped as someone joined her on the opposite side of the table. Jisung.

"Hey Jisung," she faked a smile. Her eye bags were prevalent and deep. She had previously tried to cover it up with concealer but it ended up being washed off after vomiting in the bathroom.

"Hey Aruna," he furrowed his eyebrows. She felt...off. "I- well I mean you were sitting alone so I just wondered if you uh wanted to eat these together."

Jisung lifted up a bag of cookies he hid inside his hoodie pocket.

"Cookies," Aruna breathed out. Her head started spinning, trying to calculate how much calories it was.
He nodded. "They're not the christmas ones but I told you my friend Jiwoo would make some and she did."

"Jiwoo?" her eyes scanned the room. "Weren't you guys fighting like three seconds ago?"
"No," he awkwardly chuckled. "She left ten minutes ago."
"It was an exaggeration Jisung," the corners of Arunas lips turned up slightly. Just a bit.