𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡 ;ʰˢʲ 『English Version』

Chapter XXVIII

"Ah-ah, it hurts... Yah, don't squeeze it so hard!"

"Don't yell at me or I'll end up shoving the cotton swab up your nose!"

Aera and Chorong were arguing at a table near a convenience store. The guy, although he had managed to scare off that bully who had arrived with the group of girls, had received several hits, and Aera wasn't going to leave him alone after he helped her friends out of that situation.

"Done, see? It wasn't that hard." She said, lowering her hand after applying some medicine to the bruise on the guy's cheek. "Ah, well, just for that, go buy something to eat, here." The girl said, handing him her credit card. The guy looked at her with wide eyes before taking it and running off to the store.

Shaking her head with a small smile, the girl picked up the dirty things she had used, putting them into a small bag to walk to a trash can, tossing them in. She heard a familiar voice. Walking towards it, she found a small crowd of people. Her eyes landed on Seojun sitting next to a guy—maybe the one who used to sing at the place—singing a soft ballad. His eyes were lost, but still, his voice could be heard perfectly in tune, somewhat insecure, as if he was embarrassed to sing in front of that small audience.

Taking out her phone, she started recording him, smiling at how good he looked on her camera. She remembered the guy with the messy hair in that practice room with his guitar and a small notebook, just like when she first met him. The girl felt somewhat melancholic.

If she hadn't stopped training, maybe she would be a big star by now.

When he finished the song, the girl stopped recording and put her phone away to clap for him, just like the rest of the people around. As she was about to step forward, a loud shout startled her. "Yah, Kim Chorong!"

"Aera, there were no rice cakes left!" The girl wanted to hit the taller one when he started shaking her to go to another park or another store.

"Don't you two have a phone? What the hell happened to your face?"

"Oh! Han Seojun!" Chorong completely forgot about the rice cakes and hugged her friend, interrupting him as he was about to hug his girlfriend. Pushing him away, annoyed, Seojun almost threw him if it hadn't been for Suho managing to stop the guy. "Lee Suho?"

"Hi."

"Oh, were you two together?" Aera asked, still caught in Seojun's arms, who was rubbing her cheek against her hair as if she were a little cat.

"Uhm." The guy nodded, looking around. "Are you hungry? My treat."

"Oh." Chorong heard that, throwing her arm around Suho's, who was surprised by the gesture but said nothing. "Of course we're hungry; I know a place that makes great pizza, my treat." He pointed to Aera's card, making her open her mouth, pushing Seojun to run after Chorong, who had taken off away from them.

"Yah, idiot, that card is for my shoes; give it back!"

***

"Did you have the test today?"

"Uhm..." Aera answered Suho's call, who, like her, had the test to see if they were candidates for studying abroad. "You?"

"Same."

"You sound annoyed."

"You sound annoyed."

Aera smiled, looking at the paper with her test score. Sighing, she could hear Suho do the same. "So are we going in first class, or is your dad going to lend us the jet?"

"My dad? The one with a jet is your mom." Aera laughed, knowing he was right. "Have you told Seojun?" That made the girl stop, knowing it was going to be a good discussion she needed to have soon. "Don't worry... I haven't told Jukyeong either."