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••••• areum pov •••••
"Wow." Sunghoon said as he had finished reading.
"Yeah." I sighed as a tear slipped down. Sunghoon automatically pulled me into a bear hug.
"Yang Jiyeon..." I heard Sunghoon whisper.
"What about her?" I asked. He paused for a few seconds but then shook his head.
"Nothing... I'm so sorry." He said as he kissed my forehead. "Is that why you won't come to school anymore?"
I can't have him worry about me or anything like that.
Lie.
"Oh.. I uh transferred to a cheaper school which is closer too. Since I have to pay the school fees, but I already have a huge depth to pay. I rather not add to it." I said and he looked at me as if he was trying to find a lie in my eyes.
"Really." I assured him.
He gave in and pulled me into his embrace as he laid on my bed.
"Get some sleep, you need it." He told me as he covered us.
I couldn't afford to complain since I enjoyed being so close to him. So instead, I shut my eyes and took his advice.
•••
I woke up to a ringing phone. Behind me, I could hear soft snores. Meaning that Sunghoon was asleep. I looked at his peace face and smiled. So handsome yet so adorable.
Right! His phone.
I took his phone and the caller ID almost made me shit my pants. His mother was calling.
"Sunghoon... Sunghoon your phone is ringing." I said, waking him up.
He groaned a few times and opened his eyes.
"She's always waking me up." He groaned as he took his phone out of my hand, desperate to end the ringing sound.
"Mom?" He then asked as soon as he answered the phone, with the smallest baby voice ever.
"Yeah, don't won't I'll be home tonight... I'm not running away again... okay... me too... don't wait up for me... okay goodnight." He then hung up the phone and comfortably laid back down and gestured for me to come back in his arms.
I wanted to go back but now I was curious about what he said. 'I'm not running away again'. He used to run away?
Sunghoon seemed really exhausted right now, so I decided not to ask him. I laid back in his arms and tried to fall asleep again, but I couldn't. All of a sudden, I became uncomfortable. I kept trying to find a nice position but couldn't.
"Is something bothering you?" I heard Sunghoon groaned with a deep voice, sending shivers to my spine since his mouth was right by my left ear.
"No..." I mumbled as I tried to fall asleep in that position.
I then took my phone and checked the time. It read 20:44. It's a bit late. Maybe he should be going home now?
"Sunghoon, I think you should be going home..." I said as I tried to get out of his grip but he just held me tighter.
"You want me to leave?" He pouted, but I could totally hear the teasing in his voice this time.
"N-no..." I said as I successfully got up." But it's pretty late now and I think your mom will be worried." I added, unknowingly referring to the whole run away thing.
He looked at me through the small light shining through my room thanks to the lit candles.
"I don't run away from home anymore." Sunghoon said as he got up. "I'm sensing that you desperately want to know about it so why not." He said as he pulled me by my hands, making me sit back on the bed with him.
"My parents got divorced in late 2016 because of what started off as a misunderstanding. My dad was apparently flirting with his assistant and my mom saw them as she went to give him his lunchbox. He would sometimes pick me up from figure skating practice and she would be in the car. They started fighting a lot over that and suddenly my dad left without a word. My mom had do everything and work late shifts so that we could survive and so that I could keep skating. This went on for two years. I even thought he had died. He then shows up one day, drunk, and tries to get in the house as if we were a normal family." Sunghoon paused.
"Mom asked him to leave but he didn't want to and started yelling at her. He then held onto her wrists while yelling at her, all in front of me and my little sister. I had enough of it finally decided to step in and punched him." He said with a cracking voice. "He cussed at me and then threatened to leave and never come back. Mom was really upset, so she told him to leave since he was never there anyway."
I put my hand on his back and patted him as I saw that he wanted to continue speaking, but his voice kept cracking.
"So my dad left. He came back sober and tried to apologize many times, but my mom was to hurt by the things he said to her when they fought and my sister hates him. I on the other hand, had found a way to blame them both. Why did they have to fight? Why was dad flirting with his servant? Was mom not enough? Why did mom make it such a big deal and handle it while me and my poor little sister were watching? I asked myself this all the time and at last, I couldn't handle all the drama so I would run away from home." He then said as he turned away from me.
"Run away? As in pack your things and leave?" I asked and he nodded with a shameful chuckle.
"I left as in my mother had to go to the police to find me." He said."I still regret doing that to her. I am the oldest son so I should've been more reliable. Especially since i have a little sister who looks up to me as well. I knew that my mom loved my dad a lot so she was probably in a lot of pain. Yet I decided to add more worries and disappointment to her shoulders."
Wow, I guess I'm not the only one in pain. Here I thought he lived the perfect life. I guess you really shouldn't judge a book by its covers.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
Probably the most oblivious thing to do now but I didn't know what to say.
"Yeah, I'm great. Aww, are you worried about me?" He smirked as he stood up to put on his jacket and shoes.
"Yes I am." I sincerely said as he turned to face me after opened my door.
"Cutie." He said as he pulled me into a hug." Don't think too much about the things that stress you. When you do, think about me instead."
I blushed and lightly punched his right arm.
"Go, your mom is waiting." I said.
He then smiled at me as he stole a peck, before leaving my apartment.
••••••••
a/n: now we know Sunghoons backstory aswell!!
everyone is living such a sad life in this book smh 😩
