PAPER HEARTS

37

Time.

"I'm not going to believe you."

I'm sprawled over my bed, elbows propped and cheeks tucked in my hands with a bowl of dry cereal on one side and my tablet against the pillow. Ryoko is on the screen, sewing through the ends of her hair with a hairbrush and a frown deepening its way into her forehead. Her hair is a ridiculous shade of pink and her eyes are a bright blue, make-up still etched on her face from the previous night. She looks a mess. We are talking after so long, and I'm sure she would have been livid if it wasn't for my assertive news.

I pop a cereal chip into my mouth, "I'm telling you the truth, why else would I pitch in my tents at this place?"

She pats her hair down, sighing deeply, "You're telling me this now."

"I'm sorry." I shake my head, "I really, really wanted talk to you about this, I just couldn't with ... Taehyung and he wanted to spend all his time with me before I left."

"Oh," A smirk crawls up her lips, "All his time, doing what?"

I flush red, bending my legs up and crossing them over as I chew on another piece of my cereal, "You know we're not batshit crazy, unlike you."

My best friend scoffs, "Say that to your hulk when he hulk-smashes you -"

"Koko!" I yell, slamming a hand over the speakers to drown her maniacal giggles out and looking over my shoulder to see if my parents are close to ear's reach. I face her again, her lips are still parted and she's pulling silly faces at me. I frown.

"My parents could hear you!" I hiss, deciding to sit up with crossed legs and I bring the tablet close to my face.

"Yeah, yeah," Ryoko teases, "You're just too shy to hear it, but hulk can -"

I emit a squeak, my fingers reach up to hold my ears quickly and she's poking fun at me again. Probably wondering why his girlfriend is so hysterical over a call, Jeongguk's head fluffs the side of the screen and his eyebrows are pulled together until he realizes it's me.

"Hi, noona!" He waves, cheeks exploding from the wide stretch of his grin. I smile almost immediately.

"Can you put a leash on your girlfriend, mister?" I sigh in over-exaggeration, "She's getting out of control."

Jeongguk turns red at that, eyes cringing and nose scrunching up as he brings a hand to his face. I run my eyes over his appearance, cherry red hair, brown contacts, and his go-to white shirt with zero prints. They look like they've just stepped out of a party, and their eyes hold dark bags over their flushed cheekbones. I'm assuming it's been a wild night from all the partying and the drinks last night, and they look so tired from all of it.

Ryoko says something to Jeongguk in Japanese and I watch his face lag with confusion as he tries to understand the sentence. Then, his face falls and he looks at me with sad, innocent eyes.

"Are you going to New York tomorrow, noona?" He asks timidly.

I pucker my lips, cooing, "Aw~ Googie, don't be sad, I'll buy you a lot of games when I come back."

Jeongguk pulls a face, "Don't change the topic, why didn't you tell us earlier? We could have made plans to come home sooner!"

Ryoko nods alongside and she breaks into a fond smile at his whine. I watch them, eyes softening as she reaches to poof his hair up from the nape, and Jeongguk is shrinking into himself when he realizes the tone of his voice.