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"jeongguk?" an airy voice rang in his ears. something touched his cheek. jeongguk ripped open his eyelids, letting the morning sunshine blind his tired eyes.
"good morning jeongguk!" hyerim greeted him cheerfully. he met face to face with hyerim, who knelt next to him on the couch. her eyes were bright like the sunrise, her smile beamed from ear to ear. a tabby cat meowed at him, its fleshy paw pressed on his cheek. hyerim placed the cat on his stomach.
"huh...?" jeongguk asked, dazed. his obsidian eyes blinked wearily as he watched the furry feline that sat on him, meowing repeatedly.
the events of the previous day finally came back to him... he was staying at hyerim's house. the strong smell of coffee and miso soup wafted through the air. how long had it been since he woke up to something like this?
hyerim grinned as she smoothed the fur on the kitten's head. "i think she followed us home yesterday! i saw her outside our door this morning! can we keep her?" she asked.
us. our. we.
the words sounded nice; they rolled off her tongue smoothly. they sounded like he belonged, like he had a say. it stirred a longing in his heart he didn't realised he needed, interrupting his train of thoughts.
jeongguk's gaze trailed from the tabby cat to hyerim, who's wavy short hair stuck out from all sides. she looked like a lion. jeongguk stared at her for a few seconds, taking in her delicate features as she spoke, "well? can we keep her?"
"it's your house. do as you like."
"hmmm! why don't you name her?" hyerim asked as she lifted the kitten and kissed it on the cheek. jeongguk stared at the both of them, his weariness wavering, and saw some resemblance between the cat and the girl. both had large eyes and puffy hair. the kind that you'd want to pat on the head.
"...hyerim."
"yes?"
"no. hyerim. the cat should be called hyerim."
"but that's my name!" she answered, in a cute, defiant way. jeongguk smirked and poked her forehead. "you asked me to name her so deal with it," he retorted nonchalantly, standing up from the orange sofa and stretching his sore arms. hyerim watched him with narrow eyes, holding the cat in her arms.
"fine! hyerim it is!"
to jeongguk, hyerim was something you'd want to protect.
——————————
they walked to school together after breakfast, despite jeongguk's protests. his plans to distance himself had failed once again... though he didn't feel too upset about it.
hyerim chattered the whole time, filling the silence that used to be his normal routine with the her laughter. she talked about her favourite ice cream, how much she loved cats, how she got the crescent-shaped scar on her elbow.
jeongguk didn't say much, but he did enjoy listening to her voice, the sound of her giggles, the sound of their footsteps in unison. usually, he would drag himself from his executive suite at the hotel to school for the free lunch and get on with his day.
"my class's that way! bye bye, jeongguk!" hyerim waved and took off the opposite direction. jeongguk watched as she linked arms with another girl, her classmate, grinning brightly as she always did.
was she always happy? did nothing ever make her sad?
he lingered behind for a little while, watching her figure grow smaller in size as the distance between them increased.
"good riddance," he muttered, although he knew he didn't mean that. the school bell rang but he did not bother to bring himself to class. he sauntered over to the school courtyard and sat underneath the large oak tree, sinking amongst the jade green grass. he lit a cigarette.
"honestly, why do you bother coming to school if all you do is sit here and smoke?" a deep voice commented from behind him. jeongguk didn't bother reacting, he simply inhaled deep breath of the cigarette. a coarse, warm sensation filled his lungs.
cha eunwoo strode in front of him, arms crossed. jeongguk raised an eyebrow. what did the class pretty boy want with him that was so important he'd skip class? he remained indifferent, releasing a breath of nicotine in eunwoo's disgruntled face.
"can i help you?"
"hyerim has asthma. don't smoke in front of her," he ordered quietly, staring at him, sternly. jeongguk rolled his eyes. he was already considerate enough not to smoke in her presence. what the hell was eunwoo trying to do? before jeongguk could make a suitably sardonic retort, eunwoo spoke again. more solemnly this time.
"...i won't let you hurt her."
with that, he walked away. jeongguk got up and threw the cigarette in the grass, putting it out with the swift stomp of his shoe.
he couldn't help frowning; the weight of eunwoo's words sank in deeper than he'd thought.
