celestial strings | h.js

two.

Jisung was too tried to throw a hissy fit early in the morning when he found out you stuck him back onto his bed and slept on the floor with a thin sheet of blanket anyway.

When he was called to wake up in the morning, he had happily urged you to fresh up in the bathroom first so he could extra an extra five minutes to sleep. The appalled expression on his face was priceless when it only took you roughly two to three minutes—or what Jisung felt to be ten seconds—to clean yourself up for the morning.

"Come on, Jisung," you said as you tugged at the bedsheet that he had pulled over his face. "I don't want to have to haul you over the school gate, and I cannot guarantee that I won't throw you too harshly again this time."

He whined from under the blanket, his voice muffled as he pulled harder at the blanket in refusal. It was a game of tug of war, one that you knew if you tried, you would definitely win. All you needed was one strand of red string. But you decided to humor him a little, your hands still pulling gently at the fabric as Jisung stubbornly wrapped his legs around it to keep you from removing the warmth.

"Alright, I warned you." You let go of the blanket after allowing him a minute to be childish about going to school. Stepping away from his bed, you moved over to the corner of the floor and grabbed your backpack. You headed to the door and looked behind your shoulder at him, sighing. "I shift starts in the morning so I'm leaving now. Thanks for letting me stay the night, Jisung."

Jisung furrowed his brow. The farewell was too sudden, he wanted to think you were just bluffing to make him wake up. Yet, when he was piecing the puzzle together, what you said was not only within your character, it also made sense. You did seem like the type to leave with a short announcement, and if you weren't attending schools then you would have work to sustain yourself.

He peeked an eye over the blanket to see if you were standing in his room, and a part of him jumped to find an empty room. Trailing his gaze to the side, your bag was also gone from where it laid yesterday night. You did leave! Gasping under his breath, Jisung quickly sat upon his bed, flipping his blanket over to the side in the process.

Panic rose in his chest; he needed to catch up with you! Who was to say you wouldn't ghost him for another week after you leave?

"Shit–hold on, [Name]!" He swung the door open, planning on heading out to the living room to see if you were still in his home. But he came to an abrupt stop when he found you standing right outside his room with a deadpan expression on your face.

"Good, you are finally awake," you muttered as you removed your backpack from your forearm and swung it over your shoulders to wear.

Taking your action as an incentive to leave, Jisung was quick to take a step closer to you and take ahold of your arm, his eyes rounding innocently as he spoke. His voice came out low and raspy so he cleared his throat before he spoke again, "Wa–um...wait, you are staying for breakfast, right? And then we are going to school together?"

Shrugging his hand off, you gave him a grimace. "Yeah. Your mom already made me breakfast outside so I kind of have to stay for that," you pointed out, looking towards the door that would lead you directly to the living room. "But it doesn't take me that long to eat so if you aren't ready by the time I finish my bowl of rice, I am going to leave first."

"I'll be quick, I promise!" he exclaimed. "Just don't leave without me, okay?"

You pursed your lips in defeat, a faint eye-roll struggling to surface. "Okay. Just hurry up, I have work."

The relieved smile Jisung showed you only made your grimace widen.

This boy was infuriating at best without even trying to be so. As cheesy and corny as it sounded, he was different than others, drastically different that you were unsure how to react to him sometimes. Until this point, you still could not understand why he was so hell-bent on befriending you. He has practically done all that he could, hasn't he? He refused to leave you alone, he put a shelter over your head, and now he was making sure he gets to spend his entire morning with you as well.

And no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't wrap your head around why he wanted to spend all that effort for you.

The idea of you exuding any appeal was unfathomable so that reason was immediately thrown out. Could it possibly be the magnetic feeling you felt with him? Did he feel it as well, that intriguing pull akin to faint electricity dancing across your skin whenever you two are near each other?

"You're so weird, Jisung," you commented under your breath. When he threw you a questioning tilt of his head, you couldn't help but huff out a curt laugh. "No one has ever gone this far to make sure I become friends with them before."

"Well, they should!" He said, almost proudly. "I think you would make an incredible friend!"

You laughed, "Oh, great. I thought you would say something about me having magic."

"Oh, yeah, that is pretty cool too." Jisung smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. He let his arm drop to his side after a moment, his eyes growing more sincere all of a sudden. He was looking at you intently, making sure he has your attention before he said, "But I think even if you don't have magic, I'd still want to be your friend."

Surely, he gained interest in you because you threw him over the gate and he wanted to find out how. And, surely, it was interesting to know that you were one of the rarely heard of magic-wielders living near them. And, surely! There was still this unnerving pull towards you that he felt. He could feel its presence wherever you were around like it was waiting to reveal itself.

But, ultimately, it was your slip of the tongue about your parents that got his empathy up and running, not the magic.

You looked up at him, the glimmers in your eyes wavering at his words.

Jisung was different in a way that he shows you genuine affection and interest. He easily balanced out the magic part of you and the personal part of you, it was never only the magic part of you unlike how it has always been. He took all aspects of you to his heart and he held you carefully in his hands despite your many attempts to fall from the gaps of his fingers.

"You are making this too sentimental for me," you commented monotonously, giving Jisung a smile so rigid and forced that even he started to feel a little awkward.

"You know how I get emotional, [Name]," he muttered funnily, his eyes squinting to mimic the way his heart was squeezed by your disappointing response to his touching words.

"I don't know, Jisung." You tightened the grip on your backpack straps, blinking at him with a small frown. "You see, we've only been friends for a couple of days and so far, only I spilled my childhood traumas."

"Oh, no worries. I can spill all my childhood traumas to you if you want. I'll get you spooked out about all the chocolate I've stolen from the cabinet." Jisung said as he glanced down at his invisible watch. He looked back up at you then, feigning professionalism on his serious features. "Actually, I am free tonight at ten o'clock. We can have a background check session in my room before we call it a day. We have much to talk about."

"How about you finish your morning routine first? The clock is still ticking and you are still in your pajamas." You poked his shoulder with a glare. "Like I said, hurry up or go to school on your own."

Jisung turned around to glance at the clock on his wall and he yelped in shock. Brushing past you quickly, he headed to the bathroom and slammed the door. You sighed inwardly when you heard the lock click, then you slowly made your way to the living room with a mind filled with thoughts.

The day has barely started yet and he was already trying to make sure you would stay another night. You didn't plan to stay another night, frankly speaking. No matter how agreeable he and his family were, you just could not get past the feeling of being a burden.

Your shoulders relaxed a bit when you realized you've got to think up a plan during the day; at least that would keep your mind off all the unfortunate people you would meet during your shift.