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━━━  " 📂 " ‍..⃗. ༉

𝘾 𝙍 𝙔 𝘽 𝘼 𝘽 𝙔

! chapter twenty four ─── ʚĭɞ

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She had been leant against the seat of Han Seojun's motorcycle, taking in the fresh air, observing the passing people in front of the karaoke house for no longer than five minutes before he came out.

"What are you doing, Kwon Yeori?" He asked, as he took the last few of the red steps down onto the street today. Somehow, even after all this time, it still surprised her that he was able to recognise her so easily, even though she was in her school uniform and had her back to him.

She looked to him, as he made his way to stand beside her, and she tilted her head. "I heard you singing." Yeori replied, the only explanation she could give to him.

He let out a sigh, shaking his head. "And that means you stalk me now?" Seojun was joking, quite obviously, but still, her face settled in a frown. Instinctively, he reached out to press out the wrinkles in her forehead. "If the wind changes, you'll stay like that." He warned.

"I was already here, with Jugyeong and everyone." Yeori said, swatting his hand away. "So no, I was not stalking you."

"So?" Seojun watched as she stood up off of his bike, smoothing out her skirt. "You wanted to check up on me or something?"

"No... well... yes, I suppose." Yeori looked more confused at her own actions than he did. "I know what song it was, Seojun."

"Good, so you have ears."

"Can you stop being so... so... idiotic for once and just listen to me? We might have been broken up for however long and I understand that you're angry and don't want to talk about it, but for fuck's sake, Seojun, you don't have to be a dick about it!" The outburst was very almost unexpected, but anything to do with Seyeon was a touchy subject for anyone close to him, and Yeori was no different. "It's not like I'm asking you some deep, dark question, Seojun, I just wanted to know if you were okay."

Seojun didn't say anything, simply remaining silent for a brief few moments, which seemed to sober Yeori up. "Oh." He breathed out. "Yeah. I guess."

Yeori, stoney-faced, stared at the floor. There were hints of a creeping blush flowering on her cheeks, and yet she refused to look at him. Her outburst was entirely unnecessary, far too much for such a simple subject as a song... but yet it troubled her far too much for her to stay silent at that moment. For a few minutes, just a few minutes, she could have done without snark and sarcasm from Seojun. She knew why he had gone down that route; it seemed to be the only way they ever communicated these days, but for a brief pause it was just too much.

"I'm sorry." Seojun said after the pause, reaching for her hand in a gesture that was all too familiar. And she let him, let him pull her into her hug and wrap his arms tight around her. He still smelt the same, she realised, as she tucked her face into his chest and felt him balance his chin on top of her head, pulling her as close as he could manage.

This was... this was all too much for her to handle, but she couldn't help but stay there, basking in the warmth and familiarity. There was an ache in her heart that pounded in her chest, and she hated that she knew she missed it all. Even the fighting. Perhaps that was why she clung so strongly onto the petty comments and cuts and jobs they sent each other's way. Perhaps-

"Isn't this cute?" A voice interrupted them. An all too familiar voice.

Yeori stepped away quickly, although Seojun moved quicker and much to the girl's chagrin he had pulled her behind him in doing so as he stood before Sungyong and his gang. "What do you want?" She asked,

"I thought you two had broken up." Sungyong said, shaking his head. Seojun didn't turn to look at her as his hand reached behind to try and pull her back all the more. "What's this then, have you got back together? Need a pretty girl to protect you now that your lies have fallen through?"

"Geez." Seojun scoffed. "Watch your mouth, jerk."

"I wouldn't be so confident, Han Seojun." Sungyong continued, slowly making his way towards the both of them. "You haven't got Chorong to make up lies again."

"Trust me, I don't need Chorong all the time." Seojun rolled his eyes. "What do you think you're doing, right in the middle of the street?"

"What matters is you and your old girlfriend, stood in front of a suspicious place like this." Sungyong gestures up to the building. "Didn't realise you enjoyed singing, Han Seojun, thought you gave that up after the whole... incident."

Yeori's face scrunched, an attempt to keep her emotions at bay this time. Blurting out something at that moment would not be a good idea, and definitely would not help Seojun in any way. But certainly, at even the implication of a mention of Seyeon, reducing his death down to an 'incident' would not slow things down in any manner. In fact, Yeori was certain that if anything, it would ramp up the speed of hundreds of times of what it was.

"Watch your mouth." Seojun repeated, stepping forward.

And as much as Yeori really wanted to see Sungyong get beaten up, with his entire gang behind him and Seojun with only, well, her, she decided there was only one thing for it.

So, she grabbed Seojun's hand and pulled him after her as they ran from them.