★ | #14 | playground
"whatever you say."

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ nicole's radio station
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telephones • vacations
"but you're a part of me."

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"HEY!” Haewon let out in surprise, a forced groan falling past her lips as she stood up from the table that she sat at, after his parents had joined her.

“Why'd you copy me?” Haewon complained half-jokingly, looking at the flannel he wore over a plain white shirt.

Only difference with his was his flannel was white with a pale green color, whilst hers was a white with a pale blue.

Heeseung smiled, rolling his eyes as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, shaking his head. “Don't flatter yourself. It was the first thing I saw.” He snickered.

“Yeah, right. You're jealous of my fashion sense so you totally copied me.” Haewon teased, as he stood still, unfazed as he stared back at her plainly, only a small smile settled onto his lips.

“Ah, how cute, stay there. I'll get the camera.” Mrs. Lee spoke up, setting down her utensil as she pushed herself out of her chair, earning a laugh from her husband who watched her wander into the connected living room to grab the film camera off of the shelf.

The two teens grumbled softly, snickering as they were pushed closer to each other, told to pose for the picture as they both wrapped an arm around each other, free-hand raised to form a simple peace sign with their middle and index fingers.

“One, two, three, and.. cheese!” Mrs. Lee dragged out, the camera flash and shutter sound filling the room as the two teens separated almost immediately.

“I'm gonna go blind one day from that.” Heeseung mumbled, rubbing his eyes before blinking repeatedly, adjusting his eyes once again.

“Once again, so dramatic.” Haewon sighed out teasingly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’ll return those stuffed animals that I bought yesterday.” Heeseung threatened emptily, narrowing his eyes as the girl raised her hands in surrender.

“This is going in the photo books.” Mrs. Lee chuckled, waving the small picture around as she brushed past the two to the living room.

“You both have grown so much. I remember when you were just babies.” Mr. Lee chimed in from the dining table with a laugh, catching the attention of both Heeseung and Haewon.

“I have grown, but I'm not so sure about her. She's the size of a toddler.” Heeseung teased lightly, as the girl furrowed her brows, a scoff falling past her lips.

“You're not even a full foot taller than me. And I'm literally five foot six. Relax, buddy.” She retorted, shaking her head.

“Heeseung, leave the poor girl alone.” Mrs. Lee clicked her tongue, returning to her seat at the table.

“What? She's the one who's been mean to me like.. the whole time!” Heeseung complained, as Haewon stifled a laugh.

“Yeah, Heeseung, stop being so mean.” Haewon added, clearing her throat as she bit back a smile.

“I— you know what, I won't even fight it this time.” Heeseung gave in, a soft ‘tsk’ sounding past his lips as he narrowed his eyes.

“Hey mom, dad, we're gonna go out for a bit. I think we're just gonna walk around to pass time.” Heeseung spoke on, diverting the topic to something else as Haewon raised her brows.

“We are?” Haewon mumbled to herself, tilting her head off to the side.

“That’s fine. But Heeseung, please remember we have family coming over later tonight for dinner.” Mrs. Lee recalled, earning a nod from the boy.

“I know. We should be home long before that, anyway.” He shrugged, brushing it off.

“Alright then. You two be careful, okay?” Mr. Lee added, as Haewon bowed her head politely towards the older couple.

“We will. Thank you for inviting me inside.” She let out, earning smiles and nods from the couple.

Wrapping a hand around her forearm, Heeseung tugged her along with him, his grasp around her loose as he waved goodbye to his parents.

“Bye! Love you!” Heeseung called out after slipping his shoes on, waiting for Haewon to follow suit as he held the door open for her after she swooped down to grab her backpack, slipping it on swiftly.

“Where are we going?” Haewon asked almost immediately once they exited the house, the spring air gentle and warm as the golden rays of sunshine fell down on them.

“I have absolutely no idea.” Heeseung responded, lips pressed together in a thin line.

“I mean, there's not many options around here. I figured we'd just walk around until we find something interesting.” He added on, folding his arms over his chest.

“Hm, okay, that's fine. Just, we're not going anywhere near my house. I do not want to take any chances where I have to face my father today.” Haewon mumbled, kicking a rock.

“I understand. It's not a problem.” Heeseung nodded, tone of voice reassuring as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“He tried to talk to me earlier this morning, but I left before he could finish. I feel a bit guilty about it but at the same time, I don't.” Haewon admitted, biting down on the inside of her cheek.

“No offense, but isn't he.. a massive jerk? I don't think you should feel guilty.” Heeseung commented, brows curved inward ever so slightly.

“Oh, yeah, one hundred percent. That's why I partly don't feel bad at all. All he does is critique me. He's a massive asshole, and it's impossible to please him. He just loves to get angry and yell.” Haewon scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Then yeah, I wouldn't feel bad at all. If I was in your situation, I would be acting the same way you are. Just come over anytime you need to to get away from him. My parents love having you over anyway, so it's not a problem.” Heeseung offered, as Haewon chuckled and hummed softly in response.

“I'll be taking you up on that very often.” She let out half-jokingly, as Heeseung huffed out a laugh and nodded.

“Friendly reminder that we still have to study. So, next time, bring your stuff so we actually can.” Heeseung reminded, nudging her gently.

“Oh, I actually did bring my stuff. I just shoved pretty much everything in my bag.” Haewon informed, gesturing to the backpack she carried.

“Wait, really? We can study when we go back to my place then. I didn't expect you to actually be prepared.” He laughed out, brows raised in surprise.

“I regret telling you now.” Haewon sighed, as Heeseung could only smile cheekily.

“Be grateful you're not stuck with some random tutor.” Heeseung scolded lightly, his tone of voice slightly teasing as he stretched his arms out above his head.

“Sometimes I wonder if it'd be better. You're annoying.” Haewon lied, as Heeseung shot her an unconvinced glance.

“Lying won't get you into college, Seong Haewon.” Heeseung let out, humming softly towards the end as Haewon snickered and rolled her eyes.

“Fake it til you make it.” Haewon quoted, unable to conceal the smile that settled across her features.

“That quote is dumb.” The boy huffed, as Haewon scoffed.

“You're dumber.”

“Very mature.”

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After almost thirty minutes of walking around the local area, lost in conversations and countless bickering, with the turn of her head, Haewon paused in the middle of her sentence, suddenly changing the subject.

“Hey, look, the playground.” She pointed out in a quiet mumble, coming to a halt in the middle of the empty street as Heeseung hummed, following her gaze.

“Man, no one goes there anymore.” Heeseung frowned, staring at the rusted playground from afar.

“Because all of the other playgrounds these days have a bunch of new cool stuff. Places like these are hardly ever spared a glance anymore.” Haewon said, pursing her lips.

“And it doesn't help that it's tucked away in a neighborhood. Most of the kids that used to go here have grown up and moved away. It's just old people around here now.” Heeseung breathed out a small laugh, tilting his head.

“Hm, yeah.” Haewon uttered in agreement, pondering for a short moment before she sighed and locked their arms together, dragging him along with her towards the rundown playground.

“It's meaningless to just stand there and look at it. Might as well enjoy it while we're here, right?” Haewon reasoned, stepping into the wood chips as waves of nostalgia rushed over her, flashbacks to her childhood spent here coming back to her at once.

“Didn't you cut your knee open falling down on these when we were little?” Heeseung recalled, a cheeky grin spread across his face as he kicked at the wood chips coating the ground.

Haewon rolled her eyes, unable to contain her smile. “Didn't you get electrocuted going down that slide?”

“I was shocked, not electrocuted. And besides, that happened to everyone.” Heeseung snickered, shrugging off the memory.

“Whatever. At least I didn't chip my tooth on the monkey bars.” Haewon teased, as Heeseung shuddered lightly.

“Hey, that was traumatizing.” The boy grumbled, wandering over to the swing-set and taking a seat, as Haewon followed his actions, taking the swing beside him.

“How did that even happen?” She asked, tilting her head off to the side as her voice was filled with curiosity, her memory of the day being rather vague.

“I was pulling myself up onto the monkey bars, and I remember getting my head just above the bar itself. When I went to lower myself to move onto the next one, I ended up hitting my mouth on the metal and chipping my tooth.” Heeseung explained as he remembered.

His fingers wrapped around the rusted chains attached to the swing itself, nibbling at his bottom lip as the girl hummed quietly in response.

“Ah, right. I remember now. I think I cried a little too, because I didn't know what had happened.” The girl narrowed her eyes, attempting to jog her memory.

“Awe, you care about me.” Heeseung pouted, head turning to look at her as she shook her head.

“Heeseung, I was like.. five.”

“Six.” He corrected.

“Close enough.” The girl shrugged, slowly beginning to rock herself back and forth on the swing as it creaked with each small push.

“These swings look and feel like they're gonna break apart at any given moment.” Heeseung pointed out, eyes trailing up all of the rust wrapped around the metal.

“Yeah. It'd be really funny if it happened right now.” Haewon giggled, eyes forming two small crescents as Heeseung raised a brow.

“Are you trying to jinx us?”

“No? Of course not.” Haewon denied, pressing her lips together in a thin line to hide the smile that tugged at the corners of her lips.

“You're a terrible liar.” Heeseung pointed out with a laugh of his own, slowly swinging himself back and forth carefully.

“That's not true. I'm good when I want to be.” Haewon defended herself, letting out a sigh of content.

“Mhm, I'm sure.” Heeseung spoke sarcastically, not believing her as she gasped dramatically.

“I'm offended that you think so poorly of my skills.”

“I didn't even say that?” Heeseung furrowed his brows, giving her a puzzled look.

“Not directly.” Haewon snickered, letting go of the chains connected to the swing as she rested her hands in her lap. “You're just jealous of me.”

“Whatever you say.” Heeseung smiled, shaking his head as they soon faded in a brand new conversation, recalling old memories recovered from their shared childhood.

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★﹐authors corner ．﹗﹑ 1.9k words.
it's almost 4am but it's okay because it's the weekend (please save me)

anyway, it's jay's birthday as i'm writing this so happy birthday jay! <3
april 20th, 2024 — 3:45am.

not proofread.