★ | #21 | telephone
"i was just about to hang up."

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ nicole's radio station
is now playing...

mr. telephone man • new edition
"mr. telephone man, there's something wrong
with my line."

_______________________

WITH her legs tucked beneath her, she sat quietly on her bed, hair still slightly dampened after getting out of the shower. The telephone was pressed to her ear, the soft buzz filling the silence as she nibbled at her bottom lip, waiting for the boy to respond.

It wasn't until a few seconds later was she about to give up, moving the phone away from her ear as she went to hang it up. Only, she paused, the familiar voice sounding out from the other end of the line.

“Hello?” Lee Heeseung spoke into the phone, his tone soft as Haewon quickly brought the telephone to her ear again, a breathy laugh falling from her lip.

“Heeseung,” Haewon addressed, her smile evident in her tone as she continued, “I was just about to hang up.”

“Sorry, sorry. I just got out of the shower.” The boy laughed out, falling back onto his own bed as he stared up at the ceiling, telephone pressed to his ear.

“No, it's alright.” Haewon hummed, brushing it off nothing. “Guess what?” She spoke, tilting her head.

“What? Did you get the job?” Heeseung asked, intrigued at the happy tone she used.

“Yes! I mean, no? Kinda. I wanna say I got the job, but it's not official yet. I have to go through training so I can learn how to make everything. Coffee, pastries.. stuff like that. And also, how to take orders.” Haewon explained, biting back a smile.

Heeseung hummed, letting her know he was still listening before he spoke up, threading his fingers through his dampened hair.

“Ah, see? I told you things would turn out well. Congrats, Haewon. I'm proud of you.” Heeseung let out sweetly, a sigh of content falling from his lips.

“Thank you, thank you. I know. I should've listened.” Haewon snickered lightly, shaking her head off to the side. “As a thank you, I'll make you whatever you want after I learn. My treat.”

“Will you now? I'll look forward to it, then.” Heeseung teased, earning a breathy laugh from the girl on the other line.

“Mhm, okay, okay.” The girl chuckled softly, shifting more comfortably into the mattress on her bed.

“How was soccer practice?” She asked quietly, as the boy hummed, pursing her lips whilst he shrugged, nearly forgetting she couldn't see him.

“It was alright. The usual, I guess. The scrimmage was fun though. You remember Nishimura Riki, right? The one that transferred from Japan. He was teaming up against Jake the whole time. It was really funny.” Heeseung huffed out, a smile subconsciously stretching across his features.

“Oh, of course. That boy was always so sweet. I haven't talked to him in ages, though.” Haewon giggled, fingertips drumming lightly against her stomach as she laid on her back.

“Not to Jake, I guess.” He joked quietly, gently shaking his head to himself. “And yeah, it really has been awhile since you've seen all of them, hasn't it?”

Haewon hummed quietly, listening to the sound of his voice through the telephone.

“We all should hang out again soon. The eight of us, like we did that one time.” Heeseung suggested, as Haewon nodded silently.

“That was chaotic.” She recalled, smiling cheekily. “But yeah, that'd be really fun.” She agreed.

“You know what?” Heeseung began, eyes wandering around his room. “You could come and see them soon.”

“How?”

“We have a game on Wednesday night. You could go to that if you're free.” Heeseung replied, adjusting his position as he sat up in bed, scooting back to rest against the pillows placed against his backboard.

“I will, if I have the time. I don't know if I'll be at the café or not.” Haewon uttered, laying the back of her hand over her eyes as she closed them.

“Look at you. Becoming all busy and stuff. I have to say, I'm impressed.” He joked, soft laughter coming from his end of the line.

“Oh, shut up.” Haewon huffed out a tired laugh, scrunching her nose up slightly.

“I'm actually unexpectedly excited to start working. The woman that worked there and interviewed me was really sweet, and preparing everything looks really fun.” She confessed, as Heeseung hummed softly.

“That's good, though. You should be working in an environment you actually like.” He advised, nibbling silently at his bottom lip out of habit.

“Is that why you like working at the ice cream parlor? You like it?” Haewon raised a brow, curiosity filling her mind as she grew silent, waiting for him to utter a response. When, in return, he laughed quietly.

“I mean, yeah, I guess so. But also because they can work with my schedule well, and the pay is decent.” Heeseung answered.

“Hm, I see.” Haewon nodded in response, pursing her lips. “Speaking of which, I need to stop by one of these days. It's been ages since I've had ice cream.” She sighed out, words coming out in a small grumble.

“Okay, but that's your fault. I literally offered to get you ice cream on Saturday.” He recalled with a scoff, as the girl snickered.

“You offered at the worst time possible. I was too full to even think about eating anything more. I would've thrown up if I had ice cream.” Haewon complained half-jokingly.

“Okay, but I still offered!” Heeseung laughed, finding the situation amusing as his eyes brightened.

“You had terrible timing.”

“I do not! It's not my fault you didn't want it.” The boy rolled his eyes, letting out a small “tsk,” two times.

“I’m seriously going to ban you from the café.” Haewon threatened, narrowing her eyes.

“You make a lot of empty threats, you know?” He hummed, unfazed by her words. The boy paused, a faint call out sounding through the house, a heavy sigh falling past his lips.

“Hey, I have to go. My dad is calling me down for dinner.” Heeseung informed, pulling himself to stand as he dragged the phone cord with him, holding it to his ear as he waited to hear a reply.

“Ahh, okay, okay. Tell your parents I said hi.” The girl requested, as Heeseung chuckled and hummed.

“I will. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Bye!” Heeseung let out, dragging along the ‘e’ in ‘bye’.

“Mhm, bye, Hee.” She smiled, waiting a moment before lowering the telephone, placing it in its holder before sighing deeply, silence filling her bedroom once again.

With pursed lips, she looked around blankly through her room's dim lighting; nothing but the lamp on her bedside table casting a warm, subtle glow upon her walls.

Haewon stood up, feet carrying her over to the small record player she had on top of a mini bookshelf.

Crouching down beside it, her fingers grazed over the spines of the vinyl records she owned, before finally landing on one she wanted.

Opening it, she carefully took the record out of the sleeve, gently setting it down on the platter. She adjusted the needle slightly, dropping it with ease as it took a second before the soft and smooth intro to a song began to play.

The girl hummed in content as it filled the lonesome silence, she pushed herself off of the ground as she wandered back over to her bed, falling back onto her mattress as she huffed and closed her eyes, trying to find peace in the comforting atmosphere.

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★﹐authors corner ．﹗﹑ 1.2k words
i am so excited to write this book oh my god. a few days ago, i officially finished mapping out the entirety of this story. all that's left is to write everything out 🙏

i might add on a few new things here and there, and obviously there will be some filler chapters in order to get to a certain point but yeah !!

anyway, thank you all for reading! it's currently late right now as i'm writing this because my body is so tired that i physically cannot get myself to sleep if that even makes sense idk

mwahhh i love you all so much! take care <3
april 28th, 2024 — 1:44am.
not proofread.