★ | #34 | early
"you're here early."

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

birds of a feather • billie eilish
"birds of a feather, we should stick together."

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"HAEWON, someone's at the door. Will you please get that?” Mrs. Seong called out, a trail of steam rising from the pot she stood in front of, focusing on preparing the meal they were to share that very night.

Coming downstairs, the girl nearly slipped on the extra fabric of the jeans she wore — catching herself on the railing attached to the wall. Stepping down from the final step, she huffed as her fingers crept up to run through her somewhat disheveled hair, attempting to flatten in as best as she could.

Her hand wrapped around the doorknob, twisting it to the right and pulling it open. She blinked, meeting the gaze of none other than her best friend.

“You're early.” Haewon pointed out, opening the door wider to allow him inside, as she raised a brow.

Lee Heeseung hummed, shrugging in response as he looked down at the watch wrapped around his wrist. “Barely.” He added, stepping inside and slipping off his shoes.

His gaze shifted back up to focus on her, brows raising as his lips curved up into a subtle smile. “Your hair is messy.” He teased lightly, his free hand coming up to adjust it for her.

“Don't make it look worse.” The girl huffed, her hands flying to her head to shield it from his touch, nose scrunched up slightly. “I was napping. I thought I had more time before you got here.”

“I made it look better.” Heeseung retorted, rolling his eyes. “You know, at least you were actually getting proper rest.”

“Yeah. I'm preparing myself for how tiresome this dinner is about to be.” Haewon mumbled, lips tucked into a thin line.

The boy huffed out a laugh, patting her shoulder lightly in an attempt to provide reassurance, though he was quite nervous for the dinner himself.

He had only ever heard of the events that seemed to string along in her family, recalling the countless rants she had with him about said arguments happening between her and her parents.

“It'll be fine, regardless of how it goes.” He said, to which she responded with a soft sounding hum, nodding reluctantly in response.

“Let’s hope.” Haewon breathed out, giving him a tight-lipped smile. “You wanna say hi to my mom?” She asked, as he nodded, obliging without much thought.

“Of course.” He agreed, as she nodded loosely, her hand trailing off and reaching out for his as she snaked her hand in his, tugging him along with her.

As they entered the kitchen, Haewon paused, her hand still in his as she tilted her head off to the side. “Mom,” she called out, adding on, “Heeseung is here.”

As soon as the older woman turned around to face them, she was met with a polite bow from the boy, who greeted her warmly.

“Thank you for having me over.” Heeseung spoke, his tone of voice kept cheerful as he expressed his gratitude.

Mrs. Seong smiled, shaking her head lightly in response. “Oh, no worries. It's always a pleasure having you over.”

“Do you need any help with anything?” He asked, as the woman quickly shook her head.

“No, thank you. I'm alright.”

“You're sure?” Haewon asked, raising a brow as her mother nodded.

“Positive. You two just go hang out for a bit, I can handle this. I'll call you down when dinner is done.” Mrs. Seong said, giving the two teens a smile.

“Alright. Let me know if you need any help, please.” Haewon dragged out, as she backed out of the kitchen slowly, pulling the boy along with her.

Her mother responded with a simple “Mhm.” As soon enough, the two were clumsily going up the stairs, as she grasped onto the railing beside her.

Once reaching the second floor, Haewon grumbled lightly, narrowing her eyes as she walked to her room, followed shortly by Heeseung.

“I nearly fell down those stairs when I was coming to answer the door, you know. They're literally deadly. Way too steep.” The girl sighed out, plopping herself down onto her bed as the boy laughed.

“They're really not even bad. You're just clumsy.” Heeseung pointed out, his smile meeting his eyes as he peered over at her, sitting down at her desk.

“Or, these pants are just too long for me. I stepped on them and tripped up myself.” She said, drumming her fingertips against her stomach.

“Still clumsy.”

“I'm gonna kick you out of the house until dinner is done.”

“Your mom wouldn't let that happen.” The boy raised his brows, lips curved into a small smirk as Haewon shrugged.

“We have a back door. I think I could maybe sneak you out without her noticing.”

“Nah, you're too clumsy for that, remember?” He pouted teasingly, resulting in a random teddy bear being thrown his way.

“I’m ditching you at lunch tomorrow.” Haewon declared, as Heeseung hummed in amusement.

“Sure you will.” He said, unbothered by her claims as he settled the teddy bear comfortably in his arms, leaning back in the chair.

“Hey, where's your dad? Is he just not eating with us, or..?” Heeseung asked, seamlessly switching the subject as Haewon sat up, scooting back onto her bed as she pressed her back against the wall.

“Honestly, I have no clue. He left like.. two hours ago. But I'm pretty sure he'll be back. If not, I wouldn't be surprised.” Haewon muttered out.

“Ah, I see.” He replied, pressing his lips into a thin line. “Oh, well. It's out of our control anyway.” He said, brushing it off.

“Mhm.” Haewon let out in agreement, fiddling with the hem of her T-shirt. “Best case is he's not here though.”

Heeseung nodded quietly along, fingers gently tugging at the loose threads of the teddy bear he held in his arms, listening as she spoke.

“But I have a feeling he will be. My mom reminded him earlier, and I'm sure she wants it to be like.. some family thing. But who knows, right?” She rambled on, voicing out her train of thought.

“We’ll have a good night regardless.” Heeseung chimed in, his expression remaining calm and at peace.

Moving onto a lighter subject, Heeseung spoke up yet again. “Also, hypothetically speaking, if an individual were to buy toy story stuff — would it be considered a good purchase or not?”

Haewon's eyes fluttered open from her previous resting state, head leaned back against the wall. Her lips inevitably curved into a smile, scoffing.

“My goodness, you and your toy story obsession.” Haewon muttered, shaking her head.

“That movie is years old now and you're still hooked on it.” She added on teasingly, as Heeseung raised his hands in defense.

“Hey! Don't act like you don't love it too. The animation is really good. And it's cute.” He narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah.” Haewon breathed out, stifling a string of giggles. “What stuff are we talking though? Clothing, accessories, toys..?”

“Uhh, figurines. Jake said he saw a bunch in a store downtown. I'm curious now and I honestly wanna go and buy some.” He explained, pulling one of his legs up as he hugged his knee to his chest.

“If there's Mr and Mrs. Potato Head, I'll be in support. If not, it's not worth it. Ooh, also Slinky.” Haewon perked up, nodding happily.

“I'm sure there is. I mean, they're all major characters in the movie. I don't see why they wouldn't be included.” Heeseung reasoned.

“True, true. What about the little soldier guys though? They're iconic.” She tilted her head, nibbling at her bottom lip.

The boy hummed, clicking his tongue as he stared off at the ceiling in thought. “I mean.. maybe? Who knows.” The boy shrugged, taking in a deep breath.

“I'm really curious, though. Like I'm not even kidding, I will spend so much money on that stuff if it's actually good.” He admitted shamelessly, eliciting soft laughter from the girl.

“Mm, right, okay.” Haewon hummed in content, eyes curved into two small crescents as she nodded along to his words. “It's cute how much you like that movie.”

The boy paused, brows raised in surprise as he processed her words, head tilting off to the side as he opened his mouth to reply.

“I'm confused.” He began, cheeks dusted a vague pink color — to which she luckily couldn't notice due to the lighting of the room, and the angle she gazed at him from. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Take it however you want to. I don't care.” The girl advised, waving it off as he breathed out a quiet laugh, nodding along in response.

The distant sound of the front door clicking open caught their attention, as in stumbled a new pair of footsteps. Muffled, hushed voices filled the house from downstairs, as Haewon pursed her lips.

“My dad's home.” She pointed out, as if not obvious enough alone. Heeseung met her gaze, brows curved inward ever so slightly.

Standing up from the chair with a sigh, he gave her a tight-lipped smile, shaking his head lightly as he moved to plop himself down on her mattress beside her, still holding the teddy bear she had tossed his way a few minutes ago.

“Don't let him ruin your mood.” Heeseung cooed, staring up at the ceiling as his eyes fluttered shut, taking in a deep breath once again.

“I try not to.” She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

Silence fell momentarily between them, before she shifted slightly to face him, eyes fixed on his seemingly peaceful state.

“Part of me feels curious about tonight, though.” Haewon uttered, confessing her thoughts.

“Yeah?” Heeseung beckoned on, eyes creeping open as he tilted his head back to see her, as he was still in a lying position whilst she sat with her back pressed against the wall.

“Yeah.” She confirmed honestly, nodding her head. “I'm wondering if he'll act the way he does normally in front of other people. But, at the same time, I have doubts about it considering we've known you for ages. Maybe he'll surprise me and have respect for others for once.”

“It's worth a shot though, isn't it?”

“Exactly.” She agreed, a small smile painting her lips.

“You don't think I should go down there to greet him though, right?” Heeseung asked, pursing his lips.

“Huh? Oh, no, not at all. He doesn't care anyway. If you still want to though, just do it during dinner or something. We'll be down there already.” Haewon dismissed, reaching out to comb through his hair with her fingers.

The boy nodded, humming softly in response as he found himself subconsciously leaning into her gentle touch, as time passed whilst they both talked away.

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★﹐authors corner ．﹗﹑ 1.8k words
i was watching toy story during this and thought it would be funny to mention it in this story as well because it was out during that timeframe (came out in 1995) and i remembered heeseung and his toy story collection 😭

also guys it's literally 5am save me

i woke up because i was too hot but now i've lost sleep because i was supposed to wake up to train 😃 preseason is actually killing me bro

i can never fall back asleep when i need to </3

anywayyy i'm gonna go now. byeee i love you all !!
june 6th, 2024 — 5:21am.
not proofread.