★ | #55 | spin the bottle
"and you wonder why he doesn't like you."

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ nicole's radio station
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icu • phoebe bridgers
"it's amazing to me how much you can say when you don't know what you're talking about."

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THE girl propped herself up on her arms behind her, lips tucked into a thin line as she felt uneasy with the unfamiliar faces surrounding her, sitting in a circle.

She watched as somebody placed an empty water bottle in the middle, quiet laugh and chatter bubbling up amongst the students. Feeling a small tap on her shoulder, the girl turned her head, meeting the gaze of Jang Miyeon.

Miyeon leaned closer, whispering off to Haewon quietly. “If at any point you decide you don't wanna play, pull yourself out. Don't feel bad about it, either.”

Haewon flashed a small, grateful smile as she nodded her head slowly, turning her attention back towards the center of the circle, staring blankly at the bottle resting on the hard ground.

“Who wants to go first?” A boy spoke up, eyes wandering over the large group of students.

“Let's just go this way, counterclockwise, in order.” Someone else, once again unfamiliar to the girl, chimed in, earning an array of agreements from various people.

Being that the game had started quite a few people away from them, Haewon could only gnaw nervously at her bottom lip, already regretting her decision to join such a pointless game — yet feeling too embarrassed and guilty to excuse herself after being under pressure to join to begin with.

Her fingertips grazed over Heeseung’s palm, as he had sat next to her, his hand resting in her lap subconsciously.

Tracing imaginary shapes into his skin, she kept her eyes down, only listening to the small cheers of her classmates sounding throughout the night.

However, upon a particular turn, the laughter had died down as the bottle spun around, beginning to slow down until pointing at a specific someone.

Seong Haewon only averted her gaze upward upon his hand twitching slightly in her light hold, curling up into a loose fist as Heeseung's gaze seemed to grow hard.

Her eyes settled on the bottle, her heart practically stopping upon realizing the tip of the bottle was pointed his way.

Tides of regret washed over her, cheeks heating up in embarrassment as she retracted her hand away from his.

However, things only seemed to worsen upon realizing just who had spun it in the first place.

Haewon kept quiet, not saying anything as she listened as everyone let out an array of reactions. “Ooh,” and “Ahh,” filling the silence paired with laughter as the friends of none other than Kim Miyoung nudged her softly, beckoning her forward.

“Kiss her, Heeseung. Go on.” One of his classmates pestered, a smile spread across his face. Heeseung gazed over at Haewon, a knowing look in his eyes.

God, how he wished he had pushed harder for them not to join such a childish game, now caught in a situation he could only have nightmares about.

Heeseung smiled awkwardly, a small, breathy laugh falling past his lips as he gently shook his head off to the side, shifting awkwardly on the hard ground he sat on.

“I'm sorry, Kim Miyoung, but I won't kiss you.” Heeseung declined, earning a collection of complaints from others who argued against his denial, reasoning that it was the rules.

Seong Haewon’s brows raised slightly in surprise at his refusal, head lifting as her eyes bored into his side profile, as his gaze fixated on Kim Miyoung.

Miyoung's smile faltered, flustered momentarily as she processed his refusal, brows tying in a knot.

“That's not fair. It's the rules, Seung. You have to.” The girl pouted, as Heeseung winced slightly at the unwelcomed nickname, feeling himself cringe as his shoulders tensed.

“I'm not comfortable with it, so I won't. And I'll remove myself from this game, too.” Heeseung said, once again, refusing as the girl grew frustrated.

“Dude, what are you doing?” A boy off to the side scoffed, reaching over to shove Heeseung back slightly, annoyed that the rules of the games were being violated.

Heeseung remained unfazed, lips tucked into a thin line as he shook his head.

“There isn't much reason to continue to press the situation when I've already refused. You all want to play, right? So carry on. Nobody is stopping you.” He expressed his thoughts freely, beckoning them on.

“That’s not fair! You have to kiss her. You can't just bail. That's not how it works.” Cho Areum, one of Miyoung's closest friends — or, follower for that matter, chimed in with a scoff.

“No, thank you.” Heeseung waved it off subtly, his eyes shifting over to Haewon momentarily as he shot her a wide-eyed gaze, just for her to see as he silently asked her to ditch with him, tilting his head backwards ever so slightly.

Haewon nodded her head, the movement vague as she committed it, agreeing in silence. Though, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a figure standing up abruptly.

Their heads turned, as Miyoung shot up from her position on the ground, angrily stomping closer to both of them. Heeseung stood up quickly in return, uncomfortable in a vulnerable situation on the ground.

“Why won't you kiss me?” Miyoung complained, stood a few feet ahead of him as she raised her voice, brows furrowed tightly.

“Alright, alright, enough.” Miyeon spoke up, standing up as she tried her best to defuse the situation, hoping to cut off the beginning of an argument.

“The turns over. If he doesn't want to kiss you, Miyoung, that's his choice. Just let it go. It's not that serious.” Jeon Minjun reasoned, his tone stern as said girl scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Bullshit, it is that serious. That stupid girl keeps getting in his way. FYI, Seong Haewon, he's not your little puppet! He wants to kiss me, I know he does. She's just not letting him!” Miyoung let out angrily.

Haewon's eyes widened in surprise to the accusation, as she watched the situation unfold before her.

“And you wonder why he doesn't like you.” Jake mumbled under his breath, lips tucked into a thin line as he stood up, arms folding over his chest.

“He does not want to kiss you, Miyoung. Leave Haewon alone. You can't force someone to have feelings for you like that. And, it's certainly not in any way Haewon's fault that he doesn't like you.” Jay added, shaking his head.

In the midst of it all, a pair of hands wrapped around her forearms, hoisting her to her feet. Haewon met the gaze of Heeseung, his eyes softening as he gave her a small, reassuring smile before he sighed.

“Let's get out of here.” He muttered, leaning in close for her to hear as he spun her around, not even waiting for a response before his palm laid flat against her lower back, guiding her away.

The girl couldn't help but to feel confused at her own emotions at that very moment, as she listened to the distant dispute grow quieter as they grew further away.

Seong Haewon almost felt guilty, doubt residing uncomfortably in her mind. Had she really been holding him back? Was she truly to blame?

The idea of him kissing another, let alone Kim Miyoung, seemed to wound the mentality of her heart, expression dimming as in her eyes he could see hints of lingering troubles that followed her as they separated from the chaos.

Lee Heeseung could only hope that he would be able to lift her spirits positively, wanting to end off this school trip with her on a good note.

He gave the hand he was holding a gentle squeeze, snapping her out of her false reality as his eyes fell on her side profile, placing a vague yet reassuring smile on her lips.

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★﹐authors corner ．﹗﹑ 1.3k words.
hatehatehatehatehatehate

my honest reaction to this chapter 🥱

it's so messy like i cannot even look at it bro. it's sloppy, all over the place and it feels rushed to me but i'm too lazy to rewrite it so my fault tbh !!

okokokok i'm gonna go find something to eat because i'm hungry !!

thank you all for readingggg !! 😚🫶

i love you all <3
july 26th, 2024 — 12:53pm.
not proofread.