★ | #63 | thursday
"we aren't friends."

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ nicole's radio station
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summer child • conan gray
"aren't you way too busy taking care of everybody to take care of yourself?"

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THURSDAY, she about nearly slept in if it weren't for her mother coming to wake her up in the morning, rushing her as she was already running late — needing to leave the house in just a few minutes if she wanted to make it to school on time.

As soon as the girl stood to her feet, she winced slightly, muscles aching as she trudged along to her wardrobe, grabbing her uniform.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, she looked down at her legs, exposed from the soft pajama shorts she was wearing as it revealed the many bandages that were scattered across her skin.

With a sigh, she opened one of her drawers, grabbing out an extra article of clothing before rushing into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

Now, dressed in the usual uniform with her school blazer pulled securely over herself, she wore a pair of black tights beneath her skirt in hopes that it would be able to cover her legs, yet still breathable as the temperatures only grew hotter with each day.

Haewon sighed, taking one final glance at herself in the mirror before leaving the bathroom and grabbing her bag, guiding herself quickly yet carefully down the stairs, her hand gliding against the railing off to the side.

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Seong Haewon seemed almost in a trance-like state as she walked through the school hallways. Her body was aching, muscles strained from the day before - a day she wished to forget entirely.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but recall every second spent trapped in that small alley behind the school with each sting or ache coming from the cuts and bruises littered over her skin.

The girl hadn't seen Heeseung much at all today, other than the brief encounter they shared this morning when she had made it to her locker and discovered him waiting for her before they had to separate to their respective first classes of the day.

The moment was short lived, though, given she was running a bit behind in terms of what time she'd normally have to converse a bit with him.

As only a mere two minutes after they started talking, the bell rang and they had to separate until their next break.

Now, being that it's lunch break, she was to go outside and meet with Heeseung at their usual picnic table. That is, after a quick stop at her locker per usual.

Students passed by, carrying their conversations along with them as she stopped in front of her lockering.

Putting in the code, she opened her locker, replacing her books quietly. Behind her, a certain trio brushed by, giggling amongst themselves. Haewon lifted her head, suddenly alerted and she met the eyes of none other than Kim Miyoung herself.

"Last night was so fun, Haewon! Let's do it again sometime." Miyoung commented rather loudly, loud enough for others to hear.

Haewon furrowed her brows, remaining silent as she watched the girls walk away. Shaking her head, she sighed and closed her locker door, as it slammed shut with a soft thud.

"Since when were you friends with Kim Miyoung?" A voice sounding out from behind her filled her ears, as she jumped in surprise and spun around, coming face to face with Park Sunghoon.

"Jeez, give me a warning before you suddenly appear like that." Haewon breathed out, laying a hand over her chest as the boy let out a small laugh, bowing his head slightly in apology.

"Sorry. I thought you would have heard me approaching, but, my bad." Sunghoon apologized, sporting a sheepish smile as he held onto the strap of his backpack.

"I'm way too tired right now to notice anything, to be honest." Haewon confessed, shrugging her shoulders as the boy raised a brow, tilting his head.

"Did you not sleep last night or something?" He asked, folding his arms over his chest as she shook her head, waving it off.

"No, I slept alright last night. Just still tired, you know?" She let out, leaning against her locker. Truthfully speaking, her body was pretty sore. She wanted nothing more than to go home, to hide away in her bedroom and rest.

She certainly didn't want to be seen by everyone, feeling self conscious – like everyone knew. Despite the fact that she had covered up her body using her blazer sleeves and the tights she dug out from the bottom of her drawers this morning.

"School is just draining." Haewon added on, to avoid any unwanted suspicion, though he wasn't going to think any more of it regardless,

"Oh, yeah, I get that. It really sucks the life out of me. I have economics after all of this." Sunghoon sighed out, shaking his head as he raised a hand and combed his fingers through his dark hair.

"Anyway, once again, since when were you friends with Kim Miyoung?"

"We aren't friends." Haewon denied, lips tucked into a thin line as she stared down at her shoes.

"Really? Then why were you hanging out with her?" He asked, blinking slowly as he narrowed his eyes, curiosity filling his mind as he waited silently for a response.

"I was never hanging out with her."

"Then why'd she say that?"

"You ask a lot of questions." Haewon breathed out, forcing a smile onto her lips as he snickered softly and shrugged his shoulders, humming in return.

"You can't blame me for being curious. I mean, she's constantly going out of her way to be unnecessarily rude to you. And suddenly, she's talking like you both were hanging out. It's pretty strange." Sunghoon reasoned, as Haewon nodded slowly.

"I guess yeah, I don't blame you." She uttered, taking a deep breath as she folded her hands neatly in front of her, adding on. "But, she and I aren't friends at all. We never hung out, and that's final."

"I believe you. But that doesn't make sense. Why'd she say that? And loudly, too." The boy inquired, pressing his lips together in a thin line. "Did something happen?"

"I don't know, Sunghoon. Just ignore her." Haewon sighed out, a light furrow in her brows as she dismissed it. "Nothing happened." She concluded, lying through her teeth as she flashed a small smile.

"Mm, alright, then." The boy nodded, choosing to put his belief into her words as he assumed it was just another act of immaturity on Miyoung's behalf.

"I probably should go. Jay and Jake are waiting for me. I told them I'd eat with them today, and it's on the other side of the school so I need to get going."

"But, I'll see you around, Haewon. It was nice seeing you." Sunghoon spoke kindly, bidding her a goodbye as he waved slightly before turning around.

"Mhm, you too, Sunghoon. I'll see you around." Haewon let out in return. Once left alone, she sighed deeply, her hands latching around the hem of her blazer, tugging it tighter against her frame as if it would do anything more for her.

After taking another minute further to compose herself, she joined the small crowd of students as she traveled down the halls alone.

Once she made it outside, a gentle breeze pushed against her frame, blowing through her hair that was let down past her shoulders upon not having enough time to style it this morning.

Haewon carried herself down the smooth, paved path that guided her along the campus.

A few familiar faces were scattered around here and there, people she recognized from her classes or some that she had encountered a few times in the halls.

As she grew closer, reaching the lawn where almost all of the picnic tables were located, her eyes darted to the one Heeseung and her had pretty much claimed years ago.

Specifically the one underneath an overgrown tree, that provided for a cool shade in days of unbearing heat.

Lo and behold, she spotted him at his usual place, his back turned to her as he sat on the bench attached to the table.

However, in her place, rested Kim Miyoung, talking away with the boy with a light furrow in her brows.

Haewon watched as Miyoung reached across the table, laying her hand over his as she uttered one final thing before standing up.

Miyoung stood to her feet, brushing her fingers through her hair. As she realized Haewon was approaching, she forced a smug smile on her lips as she walked by, keeping her chin held high as she passed by falsely confident.

Haewon tucked her lip between her teeth, sighing as she reached the picnic table where he waited for her to show.

Slipping her backpack off, Heeseung perked up at her presence, finally relaxing as she settled across from him.

"There you are," Heeseung breathed out, a soft smile playing on his lips, "I was starting to think you had ditched me or something."

"Nah, I'd never." Haewon chuckled quietly, shaking her head as she rested her forearms on the table, leaning forward to rest against it slightly.

"Oh, uh, Kim MIyoung just came here to talk to me. I don't even know how she knows where I am during lunch break." Heeseung admitted, pursing his lips as she hummed quietly.

""I know, I saw." Haewon replied quietly, gaze drifting down to her hands as she drummed her fingers against the tabletop out of habit. "..what was that about, anyway?" She asked hesitantly.

"It was weird." Heeseung confessed, sucking in a breath as he shook his head, thinking back to the conversation he had just held with the other girl only minutes prior.

"She confessed she had feelings for me, and I rejected her, of course. But, she was being weird about it." He began, explaining the situation in short to the best of his ability.

"She was being super pushy. She kept asking 'are you sure?' as if I'd change my mind. Then, she touched my hand, and said that I'd realize it someday."

"It was weird, and very uncomfortable." He rambled, scrunching his nose in disgust at the thought.

"But, anyway, enough about that. It's weird." Heeseung waved it off, shaking his head as he shifted the topic. "How are you, Hae?"

"Me?" Haewon let out, humming quietly as she nodded. "I'm alright." She replied, shrugging lightly. "Sleepy." The girl added, as he smiled subtly and hummed.

"Sleepy?" He repeated, raising a brow as he tilted his head. "Did you not get enough rest?"

"I did. Don't worry. But all of these lectures make me tired." Haewon excused, forcing a small giggle to bubble from the back of her throat as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand.

"Ahh, I see." Heeseung said, nodding slowly. "Fair enough."

"How are you, Heeseung?" The girl questioned, shifting the attention to him as he hummed and took a small breath, eyes gazing up at the sky in thought before he replied.

"I'm doing quite alright, but I'm still pretty nervous for the tournament. We leave for it at the end of next week. It's pretty nerve-wracking." He sighed out, a nervous smile settling over his features.

"I get it. But, you're gonna do great. Your whole team has chemistry, something I hardly see between any other team you've ever played before. You work well together, and I really do believe that's enough to win." Haewon began, giving him a reassuring smile.

"But don't stress too much and put too much pressure on yourself. That's what can cause you to crumble." She advised, clicking her tongue as he breathed out a laugh.

"Thank you. I needed that." Heeseung let out, reaching over the table to hold her hand, intertwining their fingers as he squeezed her hand.

"By the way," He began, clearing his throat as his eyes skimmed over her expression with care. "I called you last night."

Haewon's eyes softened, guilt rushing to her as she remembered the telephone ringing, as she chose to let it ring through instead of answering.

The girl nodded slowly after a moment, a hum sounding past her lips.

"Did you?" She asked, swallowing the lump in throat.

"Yeah."

"Sorry, I must've missed it. Maybe you called when I was in the shower. Or, when I was already asleep. I did sleep pretty early last night, afterall. I was tired." She reasoned in soft mumbles, as he hummed.

"Maybe. Heeseung shrugged, tilting his head. "Perhaps that's why you're so tired now. From sleeping too much." He teased lightly.

"Huh? That's a thing?"

"Yeah. It can disrupt your body's natural sleep cycle. Something like that. I read it in a book that I picked out at the library with Jay a while ago." Heeseung smiled sheepishly.

"Well, you learn a thing everyday, right?" Haewon uttered, a gentle smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

"Right?" Heeseung chuckled, his thumb grazing subconsciously over her knuckles. "Oh, also, I have to ask you something."

"Mhm?"

"I know I've been busy lately, and so have you. But, I was wondering if you'd be available on Saturday? I want to take you out. On a date, officially. Something casual and fun." Heeseung asked, tilting his head.

Haewon smiled softly at the idea, nodding her head shyly as she looked down at her lap before averting his gaze back to him. "I'd love that."

"Yeah? So you are available?"

"I am."

Heeseung smiled cheesily, bringing her hand to his lips as he pressed a sweet kiss to her knuckles.

"Perfect. How does noon sound for you? Twelve o'clock? We can go out to lunch, and I was thinking about going to the Aquarium afterwards?" He suggested, waiting for her approval.

"That sounds great." The girl agreed, nodding her head happily along to said plans as his smile reached his eyes, a hum sounding past his lips.

The rest of the lunch break was spent snacking on random stuff Heeseung had gotten from vending machines and going over random topics, wrapped in a warm blanket of affection and comfort that their presences brought to each other until the end of lunch period.

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★﹐authors corner ．﹗﹑ 2.4k words.
i hate every single chapter that i'm putting out recently, guys, help me 💔

anyway i am so sick bro

i get sick so often like this isn't even funny anymore 😭 i was absolutely exhausted all day and have just been sleeping and laying in bed all day ngl

i wrote this chapter yesterday but i didn't have the energy to upload it into wattpad and actually publish yk ?? but i'm back and have little energy to actually put this out here thankfully 🙏

ALSO, i may have overestimated just how many chapters are left in this fic. my bad guys 😗🤞

anywayayayya thank you so much for reading! i love you all so much! mwahmwahmwah
august 12th, 2024 — 9:52pm.
not proofread.