★ | #48 | all i ask
"that's all i ask for."

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old with you • grentperez
"any moment, the world could fall right down. but, could you fall for me too?"

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THE sun rested just below the horizon, still bits of sunlight in the sky as the moon slowly took the sun's place in the evening sky.

The girl carried her backpack, lips tucked into a thin line as her eyes skimmed over the soccer team — all bundled up at the sidelines as practice had ended.

She was reluctant to approach, feeling a tad bit awkward in front of people she didn't know very well. Only, upon catching a glimpse of a few familiar faces, she relaxed and walked up to them.

“Hey, Sunoo.” Haewon greeted, a smile playing on her lips as she approached the younger boy, who smiled at the sight of her.

“Haewon! Hey!” The boy greeted cheerfully, his eyes brightening. “I would hug you, but I'm a bit sweaty right now.” He chuckled.

“No, it's fine. I don't mind.” Haewon laughed, shaking her head as the boy shrugged, giving her a quick hug.

“Really? You complain when Heeseung hugs you after practices or games.” Sunoo raised a brow, pulling away from the hug after a moment.

“That’s because he's Heeseung. And he's smelly.” The girl joked, rolling her eyes playfully as she folded her arms over her chest.

Sunoo laughed at her words, nodding in response.

“Where is Heeseung, anyway?” She asked, eyes narrowing slightly and wandering around the field in search of the boy.

“I think he's talking to our coach. He hurt his ankle during practice.” Sunoo informed the girl, as she furrowed her brows and tilted her head.

“Oh, really? Is he alright?” The girl asked in a quiet mumble, lips tucked into a thin line.

“He's fine. I just think he needs to take it easy for a day or two, and ice it. And then he should be good.” Sunoo shrugged, peering over his shoulder where the coaches were.

“Yeah, see, he's over there.” He pointed out, gesturing towards the middle of the field, where Heeseung stood before the head and assistant coach.

“Ahh, I see.” Haewon hummed, nodding slowly. “He's gonna be mad at me, but if he's hurt, I'm not letting him walk me home.” She spoke.

“Oh, gosh, good luck with that. I doubt he'll be pleased. He cares a lot about you, and your safety.” Sunoo clicked his tongue, crossing his arms.

“Yeah. And as sweet as that is, he needs to instead focus on himself as a top priority and get home. It's out of his way and too much to walk me home, and then walk all the way to his own house.” The girl voiced out, shaking her head.

“You both are so caring towards each other, it's cute.” Sunoo let out with a small laugh, as she raised her brows in surprise, cheeks dusting a faint pink hue.

“I— well, we have known each other since childhood. So, I guess it's to be expected.” Haewon uttered, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

“Yeah, because that's the only reason.” The younger boy said, sarcasm laced in his tone as he rolled his eyes playfully.

“Hey, what's that supposed to mean?” The girl scoffed, scrunching her nose up slightly.

“I think you know.” Sunoo teased, giving her a small nudge as she huffed and shook her head, biting back a smile.

Just then, Heeseung wandered slowly over to the two, his eyes immediately softening upon seeing her. With a small limp in his step, he walked to stand beside her.

“Hey,” he breathed out, giving her a gentle smile. “So, you did stay behind.” He voiced out, tilting his head off to the side slightly.

“I did. I went over some things with Miyeon in the club room.” Haewon said, her eyes narrowing slightly upon the sight of his small limp.

“What'd you do to hurt your ankle?” Haewon asked, as Heeseung raised a brow, his eyes drifting to Sunoo, who raised his hands in mock surrender.

“I'm going to go ahead and remove myself from this conversation. Haewon, it was nice to see you.” Sunoo smiled, bowing his head out of respect for the girl, as she returned the kind gesture.

“I'm guessing you heard that from him?” Heeseung questioned, gesturing towards Sunoo with a simple nod of his head.

Haewon hummed in response, nodding her head. “Yeah. But it's not hard to tell. You're limping.”

“Barely.” Heeseung mumbled, shaking his head as he guided himself to where his sports bag was laid out on the grassy sidelines, kneeling down beside it as he slipped off his cleats and instead replaced them with a pair of Nike slides.

“If it's noticeable, it's not barely.” The girl pointed out, letting out a small scoff as she trailed shortly after the boy, standing in front of him as he packed away his stuff in his bag.

“Okay, sure. But regardless, I'm fine, I promise. It's not that bad. I'll just have to rest it for a day or two, and I should be fixed and ready to play again.” Heeseung hummed, hoisting himself back up on his own two feet as he lifted his backpack.

“Don't rush yourself. If it takes longer than that to heal properly, then so be it. You'll only hurt it even worse and end up taking yourself out of playing time even more if you play whilst it's still not healed fully.” Haewon warned, shaking her head.

“Alright, alright. It's okay. I promise you, I won't rush anything.” He said, holding out his pinky. The girl huffed out a small laugh, locking their pinkies together for a simple pinky promise.

“I trust you.” Haewon nodded, as he smiled and then tugged her to his chest, giving her a soft hug as he squeezed her frame slightly.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked, pulling away from their shared embrace just enough to be able to gaze down at her.

The girl hummed in return, pressing her lips together in a thin line. “I am. But, could I say goodbye to the others real quick?”

“Oh, of course. Go ahead.” Heeseung said, releasing her from his grasp as he ruffled her hair gently, patting her head gently before she wandered off to bid the others goodbye.

After a while, the two were walking down the streets together — only, at a slightly slower pace as he was having a hard time keeping up with his limp, as it hurt to apply much pressure on his left foot.

They were heading the usual route to her house, until the girl came to a halt at a certain street, her hand reaching out to take hold of his in order to get him to stop as well.

“Let’s just go straight to your house tonight, okay? You don't have to walk me home this time. It's out of your way, and you're injured. I won't allow it.” Haewon voiced out, as Heeseung furrowed his brows slightly and shook her head.

“It's late and dark out already, though. It's not the safest option for you to walk home alone at this hour.” Heeseung reasoned, slightly argumentative as she shook her head.

“I'll be perfectly fine, you don't have to worry. I've walked alone plenty of times, and I got home just fine. We don't even live far from each other, anyway.” Haewon countered, giving his hand a soft squeeze.

“You always walk me home. Let me return the favor just this once, please.” She added, tilting her head.

The boy stared at her pleading expression, an annoyed sigh falling from his lips as he slowly nodded his head. “Just this once.”

Haewon smiled lightly in response, a soft hum sounding from her pursed lips, before she spoke. “Thank you. That's all I ask for.”

Heeseung couldn't help but find himself sporting a fond smile, allowing her to carefully guide him down his street — instead of turning to go in the direction of her house.

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★﹐authors corner ．﹗﹑ 1.3k words.
short chapter !! but you all will be spoiled very soon, trust 😚🙏‼️

also publishing this at one in the morning because why not ?? plus my wife ( cami ) said it wasn't too late and i'll always listen to her fr 🤞

anywayayaya everyone thank cami because i would have gatekept this had it not been for her !! 😚

okokokok i'm gonna cut this note short. thank you so much for reading, i love you so much 😚
july 21st, 2024 — 1:00am.
not proofread.