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━━━  " 📂 " ‍..⃗. ༉

𝘾 𝙍 𝙔 𝘽 𝘼 𝘽 𝙔

! chapter twenty nine ─── ʚĭɞ

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So Yeori hadn't taken it very well. At first, the idea of Seojun doing only what she asked of him was laughable and promised endless days of her pushing the offer to the limits until he broke down and gave up with whatever effort he was aiming for. But he had managed to annoy her so much that she was fed up with the act in just a matter of hours. 

Hell, she hadn't even been able to enjoy it until lunch was over and the afternoon started. She didn't know why he had decided upon doing it, because surely her word on whether or not he should listen to his mom about riding his motorbike was not worth that much. Not worth the very hassle of riding it out to the convenience store her father owned to get her a drink she usually couldn't get in school and then park the bike outside. Not worth the hassle to somehow procure two trays full of pork cutlets and then wait for the right moment in conversation to get his idiot friends to reveal it. 

But he was doing it for something, and Yeori didn't know if she could be bothered to find out why. The whole thing was already too much; why should she exert any more energy into his stupid ploy when she had far better things to do? 

There was a black helmet with girlish, pink detailing that he wouldn't dare be seen with sat on her desk at home, and his pair of gloves shoved at the back of a drawer somewhere. And his keys were in her blazer pocket. 

Yeori wanted nothing to do with any of it. And as she wandered the quieter hallways of the school on her way out - it was her turn to do some of the classroom cleaning with Sihyun, who had to do her cleaning at a speed to go to a study group - she huffed out a sigh. 

This was what she was talking about. All the drama, all the energy wasted on Seojun that day had left her exhausted. The moment she let down any guards that had been put up since they broke up, one singular phone call after an evening hiding from Sungyong and his group of thugs and her guard was down an inch or two and he was being an asshole again, exhausting every inch of her. She was supposed to go to her dance class, but somehow just the thought of that made everything worse. 

Although... despite her complete show of annoyance at the never-ending pork cutlet, Seojun had continued one with his ruse of only listening to her, acting like some devoted servant to her, and had produced a number of snacks for her throughout the day. Another couple of those drinks, an iced espresso just fifteen minutes after the bell had rang and her cleaning duties had begun, and a climbing number of various snacks that could maybe keep her going until she made it home and she could steal her favourite ramen from the store. 

Yeah. That was what she was going to have to do. 

That and send a rather strongly worded message to Seojun. 

She dug around in her bag until she felt the crinkle of wrappers and pulled out whatever she got her hands on, pulling apart the plastic as she pushed the door outside open with her elbow. "Stupid bastard." She muttered under her breath as she took a bite. It really was a shame he was so annoying; he still remembered all her favourite snacks. 

"Kwon Yeori?" A surprised voice called out to her, from somewhere behind her as she made her way slowly down the drive. 

"Mhm?" Yeori replied without even thinking, mouth filled with chocolate. She turned slowly, the sight of a somewhat shadowy figure raced down the path towards her, the glimpse of a familiar face appeared for a brief second under the streetlamps. "Gowoon, how are you?" She asked, when the girl stopped beside her. 

"Good," Gowoon replied, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Why are you here so late?" She asked. 

"Cleaning. You?" Yeori asked, shuffling around the wrapper in her hand as she tried to peer inside and pick out the best of the lot. 

"Extra choir practice with Mrs Kim." Gowoon replied, and fished out a blue collar. "I got the lead for the upcoming recital!" She added, with a little enthusiasm. Yeori couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't any more excited about it, but decided against questioning it. 

"Congratulations!" She swung her free arm around the girl's shoulder, pulling her into a hug. With even as much love as she had for her brother, Yeori had always wondered what it would have been like to have a sister and when she was dating Seojun, she was given that option. Although, with the break-up, they were nowhere as close as they had been. "Chocolate? Your brother got them for me." 

"So it's true?" 

The smile on Yeori's face dropped. "No. He's being an idiot again." She replied, holding out the box. 

Gowoon let out a sigh. "I knew it. I knew when someone said that he carried you to class it wasn't true." 

"No," Yeori took another bite, "that is true. He said he would only listen to me, and do everything that I asked him to do. And when I jokingly asked him to carry me to class he didn't even question it. Then he kept annoying me all day. But, on the bright side he bought me loads of food, do you want something? I have chips... more Pepero, Choco Pies... lychee gummies, peach gummies... pretty much the entire stock of the snack shop if you want it." 

"I'm fine, thanks," Gowoon replied. "I'm gonna eat as soon as I get home." 

"You sure?" Yeori asked, and when Gowoon nodded again the bag was swung back over her shoulder without question. "I'll bring you something for your lunch tomorrow then, from my dad's shop." Gowoon made a face. "Come on, you've gotta let me congratulate you on the solo somehow. I get not wanting the crap your brother brought for me, but I'll get you something, okay? Something for lunch.. maybe something else." 

"You don't have to, Yeori, really." 

"No, no, I will," Yeori said. "You don't get a say in it, okay? You've gotta let me be proud of you, okay?" 

"Okay." Gowoon finally accepted her fate. It was only polite to deny it a few times, even if Gowoon truly didn't want any special treatment or some form of congratulatory gift, Yeori wasn't the type of person who would easily take no for an answer in that respect. She wasn't this warm and fuzzy, but she was kind in another, almost forceful way. If she really wanted to do something for someone, then it was going to happen regardless. 

"You know," Gowoon began absent-mindedly, when she watched Yeori rattle the bag again, trying to pick out the next best piece, "this is the sort of thing my brother did when you were dating." 

Yeori hadn't thought about it like that and her movements stopped. Her eyes remained firmly on the contents of the wrapper. "I know." She nodded quickly. She didn't know; it was a blatant lie. She hadn't thought about it like that at all, but Gowoon was right. Beyond the annoyance she felt about it, Seojun was acting like her boyfriend again. The constant snacks, the teasing, the abstract displays of some kind of affection. 

"But you're not dating?" Gowoon asked, just to confirm.

"Nope." Yeori replied, shortly. "When you see your brother, can you give him his keys back?" She asked, digging into her pocket and tossing over the keychain. 

"Huh?"

"The keys to his bike. And tell him to come and pick it up as well." Yeori replied. Gowoon looked confused. "Your brother decided before he decided that he was only going to do everything I say, that he should listen to me when I told him that he should listen to your mom about not riding his motorbike." 

"Oh?" That didn't seem to clear it up for her. 

"I don't get it either. It's all very confusing." Yeori shrugged, and they came to a natural stop at the road. "Do you want me to walk you home? It's getting pretty dark." 

"No, that's alright," Gowoon replied, pocketing the keys. "I'm going to get the bus. Are you going to dance?" 

Yeori nodded. "Yeah, I am. How's your mom doing now she's out of the hospital?" 

"She's good. You should come to visit her at the house, I think she gets a bit bored sometimes because she can't do much at the minute." Gowoon replied. "She always liked it when you came to visit." 

"I'll try." Yeori promised, although with everything that happened, and the annoyance she felt, that it would maybe be a little trickier to figure out when she could visit. He couldn't be home. "And don't let Seojun give you any shit about those keys, promise?"

"I'll stand my ground." Gowoon nodded, and Yeori watched as she began to make her way towards the bus stop. 

"Hey, Gowoon," Yeori called after her. "I'll come to your recital." 

The confusion, that expression of disillusionment that had been forefront of their conversations since the breakup. That sort of awkwardness because they knew that the breakup had been a monumental blow to the friendship they had built, that Gowoon couldn't just be her little sister anymore. That was all torn away for a split second, as Gowoon spun back around to face her, a gleam of a smile on her pretty features and her thumbs held up. 

And Yeori stood for a moment, just watching as she continued to make her way to the bus stop, before turning on her heel and headed towards the dance studio. Where she would spend all her time praying that by the time she got back home, that damned motorcycle would be gone.