ann's tragedy

“so, uh-”

“shut up” you whisper before grabbing his watch-cladded wrist, hurriedly pulling him into the stairway across Mr. Matthews room.

“no one can know about this, do you understand?” you point at the distance between the two of you, looking at the now disheveled boy with pleading eyes.

jungwon rakes his fingers through his hair, a weak attempt at fixing the mess caused by getting to the stairway. his chest heaves dramatically, gasping as his glasses sit lopsided once again, slowly attempting to catch up.

“hey so a heads up would’ve been nice” he mutters exasperated, chest still visibly heaving at the sudden activity.

“i’m not joking alright?” you stress. “look, I don’t want to do this, you could become a fucking TA from this, do you know what I gain?” you argued, half questioning half screeching.

“better grades?” the boy grumbles, tapping his feet rhythmically onto the white marble floor.

“try, i don’t know, maybe the worst moment to ever occur in the entirety of my life? like ever.” you continue, ignoring his snide addition of a comment as you repeatedly pace the small, congested distance back and forth.

“this can’t be happening 6 months before senior prom, if people find out about this, if jake finds out — oh good lord, this might just ruin everything.” you go on to ramble in a pace adjacent to panic as you move to sit on the dusty stairs, clothes be damned.

placing your head onto your now sweaty palms, you sigh in pure, raw frustration. sure, maybe in a few good days this wouldn’t be as bad, but right now it might as well just be the anti-christ.

“gee thanks.” jungwon mutters, clicking his tounge softly as lets out a jagged breath.

“i didn’t mean it like that” you sigh, looking up to the boy now standing directly across from you. “you know what I mean” you murmur in a far softer tone this time, almost passing unheard by the young blonde.

jungwon stands rather still, seemingly in deep thought, the rhythmic tapping having long since passed. the afternoon sun catches in his eyes, warming them into something softer.

“fine, on one condition.” he finally asserts, moving to lean against the stairwell.

you lift your head from your elbows, looking at him expectantly. “anything”.

“you get the B+. i need to be TA, and if you getting a stupid B+ guarantees it, then ill happily keep my mouth shut.” he remarks, “deal?”

you ponder on it for a few seconds, biting the skin at the edge of your thumb. you weren’t exactly academically poor, but a D- to a B+ was a huge jump.

but then again, you needed to graduate, you needed to win prom queen.

and you couldn’t afford to lose the chance

not after everything you’ve done for it.

you look back up to find the blonde staring right back at you, arms folded in anticipation as his fingers tap softly along his elbow in a practiced rhythm.

"okay, deal” you mutter hesitantly as you look away, rubbing the back of your elbow.

“alright then, i'll give you my number and then we can schedule-” jungwon starts, pulling out his phone.

“I have your number jungwon.” you mention mechanically before dusting your skirt and heading towards the exit.

the boy stiffens for a split second. he slips his phone back into his pocket, blinking haltingly while adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder.

you still had his number saved. after all this time.

“hey l/n.”

you pause, one hand holding the stairway door pushed halfway open as you turn back to face the startled boy.

"yeah?"

“i wasn’t going to tell anyone anyway.” he mumbles, one side of his lip curling into a faint, barely visible smile.

you couldn’t help but mirror the blonde’s expression, a hesitant grin spreading rapidly across your lips.

you open your mouth to answer but the bell beats you to it, the loud sonorous sound signaling the end of the little stairway party for two.

jungwon ducks below where your arm rests against the door, moving towards the broad hallways of the school as he heads in the direction opposite to yours, probably eager to be the first to reach class.

you roll your eyes. It was nice to see he hadn’t changed.

“hey yang” you call out, momentarily forgetting that anyone could see the two of you interact more clearly than ever now.

the boy turns around, broad shoulders facing yours as his hands find its place in his denim pockets.

he props an eyebrow interogatively, soft doe eyes crinkling as they find yours.

eyes you were all too familiar with.

“yeah?”

“fix your glasses, they’re going to fall off.”