— we're the only ones who know
☠
"I fainted again, didn’t I?" she doesn’t need to wait for affirmation, her lips already pressing into a thin line, eyebrows knitted together. "those balls are filthy, you know. almost as bad as this bed," she says, expression contorting into a small grimace. if she had any energy left in her, she’d set the bed on fire.
jaesung doesn't like gym.
there had been a time, back in his more naive days, where he had found pleasure in running around with his classmates; back when people weren't irritants against the very fabric of his being. those days were long past now, with the worries and cynicisms that he carried on his shoulders weighing him down, making his feet heavy and joys scarce.
he curses when he's separated from sowon, stuck playing badminton on the other side of the gymnasium. while rallying with his partner--whatever their name was, he hadn't bothered to catch it and they seemed to already know his--he's distracted, eyes wandering to the same, petite figure. lips pressed in their standard subtle grimace, he puts more concentration into privately supervising sowon rather than the game at hand.
"jaesuuuung," his partner whines, short, mousey and surprisingly demanding. "we're playing, so you oughta pay attention."
the teen snorts, not even bothering to mumble an apology before deciding to give his partner some of the attention she desired (and, though he was hesitant to admit it, deserved).
it takes him less than a minute to regret that decision, a sentiment that slams jaesung in the chest the moment sowon hits the floor. the sound is loud and an almost irrational panic flares up in his chest--as if she was glass, as if a fall like that could break her--and he throws his racket down, shoving past the annoying throngs that seconds after freezing still, began to gravitate to the unusual sight.
"sowon! sowon-ah!" he calls, voice carrying more anxiety than he'd like to show, though at this very moment, that didn't matter to him. what mattered was the girl on the ground, pale and at the moment, gone. jaesung doesn't hear anything other than his thundering heart in his ears, certain that if even if sowon was to respond to the murmurings of her name, to the gentle shaking, he wouldn't hear it.
"we're going to the infirmary," the blond declared, the words as close to a askance of permission as he'd ever be willing to give. scooping sowon up in his arms with a minute grunt, he made his way out and into the halls and infirmary. it's with reluctance that he sets her down onto the bed--it probably wasn't clean enough for her, nothing hardly ever was--but he couldn't do anything about that at the moment, other than hold her hand in some sort of apology. all there was left to do was wait for her to awake, and so he did, eyes beginning to droop as the sound of silence tempted him into sleep.
"i fainted again, didn’t i? those balls are filthy, you know. almost as bad as this bed."
a small smirk takes his lips, his eyes fluttering open--the moment's drowsiness gone--and he squeezes her hand. straightening up in his chair, he replied,"mm, i know. if you want, we could burn it or something. you'd have to sit in my lap to watch though."
