be who you are

protection

He stands outside the drugstore and ignores the way the clerk watches him through the window. He feels ridiculous and embarrassed that he’s even standing here. He shouldn’t be hesitating on this purchase.

It’s the final weekend before the college entrance exams. He should be back at the dorms with his face buried in his books while Soo-Ah quizzed him. Soo-Ah…

They’d been officially dating for eight months. He loved every moment he spent with her. They didn’t get a lot of holidays, but he spent each free weekend with her, eating whatever adventurous place she wanted to try. He knew it was because of her that he was now fourth and not seventh or ninth anymore.

There weren’t many opportunities to make out at their school. The teachers were fanatic about chaperoning, but he swore that Soo-Ah found every single hole in the CCTV network to push him into for lingering kisses. Once he memorized them, he pulled her into a few kisses on his own.

Which brings him to the drugstore.

Breaking the Rules

“Boost me up,” Soo-Ah insists as they look at the closed gate and stone wall surrounding the school. “I’ve texted Dong-Jae. He’s going to meet us at the doors and let us in. We’ve got forty-five minutes before curfew. We’re totally going to make it.”

“That dessert was not worth it,” Ha-Joon mutters as he links his fingers to toss her up to the top of the wall. He tries not to freak out as she scrambles over and listens closely to her landing. She makes a little noise that sounds like she hurt herself and he panics just a little. “Are you alright?”

“I rolled my ankle,” she answers. “I’ll be fine. Hurry up.”

He takes a deep breath, backs up several meters, and then runs at the wall. His momentum gets him up to the top and he looks down to see that Soo-Ah has cleared his landing. He’s tall enough that the drop doesn’t hurt him. She grins when he wrinkles his nose at her. She starts to limp towards the dorms but he catches her hand and shakes his head.

“Get on. Text Strawberry Milk to meet us with a first aid kit.”

Snowfall

There is a change in pressure in the early afternoon of the new year. The wind smells different and it is slightly more humid as she walks around the school buildings. 

She’s trying to get away from this morning.

(No problem! And I kept this because I wanted to write more of them >.>)

thinking of her p2

The weather changes and he finds himself in front of the class rankings with a chill that has nothing to with the blizzard rolling in. He hasn’t moved up and his stomach clenches. His mother doesn’t beat him but she has attempted to fill the void his father left so she can keep him on track.

Still seventh place.

He smells her perfume as she steps into the space next to him. He glances at the list for her name. She’s fourth, not second. The school is going to flip out. He looks down at her and is shocked that she’s smiling. It’s soft and almost relieved. She catches him staring and she juts her chin at the list.

“Yeon-Doo moved up. She’s going to be thrilled.”

“You went down.”

She shrugs but her smile is a little tight. “I can still get into Harvard in fourth place. If the school doesn’t let us cheer next year, Yeon-Doo says I can join Real King if I want. I haven’t decided yet. We have the national exams coming up.”

His stomach turns just thinking about the national exams. When he didn’t say anything in reply, she starts to leave. He doesn’t really think as he almost turns into her and touches her hand. She still has a hair tie around her wrist and her skin is red. She looks up at him and just waits.

“Are you staying over the break?”

“Yes. Are you?” Her fingers slightly curl against the hidden marks on his wrist.

“Yeol and Yeon-Doo want me to go home with them but…” He can tells she’s gotten an invitation, too, and she’s not excited to go. He pulls his hand away and shoves it into his pocket. “They’re really noisy.”

She nods and presses her lips together. “Stay here then. It’s just a few days and the quiet is nice.”

He agrees and they walk away in opposite directions. He pauses partway down the hall and looks back at her when he hears Dong-Jae call her name. It’s a weird feeling that takes hold in his chest. It isn’t jealousy, he’s very acquainted with that, but there is something off about the way she looks at the awkward basketball player.

Him

She regrets giving back his jacket. For two minutes she got to pretend that someone cared about her. When she stood by the water, cold and dark and empty, she didn’t feel lonely. It had been warm from his body. She’d never experienced that before.

She didn’t deserve it. Not after what she did with the bloody towel. When he screamed at her for the truth about Yeol’s deal with the principal she knew she’d finally met another person who understood desperation. She didn’t dare cling to him. It wasn’t allowed to someone like her.

Once again, about Ha Joon and Soo Ah. My only warning is that this one is sad, like really sad. I wrote this in a hurry, so I’m sorry if it doesn’t look good!

Soo ah’s mom in my opinion is blinded by education of her daughter. She wants soo ah to do well as for soo ah she is just in need of love. To be exact she yearn for her mom’s love. The time when she smile knowing she got number one and knowing that her mom will be proud of her just breaks my heart for it shows just how much she wanted to make her mom happy.

When Soo ah finally breaks down in episode 10, my heart crashes into tiny pieces. And in this particular episode i really have to admit that i have fallen for Chae Soobin’s acting. Her acting skills really shines in this episode and also in the past episode. I really hated the students whom bullied her in the group chats saying that she should die and the fact that after they knew she was depressed instead for having a tiny sympathy for her they continue to bash her. And im really happy that her friends defended her.saying that instead of saying bad words they could choose to say good words instead.

Ha Joon and Soo Ah - Through the Monsoon