?(?? ? ? )? . . . . . . .
. . A seemingly "hard boy" with emotional walls built from past pain. Outwardly confident, sometimes cruel
. . A quiet, gentle girl who has endured bullying in the past. She's observant and strong, and often overlooked...
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the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, and seohyun gathered her things, ready to leave. joon was already standing by the door, chatting with some of their classmates. as seohyun walked up to her, ready to leave together, she was caught off guard by a voice from behind.
"hey, seohyun."
seohyun turned around to see jake standing a few feet away, a hesitant but hopeful look on his face. "oh... hey, jake," she greeted, her heart fluttering a little at the sight of him. "what's up?"
"i was wondering..." jake started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "would you... would you want to walk home with me? i thought it could be nice, you know?"
seohyun blinked in surprise, her immediate reaction being to refuse. she hadn't really expected him to ask her, and part of her felt a little nervous about it. "oh, um, i don't know... i was actually gonna walk with joon," she said, glancing toward joon, who was standing nearby, waiting for her.
before she could say anything more, joon stepped in with a bright smile, her voice loud and cheerful. "it's fine," she said, waving her hand nonchalantly. "i've got some things to take care of anyway. i'll go ahead, you two have fun." her tone was casual, but there was a glint of mischief in her eyes as she gave seohyun a knowing look.
seohyun was about to protest, but joon continued, her smile turning even more playful. "by the way, jake," she said, suddenly turning to him with a teasing grin. "keep my girl safe, or i'll kill you. thanks~" her voice was lighthearted, but the mischievous gleam in her eyes made it clear that she wasn't entirely joking.
jake froze for a moment, blinking at joon in surprise. but then, with a nervous chuckle, he nodded, trying to play it cool. "uh, yeah, of course. i'll make sure seohyun's safe," he said, but there was a nervousness in his voice, as if he wasn't entirely sure how to respond to joon's comment.
seohyun felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her, her cheeks flushing at joon's teasing. "joon, stop it!" she muttered, shaking her head, but there was a small smile on her lips.
"what?" joon shrugged innocently, her grin widening. "just looking out for you, seohyun. besides, i've got my eyes on heeseung today, so i'll leave you two to it. enjoy your walk!"
with that, joon gave them both a playful wave and walked off, her eyes already scanning the hallways for heeseung, who had been nearby earlier.
seohyun let out a small sigh, shaking her head at joon's antics. "she's unbelievable," she mumbled under her breath before turning to jake, who was still standing there, a little awkwardly.
"so..." jake began, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "shall we?"
seohyun gave him a hesitant smile. part of her still wasn't sure about walking home with him, but the other part of her couldn't deny the excitement bubbling up inside. she nodded slowly. "yeah, let's go."
