★ | #11 | explore
"well, that's comforting to know."

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ nicole's radio station
is now playing...

linger • the cranberries

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"HEESEUNG, I can tell you're two minutes away from giving up.” Haewon pointed out with a laugh, nudging his side gently as he sighed.

“I can't believe I allowed this to happen.” He groaned, running a hand over his face loosely.

“Oh, relax. Do you know how easy it is to get lost in the streets of Seoul? The alleys here are identical. It's hard to decipher which one is which.” The girl muttered, giving him an assuring nod.

“Thanks, Hae.” Heeseung let out, his hand rising to rest on her head, ruffling her hair playfully.

“I didn't know you were capable of being so nice.” The boy added on contently with a hum, listening to the soft grumbles escaping past her lips.

“Do you have to ruin every moment?” She complained, grimacing.

“Hey, don't put this on me! I'm simply just expressing how I feel truly. I'm genuinely surprised.” He held back a laugh, raising his hands in surrender

“I'm nice to you like.. all the time! Wow, I can't believe you don't appreciate my efforts. I'm telling your mother that you're bullying me.” Haewon clicked her tongue, shaking her head.

“It's the way I actually have to be concerned over that because my mom would actually believe anything you say.” Heeseung sighed, pursing his lips.

“Your mom loves me.” Haewon uttered, a smile playing at her lips as she said it in a prideful tone.

“I can tell.” Heeseung shot back with a subtle eye roll.

“Don't act so salty as if my mother isn't the exact same as yours. She adores you. It sometimes feels like she favors you over me, and I'm actually her child!” Haewon exclaimed softly, snickering.

“I don't blame her. I'm very responsible and respectful.” He smiled widely, a hum sounding past his lips.

“Yeah? If I told her about the drinking, she'd probably kill you after killing me first.” She admitted, as the boy laughed and nodded his head.

“I could see that. Your mom is scary sometimes.” Heeseung shuddered, running his hand along his chest as he clasped over his heart for dramatic effect.

“Sometimes?” Haewon repeated in disbelief, eyebrows raised slightly.

“She's behaved in front of you all the time, but I assure you she is an entirely different person behind the scenes.” The girl explained quietly.

“Well, that's comforting to know.” Heeseung spoke sarcastically, pressing his lips together in a thin line.

“Very.” Haewon chimed in with a small laugh. “She's nice, just not as much of a saint as she is when you or your family are around.”

“That makes sense, though. I mean, my parents are really nice on their own, but they definitely take it up a notch when around others. I guess it's a given.” Heeseung mumbled, shrugging his shoulders.

The girl could only hum, as silence surrounded them, only the faint chatter of people around them as the bustling of cars driving on the streets filled their ears.

That is, until Heeseung spoke up, coming to a halt in his steps as his hand wrapped around her wrist, tugging her closer.

“Let's just stop here. It's tiring walking around all the time in search of familiarity. From here, we'll just explore. I mean, might as well, right?” He said, watching as a smile crept up onto her lips.

“Ayy, I knew you'd come around.” She laughed, nudging his side as her eyes formed two small crescents.

Heeseung snickered, nudging her back as he looked around. “Which way do you wanna go?”

“Mm.. that way.” Haewon gestured to the left with her chin, as it was lined with what appeared to be shops and coffee shops. Heeseung nodded, waiting until a group of people passed by before stepping out into the middle of the sidewalk again, pulling her along with him.

“I can walk, you know.” She huffed, as he rolled his eyes and laughed.

“Sure you can. But you're slow.” He commented, as the girl muttered a string of curses underneath her breath.

After moving on from the topic, Haewon sighed before looking over at her best friend.

“You know what I just thought about?” She began, tilting her head off to the side as Heeseung shook his head and raised a brow.

“No. I can't read your mind.” He replied jokingly, as Haewon let out a groan.

“Can you please just follow along with something like a normal person and not ruin the vibe every single time?” She complained, bottom lip stuck out subtly in a pout.

“Fine. What did you think of?” The boy corrected himself with an eye roll.

“How you're probably pretending to be lost right now so we don't end up at the arcade.” Haewon accused, a teasing grin spread across her features.

Heeseung furrowed his brows, a puzzled look taking place on his face. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you're scared you'll lose against me in that basketball game.” Haewon hummed, twirling her hair around with her index finger as she listened to the scoff that fell from his lips.

“Are you sure you aren't the one with the ego?”

“Don’t deflect your problems onto me.”

“I don't have an ego!”

“Sure.” The girl narrowed her eyes, dragging out the ‘e’ in ‘sure’.

“I hate you.” Heeseung huffed, gently pushing her away from him.

“Heard that one before.” Haewon teased, unfazed as her hands dug into her tote bag, fingers fumbling with the small camera case she had shoved inside before leaving her house.

Pulling out the camera, Heeseung couldn't help but to laugh. “I thought you were joking when you said you brought that, to be honest.”

“It's so fun. I feel like.. like a film director.” The girl breathed out, focused down on the mini-screen as she messed with the camera settings to get it to function the way she pleased.

“Is that really what you fantasize about these days?” He asked, a singular brow raised as he watched her raise the lens in his direction, focusing it on his features before she pressed the film button, the small red dot blinking indicating that it was recording.

“Huh? No, of course not. It's just a fun thought.”

Heeseung narrowed his eyes, pressing his lips together in a thin line as a hum sounded from his throat. “Here, give me that.” He uttered, hands reaching up to carefully take the camera from her.

Haewon tilted her head in confusion, letting it happen as the weight of the camera was no longer in her hands, as she dropped her arms to rest comfortably at her side.

“You interviewed me the other day, now I'll interview you.” Heeseung let out, eyes wandering over the controls.

“Okay, fair.” Haewon shrugged before adding on. “Make sure you get my good side though.” She said half-jokingly.

Heeseung heard her request, of which put a smile on his lips as he shook his head off to the side. “Haewon, how do I make it focus?” He questioned, brows curving inward slightly.

The girl held back a laugh, bringing her hand up to wrap her fingers around his right-handed index finger, guiding it to a circular button resting on top.

“Here, hold it down and release it when it's focused on whatever you want.” Haewon explained briefly, earning a small nod from the boy as he repositioned the camera in his hands, pointing it directly at her.

“Okay, here.” Heeseung said, making sure she was in focus before clearing his throat.

“Question number one,” Heeseung began, “is film directing something you wish to do in the future?”

Haewon shook her head quickly in response as soon as the question hit her ears. “Hm? Oh, no way.”

“And why is that?”

“It seems fun, but I don't see myself doing it as a career in the future. It seems very unlikely.” She answered truthfully, as Heeseung nodded behind the camera.

“Valid.” He chuckled, nibbling down at his bottom lip as he pondered momentarily on another question.

“What do you see yourself doing in the future, then?” He tilted his head, eyes glistening with curiosity as he looked at her through the camera.

“Truthfully?” Haewon breathed out, raising a brow as the boy hummed in response. “I have no idea.” She added on, shrugging her shoulders as he chuckled.

“No, but seriously. I really have no idea what I'll do when I'm older. And honestly that does startle me a little bit, but I hope to figure something out and be happy with my future.” The girl continued on with a determined nod, a smile playing on her lips.

“Ayy, you'll figure it out soon enough, and you'll be alright. Don't stress so much over it. Some are late bloomers, you know? Figuring out what you wanna spend the rest of your life leading up to retirement doing is really, really hard. So I don't blame you if you can't figure it out so soon.” Heeseung spoke reassuringly.

“Mhm, right.” The girl retorted, feeling a little better about her mind process.

Shifting the mood to a more lighter theme, Heeseung adjusted the camera in his hands carefully, turning it to get both of them in frame.

“Okay, okay. The most important question of all time, for documentation purposes.” He began, clearing his throat as he leaned closer to her with a smile.

“Who is your favorite person ever?” Heeseung asked playfully, clearly expecting his name to fall from her lips as he batted his eyelashes jokingly.

“Huh? What kind of question is that? It's so obvious.” Haewon rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she waved it off.

“Oh, come on. Answer!” He beckoned.

“Fine, fine. My favorite person is.. Sim Jaeyun.” Haewon nodded her head happily, a teasing grin settling on her features as he lowered the camera and stared at her with narrowed eyes.

“You're such a bad liar.” Heeseung sighed, clicking his tongue as he pointed the camera her way yet again.

The girl laughed, raising her brows in amusement. “What? I'm being honest!” She teased.

“You don't hang out with Jake like.. ever!” Heeseung complained, moving the camera extra close to her face to annoy her as she snickered and pushed it away.

“I do!”

“You only hang out with him in group settings.” He pointed out, as the girl shrugged.

“Okay, and? That's still hanging out with him.” Haewon stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Be serious.”

“Alright, fine. My favorite person in this whole entire world is definitely, one hundred percent.. Mrs. Lee.” Haewon smiled at the camera, her eye flickering in-between it and him.

“I hate you.” Heeseung snickered, shaking his head as Haewon laughed, watching as he ended the video and gently bumped his hip against hers.

“So dramatic.” Haewon cooed, raising her hand to ruffle his hair as he huffed and shook his head.

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★﹐authors corner ．﹗﹑ 1.8k words.
i just spent $21 on the game 'lake' for my nintendo switch and i'm so excited to play it 🙏 better be worth my money brooo

i also should be sleeping right now but i can't fall asleep 😥 it's been hours of tossing and turning so i gave up and decided to finish writing this chapter lol

anyway !! thank you for reading ilysm <3
april 2nd, 2024 — 1:47am.
not proofread.