✓ sorry, i love you || hwang hyunjin

[12] mornings

I woke up the next morning with a headache— and a goddamn bad one, at that. It made sense, though. I had only gotten a few hours of sleep... and I still had to make it through school.

But it was fine. Chan mattered more to me than my sleep did.

I also woke up with the sound of Chan's peaceful breathing through my phone. Shit, I must have forgotten to end the call last night. I wondered why he wasn't awake yet— but my question was answered once I saw the time. 5:24. I had been trying to wake up earlier recently to study while watching the sunrise before I had to go to school. It was relaxing— but no wonder Chan wasn't awake yet. No normal person would be.

I debated whether or not I should cut the call, but then decided against it. I mean, it's not like he could see me— plus, it made me feel as though I had company to study with.

With a final groan, I pulled myself out of bed and dragged my ass to the bathroom, squinting when the bright lights hit my eyes. I freshened up for the day and put on a comfy sweater and a pair of black leggings— one of the few outfits I (usually) felt comfortable wearing. Most outfits made me insecure; I hated my squishy belly and thick arms and thighs. I wasn't necessarily fat— I just wasn't skinny.

And I hated it.

I shoved the thoughts out of my head and walked over to my desk, ready to study. I placed my phone— with Chan's soft snores— next to my textbook and started reading.

A few hours later, when I had just stopped studying to get ready for school, I heard shuffling through the phone. "Nabi?" A groggy male voice rasped, and I giggled quietly to myself. He sounds cute.

"Yeah. It's me."

I could hear Chan's smile as he said, "Thank you for last night. I don't know what came over me, it's just that sometimes—"

I interrupted him. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Chan. And stop thanking me. I mean, what are friends for?" He chuckled slightly, and I finished, "I actually have to go now before I die. See you at school, Channie."

"Alright, butterfly," he replied, and the phone disconnected. Butterfly? What was with all these nicknames recently?

~~~

When I left the house, I hadn't expected to see Hyunjin standing around the corner. "Hwang!" I exclaimed, running to him and giving him a hug (after making sure that I was out of my mom's line of vision). "What are you doing here?"

He grinned at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling into crescents. "I have decided to walk you to school now because Jeongin and Seungmin decided to participate in the summer talent show, and they said they needed 'extra time to practice'."

I frowned a bit, wondering why Innie hadn't told me earlier. As if on cue, though, I got a text from the boy, explaining what Hyunjin had just told me... with more juice.

Innie 🍞
so uh
basically
me and seungmin
decided to enter the talent show thing
and uh
he offered that we practice in the recording studio
that's in his house
and he lives alone
so uh
hyunjin offered to walk u
r u ok w/ that
??

I grinned to myself as I read through his texts, and I typed him back a quick response.

Bibi 🦋
hehe
alr bro
lmk if anything happens 👀
😏

I felt Hyunjin's chin propped against my shoulder as he read the texts, too, and I felt butterflies erupt in my stomach. Shit, what's wrong with me? I put my phone back in my pocket and turned around a little too quickly, finding myself less than an inch away from Hyunjin.

I could feel his soft breaths on my face, and his eyes flickered down to my lips for a second before looking back up at me. My breath hitched for a split second before Hyunjin leaned in.