second lead. | 정원

chapter 09.

ix.

A moment of silence passed by as the only sound heard was the gentle breeze of the wind and the sound of Mira loudly sipping on her juice box, indicating her drink was about to finish. Before Jungwon could even say anything else, another smack was delivered to his forehead and he let out another yelp.

"H-how do you know that?!" She spluttered, proceeding to send two or three more bangs to his forehead with no mercy. "Answer me!"

"Stop whacking me!" Jungwon protested, covering his face with his arms. Something he learned about Jeon Mira was that she tends to get violent whenever she's flustered, nervous, or embarrassed. To prove his point was the scene happening right now.

When her smacking ceased, he removed the tray from her hold and slid it across the floor out of her reach. She was done eating so she didn't need it anymore. Jungwon then scowled at the girl, whose cheeks were colored a soft shade of red from how flustered she was at his sudden statement.

"It was obvious from the way you were staring at him," He responded, his eyebrows furrowed. He looked like an angry cat. "Anyone would have known you have a thing for Kim Sunoo."

"S-shut up!" Unable to contain herself, she sent a soft (not really) smack to his forehead with her palm. Jungwon yelped again.

"Oh god, I thought taking away your lunch tray would stop you from hitting me!" He cried out, taking her wrist in his hand whilst his other one was rubbing his now red forehead.

"It's only fair if we know each other's crushes. Tell me yours!" Mira pointed at him and the boy immediately took her other wrist — he thought she was going to hit him again — before locking them in place. His eyes were staring at her own. Again, something deep within her orbs was pulling him in as he was lost in her eyes. And again, he shrugged it off.

There were no words exchanged. Just an intimidating Yang Jungwon who was warning her to not hit him anymore with his eyes, and an embarrassed Jeon Mira who couldn't stop thinking about how he knew who her crush was.

The girl attempted to pull her hand back, but it only made him tighten his grip on her and she felt like she was being handcuffed. How was his grip so strong when he's only locking her with one hand?!

Overwhelmed with the stare he was giving her, Mira averted her gaze elsewhere as she couldn't handle too much eye contact, regardless of who the person was. She couldn't even hold it for more than ten seconds with her own family.

"Sunoo's crush," He broke the silence.

Mira frowned and looked at him. "What?" It took her a few moments to understand what he was saying and when she did, she let out a loud gasp.

"You like Aer—?!"

Jungwon immediately covered her mouth with his hand before looking left and right making sure no one heard it even though the rooftop was currently empty. No other soul was present besides them. "Don't shout," He whispered, letting her go.

"...you like Aerin?" Mira aggressively whispered this time.

Jungwon bit his bottom lip before sighing, "I do, but at the same time I'm fine with Sunoo taking her. Weird, isn't it? I was a mad at first, but now I'm over it." He looked unfazed and it made her wonder.

"What? Are you sure you even had a crush on her in the first place?" She questioned, but her gaze was on his slightly parted bangs that was enough for her to catch a glimpse of his forehead. It was less red than before and she carefully caressed the spot, not knowing her own actions.

Mira's touch was soft and gentle, quite the opposite of what she did before. "I ask myself that too. I'm starting to think I didn't like her romantically. An older brother instinct maybe?" He rhetorically asked.

"Older brother, why?"

"I've known Aerin since we were kids," He explained, looking at her as he supported his body with his arm. "She has always been a fragile and weak girl. It makes me want to protect her but I guess she has someone else to do that now."

Jeon Mira didn't know what to say so she stayed silent as she began to think about this whole conversation. She leaned against the wall behind her, staring off at the scenery to her left through the open gaps of the railings.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you like your friend but she likes my friend and I like my friend but he likes your friend?" She asked.

Jungwon wasn't going to lie but he had brain damage trying to process her words. It took him a while to comprehend the sentence as it was such a tongue twister and difficult to understand.

"Yeah. Guess we're both the second lead in their story," He shrugged.