second lead. | 정원

chapter 42.

a/n; at this point, I'm basically just freestyling cuz I have no idea what to write-

xlii.

Jungwon pulled over in front of her house, his bicycle tilted to the right allowing Mira to dismount. He had one of his feet planted on the ground, the other still rested on the left pedal. The girl got off as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder before turning her body towards him.

"What do you want us to be?" He spoke, looking at her in the eye.

Mira said this before and she'll say it again. He had the most beautiful pair of eyes. The eyes she always admired — fierce yet soft looking. She had always looked at his eyes, and for the first time, she made the mistake of looking at his lips.

Jungwon cleared his throat, "We can stay as friends? Pretend as if it didn't happened."

He could have sworn he saw the disappointment in her eyes as she looked away. The boy pursed his lips, knowing he said something wrong and was regretting his words after seeing her reaction.

But Jeon Mira nodded her head regardless. Perhaps she was expecting something more to come out of his mouth, but not everything would go her way. If he wanted her to forget about the kiss, she could try, but she knew deep down she wouldn't forget it easily. That scene was permanently engraved in her mind. An unforgetful experience.

Giving him a faint smile, Mira noted his guilty eyes before she turned around to leave, "Thank you. See you tomorr—"

"Mira."

The said girl paused in her tracks, her back facing him as she listened to his next words carefully. Nothing came, except the loud thud of heavy steel falling on the floor accompanied by a faint ring of a bell. Then she felt herself being spun, Jungwon's hand gripping her shoulders firmly.

The boy looked like he was having an internal debate with himself, but before he could even make a move, a drop of liquid was felt on his head. Another drop came after, making contact with Mira's cheek.

Yang Jungwon wiped the water off her cheek with his thumb whilst looking up at the sky, being greeted with droplets of rain as he held up a hand above her head.

His action wasn't beneficial when Mira suddenly shoved Jungwon to the front porch before swiftly making her way towards his fallen bicycle, picking up his bag and bringing the bike with her — the gentle water touched her exposed skin, slightly damping her uniform, and making small circles appear. The girl placed his bike under a shelter before going back to him.

"You shouldn't have done that—"

"The rain wasn't that heavy anyway. It's not like I'll get sick," Mira cut him off. "Only idiots do."

Jungwon silently stared at her, taking in the wet splotches on her shoulders and a few soaked strands of her hair. The sound of rain grew louder as the clouds spat out their beads of water. Puddles began forming quickly as the rainfall become heavier.

How was he supposed to go home?

Mira might have read his mind because she told him to stay for a while until the shower died down. She wordlessly took her key out of her bag, inserted it into the door, twisted it open, and entered the house.

Light rapid footsteps made their way filling the two teenager's eardrums as they were met with the sight of her youngest brother running with a huge grin on his face. Jeon Hyunjoo attacked Yang Jungwon by hugging the older's waist, staring up at him with shimmering eyes. "Wonnie hyung, you're here!"

"Jungwon?!"

A loud voice boomed as more rapid footsteps— heavier and louder, were heard before the figure of Mira's father made his appearance. The man stood by the open doorway that separated the foyer and the living room as he eyed Jungwon up and down.

"It really is you. Why haven't you been visiting, my boy?!" Mr. Jeon exclaimed, gripping the younger's shoulders. Hyun was now sandwiched in between their bodies. "I thought you and Mira broke up. Thank god, I was wrong."

Jungwon chuckled, scratching his nape. "I'm sorry, sir. I was busy studying for exams..." He trailed off.

Hyun attempted to escape leg jail. Jungwon and Mr. Jeon were too engrossed in their conversation to notice. The eight-year-old boy looked through the gaps and saw Mira standing at the side so he reached an arm out and shook it aggressively, catching her attention.

"School must be stressing you, huh? The way it did for my daughter. She stayed up all night studying, came back home tired, and slept for thirty seconds on the couch. Cycle repeats," Mr. Jeon shrugged. Mira came to free Hyun from leg prison. "This is why I don't study— ouch!"

A familiar scene played out before Jungwon's eyes. The same scene where Mr. Jeon was clutching his head in pain while his wife stood behind him with a piercing glare. This time, it was not a frying pan, it was a cooking book.

"You're a bad influence, honey," Mrs. Jeon retorted.

Yang Jungwon remained tight-lipped, nearly forgetting the behavior of Mira's family. He almost forgot how much he enjoyed spending time here as he always felt welcomed every time he visited and he was glad her family loved him.

"Are you hungry, Jungwon? I'm about to make dinner. You can stay over if you'd like?" The woman proposed with a gentle smile on her face. Accepting or declining only leads to the same answer, so Jungwon reluctantly nodded his head, "Sure, Mrs. Jeon."

The sound of a thunderclap was heard as everyone flinched. Mira placed her hands over her ears just as another one struck — sounding really really close. Bright, flashing lightning lighting up the area like fireworks, the sky was overcast with dark clouds, and rain poured in torrents as the wind blew violently from all directions.

Mira's mother sighed, unfazed, "Guess we're spending a rainy night tonight." She looked out the window, predicting the heavy rain won't be ending soon.

Jungwon looked over to Mira, who had her hands hovered over her ears as she looked outside with an anxious expression. He slowly made his way over to the girl, holding her wrist and leaning towards her ear for a whisper. "Do you have astraphobia?"

Astraphobia; fear of thunder and lightning.

Mira stared at him and shook her head, confusing Jungwon as he frowned. Another bright flash made its way to her vision as she readied herself. However, the thunderclap was not too loud this time so she retracted her hands.

Phonophobia; also known as sonophobia or ligyrophobia, fear of loud noises.

It was only mild though. Mira couldn't handle unpredictable ones such as very loud thunder during heavy rainstorms and rash fireworks she wasn't aware of. Devices that can emit loud sounds that extremely startled most people, assuming they had no prior knowledge of the content of it.

Another fact Jungwon learned about her.