His Reason to Fight (Weak Hero Class 1)

15

The next few days were uneventful, jumping from school to work to art. She sat with Taehwan during their classes, and she was always entertained by his wit in his words and his art. It was great to see things from different points of view and grow her creativity.

On Saturday, she met up with Wooyoung outside the restaurant for lunch. He wore his usual grey hoodie, a style that she preferred. She reminded herself that it was a friendly date but when he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to let people walk past, her heart was like a drum. Pressed against his chest, she could smell his mint cologne and the woody scent. She held her breath, hoping he couldn't feel her heart. People zoomed by but it felt like time stopped for them.

"Let's go in," Wooyoung whispered, trying not to smile too much.

He moved away and they entered. The restaurant was packed with young people, but they managed to get a table on the side. Since the place was well known for their tteokbokki, the couple ordered that with cheese and some friend chicken.

When it came out, it was steaming deliciously. They dug in and Yoojin felt like she tasted heaven.

"So, how's the art academy?" Wooyoung asked.

She finished chewing a piece of chicken and answered. "It's really good – better than I expected. The teacher's so nice and really great with giving me ideas. This week, we did exercises on painting real life, and it was really cool. The teacher really liked my work, and so did Taehwan. I really love his art style. Here, this is what he painted for me."

Yoojin took out her phone and showed him the picture she took of his painting when they were partnered up. Wooyoung nodded slightly but his eyes were cautious.

"He painted that for you? Do you talk to him much?" Wooyoung asked.

The girl sighed at his tone.

"We were partners for this. He's really nice though and he's a cool guy. I do sit with him and talk to him because he's my friend," Yoojin stressed that last word.

Wooyoung just took a bite of his food. Sighing, Yoojin put a piece of fishcake in his bowl – his favourite.

The boy glared at her, his heart fluttering like an uncontrollable storm. "Don't do that."

"You don't do that," Yoojin replied childishly. "Don't be angry at me."

"I'm not angry. I'm just – I'm sorry. Let's just forget about that."

Wooyoung knew that she didn't want another Youngbin. So, they continued eating and talked about the latest Kdramas.

They finished not too long after. It was slightly more expensive than they were used to, but Wooyoung insisted that he would buy. He managed to persuade the boxing gym owner to let him work part time there, which involved a lot of cleaning.

Once they left the restaurant, they walked to the nearby arcade. As soon as they entered, Yoojin drifted to the past – playing air hockey with a competitive Sooho on his birthday and watching him cheer when he beat her at the shooting games. She visited him earlier that week. He was still lifeless. However, it was reassuring to know that he wasn't forgotten as she could find recent traces of Sieun there with the flowers.

When Wooyoung saw the look in her eyes, he bit his lip, cursing himself.

"I'm sorry, we can go somewhere else if you like," Wooyoung suggested.

Yoojin shook her head. The flashing lights shot colour everywhere. It wasn't too busy, but the noise level still resembled a club – with music, laughter and sound effects alerting people of winning or losing.