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Aera, who tried sleeping earlier due to her mood swings couldn't fall asleep so she got off the bed and headed to the living room. She wanted to call Kenji but it was 2:12 am here meaning it would be 4:12 am in Australia. Giving up the idea, she decided to sketch. The only thing which can comfort her after Kenji. She was pretty upset and her heart sank as she heard that Jake likes someone else. She didn't know why, but she's been feeling something different about Jake. Unable to contain her emotions, she turned to her artistic outlet as a means of coping with the pain.
She picked up her sketchbook and pencil, her hands trembled with the intensity of her emotions. She took a deep breath and began to sketch the outline of a heart, not a perfect one, but one that was fractured and imperfect, that mirrored her own wounded heart.
The heart took shape, showing the fragility of her emotions. The uneven edges of the heart symbolized the pain and sadness she felt, as though her heart had been shattered into countless pieces. She knew that the sadness wouldn't vanish overnight, but she had found a way to channel her emotions and transform them into a piece of art that would forever remind her of this pivotal moment in her life.
Sunghoon, who was sleeping, woke up as he was thirsty. Leaving his bed, he made his way to the the kitchen to drink water. He was about to pass by the living room when he spotted a familiar person sitting there. Squinting his eyes, he looked at the person who turned out to be Aera. The latter was drawing on her sketch pad. Sunghoon walked towards her quietly smirking wanting to scare her. He tiptoed to her.
"Aera" he imitated a ghost's voice. Aera who was sketching, froze. "W-who is it?" Her voice trembled and she raised her both hands surrendering. Sunghoon giggled internally, seeing her reaction. "Please don't kill me. I'm still young. My friends will kill you if you do anything to me." She said pretending to be strong. "What if i'm one of them?" He asked, making her confused. Then, it hit her that he was Sunghoon. She turned around hearing him laugh, "Rae, you are a scaredy cat." Aera looked at him with disbelief. "Seriously, hoon? How dare you try to scare me? And I-i wasn't scared at all." She said earning giggles from the boy. Grabbing a cushion, she hit him multiple times due to which he started running with her following him. "SORRY!! DON'T HIT ME!!" He yelled while running. "THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR SCARING ME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT." She responded and continued running behind him.
"OUCH." Aera said before falling on the ground, groaning. Sunghoon rushed to her. "Are you okay? Oh My God." He said worriedly. Aera turned towards him grabbing his sleeve and getting on him. "GOT YOU." She said before hitting him with the soft pillow. Only giggles could be heard. Sunghoon held her hands in one place smiling at her. They have never been this close. "Hoon, this is unfair." She whined.
They were busy in their own world until, "W-what are you guys doing?" They both heard the person say. Turning around, they saw Jake standing there with a confused expression. The poor guy's heart shattered thinking there was something going in between the two. Aera and Sunghoon stood straight. "Nothing, we were just playing. Do you wanna join us?" Aera asked Jake with a smile and a slight hope while he only shook his head. "I woke up to my mom's call otherwise i'd still be sleeping. I'll go. You should sleep too." Jake returned to the room leaving the two dumbfounded. He couldn't help but smile and feel a twinge of jealousy as he watched Aera and Sunghoon playing together. His heart ached because he was secretly in love with her or maybe it was just an attraction, but he couldn't deny the happiness in her eyes as she enjoyed Sunghoon's company. "Does she like him...?" He mumbled before getting back into his bed.
Meanwhile, Aera and Sunghoon were still in the living room. "So, why are you still awake?" Sunghoon asks her making her look down. "I couldn't sleep, so I tried sketching somewhere." She simply replied hearing an 'Oh' from him. "And what were you drawing?" He asks her to which she replied, "A-ah nothing." She tried hiding the sketchpad but to her surprise, Sunghoon snatched it and began checking her work. Starting from the very first page, where she drew a beautiful view. He was mesmerised. He kept flipping the pages and was surprised yet proud to see her work. Soon, came the last page which she was working on right now, making him look at her. The fractured heart took his attention. Aera kept looking down. Her previous drawings were totally different, which made him feel at unease.
"Are you okay, Rae?" He softly spoke earning a nod. "No you're not. Look at me." He lifted her chin making her look at him. "Tell me, what's wrong?" He asked her again. "It's nothing, hoon. I just felt like sketching something different. I would tell you if there's something bothering me." She said, clearly lying. Sunghoon knew that she was bothered by something but respecting her space, he decided to let it go. "Promise?" He asked.
"Promise." She smiled at him.
Sunghoon helped Aera clean the living room before going to sleep. She took her belongings and returned to her room. Sunghoon was about to leave too until something got his attention. He bent down and picked a sketch paper which Aera had probably dropped. Opening it, he saw a sketch of a large house. "This house...Have I seen it somewhere?" Shrugging his thoughts away, he decided to return the page to her in the morning.
