TL cheev4  •  ED pomegranad
R34d at bigbutad0rable. bl0gspot. c0m

I stayed awake almost until dawn. I managed to fall asleep for a while, but I had a nightmare. A nightmare about Choi Suho.

‘I like you, Yeol. I’ve liked you since I was little.’ In the dream, Choi Suho whispered to me so passionately. 'You're so cute.'

Suho's lips continued to taste me, then slowly slid down, to the side of my neck. My skin heated up at the tenacious kiss and tingled when he moved up and brushed against the tip of my ear.

"I'm going crazy..." Suho said in a very different tone than usual. His hands were clutching my waist tightly, so tightly that I was sure it would leave a print there. And I was surprisingly swept away by his blatant desire.

Stop it. Please stop it. Stop looking at me with those eyes. Still feeling Suho's hand moving under my shirt, I forced my eyes to open.

I cursed once I sat up and rolled up the blanket. My face felt like it was about to burst. Da*n Choi Suho. I got caught up in a dream because of what he said.

‘Could Choi Suho be dreaming about me too?’

I asked myself, but that only frustrated me even more. So I hurriedly kicked off the bed and got up. I went to the bathroom. I still couldn't shake off the thought of Choi Suho as I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and picked up my workout clothes.

Stop. Stop thinking about that guy. Not bothering to comb my disheveled hair, I put my jacket’s hood on. Since I was up, I thought I might as well go for a morning run. There's no better way than a workout to shake off random intrusive thoughts.

"Are you leaving already? Where are you going?" As I passed the living room, my mother asked. It was not yet seven o'clock.

"Gonna go jogging on the front trail."

Mother's eyes squinted.

"Yeol, you had a really bad fight with Suho, didn't you?"

"It's not like that."  

"Of course, it’s like that. You only go running with your face all messed up after you’ve you fought with Suho. And it's still dawn. You'll make the neighboring kids cry if you go out with that face."

"What's with my face? What do you want me to do when my dear old Mother was the one who gave birth to this face?"

"I did my best, boy. Blame it on your father's genes. All he likes is to overwork himself and forget about his wife and boys. Anyway, did you sleep well? Your eyes don't look all that good."

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why were you two even fighting in the first place?"

Mother clicked her tongue. She could guess right away that I had trouble sleeping because of that basteerd.

“Mrs. Park is talking weird again.”

I was going to come up with another reason, but since she had guessed it right, I said nothing more.

"You're very fond of Suho, but you always act like you're not. You were always worried whenever he couldn't go to school with you."

"That was a stone age ago."  

"Ai, my point still stands. You still get flustered by Suho even now."

Mrs. Park, you're really talking weird now. When did I ever get flustered by Choi Suho? However, something about her comment poked at my conscience. I closed my mouth back up.

"Tell me why you two fought."

No, I definitely could not tell her. So pretending not to hear, I darted out.

"I'm going running!"

"Yeol! Drink some juice before you go!"

I could feel my thighs and calves tense as I put pressure on my legs, my speed increased with every step I took down the stairs. Finally, the fresh morning air rushed into my nostrils as I passed through the automatic door.

It felt great. Moving my body made the useless thoughts fly out. Gradually, my muscles heated up and it became difficult to breathe. My legs were throbbing and my lungs were about to explode.

It was encouraging to be able to choose the amount and the quality of pain I would suffer. If I can endure pain close to my limit, the limit is increased. The longer I can endure, the better. If I keep going that way, there will come a time when I will be able to accept the things that once bothered me much more easily.

That was why I liked sports so much. It was invigorating to feel the changes happening to my body. The progress I got from all the sweating and exercise was intuitive and unmistakable. It was up to me to decide when I wanted to stop or when I wanted to continue.

Crossing the road around the apartment, a trail stretching straight by the river greeted me. Oh, if only my life was a smooth one-way like this, I could’ve breezily run through without any stops. Sadly, it was not. The world was too complicated to understand. I'm only twenty, but I'm already this overwhelmed.

I kicked the ground and ran as hard as I could. My vision faltered for a moment.

"Hey."

A voice suddenly called out, making me brake abruptly. I almost ran into the person in front of me. After staggering a few steps, I finally managed to balance myself.

What I see in front of me was an unexpected person.

"Lee Yujin."

I called her name without realizing it.

"Hi." Lee Yujin waved her hand awkwardly. "Since we live in the same apartment, we’re still running into each other, huh? Are you training?"

"Nah, just felt like running. What are you doing?"

"Just on a walk."

"At this time?"

"You’re here too."

"I’m here too indeed."

Awkward silence shrouded us for a moment, but then Lee Yujin burst into laughter. I scratched at the ground with my sneaker.

"What have you been doing recently?"

"Well, just working out really."

"I was worried since I haven't seen you after that day."

"Ah..."

"If you don't mind, could I bother you to talk with me over there for a second?" she pointed to a bench by the river. "I mean I can understand if you don't want to," she added cautiously.





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