the summer of 1993 ── dohwa baek - Chapter 7: Chapter 7
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"The heat is killing me."
Dohwa chugged down an entire bottle of chilled water, releasing a sigh of relief as soon as his thirst was alleviated.
Eunhyeok cracked an amused smile at the blond's juvenile complaint.
"Is that so? You look very much alive to me."
"Su-ae, did you hear someone speak just now?" Dohwa feigned ignorance, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead. "No?"
"Can you two stop behaving like pesky cats for once?" Su-ae quipped.
She was trying her best to focus on the art piece in front of her, but the exasperating duo looming behind her wouldn't stop squabbling— not even for a single second, and that ignited her annoyance to no return. At her snarky tone, both boys sealed their lips shut, resorting to admiring her work from afar.
Unfortunately, Dohwa couldn't stand being silent in the slightest, no matter how hard he tried.
"...There's actually a cat named Dohwa. I know him."
Eunhyeok and Su-ae snapped their necks to stare at him in disbelief. "Huh?"
"Yeah! Someone I talk to named her cat after me. Isn't that cool?"
"Someone you talk to..." Su-ae trailed off, a teasing smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Has the ever-so-lonely Baek Dohwa finally befriended someone? Or is it perhaps a crush?"
He clicked his tongue. "Can you not? It's neither of the two. It's simply a... symbiotic relationship. We help each other by oversharing."
"...I'll pretend that I understand your excuse."
"He will do anything but be honest." Eunhyeok mumbled, earning an infuriated glare from Dohwa.
The conversation dwindled to mere whispers of the grass blades outside the art room's window. Trees swayed with the breeze that rushed to win a race without a finish line, dragging the greens and yellows of the leaves and flowers along with it. Nowhere near pleasing, nowhere near relaxing; the wind was a brutal slap of the summer on everyone's faces.
Dohwa's gaze trailed to Su-ae, as he anticipated a skip of his heartbeat. It never happened. She was right there, dancing her brush along perfect curves and crescents. Her hair never changed. Her eyes never changed. That concentrated expression clinging to her visage never changed.
But his feelings did.
Su-ae was just... Su-ae. An amazing friend. A fun person to be around. Someone he could trust with everything. He wasn't certain why his greed always forced him into wanting more, when what he had all this time was sufficient.
"Take a break. You look tired." Eunhyeok rested his fingers on Su-ae's shoulder, grasping her attention. She beamed at him.
"I was thinking the same. You guys have been waiting for me to finish for like, an hour. Sorry, I kinda lose track of time."
"The field looks like..." Dohwa tried to search for a compliment, "...a field. Great job."
Eunhyeok rolled his eyes. "Wow. Such heartfelt words."
"That's just the way he appreciates things." Su-ae shrugged, grabbing her canvas and propping it against a wall. In a swift motion, she neatly adjusted all her art supplies and then belted an exhausted sigh. "All done. We should attend our classes now."
"Ew. classes."
"You're failing, Dohwa." Eunhyeok said with a snort.
"Su-ae, there was a tingle in my ear right now. Was someone talking?"
And the boys erupted into yet another playful argument. Su-ae shook her head, finding their antics more hilarious than irritating.
Ping.
Dohwa fished his phone out upon hearing the familiar notification sound, his footsteps blindly tracing Eunhyeok and Su-ae's. The moment he unlocked the device, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Goosebumps.
Fear.
Apprehension.
Hatred.
All of them attacked him at once, his breath getting caught in his throat due to the sudden overwhelming emotions.
What does he want from me?
[ 1:27 PM ]
Dad:
I'll stop by your apartment on Wednesday.
Call me when you see this.
"Get back home this instant!"
"No!"
Y/N hissed into the receiver, glancing around nervously to make sure that she wasn't disrupting the peace of Eunji's family. She wanted to say a lot, and everything was sitting at the tip of her tongue, but she chose not to. Her words shot to kill when she was mad— she didn't want to spew them out, only to regret them later.
Her mother released a tired puff of air on the other line. "Stop bothering Eunji's parents. Why did you go to her house?"
"Because you practically disowned me!"
"I was angry, okay? I still am! Come right now— and stop running off to your friends' houses without telling me, you hear? I was worried!"
"No. You were going to slap me." Y/N grumbled, curling the telephone's wire with her fingers. "And you will do it again. I'm not returning until Dad is back from work."
"What?" Her mother gasped, "L/N Y/N. I will come to Eunji's place myself and drag you home by your ear if you won't listen to me."
Y/N knew damn well that she would.
"...I gave my re-exam! It went wonderful! Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"
"You slept through the first one, you little brat! Do you not take your grades seriously?! How are you going to get into a good colleg—"
There was no point in bickering with her anymore. She hung up the call, slamming the receiver, gently, because it wasn't hers. Trudging on ahead, she made a beeline for Eunji's room, as if her body was on autopilot.
"That sounded... intense." Eunji chuckled awkwardly, watching as Y/N slumped into a chair.
"I cannot miss the academy. I'll have to go back."
"So you're leaving?"
"I'm leaving."
They fell quiet. There wasn't much to talk about when one person was drowning in misery and the other was trying to pull them out of it. Seconds turned to minutes turned to forever before Eunji got up on her feet, wrapping her friend in an affectionate embrace.
Y/N melted into the touch, a stinging sensation behind her eyes forcing her to keep them wide open. She was grateful to have her friends, but her mother was right about one thing.
Stop bothering Eunji's parents.
How much longer could she run away from her life and seek refuge in somebody else's shadow?
She did that with Kai, and the interdependence made her unable to cope with his departure when he left for Daegu to pursue his studies. Anxiety crept onto her spine, making her wonder if the same would happen with Dokja, Seojun and Eunji if she relied too much on them.
I want to talk to someone...
Someone who didn't know her. Someone who wouldn't judge her. Someone who'd just listen to everything she had to say.
"Dohwa."
Eunji perked up at the sudden mention of his name. "What about him?"
"Oh. Nothing." Y/N blinked, then pulled the money out of the pocket of her jeans. She had enough to call him.
"Will you be alright? Do I ask my mom to convince yours into staying over?"
"Don't worry, you've done enough. I love you."
Eunji grimaced. "Ew. Get your ass out of here if you're going to act all sappy."
Y/N laughed at her sourness, navigating her way through the twists and turns of Eunji's house to reach the main gate.
Despite it being almost evening, the temperature was drastically high, picking at her skin like a sea of needles.
July had started, flaring a spark of poignance somewhere in the distance; warm and soft.
Dohwa chugged down an entire bottle of chilled water, releasing a sigh of relief as soon as his thirst was alleviated.
Eunhyeok cracked an amused smile at the blond's juvenile complaint.
"Is that so? You look very much alive to me."
"Su-ae, did you hear someone speak just now?" Dohwa feigned ignorance, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead. "No?"
"Can you two stop behaving like pesky cats for once?" Su-ae quipped.
She was trying her best to focus on the art piece in front of her, but the exasperating duo looming behind her wouldn't stop squabbling— not even for a single second, and that ignited her annoyance to no return. At her snarky tone, both boys sealed their lips shut, resorting to admiring her work from afar.
Unfortunately, Dohwa couldn't stand being silent in the slightest, no matter how hard he tried.
"...There's actually a cat named Dohwa. I know him."
Eunhyeok and Su-ae snapped their necks to stare at him in disbelief. "Huh?"
"Yeah! Someone I talk to named her cat after me. Isn't that cool?"
"Someone you talk to..." Su-ae trailed off, a teasing smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Has the ever-so-lonely Baek Dohwa finally befriended someone? Or is it perhaps a crush?"
He clicked his tongue. "Can you not? It's neither of the two. It's simply a... symbiotic relationship. We help each other by oversharing."
"...I'll pretend that I understand your excuse."
"He will do anything but be honest." Eunhyeok mumbled, earning an infuriated glare from Dohwa.
The conversation dwindled to mere whispers of the grass blades outside the art room's window. Trees swayed with the breeze that rushed to win a race without a finish line, dragging the greens and yellows of the leaves and flowers along with it. Nowhere near pleasing, nowhere near relaxing; the wind was a brutal slap of the summer on everyone's faces.
Dohwa's gaze trailed to Su-ae, as he anticipated a skip of his heartbeat. It never happened. She was right there, dancing her brush along perfect curves and crescents. Her hair never changed. Her eyes never changed. That concentrated expression clinging to her visage never changed.
But his feelings did.
Su-ae was just... Su-ae. An amazing friend. A fun person to be around. Someone he could trust with everything. He wasn't certain why his greed always forced him into wanting more, when what he had all this time was sufficient.
"Take a break. You look tired." Eunhyeok rested his fingers on Su-ae's shoulder, grasping her attention. She beamed at him.
"I was thinking the same. You guys have been waiting for me to finish for like, an hour. Sorry, I kinda lose track of time."
"The field looks like..." Dohwa tried to search for a compliment, "...a field. Great job."
Eunhyeok rolled his eyes. "Wow. Such heartfelt words."
"That's just the way he appreciates things." Su-ae shrugged, grabbing her canvas and propping it against a wall. In a swift motion, she neatly adjusted all her art supplies and then belted an exhausted sigh. "All done. We should attend our classes now."
"Ew. classes."
"You're failing, Dohwa." Eunhyeok said with a snort.
"Su-ae, there was a tingle in my ear right now. Was someone talking?"
And the boys erupted into yet another playful argument. Su-ae shook her head, finding their antics more hilarious than irritating.
Ping.
Dohwa fished his phone out upon hearing the familiar notification sound, his footsteps blindly tracing Eunhyeok and Su-ae's. The moment he unlocked the device, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Goosebumps.
Fear.
Apprehension.
Hatred.
All of them attacked him at once, his breath getting caught in his throat due to the sudden overwhelming emotions.
What does he want from me?
[ 1:27 PM ]
Dad:
I'll stop by your apartment on Wednesday.
Call me when you see this.
"Get back home this instant!"
"No!"
Y/N hissed into the receiver, glancing around nervously to make sure that she wasn't disrupting the peace of Eunji's family. She wanted to say a lot, and everything was sitting at the tip of her tongue, but she chose not to. Her words shot to kill when she was mad— she didn't want to spew them out, only to regret them later.
Her mother released a tired puff of air on the other line. "Stop bothering Eunji's parents. Why did you go to her house?"
"Because you practically disowned me!"
"I was angry, okay? I still am! Come right now— and stop running off to your friends' houses without telling me, you hear? I was worried!"
"No. You were going to slap me." Y/N grumbled, curling the telephone's wire with her fingers. "And you will do it again. I'm not returning until Dad is back from work."
"What?" Her mother gasped, "L/N Y/N. I will come to Eunji's place myself and drag you home by your ear if you won't listen to me."
Y/N knew damn well that she would.
"...I gave my re-exam! It went wonderful! Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"
"You slept through the first one, you little brat! Do you not take your grades seriously?! How are you going to get into a good colleg—"
There was no point in bickering with her anymore. She hung up the call, slamming the receiver, gently, because it wasn't hers. Trudging on ahead, she made a beeline for Eunji's room, as if her body was on autopilot.
"That sounded... intense." Eunji chuckled awkwardly, watching as Y/N slumped into a chair.
"I cannot miss the academy. I'll have to go back."
"So you're leaving?"
"I'm leaving."
They fell quiet. There wasn't much to talk about when one person was drowning in misery and the other was trying to pull them out of it. Seconds turned to minutes turned to forever before Eunji got up on her feet, wrapping her friend in an affectionate embrace.
Y/N melted into the touch, a stinging sensation behind her eyes forcing her to keep them wide open. She was grateful to have her friends, but her mother was right about one thing.
Stop bothering Eunji's parents.
How much longer could she run away from her life and seek refuge in somebody else's shadow?
She did that with Kai, and the interdependence made her unable to cope with his departure when he left for Daegu to pursue his studies. Anxiety crept onto her spine, making her wonder if the same would happen with Dokja, Seojun and Eunji if she relied too much on them.
I want to talk to someone...
Someone who didn't know her. Someone who wouldn't judge her. Someone who'd just listen to everything she had to say.
"Dohwa."
Eunji perked up at the sudden mention of his name. "What about him?"
"Oh. Nothing." Y/N blinked, then pulled the money out of the pocket of her jeans. She had enough to call him.
"Will you be alright? Do I ask my mom to convince yours into staying over?"
"Don't worry, you've done enough. I love you."
Eunji grimaced. "Ew. Get your ass out of here if you're going to act all sappy."
Y/N laughed at her sourness, navigating her way through the twists and turns of Eunji's house to reach the main gate.
Despite it being almost evening, the temperature was drastically high, picking at her skin like a sea of needles.
July had started, flaring a spark of poignance somewhere in the distance; warm and soft.
End of the summer of 1993 ── dohwa baek Chapter 7. Continue reading Chapter 8 or return to the summer of 1993 ── dohwa baek book page.