Lotus sighed as she flipped to the other side of her bed. Her fingers softly traced a wrinkle in her covers as she stared with half-lidded eyes. With all her schoolwork done, her game stuck on a level, and her friends she had met online busy, everything was so boring.
It wasn't like she didn't try to play with her plushies. She began to but got embarrassed at the thought of one of her brothers stumbling onto her giving her bear plush a voice as it talked to her rabbit plush. Not only was she too old to be doing that, but her older brothers would most likely keep teasing her about it until the end of time if they did so catch her doing that.
She had paper and a pencil, but she was terrible at art and couldn't bring herself at trying her hand at literature despite being a big reader herself. And the books she had, she just felt too bored to attempt to read. And her chores were already done, as well as the rest of her sibling's chores. There was simply nothing to do.
With a deep sigh, she rolled off of her bed onto the ground before jumping onto her feet. She trudged out of her room, slowly blinking as Jin was taking over the sofa, laying on his back as he flipped through one of their little brother's books.
"Look who came out of her cave," He commented as he glanced over to her before closing the book and setting it on the small pile of books on the coffee table, "Mom told me to tell you to turn these back in to the library."
"...Okay," She reluctantly said, "But she actually told you to, didn't she?"
"No~" He stretched the vowel, "Just go do it, I'm busy doing nothing."
"I will, but why aren't you at school?"
The end of the school day was coming to an end but that didn't mean it still wasn't going on. He should've been in class, but he was lazily on the couch doing nothing.
"I'm sick," He answered before giving a fake cough, "Wouldn't want to spread it."
Lotus just gave a nod and retreated into her room to put on something under her hoodie. Sure, it was long enough for her to run around inside, but it wasn't decent enough to go outside in.
After getting ready and scooping the books in her arms since they didn't fit in her bag, she slipped on her shoes at the door, hopping out the door to get them all of the way on.
The sky was dreary as it looked down upon all of the people who were mere ants compared to the vast void. The air was slightly humid, calling for rain however Lotus was sure it wasn't going to. A forty per cent chance rain was of no concern to her.
The walk to the library was long and she was sure her hair was getting frizzy from the humidity and sweat glistening on her skin, but it provided her something to do. After all, she rarely got out so this helped. At least she could tell her mom she recently got "fresh air" if her mom tried to force her out again.
Her entrance into the library was silent. No one cared enough to spare her any attention as she set the books on the counter and sneaked off so she didn't have to face the librarian who was busy on the computer. Despite her aching feet begging for her to rest, she explored the building.
The books at home were good and she still needed to finish them all, but she couldn't just leave without checking out at least one. The books she owned, she had all the time in the world to read. The book from here, however, she always needed to return which motivated her to fully read them. Not to mention she was craving some thriller— a genre of which she did not have at home.
Gathering a few books, she quickly checked them out before eagerly making her way to the exit. She wasn't in there for too long, but outside had darkened considerably. As long as she got back before it was fully dark, it didn't matter.
As she stepped out the doors of the library, she pouted. Maybe she shouldn't have decided not to care for the weather. It was not spitting but raining.
The little droplets of the windows when she was inside made her think it was only a light fall. At least it wasn't a heavy downpour. She covered her head with her hood and stuffed the books she got under her hoodie. This would do little to protect both the book and her head, but it's the attempt that matters.
Others were far more prepared than she was. Those who passed her by held umbrellas, some giving her a patronizing look as if telling her she should've brought an umbrella. She could only feel shame as some looked her way, but she wholly agreed with them.
She let out a breath before making her way home, hugging the books in her hoodie to make sure they didn't fall. The sound of the bottom of her shoes hitting the wet ground was oddly pleasing to her ears combined with the pitter-patter of the rain. Occasionally she would look down at the water that the ground had yet to soak up.
Slowly, she came to a stop by the bus stop.
'I'm just going to take the bus home,' She told herself only to stop herself, 'But I'm trying to save my money! Dang it...'
Deciding that she could always wait until the next time she gets an allowance, she took cover under the overhead. She was almost in the rain again as she tried not to get close to the dry people who were spared from having to face the weather head-on. She couldn't sit on the bench due to not wanting to get anyone wet and people were already standing close together so they wouldn't get rained on.
"Haaa." She sighed out, shifting to settle all of her weight on one foot. Her elbow brushed against someone causing her heart to leap slightly.
"Sorry," She murmured, glancing at who was unlucky enough for her wet arm to soil their undoubtedly dry shirt.
They looked down at her with an inscrutable expression. Lotus stared in alarm at the tall boy. This boy was the one who was with that blond malefactor. Though she did feel the need to be cautious, this boy was less intimidating than the other one.
"Do I know you?" He questioned as he caught the familiarity in her eyes.
"I... I don't think so... But do you know that blond boy with the red eyes?" She was hesitant to ask but did so anyway.
She knew for a fact that boy did know the blondie or else he wouldn't have been with him at the store that one day. But there was a little piece in her that wanted to be assured that maybe she misrecognized the boy while the other piece was genuinely curious about the blond who caused her to be so on edge in the first place.
It wasn't like that blond had done anything to harm her. He didn't taunt her or hit her. He didn't remind her of— Ella. It was most likely just the way he was so, so very scary paired with that cocky attitude of his.
The tall boy was silent for a few moments as he stared at the bus approaching. He mulled over if he should tell her or if he should play with her a little and tell her no. As he thought about it, he did vaguely remember her from a week ago.
The way she looked at Donald Na like a small scared animal as Donald poked at her fear for amusement. He made a comment about how funny it was as they were walking away. An almost deadened huff left his nose.
"I do recall someone like that," He answered.
"That's... Nice..." Her voice held both contrition and satisfaction.
He hummed out in confirmation before questioning her, "Why do you want to know?"
"Oh!" She followed after him as everyone began to get on the bus that stopped before them, "I saw you with him that one day! Or, at least, I think it was you."
"So you know him enough," The tall boy commented as he made it down the aisle of the bus after paying the driver.
Lotus frantically got out how much won she needed and paid before scurrying to sit down. Coincidentally, beside the boy. She squeezed the strap of her bag, her foot anxiously tapping the ground.
"I don't really know him," She uttered, "I've just seen him around."
He turned his head to look at her completely. His calculating gaze just made her feel smaller. "He seemed to know you." He commented.
Her eyes that were wide with wariness slowly blinked. She was beginning to seem even more confused. He could almost see wrinkles forming on her forehead.
"Know me? He doesn't even know my name." She countered.
Sure, he did act as if they were friends. The shoulder touch, the informal tone, the teasing look. But she didn't know him, they've never spoken until that one time of meeting. Come to think of it, that was only her second time seeing him.
"Then what is it?" The tall boy interrogated her, causing her to tilted her head.
"What?"
"Your name."
"Right! Uh, yeah, well it's—" She debated if she should tell this kid or not before doing so, "Lotus Gyeon."
"I see," He remarked.
Her nails picked at the chains on her bag's strap as they fell into an awkward silence. It was mainly just awkward on her part as it seemed he didn't care.
She wanted to know his name but was too afraid to ask. He probably wouldn't tell her his name anyway. Her doubts caused her to just looked down at her lap.
The bus was filled with chatter that never made it above the average pitch used inside. The respectful noise distracted her enough from the boy beside her. It almost felt relaxing with the rolling of the bus if only she liked crowds.
As the bus stopped near the familiar buildings, she stood up, passively glimpsing at the boy before rushing off as if she had a tail sticking between her legs. Her head was met with the rain once more. The sky providing more fuel to keep her shivering.
With that, she began running her usual route back home, careful of the puddles gathering at the sides of the street. Some people just weren't kind enough to move out of the way of them as seen when a passing car rode through one, spraying the people who stayed near the road as they walked.
Upon arriving, she was blessed to see no brothers in the main room eager to joke about her state. Though she knew they were home by the noise from their rooms. She could even faintly hear her father telling them to shut up.
A sigh of relief almost exited her lips as she waddled through the room after taking her shoes off. The books under her soaking hoodie were begging to fall causing her to rush to her bedroom.
She stretched her hoodie in front of her, letting the books drop to the floor with a loud thud. They were wet, as far as she could see. The hardcovers might have been damp, but the pages were protected. The paperback books, however, weren't.
"Oh my," She sighed out as she flipped through the pages of the paperback.
She quickly set the books in front of the A/C before getting ready to take a shower. For once after going outside, she wasn't so jumpy. Fortune decided to be nice and grace her with the slightly less menacing boy whom she felt a tad bit more comfortable conversing with. He made the rain a little more bearable to be out in.
'Even so, I hope I don't see him again. If he's around, who knows if that other one will be there with him.'
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The rain had long since dried up, leaving no trace of the dreary weather. Two boys lingered near each other, comfortable in the presence of each other despite no words yet to be shared.
"I ran into that girl yesterday," Kingsley commented.
Donald Na sent a look of acknowledgement his way before letting out a low croon, "Who?"
"The girl from the store. The one who looks skittish," He explained.
The image of Lotus popped into both of their minds. Skittish was an accurate description of her. Despite only seeing her two times, she always jumped over nothing.
"Ah, the little kitten. What about her?" Donald questioned.
Kingsley narrowed his eyes at Donald. He had already given her an epithet. It made him question if they really did not personally know each other. Her curiosity seemed so real, however, so he supposed she wasn't lying about barely knowing Donald.
"Kitten?" He repeated.
"You've seen her." Donald pointed out, "Doesn't she remind you of a fluffy kitten? Helpless without its mother, wandering around in confusion."
He chuckled as he added, "It's hilarious how she seems so easily scared."
"You're interested," Kingsley said, almost in a querying tone.
"It gets boring," Donald Na retorted.
Kingsley paused, surveying the blond boy. He didn't seem bothered by the conversation. There was no annoyance nor joy in his face. Just the suave mien that usually emitted from the boy.
"...If it's of any help, her name is Lotus Gyeon," He stated.
Donald Na chuckled, "You say that like I want to know more about her."
"You might as well know if you want to taunt her more." He expressed, knowing Donald Na would most likely do so if he and the girl crossed paths again.
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