TW: Child Abuse
"Hey! Are you avoiding me?" Yejun confronted Sarang.
Sarang getting more embarrassed, buried her head in the script she was holding. "Please don't talk to me now." She pleaded.
"Whyyyy? Are you being shy? I was able to kiss you on the forehead yesterday" teased Yejun.
"This is obviously different you know. I am the one doing the kissing now." She said still buried in her script.
"You don't want to do it with me?"
Shocked, Sarang raised her head and loudly said "NO! I want to do it with you. B-but I get embarrassed too you know."
Aaaah her blushing face it too cute. Thought Yejun to himself. "What did you say to me yesterday? Its okay, you can kiss me. You know you can do that to me as well. Its okay, you can kiss me too." Assured Yejun while smiling.
Sarang in awe at Yejun's confidence and charming smile suddenly had the urge to kiss Yejun on the cheek. Unconsciously, her face got near Yejun's and right then and there Sarang kissed Yejun's cheeks.
Time seemed to slow down for both, as they looked each other in the eye. Yejun touched the cheek Sarang kissed and Sarang immediately looked away. They stayed quiet until a crew called for both.
***
The rest of the shoot went on smoothly and now it's time for kiss scene.
"Sarang dear are you ok doing this scene? Let me know if you are uncomfortable." The director asked Sarang.
"Y-yes I'm fine director but please give me a minute to brace myself." Sarang said shyly.
"Of course, dear. Let me know when you are ready."
Sarang did a little breathing exercise to calm her nerves, looked at Yejun who was staring at her nervously and said, "I'm ready!"
The crew had set up to shoot the scene. Sarang has perfectly delivered her lines and was now ready to kiss Yejun. She looked at him in the eyes, hands going to his right cheek and slowly she leans to his left cheek and left a really sweet kiss.
"Aaand cut! That was perfect you two!" The director was nothing but praises for the two's performance. But the set noticed that the two were really quiet for a while now. They have not moved from their spot. Seeing their faces so red the staff started teasing them.
"Sarang Yejun sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" The staff cheered and teased the two, but they could only cover their faces with their palms.
Sarang don't know what to do and just stood there in embarrassment until she felt someone holding her hands down to lift it from covering her face. Sarang lifted her face and saw Yejun holding her hands.
"A-are you ok?" Asked Yejun nervously.
"Y-yes, I think I'm fine."
"You want to get out and buy ice cream? I saw a B-brand ice cream near here."
"Can we leave the set already?"
"Yes, I think we are done for today."
"You guys can call it a day now. See you two next week. You guys are really good today, the shoot ended early as anticipated." The director told the two cheerily.
"Thank you, director!" Yejun and Sarang answered at the same time.
Sarang and Yejun are still awkward with each other, but they peacefully went out for ice cream. A lot of people have recognized Sarang at the ice cream shop and took pictures of her. Fortunately, they did not bother the teen as much as Yejun thought. Some people have also recognized Yejun from the small projects he made during his early months after debut.
Sarang got her usual strawberry ice cream while Yejun got chocolate this time. "Are you sure one scoop is enough Sarang? We can get more." Asked by their manager.
"This is enough manager. It's the time of the week for my mom to check my weight."
"Your mom checks your weight every week?" asked Yejun with a shocked tone.
"Your mom doesn't?" Asked Sarang back. Yejun was really confused but she noticed that Sarang was genuine when she asked him back. Yejun does not want to make things more awkward and just dismissed the topic. He was happy enough to eat ice cream with Sarang after a day full of tension.
****
Yejun and Sarang does not have any schedule for the day, but Yejun decided to go to the agency to do some acting training. He wanted to greet the company president first, but upon stepping on the door to the president's office, Yejun could feel a tension. He was supposed to knock when the door opened and there, he saw Sarang with bloodshot eyes and a bruised cheek.
Both were shocked to see each other. "S-Sarang? What happened to your cheek?" His hand moved to Sarang's bruised cheek.
Sarang flinched at his touch and seemed a little scared as her gazed moved away from him. The president immediately intervened as he saw Sarang become uncomfortable. "Yejun! What brings you here? You were supposed to have a rest day today?" While talking, Sarang was able to move in front of Yejun to the president's back, seemingly hiding from anyone who passes by.
"That is not important right now Pres! Sarang is hurt!" Shouted Yejun. It was a good thing no one is out of the office. But the president still prompted them to go inside the office.
"Let's go inside first Yejun."
Sarang tried to go inside first but Yejun was fast in holding her hand. "Don't let go." He said with a pleading tone.
Both of them sat down in the office sofa. Yejun still staring at Sarang's face, but Sarang still has her face facing the floor not looking at Yejun. Yejun held Sarang's hand tighter not saying anything seemingly waiting for Sarang to speak. Sarang feeling Yejun's sympathy is now close to tears, but she still could not look away from the floor but still managed to speak. "I-I want ice cream. Yejun, can we eat ice cream again today?" Sarang's voice croaked as she held her tears back.
"Do you want the strawberry one from B-brand?" asked Yejun in a very gentle tone.
"Y-yes. Can I have three scoops?"
"My allowance today can give you five scoops." Sarang lifted her head and saw Yejun smiling gently at her. The moment Sarang saw how Yejun was smiling at her, her tears immediately fell from her eyes and is now running through her cheeks. Yejun got flustered and immediately wiped Sarang's tears.
"Oh no, how am I gonna buy ice cream if you are crying like this?" She asked while wiping Sarang's tears. Sarang could only answer in wails as she cried. The president seeing the situation went out of his office quietly to give the two spaces.
Yejun, who has no clue how to make Sarang stop crying was only able to hug her as she cries like a child.
****
It took less than thirty minutes for Sarang to calm down. Her eyes were puffy and red along with her cheeks and nose. Yejun was there quietly wiping Sarang's tears and snot using a tissue.
"Are you feeling better now?" Yejun asked.
"Yes, I think i-im a little better now."
"Do you still want your five-scoop strawberry ice cream?"
Sarang nodded. "You wait here, okay? I will buy the ice cream, and we will eat here as well." Sarang nodded in agreement again.
"Please do not take long." Said Sarang as she looks at Yejun with wide eyes. Yejun ruffled Sarang's hair and then caressed her bruised cheek.
"I will be back." Said Yejun as he smiled at Sarang.
Yejun hurriedly went out and was able to buy ice cream in less than thirty minutes. She saw Sarang crouched in sofa, legs up and heads on her knees. Yejun tapped her lightly and showed her the tub of ice cream he bought when she looked up.
Sarang gave Yejun a tight hug upon seeing him and let go after a couple of seconds.
"Do you want to eat the ice cream here? Or do you want to eat somewhere else?" Asked Yejun.
"Let's eat here. I don't want anybody else seeing me like this. President also went out and might be back much later."
They ate their ice cream in silence. When Sarang's tub was halfway done, she started too talk. "It was my mom." She spoke.
"W-what?"
"Last night I gained around 1.5 kilos from last week. She got angry and slapped me two times on the same cheek."
"Just because you gained weight. But you are so skinny right now. Where is Mr. Oh? Your dad?"
"Dad is on a business trip. I could not call him since I don't have a phone yet. I could not call through landline because my mom locked me all night in the bathroom."
"YOU SLEPT ON THE BATHROOM?!" Yejun was so shocked his voice echoed throughout the room.
Sarang started to cry again but was able to muster words.
"S-she only opened the door when it was already around 5am. I got so scared -hic. The floors were so cold -hic. Mom said she was sorry and put ointment on my face. But she said it was my fault for gaining weight -hic."
Yejun hugged Sarang really tight. He felt his shirt getting wet from Sarang's tears.
"She is usually not like this -hic. She used to only punish me for 3 hours."
"How did you get out of your house?"
"I called dad when mom went out to go to the grocery. She had manager to pick me up while my mom was gone. President talked to my mom. He threatened her to report what happened to the police. But Yejun -hic. We don't have any evidence -hic." Sarang cried louder.
"Sarang do you want to stay at our house until your dad comes back?"