clara.
the sudden drop of the atmosphere can’t be denied . usually , their breaks consists of teasing and laughter . now , both of them are just silent eating a cold corn dog . how does she exactly react in this kind of situation ? does she press more on the subject or just let it slide ? it’s not like his little lies personally caused her any harm . though , she must admit . when she learned that he was seeing someone —— there was a slight pinch on her chest . but it can be attributed to the fact that she simply hates sharing anyone in her life . knowing that she has to share him with someone else did bother her but she knows where she stands and where the line is . they are coworkers ; friends at most . when the other started to clear his throat , she took a look at him . “ it’s a bit dry , huh ? ” she said as she slowly slides her banana milk to share . his question made her evaluate how she really feels about the situation . she’s not exactly upset about it . in fact , she can even confidently claim that she is relieved . she doesn’t really have to share her dear friend with anyone . with a lighthearted smile , she shook her head as a response . “ not upset . just curious . why did you feel the need to lie to me ? ” she curiously asked as she started to picks on her food . “ is it because the guys are teasing you that i have a crush on you and you felt the need to make a girlfriend to somehow push me away ? ” maybe she is a little bit nicer and cheerier when she’s with him but that doesn’t mean anything right ? she simply enjoys his company and that’s about it …. at least that’s what she believes . “ you know it’s not true . they just enjoy making fun of me . ”
‘ thanks, ’ minki muttered as he reached for the banana milk to steal a swig, grateful for the momentary reprieve. he really hadn’t thought any of this through at all --- had blurted it out one day to another coworker, unaware of the way it might spread through their little group like slow-catching wildfire. minki had never been one for gossip growing up, if only because he hadn’t really had anyone to gossip about. but he certainly understood it these days, couldn’t even fault them for managing to share his lie with everybody else. & the fact was that he had enjoyed the lie at first, enjoyed its protection as well as the warm possibilities he could think up at a moment’s notice --- possibilities that had never happened ( with anyone, thus far ), a now-pathetic little extension of silly and occasional fantasies. he had a brief moment to feel relief underneath his shame, that she at least wasn’t angry or hurt, until clara was getting almost to the heart of it with no warning. ‘ i wasn’t trying to push you away ! ’ about this he was adamant. because that was where her assumption faulted --- he would never. but it had been one of the main culprits of their teasing who he’d first told about his new girlfriend, & he couldn’t pretend it didn’t embarrass him whenever they brought up his relationship with clara, leave him flustered and forgetting orders. ‘ it wasn’t like that. i just... wanted them to stop bringing it up all the time, you know ? ’ he was flushed again, even more self-consciousness curdling his stomach as she confirmed that it was all a joke anyway. ‘ & it worked, right ? you all believed me... except i guess i only really felt weird lying to you. ’ & that was the truth of it --- he could certainly keep this up with the others if it meant a reprieve from the commentary whenever he and clara would come back from a shared break.
