When We're Together [양정완]

05.

When Min Yuhan and his mom finally arrived at the Chae residence, Aera tried her very best to act normal. To her pleasant surprise, Yuhan acted as if her confession had never happened.

The two sat beside each other at the rectangular dinner table, chatting about this and that. Aera smiled to herself. He was right, she thought, we're better off as friends. Honestly, talking with Yuhan like normal made the girl feel like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

As the adults laughed and joked with each other, Aera and Yuhan excused themselves to go hang out in the living room. The two sat on the couch and laughed with each other and they both felt relieved that their friendship had returned to normal.

The girl grabbed the TV remote off the couch beside her and the screen lit up. "Do you wanna watch anything?" she said as she passed the boy the remote. The boy clicked through a couple youtube videos before stopping on a video of a weird looking fish swimming sideways.

"Hey, this reminds me of you," he chuckled as she girl tackled him trying to grab the remote back from his hand.

"Hey! what is that supposed to mean??" She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him as she charged towards him.

"Aera!" Haru peeked his head around the corner to find his sister mercilessly beating the boy with a couch pillow.

"Hm?" the girl hummed as she continued hitting her poor friend with the pillow.

"Uh- anyways, Mom said Yuhan's mom is calling him."

Chae Aera finally released the boy and he quickly made his way down the hall way towards the kitchen.

Once the Min's left, Aera returned to her room in a good mood. Somehow, smacking the boy with a pillow seemed to have healed her broken heart.

A buzz interrupted her thoughts as she noticed that she had gotten a new message from an unknown number.

Unknown Caller:
Hello, is this Chae Aera?

Aera:
Yes, that's me
Who is this?

Unknown Caller:
Yang Jungwon

Aera:
Oh, Hi

Jungwon:
Do you want to meet in the library again tomorrow?

Aera:
Sure, that sound's good

The girl threw herself onto her bed and shut her eyes, feeling a wave of tiredness washing over her.

~~~

It was lunch break and Yang Jungwon stood on Byeoran High School's rooftop, feeling the refreshing breeze blowing his hair and hearing the sounds of the cars on the street below. The boy sat down on a bench facing the doors. He tilted his head back as he closed his eyes, feeling the sun's rays beaming down on the backs of his eyelids. The cool air brushed his face as he tried to clear his head.

Earlier that day, he had over heard a group of girls in the hallway whispering about Hwang Minhye, the boy's childhood friend and first love. He heard them say that she had confessed her feelings to some third year boy and the two had begun going out.

Even though Jungwon had lost feelings for her a long time ago, he still felt a pang in his heart when he overheard the news. Maybe it was because he knew he wouldn't be the only boy in Minhye's life anymore. Or maybe it was because if she was with anybody else, he wouldn't be there to protect her if her new boyfriend hurt her.

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Oh? Yang Jungwon?" The boy opened his eyes to see the girl he seemed to keep running into recently, Chae Aera.

"What are you doing up here?" the girl stood by the rooftop entrance, staring at him.

"Thinking." He said as he watched the girl approach him. "What about you?"

Aera set her bag on the floor and sat down beside the boy. 

"Hiding."

"Hiding?"

"Mhm."

The two sat in a calm silence, listening to the white noise of the wind and the cars down below. The bow shut his eyes once more and sighed. After a minute, he broke the silence.

"Nevermind."

"Nevermind what?"

"I don't want to think anymore." He said as he opened his eyes and turned towards the girl. He stood and stretched his legs, then picked up his bag and hung it over his shoulder. "Let's go."

"Go where?" The girl looked up at him as he took a step towards the door.

"I don't know. The library?"

"I can't." 

"Hm? Why not?"

Aera paused for a second and shifted her focus to the floor. "The person I'm hiding from is there."

Just before she had come to the roof top, Chae Aera had gone to the library to study, but instead she found something that made her want to hide. Min Yuhan, with a girl.