When We're Together [양정완]

18.

Chae Aera arrived early at Byeoran High School on a Monday morning. The weather was foggy and gray, but her mood was the best it had been in a while.

Everything was going perfectly. She woke up on time, ate her favorite fruits for breakfast (strawberries and peaches), she was wearing her favorite oversized, lavender sweater, and she even had time to curl her hair so it fell perfectly around her face. Not to mention that she hadn't spotted Min Yuhan and his, now girlfriend, Park Haneul.

Her childhood friend hadn't apologized for what had happened and neither had his girlfriend, but to be honest, Chae Aera wasn't as sad as she thought she was going to be. She saw it more as a temporary thing; considering Haneul's personality, there was a low chance the couple would make it in the long run.

Aera had just entered her homeroom when she heard Kang Yoona call her from their desk. "Chae Aera! Come over here, quick!" Aera confusedly walked over and sat beside her friend who was hurriedly trying to find a photo in her extremely full camera roll. "Look at this!" she said, holding her phone out for Aera to take.

Aera took the phone and looked at the photo that filled the screen. It was a picture of a boy about their age. He had simple, wavy brown hair and wore silver earrings. In the photo, he was wearing the uniform of another school. Aera could tell since their school uniforms, which were navy, didn't match the boy in the photo's uniform, which was green.

The girl handed the phone back to her friend. "He's good looking, but I'm confused. Who is he?"

Yoona looked just as confused as Aera felt. "You didn't hear?"

Aera simply shook her head.

"There's a new student who's joining our class. This is him," she said pointing at her phone screen.

"In the middle of the year?"

Yoona nodded and shrugged. "Mhm. Not sure why though." She paused before adding, "Yet."

Aera thought about it. It was a strange time to join a high school, the middle of your second year; but honestly she was happy to have a new student join them. She was friendly and easy to get along with, so there was really nothing to worry about, right?

Just then, her thoughts were interrupted by a text.

Jungwon:
Are you at school yet?

Aera:
Yeah I'm in my homeroom

Jungwon:
Ok, wait there
read at 7:42 am

Aera tapped her fingers on her desk impatiently as she waited for the male to arrive. She was close to texting him again, when he appeared in the doorway, waving a strawberry milk. Another thing to add to her list of good things today.

He walked over to her seat and handed her the carton, which he had already prepared by poking the straw in. She took a big, happy sip before she turned to him. "You know, there's going to be a new student in my class apparently."

"In the middle of the year?" Jungwon tilted his head as he pulled up a chair beside her desk and sat in it. Aera nodded in response to his question.

"That's what I said too. I saw a picture of him already. I can already tell half the class is going to end up with a crush on him." She rolled her eyes at the thought of the amazing amount of helpless romantics class 3 contained.

"He's that good-looking?" The male raised an eyebrow. "Show me the picture." Aera tapped Yoona's shoulder and used her phone to show the boy the same photo she had seen. He was good looking, Jungwon thought, but for some reason, he got a bad feeling. He shook it off, nodding at the photo. "I guess he's okay."

"Okay? He looks like an angel!" Baram swooned, just thinking about the new boy. "And apparently, he's almost 6 feet tall!"

Jungwon instinctively pouted, mirroring the thoughts in his head. A few scenarios formed in his head, but when he thought of the new boy developing feelings for Aera and immediately pursed his lips as he tried to shake away the uncomfortable thought. Wait, huh? He wasn't jealous was he? No way.

"-won? Jungwoooon?" Aera's voice snapped him back to reality. "Huh?"

She elbowed him. "It's 7:56. You should head back to your homeroom." The male mindlessly nodded, still contemplating what he had just discovered about himself. It wasn't, right? Did he have feelings for Chae Aera?