When We're Together [양정완]

25.

a/n: made this chapter kinda longer so enjoy!!

Chae Aera happily made her way down the hall and out to the courtyard, waving to the students she knew (which was almost everybody) along the way. The girl stopped in front of a classroom door and peeked though the window. She scanned the inside, and finding no one, quietly opened the door and stepped inside.

The art classroom was empty, which she had anticipated, since school was already over. She made her way to a vacant pottery wheel and placed her things beside it before getting up to grab supplies.

Chae Yeseo, her younger cousin, was turning 7 in a little over a week, and it had become a tradition for Aera to gift the girl small pottery pieces on her birthdays. When she turned 5, Aera gave her a mini cup, 6 she got a small pencil holder, and now for 7, Aera planned to make her a little jewelry box to go with the necklace her parents were gifting her.

Chae Aera stuck a decent chunk of clay onto the rotating wheel and began working, pulling and squishing it into shape.

The girl purses her lips in focus as she carefully sculpted the piece. Suddenly, she felt something touch her shoulder and she jumped out of her chair, whirling around to see a boy behind her. She instinctively punched him in the stomach but immediately regretted it when she realized who it was.

"Oh my god, Junhyun, I'm so sorry. Are you ok? I got scared and reacted on impulse and-"

The boy held up his hand as he forced a smile, "You have quite the punch, Aera," he groaned. She nervously laughed and apologized a few more times just to get her point across.

"What are you doing here?" Junhyun asked, pulling a chair up beside the girl who had continued sculpting. She responded with her eyes still focused on her work. "I'm making something for my cousin."

The boy nodded and noticed a piece of notebook paper beside the wheel with a rough sketch of a star shaped container. "Is this what you're making? It's pretty."

Aera nodded and grinned at the compliment. "But, nothing can ever be as pretty as you." The girl froze hearing his words, and blinked a couple times before playfully elbowing him.

"Hah- are you flirting with me or something?" she joked while laughing. But it didn't take her long to realize the boy wasn't laughing with her. "Wait, are you- ?" She avoided the boy's gaze.

His lips parted as he was about to speak, but he was cut off by another male voice.

"Aera-" Yang Jungwon stood in the doorway of the classroom, staring at the scene before him. He made eye contact with Junhyun and the two narrowed their eyes at each other. The tension was suddenly broken by the girl chiming in.

"Jungwon! You're still here?" she smiled up at the boy in the doorway who smiled back. He eyed the girl and then sighed. "Why aren't you wearing anything over your uniform?"

He took an apron off the hooks near the door and walked over, signaling her to stand. She did as he said and the boy carefully tied the apron around her neck. "Is this too tight?" She shook her head, holding her hands away from herself so as not to dirty anything with the clay on them.

The boy took the second set of strings and tied them around her waist. Aera could feel the boy's breath on her back, and it sent shivers down her spine.

One the boy was finished, he smirked and glanced at Junhyun who was pursing his lips as he watched the other two students.

Yang Jungwon was about to pull up a chair on the opposite side of the girl, when he was caught off guard by a sudden tap on the nose. He looked up at the girl to see she had wiped a bit of wet clay on the tip of his nose.

He chuckled before lunging for the excess clay and swiping it on the girl's cheek. "Hey!!"

Before they knew it, the two were in a full on battle with the material. Not even 3 minutes later, both their faces were white with half dried clay. Both of them were out of breath from having tackled and chased each other, and also from laughing their heads off.

Aera laughed as she looked at the smiling cat-eyed boy's face. She reached swiftly leaned towards him, poking both his dimples with clay-covered hands.

The male looked shocked for a moment but the next thing he knew, he was pinching the girl's cheeks like there was no tomorrow. "Hey- hey! Alright fine! You win!" Aera laughed as the male finally released her.

She looked around the room at the mess they had created, but in the process, realized Baek Junhyun was nowhere to be seen. "Where did Junhyun go?" she thought out loud.

Jungwon shrugged as he took a rag from a shelf near the teacher's desk and began cleaning up. "Why? Do you wish he was here?"

"What? No, I just didn't notice him leave."

The male tried not to show the joy he felt at her response. "Are you happy I'm here?"

Aera paused and looked at the male who was crouching, cleaning the clay-covered floor. She grabbed an extra rag and hit the boy's head. "Of course not." She teased as the boy jumped up to tackle her again.