When We're Together [양정완]

30.

Chae Aera shielded her face with her forearms from the blast of water coming towards her. In front of her was an uncontrollably laughing Yang Jungwon with a water gun in his hands.

The girl shouted to her friends to bring her a weapon, and in a few moments, she, Yoona, and Baram were assembled into a human fortress. Sunoo, who had also joined, was flapping in the water like a dying fish beside Jungwon.

The three females began firing at the pair of males and they fired back, engaging in the now water battle they were having.

"Sunghoon! Help us!" Sunoo shouted as he got a large duck floaty thrown at him. The third year boy, who had been sitting on the side of the pool relaxing and watching videos on his phone, glanced up unfazed.

"I don't wanna." Sunghoon was about to look back to his phone when suddenly, a beam of water shot him in the leg, earning a shout from him. The next thing they knew, he was in the pool with them, but instead of helping Sunoo, he was tackling him.

Aera found a large whale floaty and climbed up onto it, holding a pool noodle as a sword to defend herself. She paddled her way towards the large waterfall area in the outdoors half of the pool.

The weather had been hot and sunny, so the group had been mainly in the indoors portion, but now that the sun was setting, the weather was perfect to be outdoors.

She had almost made her way to the huge waterfall when she suddenly felt something push her floaty. She slid off of the whale, landing in the water with a loud splash.

"Hey!" She shouted as she splashed the culprit with water. Yang Jungwon laughed as he swam after the girl who was trying to quickly escape behind the nearby waterfall. When his head emerged above the water, he was in a small cove, shielded from the view of the pool by a thick wall of water.

"How come you keep following me, huh?" Aera huffed as her head bobbed up and down in the water beside him. The boy chuckled and held a hand out in the waterfall, which was a lot stronger than he had expected. "This thing is practically opaque," he remarked as he retracted his hand.

Aera nodded as she peered at it. He was right; it was almost impossible to see any more than colorful blobs through it. She gazed at it as if she was hypnotized. The drawl of the sound of the waterfall hitting the stagnant pool water was so loud, but so calming. She was so mesmerized that she didn't notice the male beside her had gotten gradually closer and closer to her side.

Yang Jungwon stared at Chae Aera from beside her. The mist of the water around the girl made her appear like a fairy in his eyes. Her eyes glistened with the reflection of the water and her hair was messily held back from her face since it was wet.

Without realizing it, he had somehow grabbed her hand with his own, accidentally startling her. The girl looked at the boy with a confused and flustered expression, expecting him to push her or splash her, but instead they remained with their eyes locked.

The male's messy, damp hair fell over his forehead, giving him a different impression than the neat one he usually had. Aera was so close to him, she could feel his breath, even over to sounds and mist of the water.

But, a few moments later, she broke eye contact, averting her gaze to the rippling water surrounding them. Her lips parted, about to mutter something, even though she wasn't sure what to say, but before she could, the male pulled her hand towards him, causing her to face to be practically centimeters away from his.

Usually, she would move away, or bump him teasingly, but in this moment she didn't move. She still couldn't look him in the eyes without becoming flustered, so instead she averted her gaze to the boy's dimples which were now showing due to his pursed lips.

"Aera," the boy said her name quietly, but somehow she still heard it clearly over the loud sounds of the water. He thought about what to say next, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

The girl felt her face getting tomato red as the male chuckled under his breath at her cute reaction. She could swear she felt his heartbeat somehow, and it was just as fast as hers. She noticed the boy's eyes slightly lower their gaze towards her lips and he bit the inside of his cheek.

The male looked back into her eyes, wanting some form of an answer before anything happened. He felt a slight squeeze on his hand, which was still holding hers. He leaned closer to her, and she didn't back away. Instead, she met his eyes with her own once more.