When We're Together [양정완]

39.

The bus ride back to Byeoran High School was fairly quiet. A few snores could even be heard as the students, most of them only barely awake, sat quietly.

To Aera, it seemed that the ride back had only lasted a few minutes, but then again it was probably because she had been in dreamland the whole time.

By the time they returned, it was noon on Friday, but because of the trip, the got the rest of the day off, which Aera was incredibly thankful for.

As she stepped outside, however, she regretted returning Yang Jungwon's orange hoodie. There was a light layer of snow on the ground and she was somehow surviving in only a long sleeved shirt and sweatpants. Not to mention the fact that her parents were at work so she would have to walk home from school.

The female stood in front of the school building, with her hands stuffed into her pockets, praying the sun would somehow get hotter, when she received a text message.

Junhyun:
You left your sweatshirt on the bus

Aera stared at the message. She had brought a sweatshirt on the bus?

She scratched the back of her head, trying to remember what had happened when she heard the boy who had just messaged her's voice from behind.

"Aera! Over here," he waved a fluffy jacket in one arm and held up the other hand, signaling the female over to him.

Seeing what was in the male's hand, Aera quickly realized what had happened. He was holding Jungwon's sweatshirt. The one she must have accidentally worn the last day of the retreat.

"Ah, actually-"

"That's mine." Jungwon's voice echoed through the empty corridor as he emerged from a classroom into sight. Aera recognized the class as the same one they had first run into each other in.

"Yours?" A confused Baek Junhyun's eyes darted between a tense Jungwon and a nervous Aera as he held the orange hoodie in his hand. "Yours?" He repeated, this time slightly louder.

Jungwon and Aera looked at each other, exchanging looks as if expecting the other person to say something, but neither did.

Finally the boy turned to Junhyun, who was still standing with a raised eyebrow, glancing constantly between the two.  "It's mine. You must have mistaken it for Aera's."

He quickly snatched the hoodie from Junhyun and turned to the female who was simply standing and watching their encounter.

"Let's go, I'll walk you home."

Just as the girl turned to follow the boy, Junhyun spoke again. "Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you, Aera."

Yang Jungwon pursed his lips. With his back still to the other male, he sighed, half in frustration and half worried of what might happen.

Before he could stop her, Aera turned to Junhyun. "Hm?"

"I... I think I lik-"

"Come on, let's get going." Jungwon suddenly grabbed the female's wrist and led her out of the building, leaving Baek Junhyun speechless and frozen.

~~~

"Hey, what's up with you?" Aera finally broke the long silence that had been lingering since the two had left the school building a few minutes prior.

The male had kept his lips pursed and his dimples out for practically the entire walk so far, and his entire aura seemed bothered. Had she done something wrong? She nervously thought to herself as she bit the inside of her lip while looking towards the boy.

"Nothing."

His response was so short that Aera wondered if he had even said anything or if she had imagined it. She was beginning to believe she really had done something to upset him, and she started to think back to what it could have possibly been when she was suddenly interrupted by a hands grabbing her shoulders.

Yang Jungwon turned the female to face him, one hand on each of her shoulders. Being face to face with the male, Aera tried to avert her gaze to anything other than him, but instead her eyes locked on his dimples again and she felt her heart beating faster.

"Hey, what are you-?" the girl's words were cut short by the boy's arms as they wrapped her in a tight hug.

The height difference made it so her cheek rested on the boy's collarbone, just beside his neck. Aera felt her face becoming warmer as she felt his breath on the back of her neck, making the hairs on her body stand up.

But as embarrassed as she was, the female felt herself smile a bit as felt the warmth of the male's body and his breath on her neck while he hugged her. He smelled clean; like citrus shampoo and lavender soap.

"Aera," Jungwon's hushed voice caught the female off-guard as she stared at the boy who was now once again holding her by the shoulders. "Can I stay by your side?"