When We're Together [양정완]

45.

Aera quickly wiped her panicked tears and accepted the boy's call, however, there was no voice on the other end.

"Hello? Jungwon?" The female's voice was shaky, but she tried her best to calm herself. But again there was no response.

Her lips parted, about to allow her voice to speak again, when suddenly she heard a voice. But instead of coming from her phone, it came from behind her.

"Aera?"

Yang Jungwon gritted his teeth to keep from freezing as he attempted to peek at the figure sitting on the sidewalk's face. Suddenly, the female turned to him and tears began silently streaming down her red cheeks.

The male had a sudden flash of deja vu back to when they first me. Even the fact that she was sitting on the floor was the same. But just like the time they had first met, he felt a pang in his heart seeing her cry.

The boy crouched down in front of the girl, who was still wearing a school uniform. He lifted her chin gently to see her face, as if it was a precious and delicate sculpture he dared not ruin.

Even full of tears, her eyes sparkled like stars. Before he knew it, the male had embraced her in a tight hug, one hand on her back and the other holding her hooded head.

The female's sniffles grew louder and louder as she remained in the boy's arms. Her head leaned forward against his shoulder, staining it with salty tears. It was cold, and the boy's now wet sleeve wasn't helping, but it wasn't important to him at the moment. Not more important than Aera.

He held her for a moment before shifting to place his lips near her ear. "Are you okay?"

Instead of responding, Aera found herself suddenly rambling about the situation, but eventually she got out what she needed to: Yeseo was missing.

At first, the male didn't have a clue of what to say. He simply remained holding the female for a moment before he chose his words.

"Come on, let's go."

Aera looked up at the male, confused. "Go where?"

"To find Yeseo."

As she stood, Aera tilted her head to the sky, trying to will her tears back into her eyes, although it clearly wasn't working. "How are we going to-?"

The boy wrapped a fluffy, bear-eared hat around the female's head, causing her to pause. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but chuckle a bit seeing her in his sister's cute hat.

"H-hey, what are you laughing at?" Before she knew it, the corners of the girl's mouth began to rise, seeing the male's smile. She could have sworn she saw his lips mouth the word "cute," but she quickly shook her head. She probably misread them.

Jungwon took the female by the hand and started down the sidewalk. Neither spoke, but they didn't feel the need to either. It was comfortable, even in the silence.

After a few minutes of walking, the boy suddenly spotted a moving shadow, hidden in the leaves of a snowy bush. He paused, earning a strange look from the girl walking beside him.

Aera turned to look at the male's face, about to ask what he had seen, but upon seeing his furrowed brow and squinted eyes, she paused.

The male released the girl's hand before slowly making his way towards the tall bushes. He peaked into them, half expecting a wild animal to attack him, but instead he spotted a structure behind the leaves.

Pulling the branches apart, he saw what the structure was: a playground. And on the top of one of the bright red slides, was a young girl, kicking her feet happily while humming a Christmas carol.

"Yeseo?" The boy called to the girl, and her head suddenly perked up. Seeing Aera behind the boy, the young girl suddenly smiled widely. "Aera!"

She slid down the slide and began running towards the older female happily.

•••

Soon enough, the trio arrived at the Chae family's residence, earning tears and cheers from the other members of the family.

Mr. Chae, seemed to have practically adopted Yang Jungwon as his son-in-law, while Mrs. Chae was simply happy somebody had been there for her daughter.

Despite wanting to be humble, however, the young male couldn't help but feel a bit proud. He could tell Aera was embarrassed about having been caught crying another time, but all he could think about was how glad he was that he had found her at that time.

Just before he left for his home again, he turned to his female classmate. "Library after school tomorrow?"

She nodded with a smile.

a/n: sorry for the short chapter and weird conclusion but i lowkey forgot where i was going w the story line so- anyways it's gonna get more interesting i PROMISE