Lost & Found

9 Years Earlier

9 Years Earlier
13-Years-Old

"Yoongs, guess what!"

Aera burst into Yoongi's room and hopped unceremoniously onto his bed.

"Whoa, thanks for knocking!" Yoongi exclaimed sarcastically.

"Since when do we knock? Anyway, your mom said you were just watching TV up here, so it's not like I'm interrupting something."

Yoongi muttered something that Aera couldn't quite make out. She decided to drop it.

"Guess what!"

"What?"

"We're doing our first sketch project for art class!"

Aera had recently taken up an extracurricular art class. She had always enjoyed drawing, but had never done anything beyond doodles in a notebook. One day, she had asked her father for a proper sketchbook, and once he had seen her drawings, he offered her the chance to take the art class. She had excitedly accepted.

"That's great, A. What are you going to draw?"

"You!"

Yoongi stared at her. "Uh...why?"

"Because I want to," Aera shrugged, shoving Yoongi aside and sitting next to him.

"But what if I don't want you to?"

Aera turned to him. "Why not?"

"I dunno... It's kinda weird."

"How so?"

"Are you wanting me to like, pose for you or something?"

Aera laughed. "No. Unless you want to!"

"No, thank you," Yoongi said quickly. "So, then you'll just...draw me from memory?" he asked with a slight chuckle.

"I mean, I could – "

"What?"

"Oh, c'mon, Yoongs! We know each other like the backs of our hands! Of course I could draw you from memory!"

Yoongi stared at her and Aera rolled her eyes. "You're acting like I'm a creep or something."

"I mean, you're kind of being one."

"I'll draw it from a picture of you, you idiot."

"Whatever. Just don't make me look stupid in it."

"Never!"

-

Yoongi heard nothing more about Aera's project for the next couple of weeks. He forgot about it until one day, he remembered and felt bad that he hadn't asked her how it was going.

"Hey, how's your art project going?" he asked her one day at lunch.

"It's over," she said.

"Oh. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you weren't interested."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, you just seemed so weirded out that I was going to draw you that I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with it."

Yoongi was dumbfounded that she would think that. "But I'm interested in the things you do," he assured her. "I don't actually mind that you drew me."

"Really?"

"Of course not. As long as, like I said, you didn't make me look stupid in it."

Aera grinned. "I didn't. In fact, my teacher liked it so much, she entered it into a contest."

Yoongi's eyes widened. "Really? That's exciting!"

"Yeah," Aera agreed. "And it won."

Yoongi's mouth fell open. "What?!"

Aera smiled shyly. "Yeah."

"A, that's amazing! I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks," she replied.

"So, can I see it?"

"You really want to?"

"Of course!"

Aera opened her backpack and pulled out a piece of paper. She hesitantly handed it over. "It's not perfect," she said before Yoongi looked at it. "So, don't like, laugh or anything."

Yoongi looked at her strangely. "A, I would never."

He then flipped the paper over and took a look. His mouth again dropped open. It looked exactly like him.

"A, this is...wow."

"Good wow or bad wow?"

"Good! You're so talented."

"Thank you," Aera replied with a smile.

"So, why me?" Yoongi asked. "You could've drawn anything. Why me?"

Aera suddenly looked shy again. Her cheeks turned pink and she looked away.

"Because of the theme," she answered.

Yoongi cocked an eyebrow. "What was the theme?"

Aera finally met his eyes again. "Favorite things."

Yoongi blinked. "You drew me because – "

"You're my favorite."

Now Yoongi's cheeks turned pink. "That's..."

"That's?"

"That's... I'm honored."

"Yeah?"

"Well, of course."

"I'm glad you like it."

"It's great."

There was silence between them for a few long moments. Then...

"Hey, A."

Aera looked up into Yoongi's eyes. "Yeah?"

"You're my favorite, too."