Lessons From Romance

Starting Line

After setting the rocket stove onto the ground Luhan spun the stove around. Upon glancing into the gaping mouth curiously, he couldn't find a soluble reason to why it was there. Curious about what could be inside he took a big breath and blew into it. A second later his eyes clamped shut when a massive amount of what seemed like dust breezed out at him.

A loud laugh erupted from Namjoo. Wiping his face with his hand he discovered leftover charcoal ashes tainting his hand. She immediately backed up and stood to her feet when he turned to look at her way as if he'd threatened her.

"Stop laughing," he insisted.

A muffled laugh seeped out as she looked at him, "You look like a savage!"

He snorted before stepping forward to intimidate her, "Say that again."

"Savage!" Namjoo shouted before screaming and started running as he darted after her.

He chased her around in circles in the yard before quickly pivoting to attack her in the opposite direction. Her high pitched shrieks plummeted into the air when he caught her and ran his hand over her face, streaking her cheeks with the ashes. Namjoo indefinitely twisted and turned her face away from him before grabbing his hands. Her screams died down, but she was still laughing even though she was out of breath. All else fell quiet when he suddenly realized their fingers were entwined.

The distant sounds of the sun sparkling through the leaves roared above them. The soft of his fingers pressed into the space between her knuckles before he released his hold and grasped onto her hand again. Naturally peering into her face stilled his eyes for a moment of mesmerization. The beauty of laughter had sketched itself all over every part of her face allowing for an eruption of absolute bliss.

Luhan swore that even when she looked at Kai he'd never seen perfect joy alluding from her. One eye closed as his face switched to the side upon the smear of her hand. Another moment of laughter befell her and he smiled, now that they were even.

They were sitting together on the porch with a wet rag each to clean themselves. The sun was still high and wavering in the sky. The very sight of it offered a majestic feel as its rays shot out like bright stars. It almost felt as if it was blessing, watching over them.

"How much longer do you plan to stay here?" He asked.

"Don't know," Namjoo replied; rubbing the rag between her hands. "I didn't think about that."

"This isn't considered running away, is it?"

"No."

Namjoo's gaze flopped toward the dirt yard somewhat blankly, yet peacefully. A strand of hair stood out from amongst her straight hair and he spotted a black smudge hidden on the side of her forehead.

"Miss a spot," he told pointing to a particular area on his forehead.

When Namjoo missed the area he raised his hand to wipe it off.

"How did you get here?" She asked.

"Met your aunt," Luhan explained then pressed his lips together. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

Namjoo sat without word, her gaze aloof.

"You've cooled off by now, haven't you?" Luhan asked. "So lets go home together."

At first she didn't react and it didn't seem like she was going to say anything. The longer they sat in silence, the more Luhan felt uncertain.

"Alright," Namjoo answered.

Luhan turned to look at her, but never caught the expression on her face because she'd stood up to walk into the yard. He watched her pick up a few pieces of sticks laying around before shuffling them into the mouth of the rocket stove before burning them up with a lighter. Once the smog started growing he got up to join her.