metal straw | ast. cha eunwoo

fifteen

Waiting by the staircase, Eunwoo stared at the metal object resting in his palm as he waited for the owner to appear so he can return it. He started back to the staircase and waited. And waited. And waited. After what seemed to be less than an hour later, he saw everyone but Soyeon.

"Where is she?"

He had thought she probably went to her locker or the restroom, so he waited a bit longer. He kept a lookout for a bright, smiling girl skipping down the steps with her metal straws chiming loudly in her bag. But waiting and waiting for what seemed like hours to the boy, there was no sign of her.

"Did she leave already?"

Soon, his curiosity was edging out and Eunwoo found himself checking every class for her. One by one, he opened every door and scanned the whole room for her. So far, he was only met with empty classrooms.

As everything was slowly convincing him that she had left, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. He peeked through the windows and sighed when he spotted a familiar black-haired girl. Her head rested on top of her palm, eyes shut closed as loud snores came out from her small mouth. Eunwoo didn't want to wake her up but he didn't want to stay either.

"Soyeon, wake up."

Just as Eunwoo thought he should just leave the metal straw beside her, Soyeon began to mutter words under her breath, causing her to move slightly as if she was dreaming. But moving was a bad idea. Her head suddenly slipped off of her hand and was ready to meet the cold surface of the desk. Eunwoo reacted quickly and ran across the room to stop Soyeon's head from reaching her desk. His hand was immediately placed under her chin and supported her sleepy head. But his legs were in an awkward position and soon, caused him to lose his balance. To make the day any worse, he fell and landed his head straight on her lap, causing her to jolt up in seconds.

Eunwoo immediately lifted his head away from her lap and stood right up, stumbling back a bit in the process. He turned his back to her, too embarrassed to look at her after what had just happened. He hesitated and lifted his head to see Soyeon wide awake, staring back at him surprised.

"Eunwoo, what are you doing here? Don't you have class?"

"School just ended."

Soyeon scanned her surrounding, trying to remember what was happening around her. Once she took a realisation, she smacked herself for sleeping in class. She then took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"I didn't know numbers could make me feel sleepy," she yawned, stretching her arms out. "Anyway, what are you still doing here?"

"Your metal straw."

Eunwoo grabbed her wrist to turn it so her palm was exposed and placed the straw on top. She stared at it before turning back to his only to notice how he was trying his best to avoid her eyes. The sudden shy boy immediately rushed out of the door in seconds, but he wasn't quick to hide how flustered his face was.