metal straw | ast. cha eunwoo

ten

The sky turned tar-black and the large clouds were slowly moving in. A gust of wind howled as the clouds spat out more beads of water. Students continued to avoid those areas exposed to the thundery sky since morning, whether jumping in surprise or screaming because of it.

Ignoring the banging sound of the thunder and wind howling outside, Eunwoo found himself walking calmly on the second floor of his building. It wasn't only because the floor downstairs was covered in wet shoe marks due to the rain or the fact the cafeteria was busier than what the rainstorm was making, but because he was troubled.

Earlier, he had seen Soyeon through his class window climbing the stairs and just before she reached the top, she stopped and leaned against the metal handrails to catch her breath. Eunwoo took this opportunity to take in what was happening. Her clothes were drenched from the rain as water dripped down. Her hair, often seen wavy, was flatten and sopped because of the rain. A sneeze suddenly escaped her as he saw her shivering from the coldness.

"What happened?" a teacher asked as she passed by the shivering girl. "Are you sick?"

"It's just a sneeze, miss, I'll be fine," Soyeon reassured him, sniffling in the end.

"If you want, you can borrow the towels in the girls' locker room or ask your teacher to let you go home to change."

"It's alright, miss, my clothes will dry up eventually."

That conversation outside his class stuck with him throughout the day till recess. So there Eunwoo was, waiting on the top of the staircase of the second floor as he leaned against the wall, where Soyeon's class was across him. His eyes lit up just when Soyeon herself walked out of the restrooms and walking back to class. She sniffled as she walked further, holding tissues in her hand before releasing another sneeze.

"You'll get everyone sick! Just go home!" a student called out as he rushed passed the sick girl.

"Stay away from her, you'll catch her cold!" another student exclaimed in the hallway from afar, ushering his friend to come quickly.

Soyeon's frown became more visible than before, her eyes seemed tired as she continued to drag her feet across the floor. She sighed just when she arrived at the doorstep to her class, lights illuminated through. She was too busy trying to hold in her sneeze and cough that she didn't notice the boy.

The class was nearly empty as most of the students prefer to spend their recess in the cafeteria, outside, or in other classes with their friends. When Soyeon walked in, all she expected was to be greeted with more words 'Just go home', 'Wear a mask', 'Disgusting' or even greeted with everyone running away from her as if she was a walking-disease. But surprisingly, nothing came to her. The few people that stayed back only stared at her before minding their business.

Instead, she was dumbfounded when she was suddenly greeted with a drink and a mask on her table. She noticed how the juice beverage had her metal straw inside while the mask was being drawn on with a drawing of a cat's mouth with its whiskers. Beside them was a note. She picked it up and saw nothing but a doodle of a girl coughing being crossed out by a huge red 'X'. She smiled at the sudden gifts and the familiarisation of the note to hers back then. She suddenly fought the urge to run down to thank him, though still questioning how he knew.

Eunwoo watched from outside as Soyeon took a sip of the sweet beverage and wore the designed mask immediately after. Though in the end, he never was waiting for her to come to him. He just wanted to see her reaction when she realised he was there.