second lead. | 정원

chapter 06.

vi.

Riiinngg!

The school bell echoed across the hallways, signaling it was time to go home. Yang Jungwon grabbed his bag from the floor and placed his belongings inside, securing it afterward with the zipper before slinging it over his shoulder.

He picked up his blazer from the chair and was about to leave if it wasn't for a certain person blocking his way. "Rin? What is it?"

"Can I go home with Sunoo today?" She muttered, her voice barely audible as she was flustered and embarrassed to have asked him this question.

The boy tilted his head to the side. "Why are you asking me for permission?" He asked. "If you want to go home with him then go," He added, nudging his head outside.

Aerin gulped. "Well we always go home together and I don't want you to be confused when you won't find me at school anymore. I might have gone home with Sunoo so I'm just telling you to let you know," She explained and Jungwon hummed, slightly nodding.

"Then go. I have to go to the teacher's office anyway and it'll be a while until I'm done. Go home first with Sunoo and let me know when you have arrived," He smiled. It wasn't his usual smile, it was rather forced. Park Aerin didn't know that though.

"Okay, see you tomorrow. Bye bye!" The girl grinned while waving goodbye, her hair bouncing as she skipped towards the door heartily.

Kim Sunoo was currently at his locker, grabbing his necessary books and putting them inside his bag. He jumped and accidentally smacked his head against the locker door when Aerin startled him by placing her hands on his shoulders, scaring the poor boy. She started panicking and apologizing many times, followed by a bunch of guilty bows.

From a passerby's point of view, it may look like a dumb scene but Yang Jungwon could only look away and sigh dejectedly.

-

"I'll take my leave now. Excuse me, sir," The boy bowed and closed the door. He walked through the now empty hallway since majority had gone home. He could still see some students playing at the basketball field. The sound of the ball bouncing against the concrete floor and the voices of people chattering were loud and clear, but not enough to decipher what they were saying.

Jungwon continued walking and was now in the second year's classroom hallway. As he was about to walk past class 2-2, he spotted a figure inside from the corner of his eye and turned his head to look at the person from the open door only to see a familiar girl sitting on the desk writing on a piece of paper.

It took him a while to realize it was Jeon Mira.

He knocked twice on the open door, alerting her of his presence as she lazily looked up. "Jungwon?"

"Mira."

He made his way inside the empty classroom and sat on the table in front of her, turning the chair around. When Jungwon took a good look at her face again, he noticed the dark circles resting under her eyes. "You have bags."

"Of course I have a bag. How do you expect me to carry my books home?" She uttered, confused by his statement and continued writing on the paper. Her words made the boy roll his eyes playfully, "I'm not talking about that kind of bag. I'm talking about your eye bags."

"Eyebags?" She blinked and he nodded. "Eyes have bags? Oh— wait, oh, you mean my eye bags," Mira awkwardly chuckled, embarrassed to not have understood his words earlier since her brain was currently not functioning properly from the lack of energy in her system.

Mira covered her face with her palm, "I didn't get enough sleep last night, sorry." She was too busy thinking about Kim Sunoo that's why.

"What are you still doing here though?" Yang Jungwon pulled his chair closer so he could lean over the table to read the paper on the desk. The writings were upside down.

"I need to do attendance. It's my turn today," She responded, proceeding to write more of her classmate's names as her eyes averted back and forth between the paper and her phone, not minding the proximity they have. Her hair was brushing against his. "Why are you still at school?"

"I was helping Mr. Ahn at the office," He answered. "I was about to go home but saw you here," He added and Mira lazily hummed, bopping her head twice to indicate she was listening. Her eyes were still trained on the list even though it felt like they will shut any time soon.

Jungwon continued, "And so I decided to wait for you so we can go together."

"What?" The girl paused her movements, quite surprised by his words as she stared at him from below her long lashes. Their distance was really close that it caught both teenagers off guard.

a/n; just like promised, here's the update. your votes and comments are very much appreciated! 🤍