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Light beamed into the classroom through the window. Fall was approaching, and a mixture of brown and red leaves hit the sides of the Baekjae Middle School buildings.
Miae felt the sunlight filtering through the glass, and she wiped her nose as she started to feel the sweat building up. She stared blankly at her paper. Her mock test results showed small improvements; she had been working so hard, staying up late, waking up early, studying every moment possible, and had even given up hanging out with Cheol and those silly comics he always teased her about, just for one extra point of improvement?
It had been a few hours since school had ended. Miae stared out the window, looking at the last batch of students heading out the gates of school. She felt tears welling in her eyes as she fiddled with the thin strip of paper that showed her results. How could Jisu achieve better results than her when he spent all class sleeping? Was she not trying hard enough? Was she even going to make it to high school with Cheol, as she had hoped she would? She pulled the hairpin Cheol had gifted her and let out a little giggle before sniffling. She cleaned the dripping tears from her eyes before readjusting the pin back into her hair.
“No matter what,” she reassured herself, “Cheol will always be there for me.” and just as she finished her sentence, she heard the door slide, revealing a familiar tall figure, she looked up to find him staring right back at her, he recognized the sadness in her eyes, he quickly placed his bag down and rushed to her, stumbling over the chairs that some kids forgot to put up– they were sure going to get in trouble tomorrow morning. He kneeled before Miae as she anxiously dragged her fingers across the edges of her paper, avoiding eye contact. He placed a hand on her head carefully so as not to mess with her hairpin
“What’s wrong?” In a whisper so low as if a slightly higher tone would break her.
She did not respond. He glanced at the paper in her hand and understood the cause of her sorrow. He didn’t need to see the score. He got up to a height just enough to take her fully into his arms. That was it. Miae broke down in his arms, sobbing onto his shoulder. He ran his fingers through her hair and placed a soft kiss on the side of her head.
“It’s okay, I’m always here,” he said, not sure if she had heard him over her sobs and tears. But it didn’t matter because he was there.
There was now just small sniffles coming from Miae, the sun was starting to set, Cheol's knees had been numb for a few minutes by now, he was grateful that Miae was starting to relax, and he was careful to move her bangs out of the way before placing a kiss on her forehead and pulling up a chair to sit beside Miae. He understood he had to learn his way around Miae, never rush her emotions, just let her unfold, and then it would eventually lead to her opening up comfortably. They stared at each other for a moment before Miae started talking
“I thought I had done better than last time,” she took in a deep breath, “I studied so hard,” another deep breath, “What did I do wrong?” Her voice cracked as she spoke.
It broke Cheol's heart to see Miae so sad. He knew all she had to give up to study for the exam, and how confident she had gone into class so sure she’d get a better score. He felt tears swelling up in his own eyes; however, he quickly hugged Miae, wrapping his arms around her as he tried to gain composure. He felt the warmth of her body against his. She let out a shaky breath, and he took that as a sign to let go.
He scooted closer to her, “Let’s take a look at it, yeah?” She nodded as she extended the paper to let Cheol take a closer look. She knew Cheol would never judge her, especially not when she was in a vulnerable space. They took a closer look at her paper. Cheol furrowed his eyebrows and squinted at her paper. Miae was confused. Why was he staring so hard at the paper?
“What?” She blurted out.
Cheol pointed out that her total score did not match the individual scores she had gotten for each subject. They quickly did the math on a piece of paper and concluded that there was an error in her score. Cheol glanced at the clock in front of the classroom. The clock read 5:45 PM. The office had not closed yet
“The office is still open,” Cheol implied. "There's probably an error in some of the scores.” Miae quickly got up, and Cheol followed behind, placing a hand on her back until they reached the office and softly knocked on the door.
“Please be here,” Miae murmured as the door opened
“What are you kids still doing here?”
“There is a miscalculation in my test scores; the total score does not match the score I got for each subject. Can you double-check the system to make sure I get my accurate scores?” Miae was quick to get to the point. She could wait any longer. There was hope that she had gotten a higher score than the paper stated she did.
“Sorry about that,” the office woman apologized. “Give me a minute to print out your official scores,” Hope.
The sound of the printing machine was torturous for Miae. When she got handed the copy, she made sure not to look at it quickly and excused herself as Cheol followed right behind her. As soon as they got out, Miae made sure her scores were visible for both her and Cheol. And now; moment of truth, Miae felt adrenaline rush through her body. This was massive; she had improved by 20 points in total from her last mock exam. She instinctively rushed her arms around Cheol, a wave of relief washing over her. She didn’t have to explain anything about any scores to her mom, and she’d still be allowed to go to the academy. Cheol placed his arms around Miae, fully embracing her. Miae's mouth rested below his shoulder, and he could feel the smile forming on her lips. He was not sure if he had imagined the soft press of her lips onto his shoulder, but before he could question it, Miae was rushing to the classroom to pick up her stuff.
They made their way out of school before all other staff so they wouldn’t get in trouble any further. When they reached the gates, they stared at each other, her green eyes piercing through him. He felt a lump build up in his throat and quickly looked away, rubbing his neck with his hand.
“D-Do you want to go get a drink? From like a vending machine or something?” He spoke nervously, and Miae smiled at him, knowing she was the reason he was tripping over his words
“Sure,” she said as her hands toyed with the straps of her backpack.
He walked ahead of her, and she placed her palm over her mouth, giggling behind him. She knew she was going to get in trouble for being extra-extra-late to her house. But she didn’t care, not if it meant she’d get to spend more time with Cheol and brag about her new high score to her parents.
As they approached the vending machine near their house, Miae was thinking of her options. She might have zoned out because she soon heard Cheol's voice as he handed her a drink of Demisoda Apple flavor that has always been Miae's favorite, every single time. She took it from his hand, smiling and thanking him, but she felt an urge to tease him
“What if this was not what I wanted?”
He stared at her, then back at his soda. Perhaps she would want what he had. “Do you want mine?”
She giggled and slapped his arm. “You are so gullible.” Her laughter echoed through his eardrums; the sound felt like a tender hug to his ears.
Miae popped her soda open and took a sip, “Thank you, Cheol.”