They both returned to the art room and took their seats, Minhee going back to work on her piece and Mark leaning in his chair as he people watched the students and what they were doing. The conversation Wendy and Seulgi had during their absence died down as an awkward tension arose and led all four of them to be silent.

    “Do you go to this school?” The instructor’s voice sounded as he strode towards their table, focused on the boy in a totally opposite uniform than the rest of the class. Mark lifted his head and looked at the man, his shyness making his mind take longer to think of what to say.

    “He’s my friend who came to pick me up. Don’t worry, he’s a good kid,” Minhee said, the positive image of Mark her parents had ingrained in her mind still overtaking the more complex side he had been showing off lately. The teacher looked back at the boy, and Mark did his best not to look too uncomfortable.

    “What’s your name?” the teacher asked. All three of the girl’s work pace had unintentionally slowed as their focus shifted on eavesdropping on the conversation in front of them.

    “Mark,” the boy said.

    “Mark what?” the teacher asked and the girl’s let small grins form as they were used to and quite enjoyed the teacher’s occasional sass.

    “Mark Tuan,” the boy said before clearing his throat. This didn’t seem to be needed since the man nodded after getting his name and turned away, walking across the room and towards the supply closet. The boy looked back at his friend and the girl just wiggled her head at him.

    “Mark Tuan,” Minhee said in a playful tone as she made brief eye contact with him then went back to sculpting her...thing. The boy just looked at what the three of them were doing then turned to look for the instructor who was now on his way back to the table, a plastic wrapped ball of something pinkish red in hand.

    “Mark Tuan, the assignment today is to create a piece that will act as one part of a whole work. So don’t do something too extravagant, but also make sure your piece is different from others that way you can tell it apart,” the man said as he sat the thing in front of the boy, unwrapping the plastic to pull off a chunk of clay roughly the same size as what the girl’s were currently molding. The boy blinked as he looked down at the foreign object and had no idea what was being asked of him.

    “If you’re in this room during club time, then I expect you to participate in club activities. Sound good?” the man said, covering the remaining clump with plastic before taking it off the table and strolling over to tuck it away, not even waiting for the boy’s response.

    “Just make a random shape, Mr. Kim is really into abstract things,” Wendy said, no longer able to endured the boy’s intense stare at his clay. Seulgi leaned over to her right again and grabbed a handful of random tools that she thought could be helpful and laid them in front of the kid.

    “Welcome to art club,” Minhee said with a grin as the boy finally grabbed the clay and started feeling it, totally clueless of what to do, but just going with the flow and imitating what everyone else was doing.

    An hour passed and more than half of the club finished their work and packed up, leaving just Minhee’s table diligently working on their pieces. The girl’s had decided on a fantasy theme and were trying something that would make all of their pieces go together yet look somewhat individual. Mark had no idea of any of the jargon they used when referring to different techniques and styles, so he decided to just play with the clay and hope for the best.

    “I have to go kids, but make sure to leave your pieces with everyone else’s and lock up,” The instructor said as he gathered his things and started pulling on his coat. The girl’s let out sounds of agreement, used to staying after the teacher left. Mark paused his work as he turned to watch the the man exit the room, leaving just the four of them. He looked back at their table and compared his work to everyone else’s. He had no idea what a finished piece would look like but shrugged it off and kept molding his clay into something more intricate as the girls chattered about what to add to their designs.

    “What did other people do though?” Minhee asked when prompted with Wendy saying they shouldn't worry how different their pieces would turn out. The raven haired girl sitting most left looked towards the small windowed room used to hold club pieces separate from the various classes held during school hours.

    “I don’t know, I’ll go check,” Wendy said, unabashedly curious and not caring how nosey she came off to be.

    “Watch her try to pick someone’s up and end up ruining it,” Seugi said, predicting a likely scenario. Minhee looked up at the small room her friend was heading towards and remembered how clumsy the girl was. The middle seat was soon empty as the center girl got up to check on her friend and make sure no one would threaten to fight her for destroying their piece.

    “So, you’re Minhee’s boyfriend?” Seulgi asked Mark when it was just the two of them left at the table. The boy simply nodded and let out a yeah, not wanting to delve into the complex strings tying them together.

    “Are you always this quiet?” Seulgi asked, intrigued that the loud mouth Minhee would go for someone who barely spoke. But they do say that opposites attract. Mark just shrugged as he stuck a thumb in the side of his piece, more focused now that he was starting to form a concept of what he wanted his work to look like.