Wonwoo emerged from the crowd with bunch of snacks in his hands. Turned out, they really did lose the match without him. He could not help but felt bad that everyone loses their snacks money. But what he could not stand more is the fact that they put the blame on Mingyu and Dokyeom.

“Here, you guys buy anything you want.” He offered his card as soon as he saw the frown on their face. That was only the first day. They weren’t joking when they say they could eat after stuffing their face with bulgogi. Wonwoo didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he wished they spent more. That’s how mad he was at his father for harassing his cousin’s family just to make him come home.

“The guys from Class 3 wanted banana milk. We’ll have the chocolate milk instead.” Dokyeom appeared right behind Wonwoo. It was the last day that they had to buy snacks for losing the bet. Instead of making him buy everything again, they asked Wonwoo to help carrying the snacks and dropped them off to Class 3.

“I’m not going to lose again.” Mingyu complained with mouth full of bread.

“Maybe stop putting money on the line, instead.” Wonwoo opposed. The entire walk to class were filled with Dokyeom and Mingyu’s chattering. He didn’t really pay attention to their conversation.

“Right?” Dokyeom asked, startling Wonwoo from his thought. He nodded but wasn’t sure of what he was agreeing to. Hopefully, it didn’t get him into trouble.

“Hey, don’t you guys hang out with that one girl? Her skin is really pale and she put her hair up in pony tail.” Wonwoo asked.

At this point, he presumed, if he was in luck, someone might know her. After their encounter, Wonwoo went to the art room a few times in hope that they met but she never came back. And it was impossible to spot her in the jam-packed cafeteria.

“The pretty one? Jang Gyuri?” Mingyu took a guess.

“Not her. You know, that one kid who always looks sad. About this tall, I guess.” Wonwoo estimated she stood around his shoulders’ height.

“Park Jiwon?” Mingyu guessed again.

“Mingyu, she sits next to me in class. Do you really think I wouldn’t know her name?” he reckoned.

“Are you sure she’s in our year?” Dokyeom asked. It wasn’t like he knew girls other the ones in their homeroom.

“I think she’s wearing yellow name tag like us.”

“There’re over hundred girls in our year. Can’t you name anything else? Glasses? Braces?” Mingyu bombarded him with more questions. Wonwoo could not recall anything else other the ones he’d already mentioned.

“She always goes to the art room during break.” He revealed the last details with hesitation. Once they knew his secret hideout, that was it. He had to spend every lunch break playing basketball.

“The art room in the old building? Wasn’t it always locked? All the classes are locked, right?” Mingyu asked. As far as he remembered, nobody else were given authorization to use the old building. The only times they were allowed there were when they need to use the labs or art rooms. Apart from those conditions, students are strictly prohibited. Plus, all other classrooms were locked at all times since the building was about to be demolished.

“What the hell? Did you see a ghost?” As always, Dokyeom was that gullible. Wonwoo didn’t try to correct them. The unlocked classroom had always been his hiding spot since last semester.

“It must be a ghost. Look at my arms. I’m getting the chills.” Mingyu played along. Wonwoo stayed silent. At this point, Mingyu could convinced him that he was seeing ghost all along and he would’ve taken his words. Every bit of it.

“Wonwoo sunbae, Ms. Ahn is looking for you. She’s waiting in the infirmary room.” A junior approached them timidly and quickly ran away from the scene.

“Again?” Dokyeom was the first one to complain.

“I told you to stop going there.” This time Mingyu protested. These days they spent less time together as Wonwoo involuntarily kept running errands for the school’s nurse.

“He’ll become her official assistant at this rate.” Dokyeom grumbled.

“I’ll be back. Keep some snacks for me.” Wonwoo reminded them before heading to the infirmary room.

…………………………

“Ms. Ahn, why are you looking for me?”

“Take this and organize them in the upper drawer.” She instructed. Her hands were busy rummaging through a white Prada handbag.

“You can do it yourself.” He argued. It wasn’t like she couldn’t do it herself. The drawers were within her reach. But it wasn’t like he didn’t want to do it either. He just liked bickering with Ms. Ahn.

“You brat, this won’t do. I’m not going to let you use the infirmary room anymore.” She told him off.

“Fine, I got it. Gosh, what are you doing, threatening a high schooler?”

“You have to be nice to me since I always let you slide whenever you need a place for a nap.”

“What do you want me to do with this?” Wonwoo point out the messy and untucked bedsheets on the floor. He gave up from teasing her so much. The woman seemed nervous enough as it was. Her hands were shaking when she took out a lip gloss to give herself a little bit of touch up.

“Take off all the sheets and pillow cases and put it into the basket.” She replied indifferently while she looked at her own reflection in the mirror.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I have an appointment outside. Make sure to lock up the room and leave the key at the staff’s room when you’re done.” It must be another blind date. He could easily guess from her outfit. That pink suit and high heels with those over-applied gloss over her lips. He’d already forecasted the result of the meeting.

At this point, he wondered if Mrs. Ahn intended to get out of marriage or gave her mom hypertension. Somehow, he felt sorry for that woman. Her previous marriage must have traumatised her that she refused to be in another relationship. But her parents seemed not to understand how she felt.

“Be careful on your way out, ma’am.” Wonwoo bowed playfully with both hands rested on top of his stomach.

“You adorable brat.” She smacked his back, making him groaned in pain as she walked out of the room.

“What was that for?” he relented.

Wonwoo looked around. Everything seemed out of place since the last time he went there. They must have changed everything at the last moment because the new principal was scheduled to report for duty two weeks early.

“This is a lot. Should I just leave? But she won’t let me use the room again if I didn’t help.” He mumbled alone.

He took one of the baskets filled with cleaning equipment and proceeded to arrange them into the drawer. The silence made him think of the girl. It has been over a week since he last saw her. He wondered if she really went to this school.

“Should I return after lunch? I guess I’ll just skip the next period.” he tried making excuses despite very few errands. All he needed to do was take off the sheets and folded them into the baskets. The remaining fifteen minutes of break were more than enough for him to get them done and return the keys to the teacher’s lounge.

“Hello.” A voice gave him a start. Wonwoo pretended he didn’t hear it.

With the partition between the beds blocking her sight, he sincerely hoped that she didn’t notice his presence in the room.

“Ms. Ahn, is that you?” she called again after spotting the silhouette against the white screens. 

“Ms. Ahn went out for… a bit.” Wonwoo answered hastily, appearing from behind the partition. But the sight before him made him stutter. He squinted to make sure he was seeing right.

Pony tail, yellow name tag stuck out from the pocket of her uniform, the voice, that sad look on her face. It was her, standing timidly, with her gaze glued to the ground. It was the first time he had a clear look of her face. Wonwoo cleared his throat. He prayed he didn’t say anything stupid.

“Do you have an appointment with Ms. Ahn.” He asked.

“She asked me to see her today.” She lifted her face briefly to reply.

“Do you want to wait inside?” he offered. She didn’t say a word but carefully taking one step into the room. After looking around for a bit, she decided to take a seat on the bed, the one that was the furthest from Wonwoo.

Time passed excruciatingly slow. She peeked at her watch. Only three minutes had passed since she entered the room. They made eye contact a few times but hurriedly turned away. She waited with Wonwoo for a long time. He started to feel a sense of awkwardness creeping under his skin. Wonwoo jumped on his foot. He took off the sheets from the mattresses and pillows in a rush. Forget all the questions he had in mind, seeing her this close was enough. One step at a time, he reminded himself.

She copied him, silently, putting the sheets she gathered in her arms into the basket, neatly.

“Have we met? I feel like I know you.” Wonwoo asked, trying not to scare her off. She shook her head. Wonwoo thought it was weird. There was no way she didn’t recognized him. It had only been a little over a week since they met.

“Is that so?” She stayed quiet.

The bell for next period rang.

“When will she come back?” she asked, at last.

“She asks me to leave the key at the usual place which means she isn’t coming back. Normally, that was the case.” he answered truthfully despite wanting to stay with her longer.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“In case she’ll be back.” He lied. She stood up and walked away, leaving the infirmary room. Wonwoo instinctively went after her.

“Your name. What’s your name? In case Ms. Ahn asks me.” he asked. And waited while she stalled. Wonwoo could hear his heartbeats in his ears. He waited silently as the girl stared at him with hesitation plastered all over her face.

“I’ll take my leave.” She said and bowed to him without answering. At this point, he was mad. There was no way he was going to let her go after searching for her for the whole week.

“I’ll see you at lunch. In the art room.” She flinched.

Bona slowly turned around. That moment, she wished that she vanished into thin air.

“Caught you.” He smirked as he watched her run away.