Late.

He’s late, again. It isn’t something Changmin did often but lately he’s been spending time at a local ice rink clearing his head. It’s thirty minutes away from his house unlike the old one he and Sunhwa used to go to that was just two blocks away. It was farther but he’d rather travel than risk seeing her.

Changmin swung his hockey bag over his shoulder and quickly ran to the bus stop. As he got there the bus doors closed and it began to move away. He glared at the vehicle and messed his hair.

“AISH!” Changmin heard from behind him. He turned around to see a girl panting and hunched over with her hands on her knees. She was wearing the uniform from his school.

“Look if we run now, we could catch the next train” Changmin voiced out.

The girl looked up at him. It was Sunhwa. “Changmin?” she spoke, “You’re running late too?” Changmin nodded then immediately gestured for her to follow him, “hurry!” he said. They ran towards the subway station and squeezed through the crowd as they got in.

The moment they settled inside the very crowded subway train. Changmin noticed an old man blushing as he eyed Sunhwa. He subtly moved to block her but found a younger man at their left with a creepy smile sliding his phone out of his pocket and near the girl’s legs. He let out an annoyed sigh then grabbed Sunhwa’s arm. She looked up at him to demand an explanation but was stopped as she was pulled to the side of the train and her back lightly hit the doors. Changmin stood close in front of her, cornering her. He raised his hand to hold on to the pole beside them, crowding her even more.  

“What was that about?” she mumbled, turning her face to the side hoping to hide the slight blush building up on her cheeks.

Changmin turned his face to the other side and mumbled something Sunhwa couldn’t quite make out. She turned to him, “What?” she said. His mouth moved but the sound remained too low for her hearing. “Mind turning it up a bit, I can’t hear you” she said again.

The boy looked straight at her, his face red and his eyebrows furrowed, “your skirt. Too short” he muttered. Sunhwa let out a chuckle, “what? You pulled me over here to tell me that? Some other girls wear it even shorter!” she pointed out and got an annoyed look from Changmin. He looked away again. His face was growing redder by the second.

The twenty minutes trip to school felt like hours as the awkwardness grew between them. People kept shuffling and the gap between them got even smaller. Sunhwa looked up to see Changmin leaning his head on his arm, the boy was dozing off. She smiled reached up to brush his hair away from his face. He wasn’t the same boy she left a couple of years ago. Puberty did him well. He’s much taller than he was then, a bit more handsome if she could say, his voice much deeper… he’s quite stubborn back then but even more now.

Suddenly someone bumped into Changmin causing him to lose his grip on the pole and fall on Sunhwa. She quickly wrapped her arms around his middle to keep him up. Luckily, he wasn’t that deep asleep so he managed to control his weight before squishing her. He raised his arms against the door to steady himself then made dropped them on Sunhwa’s shoulders, “Uh… hey, I’m good. You can let go now” he said. She tightened her hold on him and dug her nose on his shirt briefly before letting go. She didn’t realize how much she missed him until this moment. She placed on her sides and looked down at her feet.

Changmin watched her for a while. It’s been years since they were this close. But it’s too late to still dwell on that. The speakers announced that they have reached their destination. The train slows to a stop and they both leave the cart.

They walk to school in silence with words better left unsaid hanging around them.