Silence ○ Lee Haechan

○ 13

The autumn leaves crinkled under foot as Mari made her way along the orange hued street.

The wind that blew gently through her hair lifted loose leaves off of branches and drifted them swiftly to the ground.

The air felt almost nostalgic, bringing her back to when she was young running through the streets of Jeju picking up fallen leafs. Autumn was always her favourite as it meant her birthday was soon.

The sound of kids running past her made her head tilt up to follow the sound, the sight of two children running around jumping into piles of leafs as the hurriedly made their way to school.

It contrasted the way Mari was walking as slow as she could to prevent her from spending more time than required in the confinement's of her school.

It was Monday and like any Monday she had woken up late, not by her alarm but to the sound of her father yelling at her from down stairs to get up.

That was not fun, her sleep getting rudely interrupted by something other than her otherwise terrifyingly loud alarm- what a great start to her not so great day.

Shoving her hands into her pockets as she made her way through the school gate, the front garden empty of students as they all resigned inside where she was supposed to be.

The halls were quiet as she made her way up the stairs to the second storey, turning left and coming to a halt in front of her classroom door.

Pulling her hand out of her blazer pocket, she deftly knocked on the door and waited for the call to come in. Once she heard her teacher she opened the door softly and bowed, muttering an apology to him.

"Miss Jeong, late again I see. Do you have a late pass?" Her teacher asked to which she shook her head lightly. "Go to the office and get one then."

Mari bowed once more and exited the class room silently, a smile pulling at her lips as she walked the halls of the school alone.

The sun beaming in through the windows and creating a golden glow on the white walls, lighting up the hallways and creating a gentle warmth in the expanse.

It felt cozy as she made her way back down the stairs, hands gripping at the straps of her bag as she gazed out side the window- birds flying amongst the trees as the leaves floated towards the ground.

The sight made her calm, a blissful glee filling her veins as she basks in the morning sun. The quiet hallways bringing her into a state of peace, that's until she moved her head to look back in front of her when she stops in her spot from fright- eyes closing abruptly.

The sight of a body almost hitting hers made her shake from dismay, hands coming up to her chest and the feeling of two large hands gripping her elbows to sturdy her became present.

"Oh my gosh are you okay?" a voice spoke frantically, pulling their hands away and Mari slowly opened her eyes.

Her eyes trailed up to the owner of the voice, a tall, utterly handsome man stood in front of her, his hand on the nape of his neck rubbing awkwardly as he mutters out an "I'm so sorry" accompanied with a small bow.

"It's okay-" her eyes gazed down to the name badge that sat on his school sweater and a smile pulled at the corner of her lips, "Bae Jinyoung. I should've been looking where I was going, it's my fault."

The boy smiled back at the girl, looking up briefly as if in thought before asking "I think I've seen you around before. You are in Mr Gwan's class, right?"

"Yeah I am," Mari said with a smile, hands slipping back into the pocket of her blazer.

"Sweet, I am in Mrs Chang's class," he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and adjusting the weight of his bag on his shoulder.
"Where you heading towards the office?"

"Yeah I was, which reminds me that I should probably go before Mr Gwan rips off my head," Mari said as she began to take small steps around the boy who was chuckling at her words.

"We wouldn't want that now would we," he said with a bright smile on his lips.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Bae Jinyoung," she said in her stop, watching as the boy began to walk backwards, looking back every now and then so he wouldn't walk into anything.

"It was nice meeting you too Jeong Mari," he said joyfully as he turned around and started walking up the stairs.

Mari watched as his body disappeared from view, her lips dropping into a small curious smile, intrigued by the boy she had just ran into.

Adjusting the bag on her shoulders she turned towards the office door and walked in, her gaze looking down as she entered the office only to look up when she heard the receptionist speak.

"There you go Haechan, make sure you aren't late again," the sound of his name made her head fling up abruptly, making eye contact with the boy who was holding his late pass and thanking the receptionist.

His eyes bore into hers, his stance slouched with one hand pushed into the pocket of his pants. His white T-shirt untucked as his tie laid flat down his chest. The two just stared at each other.

Mari blinked away his appearance as she took a step towards the front desk. Donghyucks body slightly stepping aside to make room for her to walk past.

"Late note please," she asked the receptionist kindly who smiled at her before turning away to look through her folder.

"Who was that?" Donghyuck vocalised and Mari kept her attention to the front.

A smile pulled on her lips as she said a small thank you to the receptionist and began to fill out the form.
"Just someone from the other class."

Tucking her loose hair behind her ear as she continued to write, her attention focused on the paper she had to fill out as Donghyuck looks at her under scrutiny.

"He seems friendly," he responded with a humm and the girl ignored her words as she gave the receptionist back the pen and the booklet, taking the note after she had signed it and turning on her heels.

"He is," was all she said as she pushed open the door and entered the quiet hallways, Donghyuck following closely behind.

There was a sickening silence that filled the hallways and Mari could feel the tension rise, it was thickening quickly and it felt suffocating.

The feeling of his body following closely behind made goosebumps crawl her skin at the sheer presence. The lingering feeling making her grow anxious, it only intensifying when she knows that it's Donghyuck following her.

"So" he cleared his voice, "Your brother seems to have grown a lot," he spoke, finally cutting through the tension.

"Yeah... he has," her walking slowed down slightly at the mention of her brother, allowing for the boy to catch up to her. A million thoughts ran through her head, pondering over whether she should ask a question back or feed into the awkward silence that tormented them.

"How are- how have your siblings been?" She asked back, genuinely a little curious as the last time she saw them was a little over 2 years ago.

"Well, Dongsun and Dongyul are both 11 now and uh Haewon, well she's the same age as Minsu."

"Damn, 11? That's so weird," she says, reminiscing on the once 9 year old boys she knew. They were just like Donghyuck, except that they were little and that there were two of them.

"Trust me, I know," he said as the two began to walk up the stairs.
"It was weird seeing Minsu again, he looks so grown up- even if he is 14."

"He's still a little terror," Mari said and the two of them chuckled faintly.

The momentary awkwardness dispersing for a few seconds as they think upon their siblings, happy memories following about the times they'd spend with each other's families- as if they were their own.

The silence that then followed was comfortable, the two of them forgetting for a moment why they were exactly angry at the other.

The two silently made their way back to the classroom where a very unhappy teacher was waiting for them with crossed arms.