Counting on Stars // NCT Ten

Snow

Byeol called Ten and they met up by the front of the dance studio, then left their backpacks in the music room and stepped outside. They were thinking about what to do/where to go when Ten suddenly got an idea.

"Come with me," Ten said and started leading Byeol down the hallways.

"Where are we going?" She asked, confused, as she kept pace.

"There's this beautiful place in the school that I want to show you. You know, since you're new." He added with a shrug.

"If you say so..." She decided to trust him as he took her up a few sets of stairs to the second floor and down another hallway. Eventually, the reached the end, where there was just a window and the roof of the floor below them protruding out of the building.

Byeol admired the view from the window. "Wow, Ten, I can almost see everything-"

"Oh, we're not there yet." He said, then looked over his shoulder a few times before pulling on the window lock.

"Ten, are we allowed to-"

"Help me out here," He cut her off and she hesitated, but then unlocked the other end of the huge window. Ten pushed on the glass and it slid to the side, making a space big enough for a person.

"Are you sure?" She looked to her left and right. Something on the wall caught her eye. "Ten, there's a camera right there!"

He rolled his eyes. "No one checks those, Byeol. Now, follow me." He held onto the sides of the windowsill and went through the opening, stepping on the roof of the first floor below. He turned around to face Byeol, holding out his hand. She gently took it and used her other hand to hold onto the windowsill, just like he did, and he pulled her outside. The refreshing, cold air hit her face as he let go of her hand and closed the slid the window back to its place, leaving a small gap so they could go inside again.

Byeol looked in front of her and her jaw dropped.

The school's memorial garden was right in front of them, a storey below. There were stone benches on either side and the fountain sat in between all the colorful flowers and decorative trees. Past that, there was a gravel trail, and the rest was forest. Most of the leaves had fallen, but the ones that were still on the trees were beautiful, deep shades of dark red. And above it all, the orange sun was slowly making its way below the horizon, cotton-like clouds dyed pink and red in the evening sky.

"Wow." She whispered.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He said quietly, as if talking too loud would disturb the painting they were standing in. She simply nodded.

"Are we allowed to be here?" She asked, finally peeling her eyes away from the gorgeous scene. Ten dusted the floor with his hand and sat down, then patted the spot next to him as an invitation. Byeol took it.

"As long as they don't catch us, we'll be alright." He said simply. She opened her mouth to retort, but closed it once she realized that she had trusted him and now, she could just hope that they wouldn't get caught.

"So, what's on your mind?" Ten asked. He guessed something was up because they rarely ever meet for anything other than dance or schoolwork.

"Nothing much," She mumbled, surprised that the conversation shifted her so suddenly.

"Byeol?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?" Ten stated, looking into her eyes. She blushed, looking down.

"Yeah, I've been told..." She admitted.

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay, but just know that I'm here." Ten said with a soft smile. She nodded, looking at the sky.