“Ara,” Jungwon leaned slightly toward her desk, voice low so only she could hear. “Can you do me a favor?”

She sighed, already regretting entertaining whatever he was about to ask. “What is it?”

“I need you to switch cleaning duties with me.”

Ara blinked. “What?”

“I have something important after school, and I can’t stay to clean the classroom,” Jungwon explained, tilting his head slightly as if trying to appear more convincing.

Ara wasn’t sure why he thought that would work on her.

“Not my problem,” she said flatly, flipping a page in her notebook.

Jungwon pressed his palms together. “Come on, I’ll owe you one.”

“You already owe me two,” she pointed out. “The time I lent you my notes and the time I covered for you when you almost got caught eating in class.”

Jungwon chuckled. “Okay, okay. Three, then.”

She sighed, glancing at him. “What’s so important that you can’t stay?”

Jungwon hesitated for a split second before shrugging. “Just something I promised to do.”

That answer didn’t satisfy her, but she wasn’t interested enough to pry. “Fine. But you really owe me this time.”

Jungwon grinned. “Deal.”

-

After school, Ara found herself alone in the emptying classroom, broom in hand. She couldn’t believe she had agreed to this.

Cleaning duties were already annoying enough when she had to do them on her assigned day, but now she was stuck covering for Jungwon too.

“Unbelievable,” she muttered, sweeping the floor absentmindedly.

Halfway through, the classroom door slid open, and she looked up, expecting a teacher or another student. Instead, it was Jungwon.

“Done yet?” he asked casually, leaning against the doorframe.

Ara scowled. “You have the audacity to check on me when you should be the one doing this?”

Jungwon grinned, stepping inside. “I felt guilty, so I came back to help.”

She scoffed. “Felt guilty? Or just bored?”

“Maybe both,” he admitted, picking up a cloth to wipe the desks.

Ara sighed but didn’t argue. It wasn’t exactly fair that she had agreed to clean up alone, so she allowed him to help—after all, she wasn’t the type to refuse extra hands.

They worked in comfortable silence, the occasional sound of the broom swiping across the floor and Jungwon’s quiet humming filling the room.

By the time they finished, the sun was already setting, casting a golden hue over the empty desks.

Ara dusted off her hands. “Done.”

Jungwon clapped his hands together. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”

She rolled her eyes. “Easy for you to say when you barely did half of it.”

He laughed. “Hey, effort counts.”

She shook her head, grabbing her bag. Just as she was about to leave, Jungwon called out to her.

“Ara.”

She turned back, raising an eyebrow. “What?”

He smiled, a little softer this time. “Thanks.”

She didn’t say anything, just huffed and walked out.

But as she stepped into the hallway, she found herself smiling—just a little.