Ara tried not to think about it too much. Overthinking would only make things more complicated, and she didn’t need that right now.

But then, as if the universe wanted to test her, Jungwon leaned closer. 

“Come with me,” he said, his voice casual but firm. 

Ara blinked. “Huh?” 

Jungwon stood up, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Just trust me.” 

Ara frowned. “Where?”

“You’ll see.”

She wanted to refuse, to say she was busy, but the words didn’t come out. Instead, she found herself nodding before she could think twice about it.

After the final bell rang, she followed Jungwon outside, curious but wary.

He led her to the back of the school, where a quiet garden sat untouched by the usual chaos of students.

It was peaceful, the kind of place she would have sought out on her own.

Jungwon sat on one of the benches and patted the space beside him. “Sit.”

Ara hesitated before giving in, sitting down with a sigh. “Okay. We’re here. Now what?”

He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he stared ahead, watching the sky shift to soft orange hues. “You always seem like you’re running away.”

Ara stiffened. “What?”

“From people. From conversations. From me.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. Because he wasn’t wrong.

Jungwon turned to her then, his gaze steady. “Why?”

She looked away, focusing on a leaf that had fallen onto her lap. “I don’t know.”

“Liar.”

Ara exhaled sharply, finally meeting his eyes. “Because it’s easier. If I don’t get close, I don’t have to worry about… things changing.”

Jungwon studied her for a moment before nodding, as if he understood more than she had said. “Things change whether we want them to or not.”

She swallowed hard. “I know.”

Silence stretched between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. If anything, it felt… necessary. .

As if they were standing on the edge of something neither of them were ready to name.

For now, though, sitting here in the quiet was enough.