Chapter 2 – The Space Between Desks

The morning sunlight filtered through the classroom windows, casting soft shadows across the wooden desks. Kang Daewon sat near the middle row, pencil in hand, though the page before him remained mostly blank. A few faint lines curved into the beginnings of a sketch—a side profile, quiet and thoughtful, shaded beneath a small blue umbrella.

It wasn’t finished. He didn’t want it to be. Not yet.

He looked up for a second, just in time to catch his friend Junho plop into the seat beside him, arms dramatically stretched out like he had run a marathon just getting there.

“Midterm schedules are up,” Junho groaned, dropping his bag onto the desk with a heavy thud. “Science is first. We’re doomed.”

Daewon blinked, then offered a small smile. “You say that every time.”

Junho scoffed, pulling out a crumpled copy of the exam schedule. “And every time, I’m right. Look—math, science, Korean, all back-to-back. They want us dead.”

Daewon chuckled quietly, resting his chin on his hand. “It’s not that bad.”

“Says the guy who actually studies,” Junho muttered, but then paused, narrowing his eyes. “Wait, did you draw again?” He pointed toward Daewon’s notebook.

Daewon’s hand instinctively slid over the sketch, hiding it. “It’s nothing.”

Junho raised an eyebrow, grinning. “Is it her again?”

Daewon didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Junho had known him long enough to understand silence better than words.

“Dude,” Junho whispered dramatically. “Just tell her. Before I explode from secondhand feelings.”

Daewon looked away, out the window where sunlight danced on the school courtyard. “It’s not that easy.”

Junho sighed but dropped the subject—just in time, too, because footsteps echoed through the hallway. A few students shuffled into the classroom, and in that quiet lull, Yoo Aera entered.

Her hair caught the light as she stepped in, neat and soft, just brushing past her shoulders. She didn’t say much—she never did—but her presence always seemed to change the atmosphere, like opening a window on a spring day.

She walked past Daewon’s desk, her expression calm, almost unreadable. She didn’t glance at him, but Daewon felt the air shift, just slightly, like something inside him had straightened up and paid attention.

Her desk was right beside his.

As she sat down, the classroom door opened once more and their homeroom teacher stepped in, commanding the quiet with her presence. The bell rang. Class began.

But Daewon’s thoughts were already drifting, somewhere between the lesson and the soft sound of a pencil against paper.

Yoo Aera’s POV

The bell rang, and the classroom stirred with the quiet shuffle of notebooks closing and chairs sliding back.

Aera didn’t move right away. Her pencil hovered above her notes, but she hadn’t written anything in the last few minutes. Not really.

She turned a page, slowly, pretending to review her work. But in truth, her thoughts were far from atoms and chemical bonds.

Then I’m glad you saw me.

She hadn’t meant to remember those words. But they came back anyway—soft as sunlight, lingering like a quiet echo from the art room that day.

It was silly, maybe. But something about the way Daewon said it… it stayed with her. Not because it was poetic. He wasn’t that kind of boy. But because it sounded real. Like it came from somewhere deep inside.

Since then, she’d found herself noticing little things.

Like how he sometimes stared at the board but didn’t write anything.

Like how his pen would start moving whenever she did.

Like today.

He’d drawn something again. She caught a glimpse when he shifted in his seat—something blue, circular. An umbrella?

She hadn’t meant to look. She wasn’t even sure if she was right. But still… it made her lips curl just a little.

She remembered the way their hands brushed when she passed him the pencil earlier. The moment was short, but it had sent a flutter through her chest, one she hadn’t expected.

Maybe it was nothing. Just nerves. Just the quiet way of middle school days. But maybe…

She shook her head lightly, pushing her hair behind her ear.

Don’t imagine too much, Yoo Aera.

Still, her heart felt light. Lighter than usual.

She packed her things slowly, stealing one last glance at the boy next to her.

Daewon was folding a paper with a kind of gentle care, like it meant something. Then he tucked it deep into his notebook and zipped it shut before standing.

Their eyes almost met.

Almost.

She looked away first.

But her heart was still fluttering.

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