Chapter: Mr Wood

Joon went inside the cafe and found Aera sitting on one of the chairs keeping her head on her hands.

He slowly kept Hyun Soo' handbag on the counter and went towards her,

"Someone's not in a great mood today..." And Aera raised her head slightly.

Seeing Joon standing beside her she sighed and went back to her former position,

"Well, I'm not someone to deserve such expressions, am I?"

"Since the day I came to the cafe, I barely talked to you or him, your- your..?" He gave her a chance to speak.

"Friend," Aera replied.

"Oh! Yeah, friend." He scratched his forehead.

"So...I think today I should take a step ahead and talk to one of you. Do Yun doesn't seem to be a person who would talk to me so, I think I should talk with you..." He sat beside her.

"What happened? Anything wrong?"

"You can talk it out, I don't mind. In between my friends, I'm always called the woods. You wanna know why?" Aera sighed in frustration making Joon pout.

"Okay...if you don't wanna know, but before leaving I must tell you, once you ignore a good opportunity then it never knocks your door again."

Aera peeked at him from between her hands as she saw him walking away.

"Why?" She mumbled.

"Hm?" He turned towards her, "You asked something?"

"Why did they.... call you the woods?" She questioned being hesitant, her face still covered with her palms.

"Well...from where should I start? Lemme tell you a story first, once there was a boy of your age. He used to be bullied in his school and...his parents weren't well off and so almost busy every day working hard to earn while ignoring their child completely. The boy was frustrated as he did even had friends, he was weak and was not even intelligent much. Feeling worse he once away from his house in the woods. As he kept running he hit his foot in rock making him fall..."

"As he fell he wailed out loud only to hear his own echo. As he looked up he saw no one there to help him and so he stood up himself. He then yelled out all his anger, pain and complains in the woods and after he heard his echoes he felt pathetic of himself making him go silent. He then realised how weak he had made himself all this time. And so...the woods helped him overcome the hurdles in his life. I. Am. That wood." He smiled looking at Aera.

Aera rolled her eyes, "You think I'm pathetic?" She complained.

"No...absolutely not! If you ask me you are way more better than that boy and also he was a high schooler too young to be compared with you..." He motioned his hand and saw Aera again sighing and going back to her position.

Joon bent a bit towards her and said,

"What I wanted to say was, I am the wood because my friends used to tell me their problems and even if I wasn't able to give any solution they usually used to found out the answers as they kept talking to me. They also said that this never happens if they talk with someone else..."

Aera again peeked at him and he whispered, "Isn't it interesting?"

Aera rolled her eyes and put her hands down,

"So you mean...if I talk to you I might find an answer to my problems?" She questioned.

Joon quickly sat down as he nodded,

"Only if... you're interested in talking." He proclaimed.

Aera looked in the void for a second and agreed, "Okay, let's do it." And Joon smiled making him look more humble....

*****

"Why are you hiding things from me? Or should I ask....since when you've been hiding things from me?" Do Yun has been scolding Hyun Soo for almost two minutes misunderstanding her as Aera while his eyes were still closed.

Hyun Soo looked at him with widened eyes as she stopped where she was.

"Me?" She questioned pointing herself.

"Yeah! You-" He said and suddenly paused.

He opened his eyes and saw Hyun Soo standing right in front of him staring at him.

"Oh! Ms Hyun Soo?! Since when you're standing here?" He asked as he stood up.

"Since...you're yelling at me." She said humbly while looking at him with raised eyebrows.

"Ah! Sorry, I thought it was Aer- Oh let it be....why are you here?" He asked.

"I just...saw you out of the cafe so...followed you. Anything wrong?" She was worried.

"Na-Nah! Nothing serious." He walked to her.

"Let's go back to the cafe, there might be some customers there waiting for us to serve them." He said and walked away as Hyun Soo nodded.

She looked at the back of him with slight confusion in her eyes, she had this strange sense that something was wrong with Do Yun' eyes,

"Were his eyes really glowing or...was it the reflection of the sun?" She thought to herself as she walked back to the cafe.

*****

"So....he thinks you lied to him?"

"No, I did! but... it's for his own good." Aera was still explaining to Joon her problem.

"But then what is this so call a huge lie you've been telling him this whole time?"

"There is this problem, I can't tell anyone about this." Aera clenched her fists as she banged it on the table.

"Okay, okay.....calm down girl. So the whole gist is you lied to him or if I add specifications then...you hid his own true identity from him but for his own good and now that he knows he is giving you a cold shoulder."

Aera nodded and looked at him with a twinkle in her eyes,

"Any solutions?"

"But then...at least tell me the reason behind the hiding, will you?!" He scratched his head abruptly making his hair mess.

"I can't!" She yelled.

"Ugh!" He grunted.

"Okay sorry!" Aera interrupted.

"Lemme give you...like...hints?" She said being unsure.

"Okay! Nice...it will work!"

Aera smiled and said, "Okay then...listen, there is a man who is gonna fight Do Yun, but Do Yun doesn't know anything about this or the man. If Do Yun knows his real identity and if he digs more deeper than there are chances that this fight will be fought before the fixed time making Do Yun fail or...even die." Joon stared at her for some instance.

"What?" She snapped her fingers in front of him.

"When you said he's angry with you I thought It is a small matter, but his life depends on this. This is too much to handle!" He said in one go.

"So-so what?" Aera widened her eyes.

"What?" Joon suddenly acted like a clueless person.

"Any solutions?"

"Wait, wait...I said if people talk to me they tend to find solutions... it's not like I give them any...." He stood up and started to walk away.

"Wow! Amazing!" Aera was frustrated by his sudden backoff.

"You're not at all reliable!" This made him stop.

He turned towards her and Hyun Soo and Do Yun entered the cafe. Seeing them Joon went towards Aera and whispered,

"All I can say is Do Yun is very stubborn and this fight is supposed to be fought beforehand so...keep hiding but help him with his things..."

Aera frowned in confusion while Joon walked away towards Hyun Soo and then to the counter along with her.

Awra kept thinking about what he wanted to say when suddenly her mind lit up and she understood, she stood up and said,

"Thanks, Mr Wood!" And earned a beautiful smile from Joon...