8 The Punishment!

"Okay, then. Bye Mia. See you tomorrow.", said Gyuri waving at Mia, who was standing at the door of the classroom holding a broom in her hand.

She turned back and saw that there was no one left in the classroom, except her and Ray.

Ray was moving the tables to the back.

She looked at him sadly.

He hadn't talked with her for the whole day.

Not only that, during art class when he needed an eraser, he asked Min Anha but not her.

'Ughh….why are you getting upset over such stupid things….idiot…', she said to herself.

Then she looked at him and saw that he was still busy with his work.

Mia started cleaning. The dust started floating in the air as she started sweeping.

"Cough….cough…."

'There is a lot of dust.', she thought.

"Cough….cough…."

Mia stopped her work.

'Oh…what should I do? In hurry, I also forgot my handkerchief today….'

As she was thinking this, she felt something on her shoulder.

'Huh?'

She grabbed it. It was a handkerchief.

She turned back and saw that Ray was standing there.

"There is a lot of dust here. Use it as a mask.", he said, smiling slightly.

His ears were red.

But Mia didn't notice it and kept staring at him, stunned.

Realizing that she is staring, he quickly looked to the other side.

"You…You should say 'Thank you' to me", he said, just to bring her back to her senses.

"Th…Thank you.", she said hurriedly.

Tying his handkerchief around her mouth, Mia started her work again.

After moving all the tables to the back, Ray helped her in sweeping.

When that was done, both of them moved the tables back to their places. But they didn't say a word while doing all this.

After moving all the tables, now it was time to clean the blackboard.

'It's getting a little bit awkward….should I say something to him?...Or should I wait for him to talk first…..Ughhh…..what should I do?....How should I start the conversation?....Why is it so hard to talk…..Just talk…..Just say something Mia….'

"Umm…..Mia?…."

"Huh?", Mia quickly turned to him.

'Ohh…..Thank god he said something first…' She thought.

"Umm…..Mia….You…You left that corner of the board. Wipe it properly.", Ray said hurriedly.

A little bit confused by his words, she looked at the corner he pointed out.

"Oh, yeah….Sorry." And she wiped it.

Again the classroom went silent. Only the wiping sound on the board could be heard.

~

'Ah!', remembering something suddenly, Mia said, "Umm….Ray?"

He quickly turned to her and said, "Yeah?"

"Umm…Mrs. Jang said in the morning that the reason you came late today was very sweet. Why did she say that?"

Hearing her words, Ray's ears became red again.

"No…Umm…It is nothing like that…Haha…", he said while scratching back of his head.

"So….why were you late today?", Mia asked again.

"Well actually…."

When he started talking, Mia tried to pay full attention to him and stopped her work.

"I was coming to the school by walking. There is a post office on the way. And a grandma was sitting on a bench there. As soon as she saw me, she grabbed my hand and seated me next to her. I was so startled at first…"

Mia was so amused while hearing that. 'Ohh…'

"But then she told me, that she wanted to write a letter to her son, who lives overseas. And she couldn't write because her hands were so shaky…Like this…" and he showed Mia how her hands were shaking.

"Ohh…."

"Yeah….so…I wrote a letter for her son and then posted it. That's why I got late."

"That is so nice of you."

"Yeah…And you know what….she gave me a candy also!", saying it happily Ray took out a candy wrapper from his pocket and showed it to Mia.

'That is indeed so sweet of him. No one would say that he is not cute!'

Mia smiled brightly.

They started wiping the board again.

"So, why were you late today?", asked Ray.

"Ohh well, I….I woke up late… Haha.." She laughed awkwardly.

How would she tell him that she was lost in her thoughts while getting ready and the thoughts were about him?

"Ohh, Okay.", Ray said.

Soon, they finished their cleaning.

"Ahh…..All done!....It was nice working with you, Mia." He said.

"Yeah..", Mia smiled.

"Let's not come late tomorrow. Otherwise we'll have to do it again.", Ray laughed.

But Mia's face darkened a bit.

'Does he not want to work with me again...?' She got sad as this thought clouded her mind.

Ray looked at her face.

"Umm….well….I'll….I'll go then. Bye…..See you tomorrow.", saying this, Ray hurriedly grabbed his bag and ran out of the classroom.

Mia was left alone now.

She looked at the big empty classroom and let out a sigh.

Suddenly, she noticed something.

'Huh?...Why is that table so out of the row…..wait….isn't that Ray's seat?.....Why is it so close to my seat?.…I didn't arrange that row…..wait…..does that mean…..'

She looked at the door from where Ray ran out just a minute ago.

~

Mia stepped out of the classroom with a huge smile.

No one would have ever seen someone being this happy after the punishment!