just between us (ib twinkling watermelon)

2

she heard the alarm ring, "fuck. i overslept" she stood up, got ready quickly, and rushed outside. "wait... i forgot my phone." she opened her door again, grabbed her phone, and muttered, "shit, shit, shit. i'm late on my second day." she ran to catch the bus.

when she got into her hall, she saw yichan waving at her and pointing to her seat.

she sat near him again. "hello," she said. "what happened? why are you late?" he asked.

"i just overslept," she replied. he nodded understandingly and refocused on the ongoing lecture.

the class had to do a project together. "who is going to do it together?" the professor asked. everyone found a partner, and yichan raised his hand.

"kim jino and i are going to do it together," he declared.

she was confused because she didn't know what project they were talking about and why he did this without asking her. he noticed that she was looking at him with confusion, but didn't say anything.

after the lecture, she tried to follow him. "yichan, wait, what was that?" she asked him.

"why i wanted to do it with you?" he said. "no, no, what is the project about? it's only the second day, and i was late," she asked. he just said, "don't worry, i'll do everything."

"what do you mean? i will do it too. can we meet at a café today?" she asked, and he looked at her.

"yes, when?" he inquired.

"after our classes," and he nodded.

after class

"i know a café, i'm always there, so let's go there," she said.

"alright," he said with a soft tone.

jino and yichan finished their project on "the impact of social media on privacy laws." jino playfully teased yichan, saying, "look, we're done so early, and you wanted to do it alone!" they both laughed. yichan smiled warmly then.

jino then asked to read yichan's work. as she went through his papers, she couldn't help but be impressed by his elegant writing style. "wow... you really wrote this?" she exclaimed, looking at him with admiration. their eyes met, and a sudden quiet fell between them. in that intense moment, they found themselves locked in a stare, each enchanted by the other's presence.

when jino realized what had happened, she raised her eyes and shook her head, trying to refocus on the topic at hand. "so, back to our subject..." she said, attempting to steer the conversation away. however, she couldn't help but notice that he was still looking at her, his expression serious and his doe eyes fixed on her face.

"yichan?" she said with a soft tone.

"yes?" he replied quickly.

"oh," he said and looked away. she noticed that his cheeks were red. how cute, she thought.

there was silence again. yichan was reading her work, yet he remained silent, offering no comments or words.

"i think we're done, probably the first group to be finished," he said, and she just nodded and smiled. "can you give me your number?" she looked at him, "just for the project, you never know when something might come up."

she smiled and took her phone out. "here."

on her way home

she went home, but on her way, she saw tam with a boy. she just stood there to listen to what he was telling her, "yoon tam, fuck, can you just listen to me?" his tone was serious. the boy grabbed her arm and pulled it against him.

"was the boy trying to hurt tam?" she talked to herself. she didn't know if she should interrupt it or just wait.

"will you take advantage of me again? why... why are you playing with me?" tam's voice carried a mix of anger and frustration as she confronted him. he looked at her, genuinely confused, and asked, "advantages? playing with you?" his puzzled expression revealed a lack of understanding. she scoffed, "am i wrong? you always-"she didn't finish her sentence. he interrupted with an unexpected move, pressing his lips against hers. he kissed her deeply and put his hands around her waist.

jino just watched this scene, not knowing what to do. she was mad at tam. how could she not tell her what was happening?

as she grappled with her emotions, raindrops started to fall, adding a somber tone to the already tense atmosphere.

she turned around and walked to the cafe again because she didn't want to go home.who was that guy? why was he so familiar? what just happened? this is all she thought about.