Waiting for a girl like you

Defend me

Damn I only have 10 minutes left. I really wanted to go to the cafeteria to get the kimchi gimbap that was the special of the day. But as I looked at my watch I realized there was not enough time for me to get my wallet in my locker and then walk back to the cafeteria. It really sucked that my locker was located on the other side of the building. I had tried so many times to get one closer to the cafeteria but no one was naive enough to want to trade with me.

Luckily the classroom I had been in wasn't that far away from my locker so I could walk there quickly and try to find one of the vending machines located on the floor I was on. As I walked I kept looking around me hoping I spotted one on the way. I knew there should be one close to the lockers but since I had never used the vending machines on the first floor before I didn't know exactly where it was.

Just before I reached the hallway that had my locker I finally spotted one and was pleasantly surprised that this one still had one of the chicken sandwiches left. Asa! There's nobody here so that one is mine! I just had to hurry and get my wallet before someone else came and took it.

Not taking any chances I quickly turned the corner and all but ran to my locker. After fumbling a bit with the lock I opened it and immediately took out my wallet, closed it and ran back the way I came. I held on to the wall as I turned the corner to prevent myself from losing my balance. However, I had forgotten that the vending machine was right around the corner. I tried avoiding it but it didn't take long until I felt the impact of the collision. Though I expected to crash into the metal of the machine, I was surprised when I bumped into a person instead.

As soon as I realized what was happening I grabbed the girl's shoulders to keep us both from falling. Though our collision wasn't big enough to drop us to the ground, it was big enough to make me lose my balance towards her. Luckily, the girl had her back turned to the wall when she hit it and I managed to break my fall by placing my hands on either side of her.

"Otteokhae, I'm.. ah I'm so.. sorry. Are you.. ok?" I stuttered. Though I didn't know if it was because of the running or the fact that I almost crushed the girl to the wall. I closed my eyes and tried to get my breathing under control.

"Ah, I'm fine." Her reply was nothing more than a whisper. If it wasn't for the fact that I could feel her breath on my face I probably wouldn't have noticed she had even said anything.

"I'm sorry, what did you-" My words got stuck in my throat as I opened my eyes and realized how close our faces were together. Even though she was taller than me the first thing I saw were her familiar soulful eyes staring back at me. I'd recognize them anywhere. I'd recognize her anywhere.

Though I'd seen her many times in passing on campus (I might have followed her around on some occasions), This was the first time I was actually seeing her up close. Words like pretty and cute, which were often used to describe her, didn't do justice to her beauty.

All this time that I had wasted watching her from afar seemed foolish now. Even though I'd never felt confident enough to talk to her, I wish I'd at least tried. Even being ignored or rejected would have been worth it to see the way her wavy hair framed her face perfectly. To see the way her cheeks were slightly red even though it seemed like she was wearing no make-up. To see the small birthmark on her nose that was begging to be touched. To look into her big doe eyes that seemed to hold me captive. It would have been worth it to see all of this from up close instead of from the shadows.

I had never been formally introduced to her but I knew of her. Son Naeun. Resident Queen of the visual arts faculty, if not of the whole university. Most people saw her as aloof and cold despite being pretty but to me she was more than that.