call me by my name | binjin

3. Chocolate.

So what if she was failing the class already, even if had been a few weeks since the academic year started.

So what if she needed help.

So what if Bin was available, on standby like always, the first and last choice of their professor to assist her.

So what if his heart was going to explode out of his chest any time now.

“Bin?” Professor Kangʼs mouth was moving. Vaguely, he made out his eyes being narrowed in confusion which immediately knocked his attention off of Yejinʼs crying figure hunched over the desk to his teacher. He offered him a brisk bow of apology. “I'm sorry, Professor. I—” as he struggled to come up with words in order to save face, on the opposite end, the old man offered him a gentle smile; he had, after all, expected him to zone out at the sight of Miss Son.

Truth was, the Accounting professor had been observing his student for quite some time now. It was no secret how he looked at Miss Son. Perhaps, the only person unaware of his soft gaze was Yejin herself.

“As I explained...” the ghost of smiling playing on his lips went unnoticed by both Yejin and Bin who were crying and fidgeting awkwardly with the hem of his sweater, respectively. “Miss Son is in a lot of trouble even if the academic year has just started and I'll tell you why.” he adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and proceeded to gather several papers in his hands from his desk.

He gave them a quick once over and then, nodded to himself. “Apparently, Miss Son has been in trouble for the last year and a half. She's been bunking classes frequently and asking her friends to fill in for her on the attendance sheets. How very clever, I must say.” At his affirmative voice, Yejin dared to raise her head a little. For a few brief but precious seconds, Bin allowed himself to look at the woman next to him— with red rimmed eyes and tears leaking out furiously from her eyes, top it off with her hiccups and pouty lips; Bin still couldn't bring himself to find her unattractive.

If anything, the sight of her so vulnerable made him want to reach over and wrap his arms around her while he muttered away sweet nothings in her ear, playing with her hair softly.

“It was only now when the last semesterʼs exam results came out a few weeks ago that I realised that a girl who attended all of my classes was having troubles grasping even the smallest of concepts of basic Accounting. Naturally, I decided to dig in deeper to reach the root cause of the matter. Turns out—” Yejin pulled a tissue from the box on the desk and wiped her eyes, then another one for her nose as she tried her best to quietly do something about her clogged nose.

“She was indeed not in my class for the last year and a half. If only I had a group of a few tens of students instead of a little over a hundred so I could see this situation better. Miss Son,” he turned to her just when Yejin raised her head again. Small doe like eyes blinked away in hesitance. “May I ask why did you only bunk my lectures and not the rest of your classes?”

Bin watched the entire exchange in silence. As he fiddled with his thumbs in his lap trying to avoid looking at the girl who had his heart, his mind told him that this was the longest he had been in her presence. Come to think of it, he hasn't been in the same room as her before apart from their classrooms and hallways; which too, resided hundreds of bustling bodies other than the two of them.

“I had—” Yejin hiccuped and Bin found himself cutting his eyes to her frame. Her side profile was utterly breathtaking to him; the tint of her cheeks which were extra red now thanks to all the crying, her straight nose and down to her supple lips which quivered ever so often as she breathed. Her ebony waist length hair was in a braided mess over her shoulder with several strands sticking out because of running her fingers through it ever so often now. “I had dance lessons only then.” it was a whisper and it made Binʼs eyes widen in horror.