YOUR ENCOUNTER WITH JAY IN THE AFTERNOON had the most awful of impacts on the rest of your day. When the memories of him in your past had flooded back to you like an overbearing storm, you had to excuse yourself to the campus bathroom to adjust your makeup. Your eyeliner was smudged and trickling down your cheeks, and eyes brimming red from crying, which only made you want to cry even more. You were never one to cry, especially in school, yet Jay proved to have the capability to make you ruined in a matter of seconds.
Even as you cried and cried, humiliating yourself when a first year walked in and immediately became startled at your hopeless state, you still wanted to have him comfort and console you. To wrap his arms around you and pull you in, to stroke your hair and hush sweet nothings in your ear with a soft, unmatched tone.
The way he used to at the time you were able to call him yours.
You ended up taking yourself to the campus library, footsteps heavy as you dragged yourself up the steps. Returning to your shared apartment with Ayaka was no longer an option; the face you had imagined if you told Ayaka that you had been crying over Jay would break her heart. She was aware of everything that had happened between the two of you, from the euphoric moments you experienced to the messy breakup at the end of it. She knew that he was your first love, that there was a possibility you still loved him even after so many years. Aside from that, her boyfriend was over too — and you did not want to deal with that childish asshole, on a day where you just wanted to burst into tears.
Whenever you talked about Jay after a long night of drinking, whether it be at a bar or back at your place, her face would twinge with disgust and hatred. After everything you had told her, she had grown to despise him. So if anything, even if after knowing that you cried when seeing him, it would break her heart, but then she would break his legs.
And maybe his dick in the process too.
You could not have that happening.
That was how you wound up here, in the library. You had been studying here for five hours now, the clock striking nine as you finished reading the line of one of the longest chapters of your textbook. Your head throbbed, your neck had hurt from craning over your book for extended periods of time, and your space was littered with empty cans of energy drinks and wrappers of candy. With a yawn, you paused the soft music that had been playing through your earphones, to slowly take one of the earbuds out from your ears.
Although everywhere seemed to hurt, studying was definitely a good distraction from what happened today.
In fact, it served as such a good distraction that you never realised that there had been a guy sitting in-front of you the whole time as you studied.
"I never knew you were such a diligent worker." The deep voice startled you from the silence you had grown familiar with since the beginning of your study session. Frightened, you flinched in your seat, eyes forced upwards to the direction of where the voice had come from. It did not take long, as you easily met the gaze of the boy opposite you.
His hair was combed back and tied into one of the tiniest ponytails you had ever seen, a few strands breaking free from the hairtie to effortlessly frame his face. The second you made eye contact with him, the corners of his lips quirked upwards into a boyish smile, one that you were beginning to believe was a key personality trait for all of the it boys of your University. It appeared that this guy was not the type to dress down — his outfit was packed with chains and dark washed denim, topped off with a silver ring that was situated on his bottom lip.
Park Sunghoon? In a library? You never thought that you would be one to witness that sight.
If you could confirm one thing about this guy, is that he definitely looked good in anything.
"God, you scared me." You breathed, your hand leaping up resting over your heart. "Since when did you get here?"
"I was here before you came, Areum-ah." He chuckled. "You were the one that sat in-front of me first."
"What?! No." You scoffed, folding your arms over your chest. "I would have noticed that you were sitting there. Don't make me doubt my own memory."
"And make me doubt mine? I clearly remember watching you walk in and sitting down across from me. I even greeted you, but you didn't reply. It was as if something had possessed you—it beats me why you were like that, but just know that I was super hurt that I got no reply for my greeting." Sunghoon faked a pout, matching your body language and crossing his arms himself. For a moment, his intimidating facade cracked, allowing you to see a soft side of him you had never expected.
"Oh. My bad, then." You apologised, fiddling with a highlighter in your other hand. "What are you here for?"
"To study, of course. Just like you." He replied coolly. "An Architecture major's always got to put in the work, after all."
Oh, right. You remembered overhearing a group of girls gushing over Sunghoon's intelligence when it came to his department. Rumours claimed that he was the star of his major, always earning compliments from his professors, never getting less than a 90% on his exams and graded projects. You were amazed at the proof of his work ethic, as you glanced down to find that his own workspace was untidy. A huge poster was rolled out on the surface, where numerous sketches had been drawn on and rubbed out. There were traces of smudges in some corners, and his eraser looked worn out as numerous rubber shavings dispersed on the table's surface.
If only you could be as motivated as he is, and as balanced to get outstanding grades whilst partying on every weekend without fail.
Park Sunghoon was the blueprint for the expectation of a University student, indeed.
"You think I am a diligent worker? Look at you. What you're doing is incomparable to what I'm doing — I was basically just reading the same paragraph over and over again, trying to make sense of it." You complimented, gazing in awe at his sketches.
"Thank you." He laughed, eyes forming into crescents. "You okay though? You don't—excuse me if I offend you—but you look really tired." He continued, resting his head on his palm as concern took over his face. Despite his sharp features, an unfamiliar softness resided in his gaze, matched with a much calmer smile that rested upon his lips.
"Well, I'm not in the best condition." You sighed. "Studying was originally going to be a distraction from the shit I got into today, but it turned out to be effective. I would have loved to tell you why I feel down, but I don't think we're close enough for me to let you get that kind of information from me yet. I'm sorry if that offends you." You frowned, stretching your arms to the sides to relieve yourself of the cramps that were beginning to build up. Even though you had expected for Sunghoon to be uncomfortable at your response, he nodded quickly, your answer not doing much to hinder your interaction with him.
It was not as if you could rant to him about one of his best friends anyway. That would definitely end badly, for you and for Sunghoon.
"That's okay. But I would like to get to know you better, anyway." Sunghoon smiled.
Sitting in-front of Sunghoon now, you quickly realised how wrong you were to assume that Sunghoon was an intimidating person.
"Me too." You smiled back.
"D'ya wanna go with me to the convenience store, Areum?"
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The cold, night air nipped at your nose as the two of you stepped from the outside into the convenience store. When you entered, a soft ding echoed through the quiet shop. You pulled your puffer jacket across the front of your figure, trying to warm yourself up even more. Sunghoon seemed to be in his own element, practically dancing through the aisles in the convenience store with a basket in his clutch. Giddily, he tossed numerous snacks into the basket, humming to himself as his eyes scanned the highest shelves.
"Although I've promised myself that I should be humble," Sunghoon started, turning to face you with a smile of a child, "I'd like to admit that I'm quite the convenience store connoisseur." With that comment, he nimbly took his hand into yours, a dreamy shine taking over his features before leading you down the aisles.
Every now and then, he would add small comments about each one of the snacks. Apparently, he had been to convenience stores so much that he would give all of the snacks ratings. Eagerly, he brought you over to the freezer that displayed rows upon rows of different ice creams, opening the door and letting the cold whisk into both of your faces. You winced, bringing your jacket over your face to shield yourself from the cold, which elicited a laugh from the boy beside you. He reached in, taking two of the ice cream pots out from its display and placing it into the basket.
Coffee flavoured ice cream?
"How could you eat ice cream in this weather?" You asked with surprise, peering over your puffer to gaze at the ice cream inside the confines of the basket. "It's so cold."
"There's something about this ice cream which makes me forget about any kind of weather." He explained, a light skip to his steps as he took you down another aisle. "It's my favourite, so you should be obliged to give it a try. You like coffee, right?"
"It won't hurt for me to try." You grinned.
There was no way you could turn down Sunghoon's offer — not when he looked at you in a way that made your heart grow fonder.
Even up until now, he was still clutching onto your hand.
If the weather was so cold, why was Sunghoon's hand so warm?
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The two of you were now seated outside in your own company, chomping down the food as if you had not had a meal for days. Sunghoon had introduced you to the luxuries of interesting food combinations, as he mixed together tons of different snacks from the store to produce a bowl of instant ramen garnished with many toppings. He claimed it had been one of his 'own creations', adding jazz hands to the presentation of the meal as he placed it between the two of you. That earned a loud laugh from you, clasping your hand over your mouth in an attempt to make your laugh quieter.
"Why are you covering your mouth? Your laugh's awesome." He whined, effortlessly making you blush.
He giggled like a child, clapping his hands together to say thank you for the meal before digging in.
Sunghoon was cute.
Very cute.
As you ate his (deliciously prepared) meal, Sunghoon asked you many questions about yourself, from your hometown to favourite video games. His eyes were intent as they trained themselves on you, never leaving your face as you talked and talked, getting enveloped with passion whenever you deepened your answers. He found himself becoming intrigued by the way you spoke; he realised that you would gnaw on your bottom lip when thinking things over, or how your tongue would sometimes poke out before saying something funny. Unlike others, his stomach would end up hurting from laughing at your jokes, hunching his back over as the aftermath of your humour was truly deadly.
Unconsciously, he noted down every little fact about you that you had said. That your favourite colours were the lilac kind of purple, but also the navy kind of blue. That you originally wanted to become an actress but never could find time to dedicate yourself to that passion. How you almost fell out of a rollercoaster as a child because you thought the seatbelt barrier was a 'toy'. Sunghoon caught himself smiling as you talked about yourself more and more.
Sunghoon found you cute.
Unbelievably cute.
You had easily spent more than three hours with him, the time ticking past twelve as you both finished the last of your ice creams. You hated to admit it, but Sunghoon's taste in ice cream was good — coffee flavoured ice cream, although you had never even considered trying it in the past, was growing on you. In fact, you had managed to finish the whole thing before Sunghoon did.
"What's your number, by the way?" Sunghoon asked, pushing his phone over to your side of the table. "I wanna do this again."
Your eyes widened, delicately taking the phone into your hands. "You want my number?"
"Why not?" Sunghoon winked.
With a smile, you typed your number into his phone and titled your contact as 'Areum' before handing it back to him. The boy did as much as smiled down at his phone, extending your contact with an ice cream emoji before finalising your number into his phone. You watched as he typed something unknown into his phone, and when he finished, a ding resounded from your phone instead.
UNKNOWN NUMBER : Coffee ice cream next week, same time?
"That's my number. Make sure you save it." He beamed, standing up from his seat to tuck his chair beneath the table.
"I'll make sure to, Sunghoon-ah." You matched his smile, getting up from your own seat and doing the same. "You definitely cheered me up. Thanks for this."
"That's great! I'm glad that I made you feel happier." Sunghoon wrapped an arm around you to pull you closer to him, ruffling your hair in the process. You whined, pulling back with a groan to pat your hair down once more. "Since we're a bit closer now, do I have the right to know why you were so down earlier?"
Oh. Right.
"Well, you see—about that..."
"Sunghoon? What are you doing here?"
The familiar voice had the both of you turning round swiftly, searching the dark for where Sunghoon had been called from. You could not help but raise your eyebrows when you managed to gather the image of the two boys in-front of you and Sunghoon, wearing matching hoodies and slippers as one of them clutched onto a plastic bag. You swallowed a gulp, pinching Sunghoon's sleeve as they approached the two of you. However, you realised that Sunghoon did not pay this any attention — instead, he gave the two boys a wave, a brotherly smile taking over his lips.
"Oh—it's Jay and Heeseung! Come, come!" Sunghoon invited with a grin.
Well, shit.