lia's pov
"and there ends our communication class. please be ready for a short quiz tomorrow, bring one yellow sheet of paper and one blue ballpen. take care everyone."
the school bell rang as soon as our professor finished her statement. everyone inside the room scampered to go outside. i was left inside as i fixed my chair and cleaned my desk before walking out.
"choi lia!" a familiar voice was heard outside the classroom. i turned around to see who it was and saw hwang yeji standing infront of the door waving her hand at me.
"yeji-ah!" i said and quickly grabbed my shoulder bag before running towards her direction. "you're so early, how's your class today?" i asked her.
hwang yeji's smile turned into a frown and she raised her index finger as she rubbed the side of her head, thinking deeply while pouting. "today's class isn't interesting. nothing happened, really. it's just our professor reminding us that we should work more on our homeworks and tests since finals is coming."
"ours said the same thing too." i spoke softly. "i think that our professors doesn't even really care about our personal lives! homeworks, projects, outputs and reports are piling up this week! ugh, i just want to take a long nap and then i will just wake up after finals." i groaned in despair while slapping my forehead gently. both of us laughed together because of our gestures and reactions.
"that just made me reach to the thought that... hey, let's go eat outside?" hwang yeji pleaded with her alluring cat eyes. "let's just say that we take this as our "rest day", deal?" she said as she made a thumbs-up sign infront of her face while smiling brightly.
"yejiii~" i said while giggling a little. "you do know that whenever you use your cat eyes on me..." i said as i stared at her for a while before laughing a little. "i never say "no".
yeji clasped her hands together while jumping around like a happy kid. "yay! my treat!" she said as she leaned closer to me as she held both of my hands together while smiling sweetly.
"great timing." i said as i smiled. "i'm hungry." yeji and i started to walk outside the building, heading towards the city searching for a nearby café. yeji and i barely spent out leisure time on a café since we both like drinking tea's and coffee's while chilling on a peaceful place, that's our type!
"my mouth is literally watering by now, i can't wait to finally take a bite on a tiramisu cake and a hot chocolate on the side! ahhh, i'm so hungry now, lia!" yeji said while looking up at the sky.
"me too," i said. "my tummy's growling." i joked and we both chuckled lightly. while talking endlessly we finally reached our destination and that's when we hurriedly went inside and yeji started to walk around the café searching for a vacant table near the glass windows.
"oh!" yeji exclaimed as she run close to me. "you know my favorites, right." she said as she winked at me. i nodded at her as i spoke, "one tiramisu cake and a hot chocolate for ms. hwang." i spoke on a formal tone and she smiled.
"atta girl." yeji said. "now hurry up and take on the first line, i'll be looking for our table." she said before running away. i can clearly see how hungry yeji was just by her actions and facial expressions, so i stood on the line infront of me waiting for my turn.
after waiting for minutes it was finally my turn. i smiled at the counter lady and told her my order. "one tiramisu cake, one blueberry cheesecake. one hot chocolate and one black coffee please." i watched her as she wrote on her small paper and she repeated my order. i nodded at her and i heard her say, "thank you ma'am. please kindly wait for your number and receipt."
"of course." i spoke softly. i stood there waiting for the counter lady to be back and finally she went back holding a number and held it to me.
"here's your number. can you wait for two minutes for your coffees to be finished?" the lady asked and i nodded back at her as a response. "sure." i spoke softly. she thanked me and went back to working.
after a few seconds a tall and slim figure walked infront of me and i can totally smell her fresh cucumber scent surrounding her and mine. i slowly looked up at her and saw a dark blue haired girl, wearing a black shirt and blue jeans. i watched her in awe as she run her fingers across her soft and bouncy hair before her eyes had switched to look at me. her lips curved into a smile showing her whisker dimples.
"good evening, maam." she spoke in a careful and low tone like a soft baby. "your name?" she asked all of a sudden. her eyes met mine as if both of us knew each other back then. i scanned her entire face and stared at her in astonishment as i took a moment to appreciate her beauty.
"pretty.." i murmured to myself.
"pardon, maam?" she said as she leaned in closer to me trying to listen as to what i am saying. i quickly shook my head and blinked my eyes for a few seconds upon realizing that i was zoning out right at that moment.
"oh, i'm sorry," i said as i bit my lower lip before looking at her straight in her eyes. "what was that again?" i told her trying to hide my embarrassment from my tone.
she smiled at me sweetly. ugh, maybe she noticed that i was looking at her.
"it's okay." she told me. "is there anything bothering you, maam?" she suddenly asked. i widened my eyes at her and shook my head off as a response.
"nothing." i spoke softly while trying to smile back at her. "it was just a very tiring day, and forgive me for my weird actions. i'm just tired." i told her while chuckling a little bit. i saw her giggling and asked me the same question again.
"it's choi jisu." i answered her back. "but people call me lia, so.." i said as i tapped my fingers on the table. "just lia." i told her before smiling.
"oh," she said while laughing a little. "okay, miss lia. you can seat on your table for now and wait for your orders to come. i'll be handing them over to you." she spoke.
"sure. thank you," i took a slight glance over her name pinned on her shirt trying to take a clear read on her name. "r-ryujin?" i pronounced her name infront of her.
her eyes went back from me, and it seems like she was shocked when she heard her name being spoken out all of a sudden. she smiled a little before pulling out pieces of tissues.
"yes, miss lia." she spoke. "you're welcome." her voice is like a warm sunshine embracing me, making me feel at ease. i slowly took out my hands to take her tissues and nodded at her before walking away, heading to yeji.
as soon as i finally reached our table, yeji tapped the chair next to her as a sign of, "come sit here next to me!" while grinning. i smiled at her before sitting down and putting our number above the table.
"yo," yeji snapped her fingers infront of my face. "you looked like you've seen a ghost right there. what's wrong?" she asked.
"just hungry~" i answered her back.
"what took you so long on that counter?" yeji asked again as she rested her chin above her palm while looking at me. as she was trying to think deeply she suddenly smiled and leaned in closer to me. "hm, maybe you saw someone who's attractive there."
"what? no!" i told her as i fixed my seat. yeji frowned and went back on her proper seat while twirling her hair.
"honestly yeah, such a useless question though." yeji spoke in disappointment. "you've never been attracted to someone before even for once, and also i never heard you talking about someone to me!"
"i'm just busy, yeji." i told her. "it's not like i'm not interested on falling in love! i'm just, not yet ready." i said as i looked down while playing with my fingers.
"jesus, we're on college now." yeji said as she took my hands, holding them tightly. "boys are piling up on how to get your attention at school and you are everyone's ideal type! even girls admire your beauty. isn't that enough of a sign for you?" she asked.
"i don't know," i said as i took my hands away from her touch. "i'm not the type of someone who's easily attracted and what people call as, "easy-to-get". i guess, i'm just waiting for the right time for that certain person to come over in my life making me feel different among the others." i answered back.
"you're right," yeji said. "i really pity all of your admirers at school. i just hope they can get to realize that they don't have a big chance on hitting on you!"
we both laughed at our stories being shared and not until our orders finally came.
i saw her again walking close to our direction and her fresh aroma filling up again the thick air. she walked up infront of us and handed over our orders.
"here's your orders!" she spoke in a friendly tone. "anything that you'd like to add?" she asked and her eyes again found its way back to look at me, as if remembering me and my whole existence.
"hi, miss lia." she said which made my heart skip a beat upon hearing her say my name. "i remember you." she smiled at me sweetly. her smiles.
"hello." i said before smiling back at her shyly. i can feel my entire face heating up in extreme embarrassment. i noticed how yeji turned her head to look at me mouthing, "what did she say? what the fuck? you know each other?" i just ignored yeji's facial expressions blazing out and i turned back to look at ryujin again.
"we're fine." i told her. "thank you so much, ryujin." we both nodded at her.
"you're welcome." she said before turning her back at us and then walked away. yeji looked at me with wide eyes and held me on both of my shoulders.
"you know each other?" she asked. "what the fuck is, "i remember you." mean. what is she saying?" she kept on asking me several questions and i just giggled at her sudden actions towards me.
"no?" i answered her. "i only met her today. she was the one who took our orders. i find her really kind." i told yeji.
i felt how yeji freed my shoulders from her hands and she looked around like checking if someone is listening to our gossips.
"seriously," she said. "hell, that girl is such an eye candy. she looks so dreamy!" yeji said as she covered her entire face while chuckling.
"what?" i said.
"the fuck you say, "what". haven't you even notice?" yeji said as she clinged onto me. "she looks so hot! and even her tone sounds sexy too!"
"what do you mean?" i told her. "yeji, she's a girl. a young and innocent girl. stop calling her hot and sexy in the middle of nowhere."
yeji pointed her index finger at me which made me flinch. "yes, that's the problem on innocent girls!" she said. "they can be really hot and sexy inside!"
i pushed her slowly away from me, "i can't understand what you're saying." i said as i took my cup of coffee and cheesecake near to me.
"didn't you see how sweet she was to you?" yeji said as she leaned her chin above her palm looking from afar. "damn girl, that's one hot bitch you met right here." she laughed a little before sipping on her hot chocolate.
"sweet? it's just her being kind to everyone. that's their job." i said while taking a hold on my fork.
"yeah, whatever you say lia," yeji said. "it's your own perspective anyway." she said as she pouted. "i totally noticed how her eyes gazed at you earlier and her smiles being really melty when she smiled at you. that is what i had noticed, period!"
i slowly held down my cup of coffee on the table and noticed the handwriting on my cup. my heart literally ran fast when i saw my name written on it as, "lia ♡" with a small and cute heart beside it.
it took me a few minutes since i realized that i was smiling on what i have read.