Bright blinding lights, deafening heavy bass booming through the loudspeakers accompanying the bodies dancing along to the rhythm of the heavy techno song, voices and laughter echoing into each other's eardrums as they let themselves bath in their sweat through the night. The night club might be the place everyone run to for a sense of escape, but for some, it is the only way to let themselves forget about the outside world and dance the night away.
That's the same for Seo Haru, a 24 year old final year student in one of the most prestigious universities in the city of Seoul. Sitting at the corner of the small round table, messy hair after hitting the dance floor with her long time best friend, Bae Jiwoo, and her other two guy friends.
The night club, their go-to-place whenever they are done with their dreadful week of endless classes from morning to night. Not only the night clubs, sometimes the bars whenever they want to chill and wind down, but, as always, together. Haru and Jiwoo are inseparable since they first met in their first class, glued like limpets all through the years—soulmates.
And along the way, they met the other two guys, YeonJun and Soobin. Being of the same age, they act more like brothers rather than just close friends. Truly, four of them have been close. They depend on one another life a lifeline. A blessing indeed.
"Haru!!", Jiwoo's faint voice seems inaudible with the upbeat song playing in the background. "He's checking you out!"
"What?", Haru slams her drink down on the table, turning to follow Jiwoo's gaze.
Scanning the space, her eyes spot the man, the same man she has been secretly stealing glances for the past one hour. And it excites her to know he has been doing the same. It all started when she was casually grooving on her seat, taking a breather in between songs, she spotted him checking her out from across the space. She looked away at first, thinking their eyes just met coincidently but it will be a lie if she didn't feel a fleeting attraction towards that undeniably handsome man.
Their eyes met again and again, obviously checking one another out, exchanging looks and a small smile that turns into suggestive smirks as time passes by. It thrills her to find such an attractive man checking her out in the club, and to feel the irresistible—yet temporary—attraction towards him.
A strong desire to just go to him and ask him for a dance. Or maybe more than that. It's surprises her on how one look at this stranger can make her feel butterflies at the pit of her stomach. And it surprises her even more to find herself approaching the stranger, after the torturous continuous flirting.
It could be the liquid courage from the never-ending drinks she had for the past one hour, or it could be just a part of her wanting affection from this stranger that has given her the attention she wants. Either way, whatever it is, she found herself pulling him to the dance floor, his hands on her waists and she allowed it.
And the next thing she knows, she found herself going home with him.
-
"Damn, I really slept the entire Sunday", Haru takes another sip of her coffee as she walks into the lecture hall.
"Tired?", Jiwoo smirks at her, wiggling her eyebrows as she takes a seat at one of top rows. "You went home with that guy, didn't you?"
"Damn right I did", she replies with a small satisfied smirk on her face, placing her coffee gently on the table. "Man, he is...."
"That good?", Jiwoo chuckles lightly as she shakes her head. "If not you won't be all exhausted on a Sunday morning till you forgot to even call us"
"Hey, shut it. I texted you"
"Glad you got some vitamin D. At least your birthday wasn't that bad", Jiwoo nudges her shoulder lightly. "Just a hook up?"
"Of course", Haru busies herself taking out her books and notebooks, preparing for their first lecture of the day. "At least my birthday is well spent this year"
"But that man was hot as hell too. You scored"
But before Haru could even reply, her professor walks in. She seems to be in a very good mood, smiling and greeting everyone as she settles in, putting out her laptop on the table. She even asked everyone how they spent their weekend, asking to share anecdotes of what they did over the two days break.
It is beautiful morning to be exact, the sky is clear and the sun is out, not too hot, just the right amount of warmness to greet the beginning of Autumn. Mornings like this just put everyone in a very wonderful mood, like an indication everything is going to be well today and nothing shall spoil it.
"Anyway, good morning everyone", Professor Choi greets the entire class again. "I am happy that most of you got to my class early today", she curves a satisfied smile as she walks to the centre. "As I have informed you last week, I will be having an assistant, a research assistant, that will join my classes, your classes too throughout the semester"
She squints her eyes, searching the class for her assistant and smiles when she finally spots him.
"There you are!", she waves with a cheerful smile. "Everyone, please welcome my new research assistant, I know he is young so please don't bully him. He will be here for the entire four months so, please be nice to him"
Jiwoo and Haru quickly glanced over their shoulders, following their professor's eyes. The research assistant is seated two rows behind them, the entire row is empty, only him there. They gave him a quick polite nod when he suddenly looked at them, and then they turned their focus back to front.
"He is hot", Jiwoo whispers under her breathe.
"Everyone with glasses are hot to you"
"Where is the lie, anyway"
-
"I need to see Professor Choi, she wants to see me after class"
Jiwoo looks up from her phone, confusedly looking at her friend. "Oh you research? You haven't checked with her?"
"I haven't. She was too busy, so I asked if she could do it today", Haru packs all her papers into her bag, taking one long sip of her drink before tossing it into the dustbin. "I won't be long. Wait for me! Lets have dinner together! Call the guys!"
Haru heads straight to her department, gently knocking on her professor's door. She waits for a while, wondering if Madam Choi unintentionally forgets about their meeting again. She has missed two appointments before because she had sudden meetings with the management on which Haru couldn't blame her. But she really needs someone to check her proposal before she finalize them and print them out.
"Are you looking for Madam Choi?", a lecturer that happened to walk by greets her. "Ahh, Seo Haru! I have not seen you, how are you?"
"I am very good, Madam Kwon", she politely bows, flashing a very bright smile at her previous semester's lecturer. "How are you, Madam?"
"I am good, very good. I miss you in my classes!", she pats her shoulder gently. "Don't wait outside, wait in Madam Choi's office. Her assistant is in. I think he can help you too. It's your proposal, right?"
She points at the black file she in her hands, and Haru quickly nods. "Yes, I need her help to check"
Madam Kwon politely ushered her into the room, offered her to just wait in the room while she searched for the assistant instead since Madam Choi is nowhere to be seen.
"I'll call her assistant for you, okay?", she flashed a bright smile before disappearing into the big office.
"Alright then", Haru sighs to herself, fidgeting on the chair, feeling the cold air blowing out of the air conditioner just in front of her.
Her eyes scan the room, surprised at how extremely neat her room is compared to few weeks ago. The last time she came to the room, everything was somehow disorganized. Papers all over her table, files opened and left untouched, pencil and pens scattered at every corner of the big wooden table. Madam Choi is such a busy woman after all.
The soft knock on the door startled her, making her stand up in a flash and turns to the door. She thought it is Madam Choi, but it is not, it is her assistant. The new research assistant.
"Good Evening Sir", she quickly bows to him, politely greeting him with a smile.
The research assistant gave her a look—undistinguished look—before clearing his throat softly and closing the door slowly behind him. Haru watches as he stands there, strangely stiff, and awkward as he just looks at her, not even returning her greeting.
"Good Evening", he finally speaks, with such a surprisingly deep voice as he looks down. "Please sit down"
Never in her entire 24 years life has she ever heard a man's voice as deep and husky as his. It caught her off guard, making her gulp to herself as her eyes follow him. When she first saw him in the lecture hall, she couldn't really see him clearly. But now that he is in the same room as her, a very close proximity, it baffles her to see just how tall and big he is.
He could be at least 180 cm tall, and suddenly the door looks so small comparing it to his height. Even with that thick brown long jacket, she can see the broadness of his shoulders stretching the thick fabric. His black hair so curly and wavy it almost covers his eyes, making her wonder if he can actually see her with his hair blocking his eyes.
Haru watches him silently as he walks towards the table, flipping a few files as he puts one hand into the pocket of his long black slacks. Another waves of bafflement rushes through her to see how extremely long his legs are, having a thought that this man could be made of 80% legs. He is tall, undeniably tall. She feels shameful to be gawking at her professor's research assistant but she couldn't help it.
Even from the side, she could see how perfectly sculptured his face is. His face looks something out of a webtoon. Or maybe, a CGV. He is too unreal to have a face that looks almost too flawless for this filthy world. His sharp eyes that made her heart skipped a beat when their eyes met, the high nose and with a face made by the Greek gods. It could be the Gods really spent months in the valley of heavens just to create such a godly handsome face.
How can a person really look this good? Handsome wouldn't suffice to explain how every inch of his face makes her wonder if there is someone else that would look better than him. He is handsome. Very handsome.
But one thing for sure, he looks extremely intimidating.
"You're here for your research?", he asked, not turning to look at her. "Madam Choi asked my help to step in. Will that be okay?"
Haru flinched when he suddenly turns around, his sharp gaze finally meeting her lost ones.
"I am fine with it. If she says so"
"Well then, lets get started?" he finally curves a little smile, that piercing eyes behind that black rimmed glasses gleaming as he looks at her.
And for god sake, he looks ten times handsomer when he smiles. It feels like a whole garden of colourful flowers just magically bloom out of nowhere. His smile is soft, so soft that it makes her smiles too.
"Alright then", she bows politely again, gesturing him to take a seat.
He politely returns her kind gesture, asking her to take a seat too. He gently takes off his brown coat and carefully hung it at the back of the vacant chair beside him before finally taking a seat. The little act didn't go unnoticed by Haru. She certainly had to hold herself from gawking at the way his shoulder looks so much more prominent without the thick fabric covering him.
"May I?", he puts out a hand.
"Eh? Oh—yes sure", she quickly hands her file with another courteous bow. "I have organized it according to the three chapters as Madam Choi has instructed me to do. The content list is on the second page"
He nods as he flips the file open, scanning the front page where Haru included all details ; full name, student number , course , phone number , email and many other important information.
"Seo Haru", he reads her name with a slow single nod. "A nice name"
She watches as he flips to the second page, a pen in hand as he skims through the first few paragraphs. He adds some note here and there as he reads, circling, underlining and crossing a few words along the way.
What other thing can she do but look at him anyway?
She takes the chance just to admire just extremely attractive he is. Not that she is romantically attracted at him but it makes her wonder there are humans that actually look this good. It shocks her too to realize God really do have favourites.
"You are very good with your words", he looks up, catching her looking at him. "This one"
He points at a paragraph, marking with a "very good" note before he continues reading the rest of the page.
"Thank you,Sir"
He adjusts his position on the chair, leaning slightly forward as he puts the file on his lap. "Did you apply to be supervised by Madam Choi?"
"Oh no, I didn't. She requested me to be with her"
"I see", he sounds surprised. "You must be very good then"
"I think I am just average"
"No", he looks up. "You are actually good. The direction of your writing is very clear and accurate. I am impressed, very impressed"
Haru smiles at his compliment, feeling relieved that everything seems to go well. At least she didn't mess up her writing despite the bad weeks she had been having while completing her proposal.
"Alright, I am done. Please go through the notes, let me know if you have any question", he politely returns her file. "I'll wait for you to go through it"
Haru quickly takes out a pen and skim through the notes he had written at the sides.
"So, how have you been these days?"
His sudden question made her look up confusedly.
"I mean, in general, how are you coping with classes while completing your proposal as well?", he chuckles lightly as he further elaborates his question. "Please don't be scared of me. You look like you just saw a ghost"
"Oh—no, I was just confused at your question. But, I am good. Classes are very packed—final semester well...what can I expect anyway", she replies, half of her focus on her paper.
"How packed are your classes?"
As much as Haru feels distracted by his questions, she knows he was just being friendly and trying to break the awkwardness between them.
"Quite pack. I have 3-4 classes a day", she replies, not looking up from her paper. "I do have classes on Saturday too"
"I see"
"And sometimes club meeting at night too", she adds casually.
"I see. Do you have time to rest?"
"I do. I go out on weekend nights. With my friends. Dinner and stuff" she mumbles, her entire attention is on her writings. "I do have time"
"So, how was your hangover last weekend?"
"I recovered quite nicely, I had a few hangover drinks stocked in my house so I—"
Wait a second
WHAT DID HE JUST ASK HER?
Realizing her answer, and also his question, her eyes flick up in a flash. Baffled and also very much lost, she looks at him and says nothing. At the back of her head, she was sure he mentioned about her hangover but her conscious wonders why on earth did he even ask her that.
He didn't even flinch as she looks at him. Instead, he returns her gaze with a very grasping look. A look that seems to give a hint about something but she couldn't point it out. She looks at him, searching for an answer but her entire brain just stopped all of a sudden.
"H-Hangover?", she heard herself stuttering. "W-What do—"
"Yes, I think you drank quite a lot last Saturday", his voice suddenly sounds a tad bit familiar when he talks more casually.
She knows this voice. She has heard of this voice somewhere sometime before. She looks down, trying to sort her memories that suddenly comes in waves—endless waves. She heard this voice before but where, when, and how?
She tries connecting the two dots ; Saturday and hangover.
And like a switch that has been flicked, her mind finally trailed back to Saturday night. The endless drinks at the night club with her friends and the hook up. She tries to remember every detail of the man she met at the club and the way both of them flirted dangerously with one another. And then she remembers all the things they said to each other while they drown themselves in the tryst.
Very suggestive words
The night replays in her head, giving a very vivid visuals and surprisingly, she could almost hear the exact same voice at the back of her head. The same sultry deep voice that whispered ungodly things into her ears the entire night. It's the same voice. The voice that made every inch of her skin burn, knees weaken and mind empty that night. The alluring raspy yet soulful voice that praised her the entire night, igniting the little flame within her, burning her skin while she is trapped underneath his warm body.
The remembrance of his words made her gulped hardly, silently and slowly.
Gathering the tiny bits of her bravery, she finally looks up, meeting the icy stare of the man seated in front of her. He looks at her, straight face at first but the little smirk that curved at the corner of his lips and the subtle one eyebrow raise when he studies her face, it gives her all the indication that he knows, she knows.
And that's the moment she realized she is doomed.
~~~~
NOTE
Hello everyone! Here is my new book! Can you guess which member is the main character this time! I purposely did not put the name yet, just to let you guess hehe. Can you guess it already?
Anyway! I hope this chapter is good! This book has been in my mind for monthsss and I even finished plotting the book in my phone for weeks already. I hope the direction of this book will go well!
Enjoy the first chapter everyone! Thank you for reading!