It was a mundane Monday to every student in the campus, including Kim Himchan himself as he shambled along the hallway with his backpack hanging loose on his shoulder. Two more weeks and he would be sitting for his final exam. Tons of assignments needed to be done and he’d only finished none. Studio projects were weighing him down and he was still in dilemma about whether he should go back home this summer or to stay in campus with Youngjae, his most precious emotionless friend who would only care to scream in his face when he was out of books to read.

His mom had been nagging about him spending his time away from his family too often but Himchan was not fond of coming home to be ordered around by his father—mind that his father was a strict man who would wake everyone up at 6 in the morning (which included Himchan’s grandmother if she were to stay with them) and make them do something productive as he would call it.

His father was a nightmare to everyone. He would’ve survived in the mountain alone. He was a natural born military man. Himchan was a total opposite to his father. He was a heavy sleeper and he wouldn’t even be able to stand on his own feet if he were to be stranded on an island alone. Since he was born, he had always been close to his mother compared to his father. His mother pampered him too much and his father was too strict. Such treatment had ended up turning Himchan into an awkward human being. Well, not really socially awkward—he liked talking with humans but sometimes he did need some time alone—but in some random times he would forget how to act like a human.

For instance, he had a crush on this Chinese guy and he was mustering up his courage to talk to him when he saw the guy heading his way. Himchan had been confident that he would be able to utter the word ‘hello’ to his crush but when the chance came, he ended up whistling the opening theme for that blue cat alien—he only remembered it was Doraemon after agonizing over his crush’s priceless confused face. He even laughed after doing it because he was super nervous and now he knew he had no chance in talking with his potential boyfriend anymore because it was obvious that the guy had marked him as one of those art students who’d wrecked their brains after getting no sleep.

Himchan was mumbling about having to buy groceries when he spotted Youngjae sitting by the bench, holding none other than a book in his hand. Huffing out of frustration, Himchan made his way to his friend/housemate and crossed his arms, trying to act upset. When he got no reaction from Youngjae he rolled his eyes.

“Seriously? Not even a sorry for not waking me up this morning? I almost skipped my history of art class. I’ll get barred if I didn’t come today and you know that!”

Without putting down the book, Youngjae kicked Himchan in the shin, earning a loud yelp from the latter.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“That’s for not waking up when I poured ice in your shirt-”

“You what!?”

This time Youngjae stood up and flicked a finger at Himchan’s forehead, earning himself another yelp from his friend but this time louder since Youngjae was a legend in flicking people’s forehead.

“And that’s for sleeping on my bed while you’re drunk.” Youngjae lowered his book and glared at Himchan. “I had to sleep on the couch and it was ing cold in the living room.”

Himchan pouted and rubbed at his forehead, trying to come up with excuses but he knew he would end up losing because he never won when it came to arguing with his best friend.

“Who’s sorry now?”

“I am,” Himchan answered in a little voice.

“You are never to come home drunk again,” Youngjae said as he made his way to the library—probably to borrow more books—with Himchan tailing behind him. “What were you so frustrated about anyway?”

Upon hearing the question, Himchan’s shoulders slumped and he frowned like a five year old.

“You know that Chinese guy I had a crush on?”

“Who’s out of your league,” Youngjae kindly continued. Himchan rolled his eyes and leaned against the bookshelf as his friend skimmed through the old books.

“He has a girlfriend,” Himchan said. He waited for a reaction from Youngjae but the only thing he received in return was his friend turning his back to him as he brought a book closer to his nose to read it. “Yoo Youngjae! Were you even listening to me?”

“If you’re that desperate to date someone you could’ve gone to the broadcasting room and tell everyone in this campus.”

“I’m not desperate!” Himchan retorted, crossing his arms. He then chewed on his lips and nudged at Youngjae’s elbow. “You think that would work though?”

Youngjae turned around and stared at Himchan for a long moment, face unreadable. He shook his head lightly and started walking away with the book he’d picked up from the third shelf.

*

Himchan was on his way to the studio with his third model in his hand, praying that this time his lecturer wouldn’t reject his design. He’d been burning the midnight oil in attempt to complete the model in time. He’d downed at least five cups of coffee and as a result, he couldn’t stop himself from fidgeting. He’d been quite hyper last night—even bothering Youngjae with his lit study and ended up getting kicked out from his friend’s room—and right now he wasn’t even sleepy. He could feel his brain spinning on full speed. Right now all he had to do was present his model and pass this ty external portfolio so he could hibernate for the weekend and maybe study a bit for the exam (in his dream maybe).

Himchan had just made it to the staircase of the architecture building when an announcement jolted him out of his nervous thoughts of failing his studio project.

“Today we have a special request from Mr. Anonymous.” A female voice announced. “Apparently he’d written down a note. Let me just read it; to anyone who’s interested in knowing Kim Himchan, he is an architecture student in studio 1. He feels lonely nowadays and would love to meet someone who could make him feel less lonely-”

Himchan’s eyes widened twice the original size as he listened to the announcement. He caught Youngjae walking along the path to the main garden, hands in his pockets and face deadpan. When Youngjae noticed Himchan, he held up a hand and waved it slowly—Himchan swore he could see a small smirk at the end of his friend’s lips— before he continued walking away.

“YOO YOUNGJAE!”

*

The next day, Himchan went to the café to have his daily dose of coffee. He wore a hooded sweater because apparently someone named Yoo Youngjae had made him famous in one day for declaring his loneliness through their school broadcast. After the announcement, a few students had started recognizing him—even the others from another major. Some of them came to him to but some were serious (which Himchan had rejected because he wasn’t interested in girls, obviously). There was this guy who asked him out but Himchan knew very well that the guy was only asking because he wanted to have fun time with him and that was all.

Himchan wasn’t looking for a temporary relationship. Call him sappy but he thought it wasn’t wrong to dream of a so-called perfect relationship, the one where he could wake up and stare at his lover, eat together, laugh together, cry together, well that almost gave Himchan the urge to puke because deep down he knew he was cheesy.

Cringing at himself, Himchan quickly threw the thoughts away and sipped at his coffee, skimming through the newspaper on the table. It was maybe 10 minutes later that Youngjae arrived, face smug.

Himchan made a face at his friend and continued to read the newspaper.

“Did you get yourself a boyfriend yet?”

“You son of Satan,” Himchan narrowed his eyes at his friend. “I hope you fall down in the mud on your way to our house next time.”

“Well, that’s cute,” Youngjae crossed his legs and leaned back in his seat comfortably. He then took out his book from the pocket of his coat—Himchan never realized that he could fit a book in it and only then he was surprised—and started reading.

You could say that it was their weekly routine to hang out at the café nearby their campus. Himchan was planning on hibernating for the weekend but after Youngjae’s evil scheme stuck its tongue out in Himchan’s face, the plan was thrown out of the window. Now Himchan couldn’t sleep because some random people decided it was a great idea to give him prank calls in the middle of the night—thanks to Yoo Youngaje who’d included his phone number during the broadcast.

While sipping on his coffee, Himchan didn’t notice the person who was observing him across the café. He had his eyes on the newspaper the whole time the person was approaching him. It was only when the person let out a light cough that he lifted his head.

“Um, yes?” Himchan blinked.

It was a boy who could probably be the same age as his or younger. Himchan didn’t know who he was, never seen him before. Youngjae didn’t seem to know him either so both of them waited for the boy to speak up.

“I’m pretty confident that you’re Kim Himchan since you’re as good looking as ever but I think I’ll have to ask for assurance; you’re Kim Himchan, right?”

If Himchan were prepared and wide awake, he would’ve replied with a better sentence but since it was only 12 in the afternoon, Himchan’s brain hadn’t rebooted completely—his brain would only function well at night— so all he could manage was another confused blink.

He swore the guy had just complimented him on his look and judging by the raise of a brow from Youngjae, he knew he hadn’t heard wrong.

“Sorry, should’ve introduced myself before,” the guy chuckled, hand on his chest. “I’m Jung Daehyun. Um, we go to the same school but I’m an engineering student.”

“Ah, nice to meet you?” Himchan tried to smile but his face became more confused than ever.

“Look, I’ll get straight to the point. I think I think you’re cute so would you like to go out with me?”

Himchan almost coughed out his coffee as soon as the words were out. It took him a full minute to compose himself—with Youngjae throwing tissues at him so he wouldn’t stain his shirt—before he could properly form a sentence to reply.

“Y-you want to g-go out with me?” Himchan pointed at himself, eyes wide. When Daehyun nodded, he let out a squeak. He could see from his peripheral vision that Youngjae looked as surprised as he was. “But why? I mean you don’t know me.”

“That’s the point of me asking you out,” Daehyun gesticulated. “To know you better.”

“How do you even know me?”

Daehyun laughed and scratched at the back of his head, giving Himchan a sheepish smile.

“I saw you at the studio a lot of times in the middle of the night. You like sitting near the big window, working on your models.”

“What are you even doing at the architecture department in the middle of the night?” Youngjae chimed in.

“My friend, Jongup does architecture too. But he’s from another studio and I doubt that you know him?”

“Yeah, never heard or seen him, I think,” Himchan shrugged.

A sudden silence ensued between them. Daehyun started fidgeting, staring at Himchan intently. Himchan didn’t know what to do or say so he averted the boy’s gaze, feeling himself blush.

“You heard yesterday’s broadcast didn’t you?” Youngjae finally asked. When Daehyun nodded in reply, Youngjae crossed his arms and squinted his eyes. “Are you doing this out of bet?”

“No!” Daehyun quickly denied, shaking his head frantically. He then gestured towards Himchan, face worried. “Look, I really think you’re cute and all. I keep seeing you running around the campus with your models and that kinda attracts me. When I heard the broadcast I was surprised that you would even promote yourself like that-”

“I didn’t promote myself!” Himchan retorted, pointing a finger at his best friend crossly. “Youngjae did it as a prank! He can be evil sometimes.”

“Oh,” Daehyun nodded, disappointment visible on his face. Himchan swore he could see a pout forming on the boy’s lips and damn, he looked cute. “So you’re not interested in going out with anyone?”

“I never said that,” Himchan stated. He could hear a snicker coming from Youngjae but he ignored it and continued talking to Daehyun. “Um, how long have you been watching me?”

“Almost a month, I think?” Daehyun shrugged. He then suddenly sat down across Himchan and gave him a determined look. “I would be really happy if you went out with me. I’m fun to be with and I’m sure you would like my presence.”

Both Himchan and Youngjae blinked at Daehyun’s sudden burst of confidence. Himchan was baffled by his behaviour.

“Shoot, that came out a bit narcissistic.” Daehyun bit on his lower lip. He shook his head and started over. “You’re like the cutest human being I’ve ever seen, so would you like to go out with me, Kim Himchan?”

Without even thinking, Himchan’s head moved by itself and he ended up nodding. A big smile bloomed on Daehyun’s face as he got up from the chair and did a small cheer to himself. He then approached Himchan and scrawled his number on his palm, surprising Himchan even more.

“I already have your number so don’t worry. I’ll call you later!” Daehyun started walking away, waving at Himchan childishly. He even gave him a wink before he was out of sight, which had made Himchan blush madly.

“That was absolutely random,” Youngjae said, returning to his book like nothing had happened.

“Did I just agree on going out with him?” Himchan asked, blinking confusedly. He felt like he’d just come out of a dream.

“Do you need a little flick on the forehead for confirmation?” Youngjae asked, a smirk on his face.

“No thanks,” Himchan glared at him.

He looked down at his palm and his face heated up when he saw that indeed, the numbers were there, complete. Daehyun had even left his initial and a heart at the bottom of his palm.