002

That night, I sat by the window beside my bed and looked at the starry space up the sky. I saw him in Science and Arts class today. He was seated beside me, where when I moved my head a little, I could easily catch a glimpse of him, which I did almost all the time.

I placed my bag where when I turned to get some stuff, I could glance a little at him. All throughout that day, I permitted myself to forget to take out my notepad or immediately return my pen on my bag just so I could turn again to get it and get a good look of him once more.

Yes, I was that pathetic. Who wouldn’t? He was cute and all girls could attest to that.

Next morning was Math. Unlike the other subjects, we weren’t allowed to sit where we wanted to. We were arranged according to our surname and there, I knew his full name. Byun Baekhyun.

We were grouped into five and I prayed so hard that when the count off starts, his number would match mine. Fortunately, it did. The groups met and I found myself sitting just a seat apart from him.

A bubbly girl named Yeonhee smiled and introduced herself first. I envied that girl’s confidence. She smiled at him and held her hands to him first. He hesitantly grabbed her hand, and I felt something at the pit of my stomach. I swore I could almost see her eyes bulging out. She imitated the gesture to each one of us.

When it was his turn to introduce himself, I couldn’t wait to hear his voice so I edged a little from my seat which I realized to be pathetic so I slid back again, pretending that I didn’t care whether I hear his voice or not. Besides, I already knew what his name was.

“Baekhyun,” he said, and I almost blurted out “I know” right in front of him. When it was my turn to introduce myself, I cleared my throat and smiled at everyone. “My name’s Yumi, but you can also call me ‘Mimi’,” I told them and slightly bowed my head. I caught his eyes and he gave me a small smile. I thought I was blinded by the light glistening in his eyes.

We were then tasked to do a role play portraying the importance of Mathematics for everyday lives. Yeonhee volunteered her place, so after class, we headed to her house to practice.

We practiced a little and talked a lot, about ourselves and those kinds of boring stuff you utter just to keep the conversation alive. Although Baekhyun had been talking a lot, I noticed that he wasn’t really talking about himself but some random things like animé, martial arts, and online games.

When it was my turn to share something, I told them that I was from an outskirt town in Busan. They made me tell something about fishing life but I only told them few, because even if my family stayed in the province, fishing was not the way of our living. My father was a businessman.

Yeonhee’s mother was really accommodating. I learned that she was an only child and her father worked abroad. Her mother baked cookies and pudding for us and we gladly ate them all. Then there was this incident when Yeonhee accidentally spilled juice to Baekhyun’s shirt. I slyly raised my brow; I was sensing something with this girl and the way she acted around Baekhyun.

“Oh my God, I’m really sorry, Baekhyun!” She blurted and tried to wipe his shirt using a towel. The look on Baekhyun’s face said he was annoyed, but hid it with a forced smile.

“It’s fine,” he said, but Yeonhee yet again demanded. “No, it’s my fault. C’mon, change your shirt before you catch a cold.” The next thing we knew, Yeonhee was grabbing Baekhyun’s hand and bringing him upstairs, probably in her room or wherever up there.

The others looked at each other suggestively and with smug smiles. I didn’t want what I was feeling, they were still upstairs after a couple of minutes since they left. I cleared my throat and excused myself.

“I’m just going outside. I have to give my mom a call. Just call me if we’re going to start practicing again,” I told Sol, the girl sitting beside me. She just nodded so I gave her a small smile. The other seemed to not notice me going out, busy talking to each other, or they just simply didn’t care.

I spotted a bench in their wide garden. I could say that Yeonhee’s family was rich, hence the big house and the garden. It was decorated with lilies, daisies and different kinds of orchids and other flowers that I didn’t even see before. The wind was cool and smelled fresh, and I closed my eyes. The incident earlier with Yeonhee and Baekhyun played again in my mind. I scowled.

I decided not to think of it, I realized I wasn’t being reasonable. First day, and I was imagining things. Just because I saw Baekhyun first in the cross roads, just because he was my seat mate, just because he smiled at me earlier, these things didn’t mean anything. After all, it was just a plain crush. It wasn’t my business anymore if Yeonhee was crushing on him, or if he liked her too. I tried calming myself down. I decided to text Jinhee and told her that I would probably go home late because we were not still finish for our meeting.

After some minute, I heaved out a sigh and stood up from my seat when I saw Baekhyun walking toward me. He was still wearing the white shirt earlier, but he was wearing a jacket so I supposed that it was from Yeonhee. He was straightly looking into my eyes and I felt something poking my stomach. I swallowed the lump that started to form in my throat and looked away. I started walking passed him when he decided to call me by my name.

“Yumi,” he quietly muttered. I was quite startled by how chilly his voice sounded like, and my face started getting red. I bit my lower lip and slowly turned to face him.

“Y-yeah?” I must have looked like an awkward idiot, stuttering. However, he just stood there motionlessly. He was still looking at me, as if studying my face intently. I hid the blush on my cheeks by asking him what he needed. As if he didn’t hear what I say, he just blinked at me innocently. His lips were slightly parted and I thought he was going to say something when the door burst open and Sol called us to resume practicing.

I was the one to break the eye contact as I turned my back to him and started walking to the house. I felt him following me from behind and I just sighed, confused of what might happen earlier if Sol didn’t call us.

When the clock struck six, we were all exhausted from talking too much and Yeonhee suggested that we practice again tomorrow. We all agreed to her suggestion.

We bid good bye to Yeonhee and her mother and then we were off. I was lagging behind the group just because I didn’t feel like joining their conversation, when I noticed Baekhyun stopping in his tracks. The others didn’t seem to notice, drowned with their topic about the incoming activities for Intramural Week.

I pretended not to see him and was going to just walk passed him when he grabbed my elbow. I looked at him confusingly and he scratched the back of his head. I bit the inside of my cheek to refrain myself from giggling. He looked really cute, with a tint of light red in his cheeks, looking embarrassed.

“Ugh, just wanted to make sure that you’re safe. You know, Uhh, you should not walk behind the others. We might not notice you if you disappeared suddenly.”

I looked at him, not believing his words, but nodded nonetheless. I was still fazed when we started walking behind the other guys silently. As we arrived to the train station, Baekhyun insisted to pay for my ticket. We were only three who rode the train. Me, Baekhyun, and Suho.

“It’s okay, don’t worry,” he told me when I offered him my money. I gratefully accepted the ticket and he grinned at me boyishly. I felt another thump in my heart and I thought I was going to pass out when the back of our hands touched for the slightest second.

“So, where are you headed?” Baekhyun asked as we reached the train platform. I looked at him to verify that he was indeed talking to me. He was already looking at me and I felt myself blushed. I completely forgot where I lived.

Five seconds passed and I was still speechless.

“I’m headed to Myeondong, you?” Suho, our other classmate, replied. I thanked him in my mind, he had just saved me from humiliation.

“Headed near there too.” Baekhyun replied and then looked at me again, waiting for my answer.

“I’m staying at the university dorms,” I said, finally regaining myself. We all rode the subway train and when we reached the next station, Suho forgot that he had to buy dinner since he was living alone, which left Baekhyun and I, alone in the train with nothing left to say.

When we reached the last station, the train stopped and we walked to our places.

“So, can I get your number?” He asked, stopping me in my tracks. He stopped too. I looked at him to see if he was serious, he was.

“+82 10-4121-9790,” I said and he keyed in my number. I continued walking, not knowing whether he indeed saved it or he just asked to be polite.

“I should go now, that’s my dorm,” I said pointing to him the white building across the street. He just smiled at me and waved goodbye. He didn’t even walk me home! Or was I expecting too much? But he should at least accompany me to cross the street! Minus points for that, I thought.

When I was about to forget all my craziness about him, “Yumi!” He shouted. I looked around to see him across the streets with his hands cupped around his mouth. A gesture that made me laugh because it was as if I were on a different mountain instead of just a different lane.

“Good night!” He shouted again. I managed a wave and when I turned around, I couldn’t help but smile.

Even when you say it was destiny, a thing almost never happens the way this did. In five minutes of pacing around our dorm room, just a few minutes after he shouted his good nights, I’d never heard my phone beeped at all.

It was just as if it had been planned. When I was about to turn off my phone, so that I wouldn’t look stupid looking at it all night long, I felt my phone vibrated in my hands.

I received a message from Byun Baekhyun.