Aeri didn't know how to respond. She'd prayed that he wouldn't remember her, but apparently, he did. 

Her eyes turning skyward, she complained internally. Why, Lord? Haven't I always been a good girl? Going to church every Sunday, and this is how you repay me? I'm going to stay at home this weekend and play Dante's Inferno, she declared silently. 

"I-I am not lying." She stuttered weakly.

Lifting her chin, he forced her to meet his eyes. From his face, he didn't appear to be mad. But then again, she didn't know him at all. For all she knew, that could have been his angry face. 

His calmness was making her a little anxious. The way he was staring at her was unnerving and for a second, she even thought she'd caught a glimpse of something in his eyes but she wasn't sure. Maybe it was only the lights. 

God, she didn't think she could keep this up for much longer. She had never been able to look people in the eye. It was one of the many downsides to being painfully shy. She would have preferred it if he'd yelled at her for peeping. However, he didn't say anything for a long while. Only an uncomfortable silence surrounded them. After what felt like centuries, he finally broke the staring contest which she had been dragged into unwillingly and spoke.

"Are you scared of me?"

She denied it. "N-n-no." Shaking in her boots, she finally understood why people wet themselves when they are afraid.

"Do you suffer from speech disorder then?"

She shook her head no.

He probably found her answer funny for he chuckled a bit as he moved his hand to the top of her head, patting her. It felt rather nice. It had been ages since she'd last been patted by someone. 

She was secretly relishing the moment when suddenly his cell phone rang and he leaned back, his hand that was ruffling her hair a second ago now reached for the phone into his pocket to answer it, all of it without his eyes ever leaving her face.

He listened to the person on the other side. She didn't hear anything that was being said but she could tell it wasn't good news when he frowned.  Then with no word uttered, he hung up. That was pretty rude, was what she wanted to tell him but she was too much of a scaredy cat. Besides, it was none of her business. 

Without warning, he leaned in again, took her hand in his, and bringing it to his lips, he kissed the back of it. Her eyes widened in reaction and her cheeks turned bright red. "It has been a pleasure talking to you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to." With that, he turned around and left. 

She was watching his back as he walked away. Damn, but he looked good from behind. She'd seen many people, who were beautiful but his looks were on a whole new level. He was lean but not excessively muscly. She didn't like body-builders. Their bodies were often disproportionate, which only resulted in them looking like a child's painting.

She was ogling him when all of a sudden, she realized she was still sitting on the floor and a certain teacher was waiting for her in the history class. 

She swiftly got up and ran as fast as she could into the classroom, almost tripping herself on the way. Once there, she was subjected to a ten-minute lecture from Mrs. Park about how being punctual was important unless she wanted to become a hobo and live under a bridge. Her classmates snickered at that. How mortifying, she thought to herself, blushing. She wished the ground would just open up and swallow her on the spot. 

Only after she was done was Aeri able to go to her seat. She walked the aisle with her head down, embarrassed by the reprimand. Usually, she was glad her seat was at the very back of the room but not today. The walk of shame was endless. She felt thirty-one pairs of eyes on her. Did they have nothing better to do than stare? By the amount of interest they showed, she would have sworn they had never seen a girl before.

The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful. No accidents or bumping into people. She was grateful for it. She liked to keep her life simple and stick to routines. It made everything easier. Hopefully, she wouldn't meet the guy, whose name she still didn't know, from morning ever again.