Age 16 Where it all started

They say you don't know what you've got until its gone but in that moment , Taeyeon begged to differ . He hadn't known it until it was right infront of his very own eyes , throwing him off balance and holding him steady all at the same time . Her eyes , the most mesmerizing shade of brown , captivated and intrigued him . He had never understood the phrase " The eyes are the windows into the soul " until he looked into hers . He took in her long brown  hair , her rosy cheeks , her long lashes , her beautiful plump lips , he took in all her beautiful features .

He was facinated by her but she was confused he had never spared her more than a glance before .

So what made him look at her now ? What made him like this ?

When he finally managed to blurt out a greeting after spending a long time looking at her , the look she gave him was quite the opposite of the friendly  smile on his face .

" Can I help you ? " she asked in a irrated voice not understanding why he was speaking to her .

" Umm , You ... I umm .... " he was forced to think quick ," Do you have the notes from the lessons that I missed ? If so I would be honoured if you  would allow me to borrow them as you can see I'm really far behind compared to everyone else ."

" Yeah ... sure ," she replied , pulling her notebook out of her backpack and wondering why Taeyeon was acting like he cared about school . This shortie never cared about school one bit before  .Why now ?

Taeyeon , on the other hand was trying to remember things about her but all he can come up with was school . He had no clue about her life outside school . He could only remember her reading a book , a fancy book it was and how she did her homework when everyone else was busy talking in the class room.

" So , do you like it ? " he asked , nodding towards the book in her hands but because she had been staring at her book she had missed his nod and was slightly confused and irrated by his question .

" Do i like what ? " she asked sharply , finally turning to look at him again .

" The book . That you're reading . In your hands ," he said , his short sentences getting slower as she just looked at him with bored expression on her face .

" Yeah , " she replied and turned back to her book and that was it . No elaboration . No discussion , just a quick affirmation and she was done talking to him .

Understanding that being harassed was not exactly what she wanted at the moment , Taeyeon backed off and decided to think of ways to learn more about her and get her to talk to him . He was slightly frustrated at the fact he couldn't look at  her without a certain amount of creepiness accompanying  the action but he felt calm just  by feeling her presence at his side . When the bell rang , she was relieved and he was dissappointed but they parted ways with a brief glance and a small smile . He watched her walk away in the sea of students rushing to their next class but before she could turn the corner and disappear out of his sight , the annoyed face of his best friend had blocked his line of vision .

" Oh no , don't tell me ! " Yul said , catching a glimpse of his best friend's adoring gaze . Taeyeon just smiled not caring that he looked like a lost puppy.

***

She's capable of making friends if she tried and  able to find someone to sit with at lunch  but she peferred  to sit by herself , a good book always made a pleasant company . It amused her in a way because everyone always thinks that the loners are people who are inept at making friends , losers who are too different to fit in with the crowd . But in fact , most people who eat alone choose to , not because they don't know hoe to talk to other people but because they have been in a group before and it just didn't work out for them .

She was tired .

She always seemed to be tired , maybe that's why she sat by herself . No she was tired of pretending , faking smiles and acting like she was interested in the latest gossip around towns and it was always the same old gossip , bad mouthing each other and acting like everyone are friends when deep down they hate each other . She was tired of living that type of world where she had to pretend in order to fit into society  .

But most of all , she was tired of caring what people thought of her .

So instead of pretending , she eats alone and reads a book at lunch . Everytime she reads or writes , it relaxes her to immerse herself in an imaginary world and of course being occupied with a book generally keeps away wandering people who have a desire to talk to her .Just like any day , she had her Ernest Hemingway book in her hand ready to immerse herself but then she saw someone approach her table out of the corner of her eye . She kept her gaze on the book and hoped that they would take the hint that she wanted to be alone .

Alone . Time .

" Hi , err can I sit here ? "

She glanced up to see Taeyeon standing behind the chair across her and a small smile on his lips , " Whatever it's not I like I own this table , " she replied in a blunt tone and returned her attention to