Gazing out at the busy streets of autumn Seoul, Yoo Eun let out another long, deep sigh before taking the white cup up to her cherry-like lips and took a  sip of the sweet, steaming chocolate colored liquid. Exactly the way she likes it.

Aside from the sweet hot chocolate, the pale looking girl never really liked sweets. She doesn’t even like ice creams – so when her best friends found out she had a crush on the sweetest guy in campus, they couldn’t help but to look at her with curiosity written all over their face.

“Wait- I thought you despised cheesy things?” the question almost made her land her palm on her face. Good thing she remembered she was wearing her thin, round framed glasses instead of her pair of brown contact lenses. In that sense, she sent her dearest friend her ‘look’ instead – raising her right eyebrow as she kept her pair of dark orbs on the other party.

“I did, and I still do despise cheesy things. That’s one. Two, Jinyoung isn’t that sweet, he’s just being a gentleman,” Yoo Eun tried to correct her friend, though she knew it wouldn’t change their way of thinking about Jinyoung, anyway.

Yes, Park Jinyoung from the International Affairs major. Might not be the most good looking guy in campus, but still definitely is one of the most popular flower boys throughout Seoul University. Not only that, he’s also one of the smartest kid in the campus. No wonder the university offered him a scholarship – which he actually turn down, saying that he’s still capable of paying the tuition fees and the scholarship should be given to other person in need. From that, people sure could guess how wealthy the kid is, though he never took his own car (which everybody was sure he had at least one) and kept on taking the bus wherever he needed to go in the campus area.

Not only that to mention, Jinyoung is also a talented singer and photographer. His SNS page followers had surpassed the 5K number, through all he had uploaded online was only some monochromatic pictures of some spots throughout the campus and a black video of him covering an English song she had never heard of before. Guess he isn’t a social media junkie, that’s what Yoo Eun first thought of when she saw his SNS page. Can he be any more perfect than he already is?

“Well now it’s official – you are completely love struck. Ah, our Yoo Eun is all grown up now!” Jangmi, the motherly figure of Yoo Eun’s clique, exaggerated her movement as she tried to wrap her slender arms around Yoo Eun – which was actually a complete failure since Yoo Eun swiftly dogded her, thanks to her taekwondo skills.

“But I heard Jinyoung rejected every girl who confessed to him,” Hyojin said. Yoo Eun shrugged her shoulder, tracing the rim of her hot chocolate cup with her fingertip. She had known that rumor from the first day she planted her interest at the male. She also knew that some rumors said that Jinyoung is gay. She didn’t really care, though.

“It’s just a crush. It doesn’t mean I wanted to confess to him and be his…. You know,” a slight tint of pink crept up on Yoo Eun’s cheeks, making her two friends giggle and shook their heads. For the first time in their 5 years of friendship, they finally saw Yoo Eun act more like a regular girl rather than a boring robot.

According to Jangmi and Hyojin, Yoo Eun was that type of how a role model student should be. Even back in their high school days, Yoo Eun had never skipped a single class. It’s like she was a robot who only knew how to study 24/7. She was never sick, as far as they recall. They knew, a part of it was because she can’t afford losing her scholarship since her family wasn’t doing that well back then, but even after her parents finally could settle their problems and regain their normal life back, Yoo Eun was still that heartless, studying robot – up until now. Maybe we should find Jinyoung and thank him, the two girls thought as they looked at each other and grinned.

“Ah! Our baby Yoo Eun is really a grown up now!”

“Cut it out!”

***

Thursday, October 5th, 20xx

It was already 4 PM by the time Yoo Eun finished her last class of the day. The bob haired girl stretched her stiff neck before packing her belongings inside her black small canvas bag.

“Yoo Eun-ah! Wanna go check the new café?” Jangmi suddenly popped up in front of her desk, eyeing Yoo Eun with her pair of dark brown, deer-like orbs. Yoo Eun’s hands didn’t stop packing up her things as she thought about her schedule for the rest of the day.

“I can’t, sorry. I have to buy more pencils and sketchbook, it’s running out. I have a part time job too tonight,” she looked at the clearly disappointed Jangmi and confused Hyojin.

“Part time job? I thought your part time job is on the weekends?” Hyojin asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Yoo Eun blinked her eyes in confusion.

“I thought I told you guys already? I got another part time job at the library?” she returned the question. Jangmi and Hyojin looked at each other, eyebrows furrowed before the two recites an ‘aaa~’ together, grinning sheepishly as they set their pair of orbs back on Yoo Eun.

“It was last week, right? Sorry! It really slipped my mind,” Hyojin formed a V sign with her fingers. Yoo Eun shrugged her shoulders and smiles while picking up her small backpack and sketchbook.

“It’s alright, I know how forgetful you two are,” she teased the two then chuckled lightly. “I gotta go, see you guys tomorrow, okay?”

After bidding her friends goodbye, Yoo Eun walked her way out the class and went to the mini store in her campus. It wasn’t too far from her last class nor too close, and since she wasn’t in a hurry anyway, she decided to look around the place while she was at it.

Yoo Eun is actually in her 2nd year of college, but she never really had a chance to look around the campus because either her class ended really late with tons of assignments for the next day, or the girls wanted to go out after class. It was mostly the first, but she can’t turn down her girls every time they asked her to hang out.

Her friends understand her reasons, though. Being a student in the Architecture major isn’t something easy. Assignments after assignments, you name it. Yoo Eun is considered lucky enough if she had at least 3 hours per day to spare so she could sleep.

“Auntie?” Yoo Eun called out at the mini store owner as she didn’t see the middle aged lady in store. Yoo Eun and the store owner was really fond of each other, since Yoo Eun reminded her a lot of her daughter who is living happily married overseas.

“The store owner is currently not here. I think she went to get something to eat around 10 minutes ago,” a male voice behind her explained, startling the girl as she almost dropped her sketchbook while turning around to face the voice.

“O-oh… Okay, thank you, sunbae-nim..” Yoo Eun bowed towards the male he definitely recognize as her senior and was about to left when he blocked her only way out, again startling the petite girl.

“Where have I seen you before? Are you from our major? The Art major?” he asked, raising his eyebrow as he tried to recall her face from his memory library. Blinking in confusion, Yoo Eun shook her head, swaying her dark brown locks gently.

“I’m from the Architecture major, sunbae-nim,” she answered politely with a light smile on her face. The male seemed unsatisfied with both her answer and his ability to store memories, so he opened his mouth to ask her another question.

“Architecture? You didn’t seem-“

“Ah, Yoo Eun! Are you here to buy pencils again?” a familiar voice from behind the counter made Yoo Eun turn and smile, quietly thanking God for His perfect timing.

“Jaebum, you’re here too? Do you need pencils too?” the auntie smiled as she greeted the male as well. Jaebum? Then is he Jinyoung’s friend? She thought.

“No, auntie. I was just telling the girl that you weren’t here. Oh, I should get going, Jinyoung is waiting for me. You know how Jinyoung is if he had to wait for too long. I’ll come back tomorrow, auntie,” Jaebum chuckled before excusing himself, bowing at the shop owner before jogged his way out the store. Well, that explanation answers her questions. It is the duo Jaebum and Jinyoung.

***

Yoo Eun slumps onto her chair, stretching out her legs after rearranging the books that just got returned for the day. Who knew arranging books were quite a challenge? Plus, it’s also some sort of exercise, somehow.

Aside from the arranging tasks, the job in the library doesn’t really require you to move a lot. It sure is a good thing, so that Yoo Eun could still manage to get some assignments done while keeping an eye on the library. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.

Just right when Yoo Eun was about to continue her assignment from the class earlier, a voice caught her attention from the other side of the high wooden counter.

“Sorry, I’d like to borrow this book,” the voice said, sliding the book on the soft surface of the counter.

“Oh, sure. May I see your-“ Yoo Eun blinked her eyes in disbelief as she saw the figure who stood right in front of her eyes. Quickly snapping out of it, Yoo Eun cleared and shook her head slightly.

“U-um, sorry, may I see your membership card?” she repeated, trying to avoid the male’s sharp gaze.

“Right, here you go,” he rummaged through his pocket to fetch his wallet before handing her the library membership card. As Yoo Eun proceed to scan on the barcodes, the male peeks curiously over the counter to found a piece of paper that Yoo Eun is currently working on.

“Oh, you’re an architect?” He said, displaying his wrinkles around his eyes as he smiled. Taking glances at the latter, Yoo Eun quickly nodded her head.

“U-um, I mean I’m still a student but yeah, majoring in architecture,” she replied, smiling before handing the male his book and membership card.

“Have a good time reading the book, Jinyoung-ssi,” Yoo Eun politely bowed her head while trying to keep herself composed. The latter let out a chuckle and nodded his head.

“Have a good night. I hope you could finish your assignment on time, Yoo Eun-ssi,” Jinyoung said, bowing slightly before heading out from the library. By the time Jinyoung was out of sight, Yoo Eun was already out of herself.

What a lucky day, that’s what she thought.

***

Tuesday, December 12th, 20xx

After that night, Yoo Eun has been constantly seeing Jinyoung at the library whenever it was her shift there. The two also have been exchanging more words, like asking about their day, their class – they have practically become friends.

The more Yoo Eun learn about Jinyoung, the more she thinks of him in a humanly way. Before, she always think so highly about the latter, making it as if he was somebody out of her league but now, she thinks of him just like any other kids, who had their own flaws.

“But seriously though, the professor was really boring!” Yoo Eun puffed out her cheeks as she voiced her complaint at Jinyoung, yet her pair of clear orbs never left the sheet of paper where she’s currently sketching at. The latter chuckled, glancing at the girl dresses neatly in a baby blue knitted sweater over a white long sleeved button up with a black skinny jeans wrapped around her slender legs.

“As boring as you are or even way boring?” Jinyoung teased the girl, making her pout and muttered, “You’re seriously such a savage, Park Jinyoung-ssi.”

“I’m still as charming, nonetheless,” he confidently exclaimed, earning him the Yoo Eun infamous ‘gaze’ as she clicked her tongue in disbelief – though it never affected Jinyoung in any way.

“Anyway, when will your shift end today?” Jinyoung asked the girl, already completely ignoring his book. It was already 6.47 PM by the time Jinyoung asked and the library’s next shift worker had already arrived, but honestly, Jinyoung only wanted to go grab dinner with Yoo Eun.

On the other hand, Yoo Eun, who’s completely oblivious, glanced at the slender silver watch that rested perfectly around her wrist and hummed as she realized that her shift almost ended. “I’m off at 7, why?”

“Um, wanna grab dinner with me?”

Yoo Eun felt her heart skipped a beat upon hearing the latter’s request. She looked at him and slightly tilted her head to the side. “Dinner?”

Jinyoung nodded his head, smiling at the petite figure. “Yeah, dinner. You know, when you eat at the evening?” He said, again teasing the girl with the puffy, rosy cheeks.

“Tsk! I know what dinner is, Park Jinyoung! Geez. I almost said yes, but since you’re being really annoying- hmfph!!” Yoo Eun’s words were cut short as Jinyoung forcefully covered with his palm.

“Alright I’ll stop,” Jinyoung said. “So, dinner? I’m paying.”

***

After spending another 5 minutes in front of the library, debating whether should they get pizza or bibimbap for dinner (since Jinyoung is paying, so in the end Yoo Eun had to give up her beloved pizza), the two finally get on their way to Jinyoung’s favorite bibimbap place.

There was silence between the two, but neither of them felt awkward. It was comfortable, knowing that they got company without having to talk about anything. The thought send a smile on Jinyoung’s lips, and a faint pink tint on Yoo Eun’s cheeks.

As Jinyoung was checking on his phone, he noticed how the temperature had dropped a lot from when they were just out from the library. If it wasn’t for their small bickering, they wouldn’t have been caught in the freezing temperature. The male looked over at the girl, slightly shivering due to the blowing wind even under the thick layer of her sweater and coat.

“Let’s stop by at the mini market ahead, I need to buy something,” Jinyoung said, gaining Yoo Eun’s attention. “Um? Oh, sure,” she muttered with a soft smile on her cherry like lips. Somehow, amidst the freezing weather at the end of November, Jinyoung still felt warm.

Upon entering the mini market, the two split up as Jinyoung went to search what he needed while Yoo Eun stood near the heater, trying to warm herself up. Jinyoung’s warm yet deep orbs kept glancing towards her way as he quickly surf through the aisles and went straight to the cashier after finding what he was looking for.

“Is that your girlfriend?” the middle aged uncle who was in charge of the cashier asked, catching Jinyoung off guard. “P-pardon?”

“You two look so good together. Take care of her and never let her go, young man,” he smiled while giving Jinyoung his change. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning to do that,” Jinyoung said, a smile visible on his face as he bowed at the cashier uncle and made his way to her.

Quietly opening the hot pack he just bought, Jinyoung then placed the small, warm packs on Yoo Eun’s bare neck, startling the shorter girl and caused her to quickly turn around to face Jinyoung with his sheepish smile.

“Park Jinyoung! You need to stop playing around like that, seriously…” Yoo Eun pouted, stomping her right foot. Jinyoung, on the other hand, only laughed at her reaction and shook his head. “Be grateful, young lady. Here, use the hot packs,” he said with a smile, handing Yoo Eun the hot packs he used to warm up her neck.

Blinking to his sudden gesture, Yoo Eun took the hot packs silently. “Thank you,” she managed to utter. “How about you? Don’t you have any?” she asked, feeling a little bit guilty.

Jinyoung shook his head and shrugs. “I don’t need any, I’m still feeling pretty warm under these layers,” he answered. “Let’s go, we gotta rush or the place will get even more crowded.”

Yoo Eun nodded and quickly followed Jinyoung’s steps as he walks outside the mini market, feeling even more warm inside.

After walking for another 10 minutes, the two finally arrived at the crowded bibimbap place. Yoo Eun looked at the place in awe but also with guilt. She looked over at Jinyoung and grins.

“Sorry… If we hadn’t fight over what we should eat we would’ve gotten a spot…” she said, looking down at the tip of her brown boots. Jinyoung looked at the girl and chuckled. “It’s alright. Let’s go inside.”

Yoo Eun blinked and looked at the line Jinyoung just cut. “Jinyoung we should line up!” she warned the guy, making him laugh. “Why should I line up to see my mom?”

“….PARK JINYOUNG!”

***

“You should’ve told me beforehand! It was so embarrassing…” Yoo Eun whined, covering her tiny face with her palms while kicking her legs in the air. Jinyoung laughed at the girl, shaking his head to the fact how cute she looked when she got embarrassed. Yoo Eun peeked at the guy between her fingers, pouting. “You’re so annoying…” she muttered.

“He is. You should know how annoying he was when he were younger,” a voice added, followed by the sound of metal bowls getting served. Yoo Eun quickly pull her hands down to her lap and bowed at the female.

“I’m Park Jae Hee, Jinyoung’s noona. I bet you’re Yoo Eun, right?” the female said, answered by a soft ‘yes’ from Yoo Eun and a confused nod. How did she know my name? She thought.

Catching the confusion, Jae Hee then continued. “Jinyoung told us a lo-“

“N-noona! Mom is calling you!” Jinyoung quickly averted Jae Hee’s attention. The latter looked over to her mother and nodded before looking back at the younger girl with a smile. “We’ll talk again later. Enjoy your meal,” she said before leaving the two. Jinyoung exhaled, not even realizing he was holding his breath.

Looking at the still confused Yoo Eun, his wrinkles around his eyes made another appearance as he smiled. “Never mind about what she said, just eat a lot, okay? This is the best bibimbap in town, you won’t be able to forget the taste,” Jinyoung bragged, making the girl sitting across him laugh.

“It’s your family business anyway, why would you say it’s not tasty?” Yoo Eun chuckled lightly and lifted her chopsticks, ready to dig into the meal.

“I’m an honest person, you shouldn’t doubt my words,” Jinyoung said with a lopsided smile, giving his bowl of bibimbap a mix before getting a bite. His gaze never left Yoo Eun’s face as she feed herself a spoonful of the bibimbap Jinyoung grew up eating, catching her every expressions as she actually find the food really good.

Yoo Eun looked at the male, catching the ‘I told you’ gaze from Jinyoung and shook her head, smiling nonetheless. If only I’m as honest as you are, she thought, giving herself another bite of the bibimbap.

***

Yoo Eun spend the next two hours finishing her food and talking to Jinyoung’s family members. She had a good time since Jinyoung’s family was really nice, spilling some of Jinyoung’s dark past and laughed about it together.

“Ah, I think I should be going now, it’s getting late,” Yoo Eun said after checking her phone. “You’re right, your parents must be worried. Jinyoung, take the car and drive her home safely, okay?” Jinyoung’s mom said, making the girl’s clear orbs double on its size.

“No, it’s alright, I can walk home by myself-“ Yoo Eun tried to refuse but stopped right away as Jinyoung’s mom placed her hand on Yoo Eun’s arm. “I insist. Jinyoung wouldn’t mind anyway, right?” she looked at his only son and smiled.

“Of course I don’t. I’m the one who take you here, anyway, so I should return you home safely,” Jinyoung smiled before excusing himself to grab the car keys in his room.

After Jinyoung left, his mom gazes back at the young lady softly, her soft motherly smile never once left her face. “Jinyoung wasn’t the type of person who would talk about someone a lot, so when he started to talk about you months ago, I knew you were special to him. Now I could see why he wouldn’t stop talking about you,” she said and took Yoo Eun’s hands in hers, squeezing it gently.

“Months? Um, I just knew him-“

“Are you ready?” Jinyoung’s voice suddenly interfered Yoo Eun’s words. “Ah, yeah. I’ll get going now, the food was really great and I had a good time here too. I’ll be sure to visit again soon,” Yoo Eun said her greetings and bowed at Jinyoung’s family, following the male out from the restaurant.

“So… You do have a car…” Yoo Eun said while walking next to Jinyoung towards the public parking lot. Jinyoung looked at the female and shrugged. “Yeah, I do, but I don’t really like taking it around. The traffic is crazy,” he said with a chuckle. “I couldn’t agree more,” Yoo Eun grinned, agreeing to Jinyoung’s statement.

“This is my car,” Jinyoung said, unlocking the car door and opened the car door for Yoo Eun. “Let’s go,” he continued, snapping Yoo Eun out from her train of thoughts and get inside the luxurious car, not forgetting to put on her seatbelt.

“At this rate you might create a pool of drool in my car,” Jinyoung laughed after getting inside the car, readjusting the rear views after starting the car. Yoo Eun pouted, feeling embarrassed he caught her being all over his car. Well, who wouldn’t?

“Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, the bibimbap place was originally the only business we had when I was growing up. My dad, though, was really interested in trading and cars, so he learned about those two things and somehow started earning money that way. That’s how he managed to buy the car,” Jinyoung explained shortly before he started driving off.

Yoo Eun blinked as she listened to his unnecessary explanation but nodded her head anyway. “And just so you know, I wasn’t getting the wrong idea. I know I have no rights to say this, but I believe your family will not do any sort of bad things,” she said softly, glancing at the driving male and smiled.

Little did she know, Jinyoung was extremely touched by the fact Yoo Eun trusted his family completely after only meeting them, minus his dad, once. People used to send his family looks after knowing only a part of their family’s business, and judge them since they managed to buy such an expensive car. That was also one of the reason why Jinyoung refused to use his car to campus.

“Thank you. I really mean it,” Jinyoung mutters softly, smiling as he felt warm in his chest. Just how exactly did you manage to make me feel warm, every single time I’m with you? He thought to himself.

They enjoyed the rest of the ride quietly, secretly enjoying each other’s company. Quick glances and smiles is all they need to make sure the other company is equally comfortable around them.

10 minutes later, Jinyoung’s car had stopped in front of Yoo Eun’s family apartment building. “Here we are,” Jinyoung looked at the girl next to him, looking a little bit confused as she started to realize something.

“Jinyoung, how did you know where I live? I don’t think I ever told you before, and I definitely didn’t tell you the directions earlier,” she asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Jinyoung, who just seem to be realizing his mistake as well. Yoo Eun could clearly see Jinyoung’s face turned crimson, looking around as he tried to think of a reason. “I- um, it was-“

“Jinyoung, you’re an honest person, right? I won’t believe any of your lies anyway, since you just stuttered your words,” Yoo Eun joked, which made both of them chuckle at how silly yet true her statement is. Jinyoung exhaled, nervously rubbing his slightly tensed nape.

“Please don’t get creeped out… A couple months ago, I heard there was a crime around the campus area and I was really worried, so I followed you home for the whole week,” Jinyoung explained shortly, hanging his head low. Upon hearing his confession, Yoo Eun only got even more curious. She did remember there was a crime report two months ago, but they haven’t even knew each other back then.

“Jinyoung, we had only known each other for about a month. Why would you do that when you haven’t even know me yet? Really, why?” she asked, utterly confused. Sure she was happy knowing that someone is truly worried about her well being, but she needs to understand his reason.

Jinyoung lifted her head and gazed right into Yoo Eun’s orbs. He looked…. Scared?

“Because I’ve liked you since the first time I saw you sketching under the tree in the campus. You looked really serious back then, but at the same time you looked like you were in love. For months I’ve been trying to talk to you but I didn’t want to look like a creep, suddenly coming up to you and said hi,” he explained, still avoiding her eyes.

“I was so happy the day I saw you behind the library counter, I had to convince myself around a hundred times before I come up to you, trying to sound cool but actually I just wanted to smile like a fool and ask for your number. I’m sorry,” he closed his explanation, softly muttering every words before finally gazing into her eyes.

Yoo Eun was completely speechless. Her heart was beating so fast she’s worried he might tell. And although it was kinda silly and cheesy at the same time, she didn’t mind at all. She wanted him to know that he’s not the only one who has been lying this whole time.

“I thought I was the only one who had been keeping it for myself, but I guess it wasn’t the case now,” she grinned, catching how his eyes light up as he heard those words. Yoo Eun nibbled on her lip before looking straight into his deep orbs and spilled her tea.

“I had a crush on you too. It’s been a couple months now, and I thought I was going to die of happiness when we first exchange words back then. I liked you then, and I liked you even more now,” she said, finding a hint of excitement in his eyes.

“I like you that seemed to be in an arm’s reach, the one who will make funny and savage comments around me, the one who could make mistakes. I like the humanly version of you, because I wanted to be able to be a place where you could come to when you feel like you need someone to comfort you, or maybe just someone you could feel like you are your genuine self,” Yoo Eun nervously looked at Jinyoung, noticing his red ears but with a wide smile plastered across his handsome face, showing his little wrinkles she loved.

“I swear this isn’t how I imagine it to be, but,” Jinyoung gently took Yoo Eun’s hands in his, her pair of clear orbs were fixated onto his. “Will you go out with me?”

Yoo Eun let out a soft giggle as she felt his hands trembled slightly on hers, making her heart beat even faster before finally nodding her head, swaying her dark locks gently. “Yes, Jinyoung. Yes.”

And with that, Jinyoung gently leaned in, closing the gap between them before gently pressing his lips against hers. He carefully placed his hand on her burning cheek and smiled against her soft lips.

“Thank you,” he whispered lowly as he slowly pulled away from her. “For not screaming at me for being a creep and whacked me because it will definitely hurt me and my pride a lot,” they chuckled at Jinyoung’s silly comment while looking into each other’s eyes dearly.

“I really do love you, Jang Yoo Eun,”

“I wouldn’t say I love you any less, Park Jinyoung,”

***

Jaebum jogged his way towards the place where he promised Jinyoung to meet. He hoped the latter didn’t see him talking to-

“Why were you talking with Yoo Eun?”

Crap.

“Hey hey calm down, man. I was just telling her the store owner auntie wasn’t in place, but right then she just returned so I went back here,” Jaebum quickly explained while subconsciously having his hands up by the side of his face.

Jinyoung glared at the older male and shook his head in disbelief. “I haven’t even talked to her, for God’s sake! This hyung really likes to steal a headstart,” Jinyoung nagged at the older male, leaving him behind.

“Y-yah Park Jinyoung, this guy—yah! Listen to me!”

***

Jaebum have been eyeing Jinyoung for the past 20 minutes but he still couldn’t manage to decipher why has he been smiling like a complete idiot for the past 30 minutes while looking at his phone screen.

“Yah Park Jinyoung, what are you doing? Watching ?” he tried to call him out but no avail. It’s as if they were talking underwater and Jinyoung wasn’t able to hear him

.

About to lose his temper, Jaebum finally walked towards Jinyoung’s space and peeked over his shoulder – and finally understood his love struck friend’s little victory.

He finally got her number.

ー끝ー