The morning rush was the worst part of her days (almost in a draw with the headache her graduation project was giving her). She got on at the departing station of the line, which did not secure a seat, but at least allowed her to find a nice spot where she could hold the handrail for dear life when the passengers of subsequent stations started to desperately push themselves in. Byul made a big effort to go out of home early in order to ride the train as soon as it reached the station. But today she “overslept” and even running at her top speed didn’t save her from having to hop onto an already crowded train. She was also more asleep than awake. Thing is, she had forgotten a paper that was due today so she put an all-nighter to get the ten pages done. In the end, she only got a blink of sleep after she turned off the computer and relaxed because of her accomplishment. But she wasn’t supposed to nap for those twenty minutes.

As always, the train was hot with human-body warmth and palpable morning irritation. That and the slight rocking of the vehicle made Byul drowsier by the second and she was legit falling asleep while leaning on the shoulder of the tall man standing by her side. Whenever the doors opened to let a crowd into the sardine-can like train she didn’t flinch –all the desperate workers made the mass of passengers re-accommodate without her having to make much effort. So she kept her eyes closed for the following seven minutes or so.

Then a hand made its way to the left side of her body. The blonde shot her eyes open, scared but ready to stop whoever was trying to take advantage of the situation. But there were so many people around her it wasn’t easy to tell apart who the culprit was. Also her brain happened to be only half functioning, so suddenly Byul had to ask herself if it wasn’t a dream. Moving her head to shake away the drowsiness , she also had to question herself whether the train girl was an hallucination of her sleep-deprived mind. Still, the slender finger poking her once again felt extremely real.

“Thanks for last time” said the young woman, looking up to her with her beautiful brown eyes and dedicating her the most heart-melting smile ever.

“Your voice sound better without the sobs, you know.”

Byul knew every time she opened after an all-nighter there would be a terrible outcome. She could already hear Wheein cracking up as she told her what she had just said. The senior face-palmed herself internally, but the sweet giggles slipping the girl’s lips made her come back to reality. How was it possible that this gorgeous girl made her feel more butterflies every time?

“Such a compliment.” The brunette mocked. After a few seconds her eyes went from mocking to sincere “But thanks.”

“My pleasure.” Moon Byul-yi, stop. She heard herself warning her. “I like complimenting pretty girls.”

She didn’t know what was worse: the awkward smile plastered in the cutely blushed girl’s face, the uncomfortable cough of the man between them or the embarrassment she felt washing over herself, colouring her face a deep shade of red. The brunette turned around at the sound of opening doors, looking almost disappointed for not being her destination. Byul wanted the earth to open up and swallow her; she won’t be able to ride this train line from today on. She cursed that damned report, the damned nine a.m. Thursday class and her inability to do her assignments on time.

They didn’t say a word again. But when it was the girl’s turn to get off the train, she waved slightly before disappearing into the platform. Byul had never felt so stupid in her whole life.

*

*

*

Thursday eventually turned into Saturday. Yet, instead of being all hyped, she found herself in front of the spinning fan, not getting ready at all and avoiding her ringing phone. She knew who was calling and didn’t find the strength to banter anymore. Wheein was still making fun of her for ruining whatever chance she ever had of getting to know the gorgeous stranger. After telling her friend about her misfortune, she took note of being more careful about the place at which she disclosed her love-life disasters. They were having lunch at the canteen and the art major burst into the noisiest laughter ever, spilling her juice and causing the God knows how many students to focus on them. She tried to calm the younger girl down, but once Wheein’s laughter exploded, it was almost impossible to make it stop. Byul-yi just wanted to die from embarrassment. Needless to say, the story also went to Hwasa’s ears and the amount of bullying she was receiving from her younger friends was more than she could handle.

It made her doubtful about the fashion show and the party. She didn’t want them spreading rumors about her saying weird stuff to random girls on trains. Or worse, about her having a year-long crush on a complete stranger who happened to ride the same train line. But both of them wanted her to attend the event and, let’s be honest, Moon Byul could never refuse those two little daredevils. The blonde sighed loudly, hanging her head in defeat. Another call came in, so she took it reluctantly.

“What took you so long?” Wheein sounded irritated, grunting here and there.

“I don’t wanna go today.” The line went silent. It felt weirdly cold, like the cellphone itself had been turned into ice. A response came after what seemed an eternity.

“You are on the black list for not answering Hyejin’s calls. Don’t sign your death sentence, would you?”

She gulped. Wheein was this adorable puppy-like sweetheart, but her threats were not to be taken lightly.

“Anyways, I’m coming over. Be sure to order something for lunch. See ya.”

And before she had any chance to mumble a single word, the line went dead. She breathed out in defeat.

Even though she was more on the “shy lesbian” side, Byul was usually quite good at talking with women. She had natural talent to make sweet and smooth compliments, and knew how to make good use of it. But the train girl was so stunning and had such a beautiful, angelic voice that her brain