09.
Little by Little - because you stay -
JUNG.yonghwa
She was not the girl people imagined she would be. She was a timid girl with medium length hair and innocent look.
There was no such thing as tattoos. She didn't look like she smoke as well. She wore ordinary shirt and jeans, just like the other girls wore.
Then what made her so different? What made people treated her so cruel? Why did we need to ignore her like she never existed?
One week after the police announced that the case about Jung Aerin was a self-defense act and the man actually survived despite the stab, the university must had turned into a hell for Aerin.
Students despised her. Lecturers looked down on her. People kept giving her nasty looks.
She was an ordinary student before everything happened. I didn't think we ever noticed her so much. She was not really famous. She was not a genius. She was not a special student.
There were students who assumed she did the incident to gain attention from us. She just wanted fame and she got it now.
Really? Was it really why she did it? Why did people keep assuming things whatever they wanted to?
"Skipping my class again, I see," I spoke out with a smile. "Do you really like here better than my class, Jung Aerin?"
I just finished my class when I saw her sitting on the bench at the backyard of our university. I saw her here before and I finally decided to talk with her.
It's the first time I talked to her out of the class. She was sitting on the bench, reading a book in her hand calmly.
She came to college but didn't attend any class including mine. I wondered why.
"Jung Songsaenim," she greeted me politely, returning a smile to me. "Isn't it a beautiful day today?"
She looked up at the sky as if I asked about the weather. Aerin returned her gaze to the book, ignoring my presence.
I took a seat next to her and glanced at the book she was reading. It's a novel with no picture at all.
"Aren't you afraid, Songsaenim?" she suddenly asked me. Aerin closed her book and turned to me, "Don't you afraid that I will do whatever bad things I can to you?"
"Do you think I'm the same with others?" I retorted, trying to read her expression.
She chuckled, "You're different, Songsaenim."
"And is that a bad thing?" I asked her a random question again just to earn a smile from her.
She gave me an unpredictable look in eyes before giving me a short answer, "No."
❖❖❖❖❖
There she is, waiting for me in the cooking practice room, the one I always use for my class everyday.
As usual she is reading a book. It's a different book from the last one I saw she was reading last week when I met her at this classroom as well.
She skipped classes again today and I'm not here to lecture her. If there is one thing that bother me because she keeps skipping classes, it's the fact that she may be dropped out from the university due to her low attendances.
"Have nothing to do again, Aerin?" I close the door behind me and walk to her. "I suggest you to come to my class next week, you know."
She doesn't reply with words. Her lips turn into a curve and she continues to read her book.
I know her answer already. She once told me that she didn't want to disturb the class. If she came, students would focus on her instead of the lesson.
Therefore she refused to attend the classes.
"I heard a rumor," I take the book and put it on the table, "that you're close with the new student, Jung Jinyoung."
"Does it bother you?" she tilts her head cutely. "Does it cause him a problem because of me?"
I can't help but to smile when I hear her question. I reach out my hand to caress her cheek, "You're too nice, Aerin. Don't be too nice."
I pull her into a hug and let myself to inhale her sweet scent. She doesn't say anything and I thank her for that.
If there is one thing I want to ask everyday, I just want to be alone with Aerin for every single day I have.
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