“Oh, okay, see you around then,” they say. 

"You should really join us, Haneul," Youngwoon says, "Fun times, fun times." 

They close the door. You wait for a while until their footsteps are gone from earshot. You then go out into the garden and feel the cool night breeze blowing in your hair.

Sigh. I miss this feeling. It’s not as great as when my hair was longer but the wind is forever relaxing.

You scan the distance to check for any “fireflies”. None. You look around for any signs of Flashlight Guy.

“Oh!”

You see a light floating at a steady pace. You follow it until you reach the gazebo from the night before. There he was. That mysterious figure sitting on the ledge with the flashlight aimed at his book.

“Hey,” you say.

He looks up from his book, “Oh hi,” he says back, “What are you doing here again?”

“I was tired and wanted to rest.”

“Ah…”

A moment of silence as you come closer to sit on the ledge like yesterday.

“BARK!”

“… What was that?” you ask puzzled.

“Oh, remember yesterday when we heard some funny noises in the bushes? I found this little guy here earlier when he stole half of my snacks.” He shines the flashlight over a little beagle, probably less than a year old. It sat on the floor with its tongue sticking out of its closed mouth staring at you, the newcomer.

“It’s so cute!” you gasp going over to pet it. “Oh, and it’s a girl!”

“Why do you seem so happy over that? It’s not like this is the first time you’ve seen a girl, is it?”

“Of course not. I see lots of girls. I just thought that in this school, it would be nice to have a female—female DOG-- around,” you explain, gesturing towards the dog.

“Haha, okay.”

“What’s her name?”

“Oh, she doesn’t have a name yet.”

“I’ll help you think of one,” you volunteer.

“Okay, but make it good and make it meaningful.”

You look at his face, trying to make out his features so that you might recognize him in the daylight but it’s too dark to see clearly. You think about asking him to show you his face with the flashlight but suddenly, it flickers and goes out.

“Crap,” he says. You hear him close his book and sigh. “Oh, I heard about what happened at the cafeteria earlier. From Kyuhyun.”

“Oh, really? Uh, what did he say?”

“He wanted me to give him some information on you. I don’t know what he’s going to use it for but don’t worry. I won’t sell you out.”

“Thanks, haha.”

A moment of awkward silence.

“Forgive me for asking but are you, uh… queer?”

“Excuse me?”

“Queer. Gay. Man-lady.”

“NO I’M NOT! You’re the nth person to ask me that. Gahh. I’m probably just… effeminate. Haha, yeah that’s it.”

“Ah well, things might get awkward between you and other people so you might as well learn how to become more manly and boyish. I can help you with that.”

“Really? Thanks, hyung!”

“Okay, to start, what do you usually catch yourself doing when people ask you that?”

“Giggling? And other times, I’m not really doing anything.”

“Okay, when you giggle, men do NOT cover their mouths while doing so. They can do it while laughing but not giggling. Got it?”

“Got it. No giggling.”

“Next, it might be better for you not to do any aegyo. Other guys can get away with it like Heechul and Sungmin but for you, with your girly face, people might feel awkward.”

“Okay.”

I really need to stop thinking like a girl too then. *sob*

“Third, your choice of words and decisions will obviously show if you are a guy or a girl. So will your posture. So if you find yourself standing or sitting in a questionable position, tell yourself, ‘This is SEOUL HIGH!’ and shift to a boyish position that you see normal guys do.”

He then shows you some stances that you should take instead of your usual ways. After giving you some more tips, he decides that it’s time to go back to the dorms.

“Won’t you walk with me?” you ask, hoping to be able to see his face in the light of the lamps.

“It’s okay, I just need to do something then I’ll go back.”

On your way back to the dorm, you realize that you forgot to ask him for his name again.

AAAUUGH. You’re so stupid, Kim Haneul. Maybe you can just find out. He said he was Cho Kyuhyun’s room mate right? I can just check the dorm postings again!

However, once you reach the bulletin board, the postings had been taken down and replaced. The only thing left to do was to ask around. You go into your room expecting to see Heechul there but it was empty.

He probably went out with Donghae and the others. Sigh. Might as well

take a shower while he’s not here and go to sleep.