Jieun stared at Woohyun, with a pout. The latter, who couldn't seem to ignore the woman's way of getting his attention, finally sighed. “Sunggyu hyung, if you don't stop your girlfriend I think I'll melt.”

   “She's just jealous,” he answered. “Let her be.”

   “Why does it have to be you?” she begrudgingly asked, her hands heavy as she typed away. “Going to South Korea for a research—seriously, why does it have to be you?”

   “Is it my fault?” he shot back. “Ask William, he's our manager!”

   Sunggyu smirked, and remarked, “Once we get our annual leave we'll go and take a vacation, Jieun. By that time you can meet my parents.”

   She simply stayed quiet.

   “I suppose she's having a fit because it's the Christmas season, too,” Woohyun thought aloud. “But Earth to Jieun, my family's all here. I'm going to spend the holidays with childhood friends, instead.”

   “Which reminds me,” Sunggyu turned to the other side and maneuvered his swivel chair to go to the vacant desk, where the realms of paper were stacked. He took one. “Where are you going to stay?”

   “Howon's place,” Woohyun, on the other hand, walked over to Sunggyu's desk to take his stapler. “He's in Seoul, so getting in touch with the company in there will be easy. Do you have any presents you'd want to pass on to your family?”

   “We'll talk about it once we get home.”

   Woohyun nodded at Jieun. “And you?”

   She kept quiet.

   “I'll discuss it with her,” Sunggyu finished off.

   A tiny smile graced Woohyun's lips. He was relieved that the project was given to him. It would be a nice change of pace, and perhaps, he would have enough time to forget that his heart got cracked. Not utterly broken, he concluded. Just cracked. Because there was no denying that he did get attracted to Jieun. Just not in a way Sunggyu did.

   “Are you excited?” Jieun asked.

   “I'm about to interview a North Korean refugee,” Woohyun answered. “Of course I am.”

<:>

   Professor Yang knocked on the wall of the campus studio, but it didn't do anything to capture Myungsoo's focus at the slightest. He was sitting on a stool, hands quickly doing messy scrawls on a sheet of paper, lest the melody in his head would suddenly vanish. He was biting his lower lip, and despite the cold season, tiny beads of sweat were beginning to form on his forehead. His left hand was tightly clutching the guitar's neck; callused fingertips, protruding blue veins.

   The teacher finally approached him, and placed the can of coffee he recently bought from the vending machine outside against the student's neck. Myungsoo slightly jumped up, and his shoulders relaxed upon seeing the intruder.

   “You've been here for five hours now,” he remarked.

   “I'm nowhere close from finishing this piece,” Myungsoo scratched the back of his head. He gratefully took the coffee from Professor Yang. They opened their own respective drinks at the same time.

   “You have a lot of time,” the professor pointed out. “You're the first to finish all the modules for this term, you know that?”

   “I don't want to waste time. I want to finish things as soon as possible, so I can volunteer and do placements outside of this school's scope.”

   “Ah, you sure are working hard,” Professor Yang remarked. “Why? Is a girl waiting for you?”

   Myungsoo blushed, and to divert his embarrassment, he pretended to fix the notes on his messy music sheet. The older one smirked at his student's naïve gesture.

   “You've pulled several all nighters in this place,” he commented. “And the janitor actually complained because the smell of ramen is so strong in here. When was the last time you took a bath, kid?”

   “I'll finish everything before Christmas,” was all that Myungsoo said.

   Professor Yang shrugged. “You really can't wait to graduate, can you? Don't forget to do some warm-up exercises, and don't put too much pressure on your hands. Guitarists are prone to get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, remember that.”

   He sighed, and nodded away. The teacher gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, before finally handing out an envelope to him. “It's from a company you applied to. From the looks of it, it must be good news.”

   Myungsoo blinked once, and blankly received the piece of white paper from his mentor. Without a word, the latter exited the room. He gingerly tore the seal, and with slightly shaky hands he opened the letter. He traced every character carefully, and without even thinking, he took his phone.

   And for the first time, he didn't call a corpse to tell about his achievements.

   He waited for a short time, and his eyes got teary the moment he heard the voice on the other end of the line.

   “Dad, I've something to tell you.”

<:>

   Suzy stared at her locker blankly. There, resting on top of her books, was a red rose.

   “Ah, it's here again,” Sungjong remarked. “And just when I thought that admirer of yours stopped.”

   She quietly took the flower out, and read the short sentence on the sticky note: I still like you, after all.

   With a sigh, she placed the item in her bag. “Sungjong, let's have some fish cakes. It's really cold out today.”

   He raised his hands in surrender. “I can't, Suzy. I have to do my coursework. I want it to be done before the holidays.”

   “You're ditching me?” she playfully asked, her head cocked to a side.

   “Yes,” he replied in the same manner, arms crossed and head nodding away. “I'm ditching the gorgeous Bae Suzy.”

   She laughed shortly. “Fine. I suppose the fish cakes have to wait.”

   “I'll have to go to our clubroom. Where will you head off to after this?”

   “I suppose I'll carry on with my essay, as well,” Suzy concluded. “The library's quiet, so I'll just work there.”

   Sungjong swiftly took his phone out to check the time. “So I'll see you at four? We can eat by then.”

   “All right. Should I look for you?”

   “No, I'll just pick you up later.”

   “Deal.”

   The young man smiled at his friend before waving and walking away. Suzy heaved a helpless sigh and turned around to walk the opposite direction, thinking of the meal she'd have to reward herself with later on. At that exact moment, a student several feet in front of her stumbled and dropped the books he was holding. He quickly squatted to pick the items up with trembling hands. Without hesitation, Suzy took the books which were nearest to her. She sat down in front of the student, and smiled. “Hey, are you okay?”

   “H-Huh?”

   Suzy studied him. His complexion was ashen; there were dark bags beneath his eyes which seemed to give her the impression that he'd pass out any time soon. His chapped lips quivered at the slightest. Her eyes widened. She fished her bottled water out from her bag.

   “I don't have any contagious disease or so,” she began. “So drink this first. You look dehydrated. Drop the books you're holding, and sit on the bench over there.”

   He followed what she said, and when he finished drinking, she helped him up and they walked over to the nearest seat. Suzy then placed the stack of books beside him.

   “Do you feel like going to the infirmary?” she asked.

   The student weakly shook his head no.

   “But you look sick,” Suzy placed her hand against his forehead. She checked her temperature, and frowned. “It's normal.”

   “I'm sorry,” he weakly mumbled. “I look like this because I'm so damn hungry...”

   She blinked once. Twice. He looked at her with flickering eyes, and added, “I haven't eaten for as long as I can remember.”

   Suzy smiled a little. “Can you wait, then? I'll buy you something real quick.”

   The student nodded, and with a reassuring pat on the back, she quickly went to the vending machine which sold melon bread and hot coffee. She decided to take a dozen packs of pastry and two servings of hot beverage. By the time she arrived, the student said a quick thanks before digging in.

   “How much should I pay you?” he asked, his mouth full. He already had a better voice.

   “You're all right,” Suzy answered. “Just don't try to neglect eating next time. It looked like you were about to faint earlier.”

   He gave her a sheepish smile, and Suzy smirked upon seeing his struggle. “Eat first.”

   He offered her a packet, and she gratefully took it. When everything was thrown into the bin, the student finally introduced himself. “I'm Kim Jong In, a freshman, and I'm doing Game Development.”

   “My name's Bae Suzy, and I'm studying English. We're of the same year.”

   Jong In smiled. “I know.”

   She looked at him with a curious stare.

   “You're quite popular in our department,” he admitted, his cheeks showing faint hints of pink. “I don't know if you'll find this strange, but many actually took you as their muse.”

   “O-Oh,” she stammered, clearly unable to take in the information she just heard coolly. “That's really surprising.”

   “I find it predictable, though,” Jong In quietly pointed out. “I mean, you helped me without having any second thoughts. You even bought me food. You remind me of the Good Samaritan in the Bible.”

   Suzy gave him a warm smile in return. “Where are you going after this?”

   “I was just going to return these books in the library when you saw me.”

   “I'm going there, too,” she replied. “Wanna walk together?”

   Jong In registered Suzy's offer in his mind, and grinned. She noticed that he had a deep dimple cutting across his left cheek. “Sure thing.”

<:>

   Suzy looked at Jong In, who was sitting across her, and asked, “Don't you think you should rest?”

   The both of them were busy doing their respective projects. He shook his head no. “I'm feeling better now, really.”

   She considered his response, and said, “All right, then. By four in the afternoon I'd have to leave, though.”

   “Where are you going?”

   “My friend and I are going to eat,” she answered. “If you're still free, you can come with us.”

   Jong In frowned. “I'll have my last class by then.”

   “Then we can go next time,” she assured him, her voice completely undaunted. She took something out from her bag, which caused the rose to fall.

   “Ah,” Jong In ducked to take the flower. He handed it over to Suzy, who said thanks in return. After thinking about it, he asked, “Who's it from?”

   She shrugged. “I don't really know, Jong In.”

   “A secret admirer?” he suggested.

   “Something like that?” she responded in the same tone of voice.

   He chuckled, and remarked, “It's predictable.”

   “No, not really,” Suzy replied.

   “Don't you feel burdened?”

   “I think,” she carefully began. “I can only answer that question if the one who gave this to me is sitting down to where you're currently at, Jong In.”

   He his lower lip. “That's another way of saying that you are, you know.”

   Suzy merely gave him a Mona Lisa smile.

   Jong In took out a piece of paper from his bag, together with a pen, and he began to scribble something on it. Quietly, he slid the note over to Suzy, and she read it: It wasn't supposed to end like this, but...'I still like you, after all.'

   As if that wasn't enough for her, he took out more notes from his bag.

   They were the ones Suzy left behind whenever she received those roses—the ones that always read: Thank you.

   “I think,” he whispered. “You can finally answer if it's a burden or not—my admiration for you, that is.”

   She looked away, and with a quiet smile, Jong In slowly stood up. He gathered his things, and walked away.

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
- Galatians 6:9