You snapped back to reality after your friend had tapped your shoulder.

“Hey _______, didn’t you hear the professor? Class is over.”

“What?” you straightened up in your seat and looked at your friend.

“We can leave…” she said slowly, thinking you still weren’t getting it.

You looked at the clock, nodded, and stood up with your books in your arms. You walked out of the classroom into the hallway. She followed you, eyeing you suspiciously.

“What’s with you?” she nudged you on the side.

“Nothing.” you shrugged. You mentally scolded yourself for recently being a little absent-minded. You silently prayed that your friend would stop asking. If anyone could figure out what you were thinking, it was her.

Your friend still persisted though. “Nothing, hmm? So, are you free today?”

“Well, that was my last class for today. But I have to get to work in about half an hour.” You looked at your wristwatch to make sure of the time. You both were out on the main terrace now.

“You’re going to the shop already?” she asked.

“Yeah…” you were hesitant.

“Hmm, usually you wouldn’t be so eager to leave campus for work. And usually, it wouldn’t be for another two hours or so.”

You bit your lip. Why was she so darn good at remembering everything? You tried to play it off.

“Oh, well, uh, today… Jin wants to be come in early, yeah.”

She stopped walking, grabbed your shoulder and turned you so you would be facing her.

She lowered her eyes at you. “Really? Is that REALLY the reason why you want to leave so early?”

You couldn’t fight against that honest stare of hers. “No…” you said quietly.

“What? What is it then? Why have you been acting like you’re in ‘lala land’ all the time?”

After you couldn’t say anything for a minute, she asked “Oh gosh, _______. Are you blushing?”

You held your cheek in astonishment, realizing that you were replaying a moment in your head. The same moment that has occupied your mind as of late…

Your friend was really curious now and you definitely were not going to get out of this one without explaining yourself.

While you were stammering and trying to come up with an excuse, you heard your name being called.

You turned and your friend also tried to find the source of the voice that was calling you. Your jaw dropped and you had to hold your hand over your face as you saw none other than Chen, waving over at you. You slightly looked over at your friend who was also surprised.

“Who’s that?” she looked at him questioningly. “Do we know him from som—. Wait! Is… he, ‘the reason’?”

You smiled at your friend. You couldn’t contain your secret anymore. You didn’t want to keep this from your friend; you just didn’t know how to tell her. You actually felt more comfortable facing her instead of Chen right now.

“I—I met him. Remember when I went to visit my grandmother in the countryside over break? Well, on the train ride back…” you couldn’t even tell the story straight without breaking into a smile. Your friend’s face went from puzzled to calm. Seeing your dorky grin, she already understood.

She laughed and lightly pinched your cheek. “Aww, you can tell me another time. Go on. I’ll call you later. You’re not off the hook yet.”

You breathed a sigh of relief and said meekly, “Sorry. I will call later.”

Your friend walked away, waving you off before giving you a thumbs up sign. You laughed, waved goodbye to her before taking another breath and turning to walk towards Chen.

He had sat down on the steps that led from the terrace to the outside of the university, so his back faced you. You admired how he looked from the back. He was wearing a dark blue tee and a black cap was on his head. For anyone else, he looked so normal. But you knew it was Chen. You approached him and gave up on the idea of scaring him since he had noticed your shadow casting next to him. You sat down next to him, wrapping your arms around your knees. You faced him. He had already been looking at you.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” You were still amazed that his smile could automatically make you smile. You could only look back at him. Some kind of soundless, divine thing established itself and you both were bound to a staring contest with each other. You could only stand it for a few seconds. You laughed at what others might perceive you both as. A guy and a girl sitting next to each other, in their own world.

“What are you doing here?”

“Why are you always asking me that?” he quickly retorted.

“Because, well…” you were stumped.

“You didn’t think I would come?” he asked.

“No, well, yes… I just didn’t think you would visit so soon.”

You remembered that you had shown him the university’s website on your computer that day at the shop. You were surprised that he had asked where it was and then told you that he would come to see you.

He really came all the way there to see you.

“Did you have a hard time getting here? You didn’t even ask me for directions.” You took your phone out of your pocket to see if maybe he had called or texted you.

“Nope. I’m pretty good with getting around the city.” He nodded at his own triumph.

“I see.” You turned away from him and distracted yourself with other things around you. It was a Friday, the campus was not as bustling as it usually was on another weekday. Anyone who was still here were making their way home. You noticed a pair of girls passing by you, going down the stairs. You felt Chen react slightly. He had pulled his cap more downwards.

You didn’t think too much of it though. “So, now what are we going to do?” you asked.

He lifted his head somewhat. “I actually… didn’t plan that far ahead.”

You sensed his uneasiness and stood up quickly. “I still have a couple of hours before work. The bus ride there will probably take up some time but we could still do something.”

He stood up too. “We can talk on the bus.”

You nodded and started making your way down the stairs. You stopped halfway down to turn and see Chen had only started walking down the steps.

“Sorry, my legs were… stiff.” He said, lightly patting his thigh with each step.

You muffled a laugh but waited for him to catch up with you.

Luckily, there was a bus stop right outside the campus. “We can wait here. It usually comes every 10 minutes.” you informed him. The previous bus had taken most of the crowd. Chen was more relaxed at seeing the empty bus stop bench.

You sat down on the bench and Chen followed, sitting next to you. You looked at your wristwatch to check the time.

“Can I try on your hat?” you jokingly asked and reached for Chen’s cap. At this same moment, the bus had rolled up in front of the stop.

Chen lightly grabbed your hand before you even touched him. “The bus is here.”

You blinked and found his behavior a little strange. “Okay.” You got up from the bench and headed for the entrance door of the bus. You felt a tug at your sweater. You turned to see Chen hold onto you.

“Sorry, but, can you pay my fare?”

“Sure.” You brought out your coin purse to put the exact change into the machine and showed the driver your bus pass.

You found two seats near the back; you let Chen have the window seat. When the bus was on the road again, Chen asked, “Was that bus pass?”

“Err, yeah. I got one knowing that I would be taking the bus frequently to and from the university.”

“I see.”

You were a little concerned with the way Chen was acting but you didn’t want to think about it too much. He had come to see you as you got out of class and now you were getting to spend a little more time with him before going to work. You still weren’t sure of what you two were going to do or exactly where you were going though. But that was all part of the fun. With all the good that had happened to you, why were you starting to feel anxious?