“Sungyeol oppa?” Your mind spun and you didn’t know what to think.

“Who said that you could work on this alone? You may be the student body president, but I’m the vice president, and that means that you have to ask for my help for anything.” The look in his eyes tells you that he’s disappointed. But for what?

You guiltily nod and he sits down next to you.

Hyesoo smiles with a knowing feeling growing within her.

“I’ll just leave you two to work.” You nod and sneak a glance at Sungyeol who is now going through what you’ve worked on. “Young man? I hope you bring Young Miss home safely.” With that, Hyesoo leaves with a motherly smile on her face.

“Oppa…what are you doing here?” You looked at him with questioning eyes. “Shouldn’t you be angry with me?”

“I am angry…but not with you. I’m angry with myself.” He sighed and your eyes widen a bit due to his confession.

“Why would you be angry with yourself?”

“You…are too innocent.”

That raised questions in your mind.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m telling you…there is a lot more to the world that you have seen.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?”

“You…forget it.” With that, he started to work and fix up any mistakes you had.

You look at him and you have a strange feeling in your gut. Looking at him, you just want to figure out what is going on in his mind. He made you curious. He made you confused.

Thinking about this made you feel lightheaded.

“Why didn’t you call me?” His voice suddenly snapped you back to reality and you look at him again.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you call me? Why do you always depend on just yourself?” His voice was coated with disappointment. Disappointment that you thought you would never hear come out of his voice. These past few weeks…he’s been different.

“What…are you talking about?”

“You put so much stress on yourself. You do it so often that you’re always so worn out. Can’t you depend on someone else?” He looked frustrated…and for some reason, it made you feel uneasy.

“I…can only depend on myself.” You state after a long moment of hesitation. His eyes kill you right then. Why was he affecting you so?

“Depend on me.” Your heart stops right then and your eyes follow his every move. They scan every movement he makes and they zoom into every detail on his face. They search for every perfection on his face; then they restlessly search for every flaw and you know that he is now too dangerously close.

You shake your head and realize that you’ve been staring.

Taking a big breath, you manage to get back to work. Working and busying yourself made you unaware of the man sitting next to you. It made you unaware of everything else around you and you felt a sense of relief wash over you when you worked.

You were so focused on your work that you didn’t even notice that Sungyeol had stopped working and was now looking at you.

He saw the determination in your eyes and there was always a brighter look in your eyes when you worked. He wanted to reach over and smooth out the crease that would occasionally appear when you were too focused. He smiled to himself and started to look for the people judging.

You hear a sigh and snuck a glace in Sungyeol’s direction.

Is he tired?

Is he burdened by me?

Was he lying when he said that he wasn’t mad?

“Stop staring. I know I have chubby cheeks,” Sungyeol mutters focusing on his work, with a small smile threatening to appear on his face.

You bush and suddenly feel flustered. You shot him a glare, which he didn’t see.

You look back on the six posters that you created and zone out.

“Sungyeol oppa?” You whisper hesitantly after a few minutes of hesitation.

He looks at you with an intense gaze that made your heart squeeze.

“I’m…sorry.”

He eyes snapped in your direction just to see you duck your head in guilt.

“For what? Why do you have to be sorry.” You shook your head and that only made him confused.

“I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. I just…no one has ever tried to stand up for me. No one has ever tried to protect me. I just got defensive and offended because it looked like you made me out to be weak. I don’t know what came over me, but I just...I thought that I could protect myself.” You took a deep breath and you look him in the eyes. “I’ve already settled everything with Myungsoo oppa and HyunA-ssi. I don’t need anyone to fight for me. I can fight for myself.”

Sungyeol stared at you with a dumbfounded expression. You met his gaze and you two looked at each other for a few seconds before you tore your eyes away from his questioning eyes.

“You are never alone,” he blurted. You looked at him again. “You have people who want to take care of you. You have people that are hurt when you are. You have people who would rather die than to see you suffer.”

“Oppa…what are you saying?” You eye him as you try to take in his words.

“I…don’t know. I hope you figure it out, but then…I hope you don’t.” Sungyeol focuses back on the work in front of him and you question his words.

What is he talking about?

Figure what out?

You sigh in frustration and he laughs at your cuteness.

“Why are you laughing? This isn’t funny.” You cross your arms in annoyance and that just makes him chuckle again.

“Sometimes I wonder how you got so popular,” you mutter to yourself.

He heard you and just smiled secretly to himself.

Two hours later, you and Sungyeol finally finish the planning for the talent show judges, the posters and flyers, as well as the sign-up sheets that would be plastered all over the school.

You let a big sigh of relief go and stiffen when you hear the familiar chuckle.

“Why are you always laughing at me?” You sub-consciously pout and glare at Sungyeol.

“I’m not…you…are you always this cute?” His head tilts in question and the unexpected, surprising question makes you redden.

You turn away from him and touch your cheeks to hope that the blush would go away from the cool touch of your hands.

But the coldness of your hands was suddenly taken away by two, large and warm hands.

“Even now, your hands are always so cold.” He took both your hands and brought them up to his mouth where he started to breathe out warm air onto your hands. The act made your face flame up even more and you just wanted to hide.

 Why was your body reacting this way? You didn’t know why suddenly your heart was racing every time you saw him. You didn’t know why you became so emotional when it came to him. You didn’t know why he affected you this way.

But a question spilled out of your mouth before you had time to think about it.

“Oppa…do you like me?”

This shocks both of you and he slowly lets go of your hands.

There was silence for a few minutes. You were sure he could hear the rapid pounding of your heart.