"Class, you will do a work in pairs." The teacher said, tapping with the white chalk on the blackboard. You took your eyes of Youngjae and you looked forward, facing the teacher. You didn’t have problems with group works but it wasn’t something that you liked, especially when you had to do some work with a person you didn’t know or the person did nothing. Unfortunately, whenever there was group works, never happened to your partner be Youngjae. You wished, that today the name of Youngjae, would join yours. You wished that at the end of the work, you could put: ‘Work done by: Yoo Youngjae and Jung Hana.’

“Jung Hana.” You hear your name and instantly, you woke up from your thoughts. "You'll stay with.." Your ears were attentive while you looked seriously at your teacher. Your mind repeated countless times, Yoo Youngjae, Yoo Youngjae. You didn’t have the certainty of the reason to want with all the forces that your partner would be Youngjae. Maybe it was because you two were longtime friends, and because he never was your work mate. “Yoo Youngjae.” The words came out clear as water, from the mouth of your teacher and you bit your cheek internally. You didn’t want anyone to see your smile of satisfaction. What would they say? What you wanted less, was rumors. The teacher continued to say the name of the other students of your class and you could hear gasps and groans from some of them. That didn’t matter now.

You turned your face to the right side and your eyes landed on the small smile that Youngjae had on his lips. He was also glad because you were his partner? Hopefully, yes. You thought to yourself while you saw him taking small steps in your direction. You didn’t know why you were happy and much less why your heart was beating strongly in your chest. What is this? The question arose in your mind but you eliminated any response because your mind was more attentive to the person who sat next to you.

“Hey Hana-ah.” He greeted you with the soft voice that he had and your heart skipped a beat. "How are you?" He asked, putting down his notebook on the table without making any noise. You two were friends, not like best friends but you two were close friends. You two spoke occasionally at school and sometimes exchanged a few messages.

"Oh, I'm fine." You said, clearing the throat a little and he nodded his head slightly. Suddenly, an awkward air filled the classroom and you opened your notebook, trying to end with the awkward feeling. You took the pen to begin writing but suddenly your cheeks began to blush. You didn’t know what the theme of the work was. How ridiculous! “Hmm..” You bit the lower lip and Youngjae looked at you with his beady and pretty eyes. "Youngjae.. What is the theme of the work?" You asked, feeling your cheeks redder. He gave a slight chuckle and pointed to his notebook. Your eyes saw what he had written 'Love'. Good, it couldn’t be better. “Thank you.” You thanked and you looked at the white sheet of the notebook. Love? Why it had to be love? Ah, so cliché. You thought, misaligning a little your hair.

“Hana.” You heard his voice calling your name almost in a whisper. "You know, I'm glad to be your partner for the first time." He said showing you one of his most beautiful smiles. You didn’t know since when Youngjae became different in your eyes. He never had many pretenders but you could say that he was interesting and his beauty was just another bonus.

“Why?” You asked curiously. One of your flaws was that, being curious, but you knew when you should shut your mouth.

"Because I like you." He said too quickly for your brain to process. You stayed silent while your mind was still thinking about what he had said. So as a click, your eyes widened. Youngjae noticed your expression and shook his hands in front of your face. "Ahh.. No.. Don’t misunderstand me." He said blushing absurdly. Internally you were loving this moment because you could see his flushed cheeks. You had to admit he was cute. "I didn’t mean that. I don’t like you that way." He said rubbing his neck, a little sheepishly. You looked at him and nodded slightly. Of course he doesn’t like me, what absurd. You sighed audibly and start writing something incoherent in the notebook.

"It's alright." You said after a few minutes in silence. "Simply, it's okay." You spoke again, continuing to write in the notebook. Youngjae looked at you and joined his eyebrows in misunderstanding.

"What's okay Hana?" He asked, continuing to look at you in a confused way. You landed softly the pencil on the table and you looked at him.

"It's okay if you don’t like me." You said weakly, and his lips joined in a small 'oh'. He would start to say something but the bell stopped him. All students raised of the chairs noisily and he did the same.

"Tomorrow we continue with our work." He said a little rushed and waved with one hand to you, slightly biting his lower lip. You saw him coming out of the door and you rested your head on the table, you dragged your elbows by the table and your arm touched something. You raised your head a little and saw that Youngjae had forgotten his notebook that was still open. A little curious, you saw that the sheet had a phrase written. Your eyes began to read and your heart began to pound on your chest, while a large smile appeared on your lips.

'I'm sorry that I told you I didn’t like you, the truth is that I love you, Hana-ah.'

You took in your pen and wrote down in his phrase:

‘My dear partner, the theme 'love' seems like it will be easier than I thought.’