3 > > >

           By the time Baekhyun arrived in the meeting place, Luhan was already there, and he was the only one they were waiting for. Judging by the looks they were giving him, they were not happy that he was late.

           "Yah! Bacon, what took you so long? Even Luhan-hyung is earlier than you today! Did you take too much time wearing eyeliner again?" A really tall guy with perm hair stood up from his seat and whacked Baekhyun head.

           Baekhyun shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't usually late for meetings like this. It's just that he ran into something rather interesting a while ago. 

           "I get it. I get it, Chanyeol! So stop messing my hair up. I'm sorry, okay?"

           A guy in the corner smirked. "What's this? A lover's quarrel?"

           The guy beside him shook his head disapprovingly. "Kai, you know better than to tease them."

           Kai scoffed and patted the guy beside him. "Arraso, D.O-umma~"

           Baekhyun looked around the room. Starting from the right, there was D.O, Kai, Luhan, Sehun, Chanyeol, Suho, and a girl. He furrowed his brows and pointed at the girl. 

           "Who's she?"

           Krystal stood up from her seat and stretched out her palm with a wide smile. "Nice to meet you, Baekhyun-oppa. I'm Jung Krystal." 

< | >

           When Yoona finally returned to her senses, she only had ten minutes left to walk to the fine arts building and look for her classroom. She was scolding herself the whole way for being so distracted that she didn't even notice the shadowy figure that had been watching her the whole time.

           The fine arts building was classy, if you could say. It was a massive building with glass windows and a box-like structure. From the outside, you could see the many fine arts student shuffling to their designated classes carrying their notebooks and coffee. Some students were carrying art materials with them. All in all, the fine arts building looked like a very accommodating place.

           Yoona let out a sigh of relief when she felt the warm air and aroma of coffee envelope her as she entered the building. Her eyes instinctively searched the crowd for someone she knew. If she remembered correctly, Xiumin was supposed to meet her here after submitting some papers.

           A tap on her shoulder made her jump in surprise.

           "Yoona-sshi."

           Yoona turned to look at her caller and was shocked to find Kris.

           "Oh, Kris, what are you doing here? The last time I checked, you were supposed to be in the basketball court doing morning practice with your team."

           Kris pretended to be hurt. "You don't want to see me?"

           Yoona stuck her tongue out. "I guess I don't. Besides, you shouldn't be here. You at arts!"

           Kris hit her lightly on her arm and frowned. "Hey! Are you insulting my drawing skills? Everyone knows I'm the future Picasso, and you're here telling me I at it?"

           She shook her head in amusement.  "Stick to basketball, Kris."

           "Fine, I was joking anyway! Leaving that matter aside, have you found your class yet?"

           She shrugged and let her eyes wander through the crowd once more. "I'm waiting for Xiumin. We were supposed to go together, but I can't seem to find him."

           In the crowd, Yoona could see a familiar red head. *Is that the guy from a while ago?* Her eyes flickered to the other guy beside him. His white hair seemed to glow with the fluorescent lights above.

           "Oh! It's the guy from this morning."

           Kris turned his head to the direction of the white-haired guy and his eyes widened. *Luhan? Nah, it couldn't be. Luhan is long gone. But, what if--*

           Yoona poked Kris on his arm. "Yah, Yi-Fan, I was asking you if I should go thank him."

           Kris snapped his attention back to Yoona. "Ah, maybe, I mean, No. You don't even know the guy. All he did was keep you from tripping, and seeing that he walked away almost immediately, he probably does not want or expect a 'thank you'."

           Yoona frowned.

           "I guess so."

           "Yoona~ I'm sorry I took long-- Oh! Kris, what are you doing here?" Xiumin stopped and waved to the both of them.

           "Why do people keep asking what I'm doing in the fine arts building? What's wrong with me being here?" Kris frowned and let his shoulder sag.

           Xiumin laughed. "I'm sorry. You really just aren't expected here. Anyway, let's go, Yoona~"

           Yoona smiled. "Ah, yes, we'll see you later, Kris."

           Kris waved sadly. "See you, cruel friends."

           Xiumin and Yoona laughed as they walked away.

           Their classroom was easier to find than Yoona thought. With just a few doors to pass by, they had already reached their lecture room.

           The room was already filled with students, and Yoona spotted a few familiar hair colors. *Maybe I should thank him after all.* 

           "Yoona, let's sit over there." Xiumin grabbed Yoona by her wrist and pulled her towards two empty seats before she could find the courage to say "thank you." Just a few seats away from them were the familiar hair colors.

           From her seat, she could see their faces clearly.  *It really is the guy from the cherry blossom tree.*

           She watched as the red head smiled and laughed along with his friends. Among his friends was this really tall guy with an awfully permed hair and the guy from this morning. Despite his laughing friends, the white-haired one didn't seem to be amused with whatever they were talking about. He was looking rather pale even.

< | >

           Luhan's head was still caught up with the voice he heard this morning, and he just couldn't concentrate on the conversation at hand. Yes, he could have imagined it, but it was just too real to be an imagination. Rather, he just couldn't accept it to be his imagination.

           Until today, her voice was still hunting him in his dreams. He could always see her hair, hear her voice, and feel her warmth, but something was always missing. He still couldn't quite grasp whatever was missing.

           He was talking to Baekhyun and Chanyeol when he saw it. He saw her flowing brown hair. He immediately felt himself turn pale. Was it her? Was it really her? 

           He cleared his throat and slowly turned his head to her direction. There she was, laughing at a joke her guy friend made. She looked as angelic and as beautiful as she always did, but something was amiss. Was this really her? Something inside Luhan's gut whispered no.

           Baekhyun seemed to notice something was wrong cause he stopped talking and turned to look at whatever Luhan was gaping at. His eyebrows went up.

           "Yoona-sshi."

< | >

           "Yoona-sshi."

           Yoona turned her head in the direction of the voice and furrowed her brows.  *Did someone just call me?*

           Just then, Baekhyun had stood up from his chair and made his way towards Yoona, leaving a quite shocked Luhan and a confused Chanyeol behind.  

           Chanyeol instinctively stood up too and called for Baekhyun. "Yah, Baekhyun-ah, where are you going?"

           Baekhyun ignored the curly-haired giant and proceeded to walk towards Yoona's seat. He felt a smile on his face when he saw Yoona's surprised expression.

           "Hello, we meet again, Yoona."

           Yoona smiled politely and greeted him with a bow of the head.  "A-annyeong."

           Luhan could feel his heart squeeze at the sound of her voice. It was as sweet and as melodic as always.  *It wasn't my imagination after all. It really is her.*

           He slowly turned his head in her direction and watched as her pink lips slowly curved into a small smile. He took in every detail of her face from her fluttering lashes to her clear brown orbs. Her face had no trace of make-up or whatsoever. It was just Yoona and her pale complexion. 

           From his seat, he could hear Yoona's friend ask who Baekhyun was, and Yoona seemed to pause for a while. Baekhyun cut in for her and reached out his long, slender hand.

           "I'm Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun." He said, but his hand wasn't stretched out for Yoona's friend, but instead, it was reached out for Yoona.

           Luhan furrowed his brows as he watched Yoona hesitantly shake Baekhyun's hand. He didn't know why, but his chest just seemed to constrict the moment her hand made contact with his friend's hand.

           Baekhyun, on the other hand, was delighted to make physical contact with Yoona. Her hands were soft and warm under his touch, and her smile was bright and sunny.

           Luhan let his thoughts wander as he continued to watch Yoona and Baekhyun.

           "Mister, are you okay? You look sick. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

           The boy smiled and shook his head.

           "No, I'm fine. I don't need anything."

           The girl hesitantly left the mysterious boy alone as he stared out the window and watched the rain fall silently to the ground. 

           It was in the middle of September, one of the months that the boy hated the most. The leaves were starting to take the color they usually had during autumn. He hated autumn. It reminded him of memories he didn't want to remember, memories of her, of them.

           He could already feel a tear slowly trickling down his face.  *Ah, do you know how much I'm missing you right now? What are you doing to me?*

           The boy jerked as a mug of coffee was placed on his table. He watched as a pale hand slowly let go of the handle and pushed the drink towards him.

           "Listen, I know you said you didn't want coffee but-- Are you crying?" The girl stopped mid-sentence and bent down to meet the boy's eyes.  "Mister, are you really okay?"

           The boy met her eyes with his dull black orbs, at least they looked almost black that time. The girl felt a chill run down her spine. His eyes looked so empty and sad.

           "Can you not understand our country's native language? I said I don't need anything."

           The girl frowned. "You shouldn't be so rude. A person is trying to help you!"

           The boy raised a brow.  "So what?"

           The girl could not believe what she just heard.  *How can a person be so rude?*

           She cleared and reached out her hand with a forced smile.  "Let's start it this way. I'm *************, you?"

           The boy scoffed.  "Why should I tell you my name?"

           The girl took his hand and shook it.  "It's nice to meet you, why should I tell you my name."

           The boy could feel a smile creep up to his face and momentarily forgot about the problems that were haunting him. *Interesting girl.*

           "Luhan."

           The girl leaned closer.  "What did you say?"

           "My name is Luhan."

           "Luhan! Hey, Luhan, are you listening?"

           Luhan absent-mindedly turned to look at whoever was calling him, still thinking about the girl.  *What was her name again?*

           His friend called one more time.  "Yah! Luhan-hyung."

           Luhan snapped back to his senses. "Ah, Chanyeol? Oh yeah, sorry, what did you say?"

           Chanyeol frowned. "I was telling you about how Baekhyun is still not returning and is still talking to that girl, remember?"

           Luhan had no recollection or whatsoever about what his friend was saying so he just shrugged. His friend shook his head disapprovingly and continued with whatever he was talking about, and Luhan's eyes wandered back to Yoona and Baekhyun.

           Yoona's eyes unexpectedly traveled to Baekhyun's friend.  *He seems to be deep in thought.*

           While Baekhyun was talking to Xiumin, she let her mind wander a bit and found herself looking at his friend. Her eyes slowly traveled his face and looked at his features. His lashes were unnaturally long for a boy, and his small face looked pale but soft at the same time. He was like a doll with his doe eyes and his thin lips, and his white hair hung just above his mysterious eyes.

           She frowned to herself.  *It's unfair how boys can be this beautiful.*

           She continued observing him and watched as his brows furrowed. Seeing him do that made her want to touch his face and make his face relax. It was such a waste for a pretty face. She didn't know why she thought that, but she had been feeling weird since this morning anyway.

           She was about to look away when she noticed a scar on his lips.  *I wonder where he got that? I guess even pretty faces have their imperfections.*

           She was really about to turn away this time when the guy suddenly turned to face her, and their eyes met. It was only a quick moment, but Yoona was sure she felt sparks spread throughout her body.

< | >

Annyeong~
Yay! I finished the 3rd chapter earlier than I thought~ I hope it satisfied you guys!!! Do you guys know who the mysterious sleeping stranger is now? I didn't say it directly but I gave some implications~
Right now, I'm trying to hide my exceeding happiness. I really didn't expect to wake up in the morning and find the my fic was upvoted. I'm really really thankful to all the readers, subscribers, and even the two readers who took their time to comment. Thank you so so much~ >o<

I tried my best to update right away! and I'm feeling very inspired right now thanks to everyone and the teaser for the MV Xiumin is acting in~  (Xiumin is actually my bias in EXO :"> )

Thank you again and see you in the next chapter~  :3