Her eyelashes were moist as her face grew paler. Looking at the ground, she turned away from my gaze. "He was the one that took care of me at the orphanage.."

It didn't register in my mind at first. I felt immobilized. Like a board filled with complicated number equations, I saw it all being erased. My theories of her life, my thoughts of who she was. All this time, I have been wondering about these things, wanting to know more of her. Who her parents were and what schools she used to attend. It all disappeared as I could see nothing but her in the room. Everything I had guessed was wrong. I figured she grew up in a family that loved her, that cherished her...but instead, she had been all alone.

After a long silence, she spoke. "Are you alright?" My heart began to give again. I realized then...

She was the reason I felt weak, unstable. She was the reason my chest beated so rapidly. When she looked at me, I'm afraid to turn away from her. I was falling in love with her. Instead of asking me, I wanted to know if she was alright..was she hurting?

I didn't  understand how I couldn't see it before. Her deep warm moist eyes that always seemed at the point of tears. I wanted to protect her.

...................................................

I've never been this afraid. As I looked away, I prayed he wouldn't reject me. The time passed so slowly, I felt my breath grow shallow. I couldn't understand why I was so anxious, why I always felt this heaviness in my heart whenever I was around him...

We walked home further apart, barely speaking. I wanted to cry. The cold that I felt wasn't the numbing sensation from before. It stung against my face and settled in my bones. He must of hated me. Flashback of me sitting in the corner of the playground with dirt on my clothes as my classmates laughed and pushed me seeped into my mind. "Nobody loves you, your an orphan! They all left you!" they kept repeating it until it was permanently engraved in my heart.

Without realizing, we arrived at the school. It had gotten late and no body was around. The snow was piling on the cement, slippery and dangerous. I kept glancing at him but his blonde bangs covered the side of his face. We stopped in front of the dorms, not saying anything. I wanted to run away. I shouldn't have said it, Im sorry. Those words kept echoing. "Um... Goodnight." I kept my eyes on the ground. I felt my body wanting to dissapear from this heartbreak. As I turned towards the girls dormitory, his hand held my wrist. I looked up confused. Before I could see his face, he pulled me into his arms. Shocked, embarrassed and bewildered, I stood there frozen. His warm chest beated softly against me as his grasp tightened.

All the pain and worry vanished. The warm that I felt was overpowering, completely melting the icicles of surrow from my body. I could breath again.

...........................................

I sat on the bed watching the clock, every minute more aggitated and annoyed. Why wasn't he here already? I took my phone from the drawer and called Youngmin. It went straight to voicemail. "Bastard!" I flopped on the bed. "Where are you with Hayoung?" I asked dejected. Standing up, I grab my wallet and closed the door, wondering if the coffee machines were still on. Climbing down the stairs, I began whistling the new release. "Goodnight.." I heard a familar voice in the lobby. I hid, peeking behind the railing. It was Hayoung. I was about to greet her when Youngmin grabbed her wrist. "Are they fighting?" I thought to myself. Astonished, I watched him embrace her. I covered my mouth as I dropped my wallet. Without looking back, I ran back into the room. Holding my chest, I felt my heart break.