He looked down awkwardly at his hands and listened as she went on and on about professors and projects.

He said nothing and showed nothing, except for the occasional nod at the appropriate times to let her know that he was still listening.

When she suddenly jumped to talking about social problems and politics, he bit back a smile.

Even though he knew it was rude to not make eye contact with her when she was talking, he kept his eyes down. He was a quiet person, not a rude one, but he never could bring himself to look at her.

She took a huge sip out of her milkshake and sighed contentedly. “I’m sorry; do I sound like I’m complaining? I don’t mean to. It just... all interests me so much.”

He glanced up for a brief second before quickly staring back at his coffee. He shook his head no. He knew she wasn’t complaining. In fact, the way these sorts of things intrigued her only attracted him more.

Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw her prop her elbows up, fold her fingers horizontally, and lean on them.

For a couple of minutes, silence engulfed the two of them as she pondered and he, as usual, said nothing.

As much as he liked the quiet, it was weird when she was around. He was so used to her endless, fascinating chatter, so used to simply listening.

He couldn’t take it anymore and almost convinced himself to take a peek at her when she finally said something. “We’ve known each other for a while now, haven’t we?”

He pursed his lips together and nodded, wondering what she was getting at.

“And we have been having these regular coffee sessions, too. Well, you and your coffee, that is.” She laughed softly at this, finding it slightly amusing. He didn’t understand why it was funny, but he smiled a little and nodded in response.

“So tell me this, Taekwoon, because I’m curious.” Her tone forced him to look up into her open, questioning eyes.

“What exactly goes on in that mind of yours? You don’t talk a lot, though I admit you’ve been getting better at this whole conversation thing,” she chuckled a little, “and I’m just really curious. You always seem to be in your own world.

“What is in that world for you to always be so occupied in it?”

He was shocked, to say the least, at her sudden question; and he fervently hoped that she couldn’t hear his racing heartbeat as the adrenaline rushed through his veins. He contemplated casually dismissing her question; but the notion of telling her the truth was tempting, even though it would take a whole lot of courage on his part.

For the first time since they sat down at their favorite spot in their favorite café, his calm, quiet voice brushed her ears. “If you knew—if you could somehow enter into my mind and see—you wouldn’t ask. You would know immediately.”

“...why is that?”

He took a deep breath and looked straight into her eyes, boldness filling up every fiber of him.

“Because all that that world consists of... is you.”