“So, Dahee, have you had any other romantic encounters with Jongin since that wonderful grape juice episode on Tuesday?” Yoonmi snickered over her white chocolate latte.

“YAH YOONMI-AH!” Dahee spluttered, “Jeez Just blare my secret crush to the entire world why don't you?”

A group of businessmen sitting at a nearby table in the coffee shop gave the girls a few pointed looks after the loud outburst, causing Yoonmi to dissolve into a fit of giggles as Dahee blushed apologetically.

“Oh because I’m so sure these guys are going to tell the whole school about Nam Dahee’s big, fat crush on Kim Jongin,” Yoonmi rolled her eyes at her friend’s paranoia.

It was true: not a single student from BWCW Academy was present in the coffee shop. Dahee’s secret was safe, for now. However, she couldn’t help but to look over her shoulder at the very mention of Jongin’s name. Her last awkward encounter with Jongin had made her feel even more rattled than usual. There was no way that even a guy as nice as Jongin would ever be interested in a girl that could barely form coherent syllables in front of him. Not to mention that Dahee was sure she had looked like a juice-soaked toddler just learning how to eat. She winced as she remembered the lighthearted twinkle in Jongin’s eyes as he joked about her clothes. She was hopeless.

“Helloooo. Earth to Dahee? You there?” Yoonmi waved a hand in front of Dahee’s face.

“Mm? Oh…sorry…I guess I just sort of spaced out for a minute.”

“No duh. I’ve been talking to you for like three minutes straight with zero response. What were you thinking about anyway?”

“Uhh. Nothing,” Dahee casually took a sip of her kiwi yogurt smoothie, “I was just trying to plan out what homework I should get started on tonight.”

Yoonmi crinkled her nose in disgust, “Only you would be thinking about doing homework on a Friday night.” Dahee balled up her napkin in her fist and was about to throw it at Yoonmi’s face when she noticed her friend’s eyes widen as a new customer entered the shop. Dahee let the napkin fall from her hand to the floor as she ducked her head.

“Yah. Yoonmi. Who is it?” Dahee silently prayed that it wasn’t, that it just couldn’t be Jongin. Just the thought of him was making her heart threaten to beat out of her chest. Yoonmi narrowed her eyes as she surreptitiously examined the new customer.

“Don’t look now but isn’t that…” Dahee’s felt her skin growing hot with a telltale blush as she awaited her friend’s next words. Please, please don’t be Jongin. It wasn’t that Dahee didn’t want to see Jongin – it was just that each time she saw him things went so differently from how she daydreamed they might go and she was left feeling like even more of a social failure than she had before. In her daydreams she was charming, able to joke back at Jongin without so much as a stammer. Her friends always reassured her that she was pretty enough to get a boyfriend. But Dahee didn't want to get a boyfriend just because she was pretty. She wanted meet someone who she could talk to easily about anything. From joking around in a coffee shop to discussing her dreams for the future. And a guy like Jongin, a guy who was nice without fail to everyone – it pained her that she would never be able to reveal her true self to someone like that. This was why Dahee was at once thrilled and horrified at the idea that Jongin could be walking into the coffee shop this very moment.

“Come on, Yoonmi, who is it?!” Dahee hissed an octave louder than she had meant to.

“Isn’t that…the guy who was checking you out in the cafeteria?”

Yoonmi’s command not to look failed to register and Dahee whipped her head around. Sure enough he was right there at the counter, ordering a beverage of some sort. Oh Sehun carried himself with a sort of certainty that said “I’ve got my together” but made him less than approachable. He was dressed in an almost artfully disheveled uniform and had his satchel slung over his left shoulder. Dahee couldn’t help but wonder what it must feel like to move from day to day with such a confidence in her stride. Sehun’s angular features and stern expression gave him as somber and refined air so, despite his young age he always appeared a league ahead of his peers. As if on cue, he turned to meet Dahee’s gaze. It was as though he was specially attuned to know whenever Dahee’s eyes were transfixed on him. In a split second Sehun’s eyes seemed to demonstrate an understanding of all that Dahee kept hidden within herself. She knew nothing about this boy – his disposition, his background, nothing – but his gaze made her feel more exposed than her last encounter with Jongin and it was for that reason that she immediately broke away from his stare and hoped never to look into such eyes again.

“Oh my god! He was totally staring at you again,” Yoonmi mouthed.

“How could he not be staring at us when you practically flipped as soon as walked in the door!?” Dahee hissed back.

“Not us. You.” Yoonmi brought her tone back to a normal audible level as she pulled on her jacket and began gathering her things off the small coffee table.

“Woah, woah, woah! Where are you going?"

“Uhhh remember? I’ve got a date with my boyfriend,” Yoonmi sing-songed “and I’m already running late!”

“Oh that’s right,” Dahee couldn’t keep her face from falling in disappointment “have fun without me,” she joked.

“Aw come on! You were only gonna do homework anyway” Yoonmi chuckled before rushing to the café door “now you can at least do it in someplace more interesting than the library.”

With that, Dahee was left in a slight daze at her friend’s abrupt departure. But at least this would give her time to get caught up on her studies for the weekend. It wasn’t that Dahee loved studying or strived be top in the class – she just hated the feeling of assignments piling up. Plus there was always something so soothing about checking things off her to-do list. In no time Dahee found herself immersed in her history textbook. She was, in fact, so focused that she failed to notice the footsteps approaching her table and her concentration was barely broken when the chair opposite her screeched across the floor and became occupied by none other than Oh Sehun.