— Looking for Fun —

“No,” he mumbles to himself in dismay.

It is the start of a new semester, and he finds himself groaning. The assignment his English lecturer has given to them early that morning is one he would very much want to avoid even though he knows it is inevitable. He shudders at the mere thought of failing his English paper again, slapping his senses together as he furrows his eyebrows in concentration. “I can do this. Shim Changmin, you can do this.”

“For this assignment, I will be pairing each of you into groups of two.”

Changmin lets out a sigh in relief, glad that he would have a pair of helping hands in this particular assignment. (He prays that it is someone more competent than him and not any worse.) The professor calls out name after name, finally reaching Changmin’s as he immediately raises his hand and sits straighter in his seat. “—and Im Yoona.”

“Im Yoona?” Changmin furrows his eyebrows together. Something stirs in his mind but not enough for him to know entirely why he is reacting so naturally to the name. He quickly scans the lecture hall for his partner and spots a hand midair just few seats across from his seat. Where have I heard this name before? He squints his eyes in attempt to identify who his partner is, but her hair obscures her face from view.

His question is answered soon enough when everyone scramble around to find their partners. He stands and cranes his neck at the direction of the female, and finds a lump on his throat when he sees that she is directly looking at him. Her expression is a mask of surprise and confusion as she makes her way slowly towards Changmin.

Changmin’s mouth shapes into a small ‘o’ when realization hits him. There is a sudden flashback of the very same young lady in her cheerleading outfit, pompoms in her hands and hair tied high in a ponytail. The lump in his throat seems to grow the more he looks at her.

“Changmin? Shim Changmin?” Yoona calls out when she’s near enough for him to hear, “Are you the Changmin from Seoul High School?” She asks enthusiastically before adding; “Not that I was stalking you or whatsoever before this, it’s just cool to find someone from school!”

Changmin nods, his throat dry. It has been two years since their last meeting with each other; he was sure he would not be seeing her again, but fate seems to have its own way in convincing him otherwise. Yoona beams at him, happy to see a familiar face amidst the new faces in the hall; she vaguely remembers the last time they exchanged smiles with each other, but that was two years ago. Changmin wants to say something, anything to show that he is just as happy to see her, but he finds his throat tangled in a knot of mess.

Yoona doesn’t seem to mind though, for she is still smiling when she tugs his sleeve excitedly and says; “Are you free later? We should head to the library and work on the assignment together.”

“Uh…I’ll be free after five.”

“Alright, shall we meet in the library at say…seven-thirty?”

There is a pause as Changmin finds himself blushing at how Yoona is looking at him, presumably in waiting for his response. Mentally slapping himself, Changmin forces on a smile and nods. “Sounds good.”

“I’ll see you later then!” The brunette takes a step back and waves. “It’s nice seeing you again, Changmin-sshi.”

“You too, er…Yoona-sshi.” He replies with hesitation, and after the departure of his ex-schoolmate, Changmin sinks into his seat and stares blankly at the floor. Horrified at how awkward he was and realizing how rude that must have looked, Changmin covers his face with a hand and groans. “What the hell?”

“I’m a little confused. How are we sharing the same class together?”

Later that night, Changmin sees Yoona again in the library, and this time he promises himself he would make better effort into showing a better impression towards the young lady. When he reaches there however, Yoona is already waiting, and he sighs inwardly when he sees that she has already found some books for reference. So much for making a better impression when she is doing all the work.

“Uh…yeah. I had to…er…take this subject again.”

Yoona smiles and Changmin could see the sly glint in her eyes. “Why? Prepositions were too hard for you?”

“Well, maybe…” Slightly offended, Changmin’s mind works in haste to find a suitable comeback for the teasing Yoona has given to him. “Or maybe I was waiting to take it again once a lovely lady comes in.”

Two seconds pass and Changmin’s heart begins to pound at how blank the brunette in front of him seems to be. Fearing that his joke might have been misunderstood, Changmin sits straighter in his seat. “Er, I didn’t mean…”

Yoona blinks, unamused before erupting into muffled laughter. Changmin could only stare, (not missing the way her eyes seem to lit up in happiness) before the female snorts and brushes a tear away from her eye. “You need to work on your flirting skills, Changmin-sshi.”

He isn’t sure if he is blushing, but if he is, Yoona did not realize.

“But thanks,” She adds with a grin and Changmin feels his heart melting a little bit. “For saying I am lovely.”

Changmin isn’t sure what is happening to him, for his usual snarky self doesn’t seem to be responding to his request at the moment. He isn’t sure if it’s because of all the stress due to the assignment, or if it’s because of…

Yoona laughs. “I think you’re lovely too.”

…Okay.

It is day three of working together when the partners decide to pull an all-nighter in attempt to finish their assignment. Realizing that they only have a day left before the deadline, Changmin and Yoona skim through the fat textbooks on the desk and jot notes onto their notepads. By the third day, they’ve grown considerably more comfortable with one another, and Changmin is sure he has not done much in attribution. Two years of not seeing her, yet she remains as lively and bubbly as she used to be in high school. Her cheerful disposition triggers memories of when he had been in his band and her on the cheering squad, and there could be nothing happier than when he was still in high school.

“Changmin? How’s your part going?”

His thoughts