Krystal couldn’t swipe off her smile throughout the entire first class. Delight was evident in her eyes, and her widened smile was noticed by many, yet she didn’t care. She was just happy and excited to finally see Chen again.

She’d gotten back to the library few times again after that night in the hopes of seeing Chen, but she couldn’t even catch a glimpse of him; like the earth had swollen him up. She was saddened by that for quite a while because she’d honestly enjoyed her time with him, and she’d actually wanted to see him again, but it seemed impossible.

They didn’t exchange numbers, she technically knew nothing about him, and she couldn’t find him, so it was inevitable. She was disappointed at first but eventually gave up and tried to push any thoughts related to that night away from her mind, and it worked; until now.

She tried to focus on the teacher’s words, she really did, but Chen was making it extremely hard. She could sense him glancing at her every few minutes, and she hardly refrained herself from glancing back at him.

Chen mirrored her widened smile as he watched her secretly from afar.  He was having a hard time keeping his eyes off her as he didn’t get the virtue of seeing her so closely every day, and today he wanted to make the most of it. 

He knew that he seemed a bit obsessive, that was why; he only settled on watching her secretly rather than taking anymore initiatives.

When the class finally ended, Krystal took her time and tried to busy herself. She faked calmness as she put her things back to the bag. She flinched slightly when she heard Chen’s chair squeaking in displeasure from the abrupt move, yet she tried to act the least bit fazed by him.

But in all honesty, she waited; she impatiently waited for him to approach her, to strike a conversation with her, to do anything, but as the minutes passed by, Krystal’s disappointment and confusion were escalating.

Ten minutes passed by, and Krystal decided to give up with her act. She raised her head slightly only to take in the sight of an empty class. With a frown evident on her face, she looked around her surroundings as she felt utter disappointment and sadness wash over her.

Krystal scoffed and silently reprimanded herself for being so foolish. She hated herself for letting her thoughts drift towards him continuously and for letting technically a stranger affect her so easily.

For days, she’d thought about Chen’s opinion of her, but right now; she felt like she was smacked with an answer, and it’d saddened her. She was always obsessed with the leaving first good impressions, and she couldn’t think of anything but the fact that she might’ve been too obsessed with that thought to the extent that she overdid it and instead came off as dull.

Krystal’s eyebrows then pulled into a frown when she remembered his earlier glances. He was confusing her; his paradoxical act of watching her and then completely ignoring her existence. She tried to think of a justification to his weird actions, yet she found none.

She huffed in annoyance when she realized that she left him consume her thoughts again, and instead forced herself to stand up and walked towards her next class.

Krystal was so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Chen who stood behind the door watching her with a pained smile. Although she’d tried to conceal it, he was well aware of the fact that she’d waited for him to approach her, and it took him every ounce of strength to stop himself from doing so.

His emotions were quite contradicting when he saw her disappointment. Frankly, he didn’t know what or why he was acting like this, but he was sure of one thing; he was messed up, and she was the reason for it. He didn’t want to be a reason for her sadness, but to be honest; the fact that she’d been waiting for him was quite exhilarating.

Chen also was too immersed in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice her approaching the door. His eyes widened when he realized that he’d be caught and immediately took off running towards his next class.

Krystal’s raised her head slightly when she reached the class’s doorstep only to catch a glimpse of someone running. She couldn’t shake off the possibility of him being Chen at first, but she then shook her slightly in frustration once again before she resumed on walking.

Krystal didn’t see Chen again because they didn’t have other classes in common. As she walked from through the crowded hallways from a class to another, she tried to push aside her sensation of being watched by all those students and instead focused on finding Chen.

She didn’t intend on talking to him, but for some unknown reason, she wanted to see him. He was the only one besides Kris whom she’d felt comfortable with; even if it was for one night, and she couldn’t get rid of her need to see him especially when she felt all the eyes on her.

His company makes her forget about any of her surroundings as she only focuses on his boyish grin that never leaves his face.

But she couldn’t see him with all those students around, and she was left with her self-consciousness and paranoia alone.

It wasn’t until lunch time that she finally decided to hide away. She knew that she was acting cowardly and freaking out over nothing, but she just found her legs carrying her to the place that’d always managed to engulf her with serenity.

Krystal walked to the farthest corner where she was sure she couldn’t be seen the instant she entered the school’s library. She got her book out of the bag and tried to distract herself with the words that were sprawled all over the page.

For a good ten minutes, the book was opened on the same page as she reread the same paragraph over and over again. She eventually gave up on reading as she was too unfocused and instead plugged in the headphones of her IPod.

Her eyes fluttered close as she rested her head on the wall behind her, and she smiled contently the moment she heard the mesmerizing sound of a piano and the start of the first verse.

When Chen made sure that she wouldn’t notice, he silently approached her and sat beside her on the floor. He mimicked her by resting his head on the wall behind him and turned it towards the right where she was seated.

His smile widened as he took in her sight. Her eyes were still closed, and she looked peaceful, almost like she was sleeping, with her relaxed face. Chen suddenly had the urge to touch the soft skin of her face, and his hands unconsciously moved slowly towards it.

His hands suddenly froze when they were inches away. He knew that it’d be too wrong to do, and in addition, he won’t find an explanation to his weirdness. He sighed in frustration when he realized how close she was, and his eyes closed when despair suddenly spread through him.

Krystal’s mind was blank, and a contented smile was evident on her face when the song ended. Her thoughts were abandoned and instead replaced with this beautiful voice that harmonized with the sound of the piano. She felt like she’d been pulled from reality for a while and brought back after the final verse was sung.

Her smile abruptly faltered and her eyes widened when she took in the sight of Chen sitting so close to her.  

“God you scared me.” His thoughts suddenly came to a halt when he heard Krystal’s loud voice. His eyes snapped open only to be met with her scared face. “What the hell are you doing here?” She narrowed her eyes at him as she was still slightly pissed from earlier.

“I came to see you.” He replied sheepishly with a widened grin.

“Why?” The word rolled off her tongue before she could stop it. His actions were frustrating her; for one minute he acted like he’s all interested and the next he’s anything but. The only explanation she could think of was that he was playing her, and the more she thought about it, the more pissed she felt.

Chen, himself, couldn’t find an answer to that question and after a lot of deliberating, he chose to keep silent. I mean, he’d already decided that he wouldn’t take any initiative to approach her, but here he was sitting beside her. What was he ought to say anyways? Was he supposed to express how torn he felt? How he, himself, couldn’t explain his actions because he felt like he no longer had a control on them?

Krystal didn’t know what to make of his silence, and it slightly frustrated her. She wanted to ask if he was toying with her, but she didn’t want to sound so vulnerable and sensitive. If he was, indeed, toying with her, he would never reveal such thing, so she kept shut.

Silent fell between them as they were both too absorbed with their thoughts, but Krystal was finally the first to interrupt it after a while.

“Déjà vu.” She suddenly whispered while smiling. She avoided looking at him and instead stared nothingness ahead. Chen smiled to himself as he took in his surroundings. “Déjà vu, indeed.”

“Why didn’t you come to the cafeteria?” He suddenly asked.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t that hungry, I guess.” He nodded although he wasn’t too convinced with her answer. The truth was, her paranoia was smothering her, and she needed a place where she could hide away from all those students. She’d never had a problem with crowded places, but today; for some unknown reason, she couldn’t help but feel like everyone was watching her every move so intently, and it’d raised her self-awareness to the extent that it was almost unbearable.  

“Wait… How did you find me?” She suddenly asked as she averted her suspicious gaze towards him and waited impatiently for him to answer. Her question took him by surprise, and he was quiet for few moments before he finally replied.

 “I watch you.” With a half-smile gracing his face, he looked so intently at her while he spoke. Krystal didn’t know what to make out of his words, and she was stunned to silence as she looked back at him. Krystal was the first to break the intense eye contact as she suddenly started laughing.

The sound of her laughter snapped him out of his trance, and he turned his gaze away. Krystal shook her head lightly as her loud laughter eventually died down. “You watch me?” A chuckle escaped her lips when she repeated those words to herself as she found his answer rather funny.

Chen stiffened when he heard her whispered words, but he didn’t say anything and continued with his silence. He only plastered a smile on his face and nodded at her words.

“You sound like a creep, you know that?” She glanced at him momentarily before she returned her stare towards the blank wall that faced them.

“More like obsessed.” He whispered. 

AN:

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