Anna Danielle Sabine

I got lost. Naturally.

All the buildings tried too hard to be grand. The whole landscape was a beautiful blank canvas. Nonetheless, still a blank canvas. How was I supposed to find the ‘ingeniously’ named “Hall of Humanities” in a blank canvas?

But I did with few seconds to spare. I ran inside the classroom just behind the professor (or at least he dressed professionally enough to look the part: ironed, long-sleeved, white polo tucked under dark jeans, tie, spectacles and fancy, leather shoes) and handed him my registration form before he could even make a big deal about having an unfamiliar, foreign student in his class. He examined it like how a doctor would examine an x-ray and signed his name beside the subject code ENG-201. I could hear the other students whispering and I’m pretty sure I heard the word ‘’ once or twice but it isn’t a surprise. There was not one girl I saw today that even came close to my C-Cup. So, let’s establish the fact that even Asian boys can be hungry.

The professor gave back my form. His eyes disappeared behind his smile. I would’ve called him “daddy” right then and there if I wasn’t raised like a proper lady. Just before I could head on over to an empty seat at the back, he announced, “You guys have a new classmate.” What is this? Elementary? “Miss, kindly introduce yourself.” I would’ve also slapped daddy then and there if, again, I wasn’t raised like a proper lady.

I turned to face the class. More whispers. More “”. The men leaned forward in their seats. I’m usually confident but this is an unfortunate exception.

“Uhm…hi. I’m Anna Danielle Sabine de Montailles. But of course, that’d be too long.” I bit my lip and looked down. “Just call me Anna, I guess.... I’m studying in Kyung Hee University this year because of an exchange program…. Uhm… I’m French. Although I can’t speak French ‘cause I grew up in America.” I panicked. Is this too much information? I looked at them again. I still had their attention. “So, yeah… It’s nice to meet you all. I hope we can get along well throughout the semester.” I smiled my people/show business smile then headed to the empty chair. A lot of guys (some girls) greeted me on the way to my seat. They were friendly I suppose. Either that or they were just interested in seeing a foreign face.

“Anna,” the professor (I will try not to call him daddy because he made me go through that- but ) called, “you’re a blessing to us.” (Okay, back to calling him daddy.) “You made the class size even so I can finally assign you as Mr. Park’s partner. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah, no problem,” I nodded while settling my bag.

Daddy was about to start the lecture when a tall student, wearing casual, hip-hop-ish, black clothes, knocked on the door. I re-evaluated my clothing and reaffirmed that I had no swag.  Everybody, especially the girls, sat up straight and became perkier. I couldn’t clearly see his face because he had a face mask on.

“Sorry, Mr. Lee. I’ll make up for it somehow, I promise.” His voice was deep and sounded deeply apologetic. Daddy sighed.

“Mr. Park, you’re late as usual but honestly, despite my patience wearing thin, I have jolly, good news for you today,” the professor said as the tall student started walking towards his seat. He sat beside me. I gulped.

“Finally,” the professor exclaimed, “you have a partner!”

I gulped once again. He means me. No one other than me.  Plan’s ruined. Throw away your expectations about handling your grades solo, Anna, I thought to myself. Had I thought I was going to get a partner that was incredibly smart that I can slack off even just slightly? I can foresee myself doing all the work while he probably raps in some underground club.

“Anna, he’s your partner. He’s challenging but very bright,” Daddy declared. The rest of the students were all making different reactions. I’m still sulking over the thought of sleepless nights. Daddy motioned to him, “Chanyeol, take good care of her,” he said sternly, “okay?”

A big hand suddenly loomed in front of my face. That is when I realized that Daddy just said my partner was PARK. CHANYEOL. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, you are not human.  Even a foreigner like myself who had just arrived in Seoul three days ago knows who he is. I looked over to my new seatmate, my new partner who was holding his hand out for me to shake.  His mask was now drawn down his face so I could clearly see. Big, enthusiastic eyes, pink lips and pointy ears. I shook hands with EXO’s Park Chanyeol.

All he replied was a faint “nice .”

I was fuming the rest of the lecture and once it was over, I quickly dumped all my things in my bag so I could leave without talking to Park Chanyeol. Seriously, he acted so well in his interviews. You’d never guess he was a normal, -fuelled man.

“Anna,” an unfamiliar voice called out when I was halfway through the classroom. I turned around. “Would you like to have lunch with us? We don’t bite.” It was one of my new classmates. There were four others behind him. Three girls and another guy. “Unless you have a class after this,” he said, scratching the back of his neck shyly.

“Nope,” I said. I quickly realized he might think I’m refusing. “I meant no. I don’t have a class next period.”

“Great, we always eat out at-“ he stopped mid-sentence and I suddenly felt an arm over my shoulders.

“Sorry, Hyungjoo, I need to tour my partner around first. It’s the least I can do,” Chanyeol said behind me.

“Sure. That’s alright but promise you’ll eat lunch with us next Tuesday, okay Anna?” I smiled at Hyungjoo and shook his hand. “Yeah. It’s nice meeting all of you,” I said diplomatically. His group hurried out. I shrugged Chanyeol’s arm off my shoulders now that there’s no one to be rude in front of.

“Come on,” he exclaimed as if I had not given him a major clue that I am pissed at him. I decided to play along.

Once we were outside, he dragged me to the middle of a large clearing. You could see every building in the campus from where we were. He smiled at me brightly.

“Over there,” he pointed to a plain white building, “is the Science building and there,” he pointed at another white structure, “is the Arts and Design building.” He pointed and named every building within sight. He’d stop once in a while to tell me stories about the buildings. Never about their histories like you would expect from a tour of a campus, but about his experiences in them.

In short, all buildings were white and named accordingly. He had fun in some of them whenever he was free. The end. 

Numerous groups of girls were approaching us. Not exactly talking to us but keeping enough distance to still have the right to talk about us as if we couldn’t hear them a few feet away. They all talked in this pattern:

Exclamatory Question: IS THAT PARK CHANYEOL SUNBAENIM?!

Exclamatory: *sound of amazement* HE IS SO _____________!!!

a.) COOL    b.) HANDSOME    c.) HOT   d.) CUTE    e.) ADDITIONAL SOUNDS OF AMAZEMENT    f.) ALL OF THE ABOVE)

Question: Who is that girl beside him though?...

Closing remarks: She's...... _____. 

a.) every possible version of "pretty.....BUT- "

“They treat you like a god here, don’t they,” I asked Chanyeol smugly, still slightly pissed at him for being so bold as to call my nice.

“Not really. Just more like a prince.” He beamed at me again. “Are you hungry?”

He didn’t wait for a response. He dragged me by the wrist until we stopped in front of his car. Mercedes. Rich brat, I thought. Chanyeol opened the door for me which is the first nice thing he has done since we met.

Once he was inside as well, he suddenly stared at me. Not blankly staring, more like examining. It was very awkward. Did he expect me to say something? He didn’t stop. It was like Chanyeol couldn’t make a proper impression of me from the time I’ve met him since he was always towering over me and now that our heads are leveled, he’s finally got the chance to properly judge me. To see whether I'm worth wasting his gasoline on. But maybe I'm just being paranoid. 

I got through the initial panic and paranoia and realized that he was just staring at my s. Seriously. I wonder how it hasn’t made the headlines yet. The public will flip once they find out.

EXO’s Park Chanyeol is a ert.