“Something is different about you Hyejin.” Sujin said with suspicion in her voice while carefully scrutinizing my face. 

       “Different? What makes you assume something like that? Do you mean like since last year or just recently?” I slightly tilted my head so my long, thick hair slid down to cover my face.

       “No, since yesterday. You have this really weird glow, you know.” She said and shook her head in deep thought. “I’ve never seen it on you before.”

       “What does the glow usually mean if you see it on other people?” I was hoping for an answer that definitely wouldn’t apply to me.

       Sujin looked up and with a frown, she looked at me.

       “I don’t know.”

       I suddenly became aware of the fact that I had been holding my breath for the whole while and exhaled slowly.

       “But I think it means that a person has changed somehow. I don’t know in what way, but that there is a change But I mean, I saw you just the other day so that can’t be.”

       “That’s… Yeah, nothing could’ve happened. I didn’t know grocery shopping could be so enlightening.” I let out a nervous laugh. Sujin eyed me closely.

       “IF NOT, something happened yesterday? Didn’t you say something about someone keeping you company on your way home? Who was that?” Yay.

       “No, you know my life is pretty uninteresting. Why would something happen to me?” I stuttered.

       “And whoever it was?”

       “Ehm, I meant I had this one to keep me company, so I wouldn’t get bored or something.” I picked up my phone and pointed at the screen. Sujin rolled her eyes and sighed.

       “Aish, really? But actually, your life is not uneventful at all! I got fresh news on Kim Jongin again!” she quickly changed the subject and her eyes glittered when she realised she had me in her trap. I wouldn’t be able to escape now.

       “Ugh, please Sujin, I don’t want to hear about Kim Jongin right now.”

       “So you’re going to diss your best friend?” she pouted.  

       Sigh. I wasn’t going to diss my best friend actually. Maybe it was worth listening, who could possibly know?

       “Alright, for now. Tell me about Kim Jongin then.” I said and tried to sound unenthusiastic and Sujin’s face shone up. More like her whole presence.

       “YES!” she yelled. “First, Inna texted me yesterday and told me that she had seen Kim Jongin in the art room and he had been talking to his friends about..-” she continued on and on and on and I didn’t know if she would ever stop talking.

       “And I desperately NEED to know this because…?” I said when she suddenly went quiet.

       “Girl, you’re really dense. Can’t you see the way he looks at you?” she tried but even though I kind of understand what she was trying to say, I was so afraid of the meaning behind her words that I pretended to not understand.

       “No, I haven’t seen.” was all I could say.

       “He likes you! You know, yesterday when I saw him at the supermarket, yup that was the one I met, we talked for a bit and after exchanging some regular stuff, he asked about you and he doesn’t even know you! I mean, you guys shouldn’t even know of each other’s existence, well, you do thanks to me, but not him. And besides, he saw you there and he was looking your way like more than half of the time we were talking! Then he asked me about your schedule and some other stuff. Now tell me you don’t believe me when I say he likes you!”

       “I don’t believe you. And I hope you didn’t give it to him.” What was wrong with wanting to be my own, and not someone else’s, for a while? It was my choice after all.

       “You bet I did! The whole thing, didn’t even hesitate.” she said proudly. “I have memorized your schedule so I don’t need it.”

       I resisted the sudden urge to flick her forehead.

       “Seriously Sujin, you can’t just give away my schedule to random people.”

       “He’s not random! He’s Kim Jongin! I would seriously turn straight for that man. If it wasn’t for the fact that he’s a guy, of course… And that I have girlfriend. And that he’s a guy.”

       “I get it!” I interrupted her.

       “Anyways, here’s the deal: you talk to him AT LEAST once and if you don’t like him, you don’t have to talk to him again. And if you do like him, you’ll do it again?”

       I thought for a while. I could just reject him if I didn’t like him. And if I did like him, I had the luck in getting to know another person. Maybe it wasn’t that bad of a deal.

       “Sure, deal.” I knew I was venturing out into very deep water. It was risky, and maybe I, at the same time, enjoyed taking a few risks once in a while.

       “THAT’S MY HYEJIN!” Sujin gave me a hug and let out the scream of a true fangirl. I smiled and hugged her back before running to class.

I went into the classroom and sat down on my usual spot. I somehow felt a bit lonely at the desk and looked at the empty seat next to me. Won’t he come? A couple of minutes went by and he still hadn’t come. Yixing was apparently always early to everything and the last couple of days we had been sitting next to each other, he would turn up way before me. Maybe he was sick. Or he was bothered about my family yesterday. Or by me. I pushed away the painful thought and decided to just assume he was either sick or late. Nothing more to that.

       A shadow fell over me and I looked up to see what was going on. I was greeted by a smiling Yixing standing in front of me. I glared at him and he laughed at my expression.

       “Not so easy to get through, aren’t you?” he said and ruffled my hair.

       “Hey, who gave you permission to destroy my hairstyle?” I muttered.

       “Eh?” I looked up and were met by Yixing’s friendly, but completely empty eyes. The smile was gone and he looked at me as if he tried to process what I just had said. Oh no.

       “I was just joking. Please forgive..-” I tried to explain and immediately regretted what I had said just moments back. His eyes came to life again when he understood that I was trying to apologize.

       “No, don’t apologize. I didn’t understand what you just said, that’s the thing.” he assured me.

       “Oh.” I let out a relieved sigh and laughed at my hasty conclusions.

       “What’s funny?” he asked and searched for answers in my eyes.

       “No, just the fact that I thought you were really upset with me.” I said and giggled.

       “Upset? With you? Why would I be?”

       “Because I joked and may not have thought about politeness…”

       “Hyejin, I think we can skip the polite talk and talk informally with each other. Like all the time.” his smile was back again and it was so broad that small dimple formed on his cheeks.

       “You want that?” I gasped. I had known this guy for less than 24 hours and he wanted to use informal language just like that.

       “Yeah, I feel like I can relax with you so I’d want to be able to talk freely. And besides, I’m not used to use formal language so it would be great help to speak informally.” he said. Just like that.

       “I’m really happy for that, Yixing. But I want you to tell me as fast as you don’t understand what I’m saying. Understood?”

       “Understood.” he saluted me like he had done the day before in the supermarket. The time when we hadn’t quite known each other, and though it was only yesterday, it felt like I had known him for years. We turned our attention to the front of the classroom as fast as the teacher set his foot past the door.

“And that would be all.” the teacher said and left the classroom. I started gathering my books but as I picked up my notebook, I felt a sharp pain in my finger. The papers I was holding suddenly turned red and I dropped them on the floor in shock. Yixing stared at me with worry and tried to figure out what had caused the sudden noise. He looked down on my hand and realised it was bleeding. He carefully put it in his and lifted it so he could examine the finger better.

       “Jianzhi.” he said and frowned. “Nothing serious, but I’ll get you a band aid.”

       Yixing dug around in his bag for a while until he found a small, white package. He shook the package a few times until a band aid fell out of it. As he put the band aid on my finger, I couldn’t help but admire his whole appearance. Now when I could clearly see him without casting only glances, he was so much more than the above-average-looking guy I had seen just a couple of days before. So much more.

       “How do you get such perfect skin?” I blurted out.

       “What?” he looked confused.

       “Skin. Perfect skin, how?” I asked again.

       “Yeah, I understood, I wondered why you are asking that now?” Yixing laughed.

       “I don’t know. Curiosity?”

       “I actually don’t know. Maybe I take care of it or something. There, done!” he said and proudly showed my finger to me. “Like new!”

       “Thanks, what would I do without you?”

       “Have a bleeding finger? And probably have more free time from now on.”

       “Are you trying to hint something?” I suspiciously asked.

       “Why would I?” he smiled secretively. Aish that Yixing.

       Once again I thanked him and gathered the rest of my books to then run out the door to get some alone time before next class. I sat down on a bench in the entry hall and closed my eyes. I was really confused about the strange feeling I got when Yixing took my hand, but maybe that was because I had only had female friends before, so a boy touching my hands was not something I was used to. But still…

       That’s when I heard a voice above me that I hadn’t heard before.

       “You’re Hyejin, right? Thought you’d be here.”

       I opened my eyes and met two dark, friendly eyes. These eyes belonged to a face with plump lips and a rounded nose. And this face belonged to a tall body, wearing simple, yet stylish clothes. So Sujin had not only given him my schedule, but also revealed my hiding places.

       “Do you mind if I sit down for a short while? I’m a bit tired, you know.” the boy asked and pointed at his legs. I shook my head and gestured for him to sit down.

       “Oh, how rude of me. I’m Jongin. But maybe you already know that.”

       Here we go again.

Hello guys~!

I'm back with a new chapter! I really wanted to update sooner but I've been busy with moving to a new apartment so I haven't gotten much time. Also, I started writing this chapter at 4am some night and later realised that when one is writing that late/early, there will be A LOT of editing to be done. Stupid me.

Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Now there's a new character (as you may have seen from the poster), Kim Jongin!! So subscribe for more exciting chapters in the future and stay awesome guys! <3