A ray of sunlight smashed against my window and hit the wall across the room. The light from the reflection spread inside of the room and at last met my closed eyelids, causing them to flutter and then open. I laid on my back for a while and just stared up into the ceiling before I decided to check my phone.                                                                                                                                                                                                        

6 unread messages

From Sujin

Received 4.03 AM

Hey

Received 4.19 AM

I’ve been thinking

Received 4.19 AM

Really

Received 4.23 AM

I’ve decided not to be mad at you anymore

Received 4.50 AM

Can you, like, introduce me to the Chinese guy?

Received 4.55 AM

Make sure to stick together, I’ll find you.

       I smiled and snorted. It was so typically Sujin’s swingy temper to want to make up, sooner or later. When she got mad she usually needed a couple of days to just think, and I wasn’t even thinking of saying anything against it. Sujin would eventually learn to forgive me, and if she wasn’t, I would be the one to come crawling back to her. That was just our way of friendship.

       So I hurried to get myself ready to get to campus as fast as possible. I was even first to appear in class. A while later people started to stream into the classroom. But there was no sign of Yixing. I sat there, at my regular spot, and he didn’t come. Not even later. Not even when I sat in the park during lunch. I had gotten used to his presence, so his absence was very noticeable, even for me. I took a walk because I needed to think.

       “What is your opinion?” I asked straight out, expecting someone to fill in the gaps of my trail of thoughts. When that answer never came, I looked around in confusion and suddenly realized that I was all alone. That was it. I couldn’t take it anymore. I rushed inside the university building and went directly to the reception.

       “Ah, Song Hyejin, what can I help you with?” the lady behind the counter said with a friendly voice.

       “I need some contact information.” I said, not quite in touch with my senses.

       “We can’t just give out people’s contact information just like that, miss.” the lady pointed out.

       “Please, I really need to find my friend and I don’t know his address.” I pleaded but she was so stubborn.

       “No Miss Song, I can’t do that for you.” she shook her head and sighed.

       “I understand,” I said but I wouldn’t give up. When the lady by the reception looked away, I snuck behind that ‘Staff only’-door. The archives were located in the corner of the small, dark room that smelled like old papers and something I didn’t even want to know what it was. I made my way to that corner and forcefully pulled out a drawer in the top row. “A-D”- the label said. Wrong one. I pushed it back and pulled out another one that was in the bottom instead. “U-Z” this one said. Score! I quickly browsed the folders and found a brown, newer one that said “Zhang Yi Xing” and some hanja signs I didn’t know.

       “Address.. Address…” I mumbled as I skimmed through the endless rows of information.

       Something hit me. I would be in huge trouble if I was caught. Big time. Really.

       I hurried to read the last bit, found the address and took a photo of the row. This would be enough. When I reached the door I heard a conversation from the outside.

       “No, there was something about my schedule.” someone said.

       “I’ll go and check it for you.” the lady by the reception said and I could hear her get up and approach the door I was standing behind. I could swear the time stopped; I was waiting for her to open it. Waiting for her to open and reveal my crime. I shut my eyes as the other voice spoke up again.

       “No that’s not necessary, can you just send the new one to my email and I’ll print it myself or something.”

       I let go of my breath that I noticed that I had been holding for a far too long time. I felt dizzy as I slipped through the small door opening and ran as fast as I could. Apparently Yixing lived around Guro-gu, which was quite a distance away but I mean, what don’t you do for the people you love.

       Wait.

       No, not love in that way. Love like I love my mother or father. It wasn’t like I liked him, no. Of course not. Exactly.

As I stepped onto the metro towards Onsu, I felt a slight headache. My mind hadn’t worked properly the whole day and I was exhausted. At least I was on my way. The train was slightly shaken by the fast motion forward but the vibration made me calmer. I stepped off at Gaebong. I had no idea where to go. A nice lady saw my confused face and helped giving me directions to the address that I had on the photo. The area was more industry-ish than I had expected: older buildings and small shops on the bottom floors. The house the address led to was on the corner between two very narrow streets. The building itself was white and gray, with green sun blocking screens above the windows and balconies. As I looked up on the building, I began to consider whether it had been a good idea to come there. I hasn’t been thinking straight and I was blinded by my own need to have Yixing there. I hadn’t thought of the fact that he might not have wanted to see me, or maybe he was away. Maybe he was in China, or with someone else. I felt a pang in my chest as I thought that that someone could be a girl. A pretty Chinese girl that he knows and whom he likes the company much more of.  No, I couldn’t afford to think like that, I had come that far!

       I climbed the stairs until I saw a door sign with the same hanja characters that I’d seen on the file. Top floor. I rang the doorbell and waited. Anxiously I fiddled with my hands in order to regain my sense of control, but failed. I was here, I had come this far. I heard footsteps and the sound of a lock turning, someone coughing. I stood still as a statue as I watched the door open and the head of a boy peaked out. I didn’t know him, but he was very pretty for being a boy.

       “什么? (what?)” the boy said and squinted at me with something I interpreted as skepticism.

        “Um” I stared at him with wide eyes as I had no idea of what he just said. “Yixing?” I asked as I didn’t know if the boy would understand Korean.

       “他在这里。(he's here.)” the boy said and I just nodded and smiled unsurely, still staring at him.  

       “What?” I asked. The boy gave me a weird look and sighed.

       “哥哥! (brother!)” he yelled back into the apartment. He got an answer, Yixing’s voice. But it was so weak. “他要来” the pretty boy said and returned inside, leaving me at the door.

       I didn’t know what to do, so I just waited, hoping for something to happen. And soon Yixing appeared from one of the rooms, wearing sweatpants and a gray hoodie. When he saw it was me, he lounged forward and threw himself over me. And we just stood there for a while, hugging, filling up the empty space that had been ad this day. The pretty Chinese boy appeared at the doorway again and this time he was holding a glass of water, of which he had just taken a sip of and was now spitting it all out in a small vapor-like shower. Yixing turned around and looked at him.

       “Seriously, ew.” he said and made a disgusted face, but couldn’t hold the expression long enough before he started laughing. The boy said something, also a bit more relieved than before and Yixing answered with something in Chinese too, the first disappearing again. Yixing took my hand and dragged me inside.

       “Come, I’ll introduce you to my dìdì.”

I know this was a short chapter, but hey, short is better than nothing! School is killing me but I'll try to update so that you get to know what happens next~

Stay awesome everyone! <3