Third Landing
Parachute
After showering and changing into a shirt and shorts, I sat on the ground of my apartment and sighed. Things had not gone expectantly today, but at least tomorrow will. I reached for my bag and ped a section, which should have held my phone, but I found it empty. Strange, I narrowed my eyes and ped the top. Reaching into the bag, my hand searched for my phone but it wasn’t inside. A groan escaped my lips and I scratched the back of my head, “I couldn’t have dropped it while at the cafeteria, could I?”
Though I wanted to deny the fact that I could have possibly dropped it in the cafeteria, I knew that I did. That was the last place that I had been that I could remember having my phone. Looking at the window, I took note that it wasn’t that dark to head out. I’m sure there are still people outside too. With a nod, I stood up and walked towards the door; I slipped on my pair of shoes and opened the door.
The night whispered softly as I rode my bike towards the university cafeteria and the moon shone from above brightly. Stars were limited to blink in the starry sky, but nonetheless, I could see them spark. As soon as I reached the cafeteria, I crossed my fingers and hoped that it would be open—even if it were at this kind of hour. I leaned my bike against a wall and walked to the doors of the cafeteria. Placing my hands on the handle of the door, I closed my eyes and prayed that it would open for me. With a light pull, the door bolted—locked.
“You’re kidding me,” I clucked my tongue and gave the door another pull, but it opposed. Out of anger, I kicked the door and muttered a curse. Walking back to my bike, I heard distant voices come from behind. My heart raced instantaneously and I got on my bike without hesitation. It would be bad to get caught here since I’m not even supposed to be here. I pedaled myself away from the cafeteria, but before I could get far enough, a crowd had caught my attention. I narrowed my eyes and right away, I could tell that it was the same group I had seen the other day. A bunch of delinquents, I shook my head and started to pedal when a ‘hey!’ echoed through the night.
That ‘hey!’ couldn’t be for me, could it? No. I began to pedal faster and ignored the shouting from behind. Why am I always stopping to see this group and getting caught by them? I cursed under my breath as I rode home.
-
A silent yawn escaped my lips as I tried to listen to what the professor was lecturing before me. Today was a different day with different classes. In other words, I wouldn’t have to face Jaehyo after what I had told him. Hopefully he takes my word for it and doesn’t persuade me to tutor him. If he dare grab my hand again, I’ll… well, I’ll definitely do something about it when he does.
Though today was a different day, I didn’t like the fact that I didn’t have my phone on me. How was I going to go about my day without it? I was expecting a call from a store to get a job and now when they call me, I won’t be able to answer it. I sighed and unconsciously hit my head against the surface of my desk, which made a soft thud, capturing the attention of students sitting around me. I raised my head back up and quickly took out a piece of paper and pencil to act like as if I hadn’t just bang my head on the desk.
After class, I still had about two hours before I had to attend my last class. What should I do to kill time? I thought about it. Normally, I would head back home but I didn’t want to today. Maybe heading to the library would be my best choice for now. I nodded at the thought and headed towards the library which would take no less than three minutes or so to get to. The campus wasn’t that big to navigate around, but it definitely was crowded. As I entered in, the noisy background of students walking around and talking suddenly descended into quietness. Even the sound of my footstep were loud as I walked towards an empty table. I sat in one of the chairs and stared blankly at the surface of the table before finding something to busy myself with—math homework.
Though I did work on it last night and finished it, it’s not a bad idea to review my work over. Just as I was about to get started on reviewing my work, I felt a presence. It didn’t take me more than a second to guess who it was because the aura he carried made it obvious who it was. Guilt wrapped itself around my emotions; I guess telling him off like that was a bit too mean but…
“Do you mind if I sit with you?”
I shrugged, not daring to look up at him. The sound of shuffling clothes and the soft pull of a chair against carpeted floor is heard the next couple of seconds. I could feel his eyes on me as he settled into his seat. Does he want me to apologize for my behavior or does he wants to apologize? The next couple of seconds are nothing but silence.
“Look, about yesterday,” he began, “I’m sorry that I made you think I only used the excuse of tutoring to you get you meet other people,” he fidgeted with his fingers, “I just… seeing you alone in class kind of makes me—”
“Feel pity for me?” I interrupted him, “It’s okay for you to feel that way; it is human nature to feel pity for others.”
“You shouldn’t say that so easily,” he furrowed his brows at me. I shrugged in response which he sighed and leaned forward. “Do you think you can still tutor me?”
“You’re still going to ask me that?”
“I’ll prove it to you that I need the help,” he slightly turned and bended over to a compartment in his backpack. Within seconds sheets of paper piled on top of table—papers that had lot of markings on them. “I’m terrible and seriously need your help,”
I twisted my lips and proceeded to ask him a question that I had thought of the first time he asked me to tutor him. “What about your friends? I’m sure they’ll be a big help to tutor you.”
He shook his head in opposition and cracked a side-smile, “They’re smart, but when I’m with them, I can’t help but get distracted.” He answered and quickly added in, “Of course, not to say that you’re a boring person or anything because I don’t think you are! I just think if you were to tutor me then I would be able to concentrate more.”
I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to tutor him. It wasn’t like I didn’t have anything to do before or after class…. Because I do—sort of. Before I could give Jaehyo an answer, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a very familiar cellular device—my phone! I widened my eyes and immediately reached out to grab it, but he pulled away and shook his head. Blackmailing me now, aren’t we? I thought to myself and sighed. “Fine.”
Jaehyo chuckled, “You left it after storming off yesterday. I didn’t know if you lived in the dorms or not, so I decided to keep it until the next time I saw you.” He explained, placing the phone onto the table. “I also added my number into your phone in case you ever feel the need to call me.”
“You looked through my phone?”
“It’s hard to not when you don’t even have a lock for it,” he grinned, “but, hey, you should probably put a code on it in case it falls into the wrong hands.”
I shook my head and snatched my phone away, “Don’t look forward to me calling you any time.” Jaehyo simply shrugged and leaned back against his chair. I sighed and looked at the time on my phone. I was still an hour and thirty minutes away until my next class. Was time ticking slowly on purpose? So much for reviewing my math assignment.
“Say,” Jaehyo began another conversation, “where do you live anyways?”
“Off campus,” I simply replied.
“So you own an apartment then?” I nodded to his question, which he proceeded to ask more questions. “Are you dating anyone?”
I stiffened at his question, “No,” I narrowed my eyes and quickly asked him the same question back, “What about you?”
He smiled, “Nope,”
I guess his answer doesn’t exactly surprise me. He’s probably one of those guys who has a new girlfriend every other week or something. Without realizing it, I asked him another question that pertained to dating, “I’m guessing Hana was an ex of yours?”
Jaehyo’s smile quickly turned into a smirk, “Curious, aren’t we?”
I scoffed, “You asked me first,”
Jaehyo chuckled and nodded, “Yeah; Hana… was an ex of mine.” I knew it. But before I could make any other conclusion about him, he added, “and she was my first love and only girlfriend.” He looked at me with furrowed brows, “What’s with your expression?” I touched my cheeks and shook my head; what kind of expression had I just given him? Jaehyo laughed and leaned towards me, “I bet you thought I was some guy who dated every girl I meet.”
I don’t answer him. Jaehyo reached over, but before his hand could make contact with my arm, his name is called out. I looked to the side and noticed that his friends from yesterday’s meeting were walking towards us. As the two males walked towards us, I noticed that someone else was trailing from behind—Hana. After having just discussed a small portion of her relationship to Jaehyo, I felt a wave of uneasiness drown my emotions. I stood up from the table and slightly bowed my head at Jaehyo, “I-I just forgot that I had to do something,”
“O-Oh,” Jaehyo pulled his hand away and scratched the back of his head, “well, I guess I’ll see you later.” I just nodded and walked away.
author's note; sorry for my delay in updates! but i should be back to updating on mondays and fridays ^^;;
[parachute] wow 8 upvotes for this story? ;__; you guys are too kind to me..............
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