One morning, our teacher in English woke up and realized that she has grown tired of waiting for the day we finish our research study. She surprised us when she announced in the room that she wants our final output for the research study be submitted the following day. Pass or get zero.

Because I was the first one to complete the sources needed, everyone thought that the mandate given to us by our teacher is a piece of cake for me. But they were wrong. A district meet is about to be held in the school and I was assigned as the lead organizer. The contest will finish late and it'll take a lot of my time. I was torn between the two.

When the district meet ended- our school was the over-all champion- I ran with all my might towards the room. I received a text from Dahyun saying the teacher will be on the school until eight in the evening.

The hallway was deserted and  some of the rooms have turned off their lights. Myungsoo was the only one I saw whe ai reached the room. I hastily opened my laptop to transfer the files I typed earlier to the hard drive I borrowed from the Nerds. The clock said 7:35. Myungsoo and I were at the opposite sides of the room. I was near the cabinets while he was seated near the door. It happened because there were only two reachable electric sockets- the one hidden in the cabinets and the one at the door.

The file was still loading so I took the chance to sneak a glance at Myungsoo. I didn't expect him to look at my direction. His eyes didn't show any emotion, like he knew I was stealing glimpses at him and it didn't bother him. He didn't even care to move his gaze away. My heart was banging loudly against my chest, and it was enough to remind me I was still alive. That I did not die nor melt from his piercing stare.

I was looking at the person I presumably liked straight in the eye. It's a scene I thought would only happen in my dreams. Up until now, it still feels like a scene made up by my creative mind to fill my unanswered desires.

After several seconds, Myungsoo finally broke the ensuing silence yet he didn't remove his eyes from me.

"Are you almost done?" He tentatively asked.

"Uhm... I... Uhm... Yeah. I'm almost done." I stuttered. I bit my lower lip to stop my cheeks from reddening.

He just nodded. He continued doing whatever he was doing in his laptop. I followed suit.  I looked for the document and transferred it to the usb folder. A staring game didn't happen again, partly because I didn't look up from the screen anymore, afraid I'll be busted if I do so. When the pop-up said the file was transferred completely and I was supposed to go print my work, Myungsoo spoke.

"Make it fast." He said, still furiously typing. "I'll wait for you. Let's pass our papers at the same time."

I forced myself to walk at the normal pace while I was still in the room and Myungsoo can still see me, but the moment my feet reached the end of the hallway, I bolted towards the printing store. He said he'll wait for me. A small gesture of kindness but it meant a lot for me. I must be crazy, I said to myself back then, giving the caretaker my payment with a wide grin painted on my face.

There was no one in the room when I came back. I felt a pang of disappointment. I looked down at my worn out black school shoes. What was I thinking? We just held each other's glances for a short period of time yet I already felt giddy as if something special was forming between the two of us.

Sad and tired, I idly went towards the faculty room to submit my research paper. The folder I was holding seemed to weigh more.

I was in an empty alleyway- the one we called Haunted Alleyway and is said to have haunted entities that show themselves to you when you walk there alone at night- when someone grabbed my left arm. Thinking that it was the entities they talked about, fear triggered my reflex senses and I immediately punched the first solid thing I saw.

"Ow!", shouted a familiar voice.

"Myungsoo?"

It was dark but I knew the moment I saw the outline of his silhouette that it was him. He seemed to be holding his right side that took my punch.

"God, Suji. That hurt! You're like a boy when you punch!"

"I didn't know it was you. You scared me!"

"Why? Did you expect that it was someone else? I promised you I'll wait for you." He paused. Then I heard him chuckle. "You thought I already left you?"

I started walking away. Myungsoo was on my tail, still amused and is on the verge of laughing.

"Wait, did you really think so?" He asked. "I'm disappointed on you, my good girl."

He tried patting my hair and I slapped his hands away.

"I'm not that kind of person that just leaves someone out of the blue. Suji, you know I'll be more than willing to wait for you. Rain or shine."

There he goes again. He's saying those very same words that he shouldn't say to me. I know that it was nothing for him and it was a normal thing for him to say, but it wasn't for me. I was not used to those assuring words he continuously attacks me with. I was afraid. Afraid I might misunderstand things again, yet I cannot also stop myself from wishing that what he said has another meaning. That it was not just about a promise of waiting for me one Tuesday  evening.

When we successfully passed our research studies and we were at the hallway, I decided to ask him.

"Can I borrow your sci cal?"

"Hmm?" Myungsoo tilted his head.

It was one of Myungsoo's habit- tilting his head on the right side like an adorable puppy learning its tricks for the first time. It seemed like he doesn't notice this habit.

"I asked you if you'll let me borrow your scientific calculator. I'm going to start making our Physics project."

He stopped walking. I can practically see his head turning on full gears as he thinks about a problem in quantum that's still due for a month. He looked at me again, a bright smile lighting up his face, before running away from me.

"Stay there. Don't go." He shouted, his words echoing.

Myungsoo didn't took long. I laughed when I saw his face drenched in sweat. While he was catching his breath, he showed me the objects in his hands. His paper, two ballpens, and his scientific calculator. I grabbed those, thinking he was offering it to me. He closed his hands on the calculator. His panting was gone and he has composed himself. He walked again. I gaped at him, bemused and confused.

If he's going to go home, he should have walked back, but he just kept on walking on the opposite side.

"Are you just going to stand there?" He was waving his right hand to me. "Let's go!"

"What?"

He laughed. He laughed as if I just delivered the funniest joke ever. "We're going home together anyway, might as we'll accompany you to the library. I've already wasted fourteen hours waiting for you, a couple of minutes will be easy."