The sunlight shone on my face and I felt a slight burning sensation. It was a bad idea sleeping in a position facing the window especially that the blinds were drawn open. I glanced at the clock hung on the wall. It was almost eight in the morning.

Emma rustled around in her bed. How come that the last person to sleep is the first person to wake up?

Oh, my body clock. I almost forgot that this is how I conditioned my body. My sleeping habits is as messed up as my pimpled face. Well, the latter is actually the consequence of the former. It's the price I had to pay.

"You awake?" Emma asked in a groggy voice.

"Yeah."

She stretched in her bed that caused Hyejin in the lower bunk to twist and turn.

I looked around the room, the idea of me, being here, still not sinking in. I inhaled the seemingly fresh air even if the room is stuffy for our Korean roommates.

Somebody told me a long time ago that when you finally got what you have wanted and worked so hard for, the illusion that everything connected to it that is common, or worse, unpleasant for people who have it, is something special and good, will be hard to get rid of. It will take some time for the spell to break.

But, hell do I care. This is something extraordinary. The fact that I met Kwon Ji Yong, someone that anyone doesn't just see out of the blue, supports my claim.

"Remind me to buy cereal and milk later. We don't have anything for breakfast." Emma told me as she climbed down the ladder of their bunkbed.

"Oks." I replied.

I was about to grab my towel for a long-overdue bath when I heard a knock on the door. Emma was the one who opened it.

"Mackenzie Yuson-ssi?" asked the girl who looks like a student, standing by the door. She must be an RA. Which reminds me, I should apply for that next term to have extra allowance to get by.

"That would be me." I said, walking toward the door.

"Your guardian called. He asked me to tell you to meet him outside the campus gate." she told me.

Guardian? I have a guardian? "Kamsahamnida!" I thanked the resident assistant before she completely went out of sight.

"You have a guardian here?" Emma asked.

I just shrugged my shoulders, grabbed my towel and then went to the bathroom. I washed my face and brushed my teeth as fast as I could.

I saw Emma make a face as I combed my hair in front of the body mirror. "You're going outside wearing that?"

"I'll be quick. Besides, it's Sunday." I told her. What's wrong with wearing a knee length sweatpants and an over-sized shirt?

She nodded and I gave her a friendly smile.

"I'll be back. You can take a bath first." I told her.

I wore my slippers but it bared my darkened pinky toenails, because of too much wearing of rubber shoes, so I curled them in. But all of my toes followed.

Nevertheless, I brisk walked so as to keep my mysterious guardian from waiting.

As soon as I got out of the gate, a black Sedan parked a few meters to the right honked. I walked slowly towards it, careful not to be kidnapped on my second day. I almost jumped in fear when the passenger door opened.

When I was near enough to see the driver, it revealed a familiar face. I stopped walking for a moment to take it all in. I let out a smile when he gave me a warm one of his.

"Jiyong-oppa." I breathed out, unsure if he heard it. But better if he didn't.

"Oppa?" he repeated. He let out a crisp laugh which made me hate myself.

Oppa!? Really, Maki? What the hell? Why on earth would you call him that?

"Jiyong-oppa?" He laughed again and I don't think I'm going to see the end of it anytime soon.

I just stood there, hating myself, wanting the ground to swallow me up whole, probably turning tomato red in embarrassment if not for my brown complexion.

He struggled to stop himself from laughing. He clutched his stomach, fanned his face with his hand, covered his face with both of his hands while shaking his head, and put his hand on his chest as he tried to clear his throat. He did all of it and he still wouldn't stop laughing. But he did look adorable.

"What's so funny?" I asked him sternly.

He stopped laughing upon seeing my serious facial expression. He snorted which prompted another fits of laughter but he was able to regain composure. "Ya chingu," he tapped the passenger seat, gesturing me to sit, "care joining me inside?"

I did what he asked and he reached for the door to close it after I sat down. I inevitably smelled his fragrance in the process. He smelled fresh like he just took a shower. Which reminded me of my much-needed bath.

"Thanks for making me happy early in the morning." he uttered as he settled in his seat.

I turned to look at him only to see him already looking at me. There was something in his eyes and the way he's looking at me that made my heart ache. Is he depressed? "A-are you okay?" I managed to ask.

"So, you've heard."

I nodded and looked down. I saw my ugly toenails again so I curled them in before he sees them.

"We never dated, you know. Just to be clear." he said after a while.

I looked at him and he was smiling. Is he telling the truth? If he is, why tell me? Does he trust me already?

He ruffled my hair and then reached for something at the backseat. He handed me a big, flat pink box with a detachable lid. "Open it." he ordered.

He was smiling and I found it sketchy so I carefully opened it to be alert if ever he planned on scaring me with a prank. But when I did, it revealed a white notebook with red musical notes beautifully scattered on the hard-bound cover. I looked at him in surprise. I was speechless. He came all the way here to give me this? Because I told him yesterday that I needed to buy a notebook?

"Do you like it?" he asked, hopeful. "It's one of my music notebooks. I haven't written a song on it yet so I figured you can have it."

And it's not just an ordinary notebook he bought somewhere along the way here. He owns this notebook long before we met and it's where he would've written his self-composed songs. What the hell is happening? I want to cry.

"A-are you crying?" he asked.

Am I? Already? This is embarrassing.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

Seeing his worried face made me cry even more. Why is he so good to me? What did I ever do to deserve this?

Oh, no. Stop it, Maki. This is already embarrassing. Stop. Why so emotional? On your period already?

I covered my face with both of my hands to prevent him from seeing my ugly crying. I was practically sobbing.

"Mwoya? You turned into a fan overnight?" he joked.

He succeeded in making me laugh because the sobs were replaced with a smile. I was still covering my face but I know he could see my smile because he chuckled. I pushed him with my left hand without looking at him. Little did I know that my palm would land on his face.

"Ow! What was that for?" he asked, looking betrayed while holding his right cheek.

I turned to look at him, instantly regretting pushing him upon seeing his pained expression. "Oh, mian! I didn't mean it!" I apologized.

I got nervous. I didn't know what to do. I even attempted to touch his face to relieve the pain if possible. His face is probably worth millions of dollars for all I know. I was like a kid who had accidentally stepped on his pet dog and didn't know what to do. I reached for his face and pulled my hands back several times. It was a never-ending cycle. He was staring at me the entire time, not moving, probably realizing that he had just met a total weirdo. And probably regretting that he ever paid attention to me.

"Ya, chingu." he snapped all of a sudden. "If you want to touch me, touch me!"

I don't know which surprised me more, his raising of voice or the words he uttered. I just blinked in front of him, trying to comprehend what he just said.

"Okay, that came out wrong. I mean, if you want to touch my face, touch it!" he corrected, trying to maintain the same tone like before.

I was hesitant so I just remained there, my hands in midair.

But then, he grabbed my hands and placed one on each of his cheek, each of his hands on top of mine. He then smiled at me like a child who had just won an argument with his parents.

I smiled back awkwardly. What am I supposed to say or do anyway?

"Now that you already have a notebook, come with me. We're going somewhere." he said and then blinked his tiny eyes several times to look cute, and damn, is he irresistible.

I pulled my hands back immediately. This guy knows how to get what he wants.

"Ow! My face!" he wailed, faking a pained expression.

I shook my head lightly at his childish acts. I put my new notebook back in the box and held it tight. I opened the door and got out.

"Ya, chingu! Eodi ga? Kajima!" he cried out.

I held the door and ducked my head inside the car to face him. "I'll go get dressed." I told him, emotionless. I will never ever let him know that I'm so excited I'm going to pee in my sweatpants.

"Oh, okay!" he replied gleefully.

Whatever. I'm ditching Emma.

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Sorry for the late update~ But this part is relatively long, so I hope I made it up to you guys. 😁