College was a hard place for Hyunwoo. It was hard in the sense that he would spend his days attending classes that had no correlation to what he wanted to do with his life. It was also hard in the sense that he was rather an introvert. One who would rather give up his seat and move to the back instead of explaining that he liked that particular seat because he could see better. One who turn in his work after class had ended because he felt uncomfortable getting up in front of others. However, for hyunwoo it was easy because of this. He didn`t prefer causing a scene and would get things done either way. He was a good student despite his dislike of his classes, but he always excelled.

College for Minji however was a breeze, she felt as though she was doing high school all over again. A young woman who was always determined and put her effort into everything. She enjoyed being a leader, answering questions given in class, and even staying after to talk to her teachers. This was all minji knew, academics. Yes, she was a social butterfly as some would say, but she didn`t know how to be social in non-academic situations, she would freeze. She lacked a skill that most college students had.

-

Hyunwoo had once again given up his front seat to sit in the back like always. This time he picked a different one in hopes of being able to see the professor better. He looked around as other students flooded in and eventually put his head down, after all he had five minutes left of his break. He felt himself begin to drift away until he hear a crashing sound next to him. He quickly looked up and saw a mountain of books on the desk next to him.

“i`m so sorry, did I wake you up?” he had never heard this voice before, but it felt familiar.

“no, I wasn`t asleep, just closing my eyes.”

“isn`t that practically sleeping?” the female finally sat down and fixed the books on her desk, putting some on the floor and keeping a few on top. She smiled as she did so, humming lightly. Hyunwoo lifted himself and leaned against the chair and began to think of a reply as witty as hers. Before he could even get one word another loud sound was heard. The door had closed and the professor had entered. Hyunwoo dismissed the girl and squinted to see the screen.

Throughout the class, hyunwoo noticed something different. Unlike usual lecture days, he wasn`t paying attention. His eyes kept going towards the girl next to him, watching her write notes and switch between colors of pens. Her penmanship was nice, he thought before looking down at his own and having opposite thoughts. He would get distracted by the sound of her voice. The soft sound of her voice repeating whatever the professor had said. He even caught himself smiling.

The lecture was short and ended in an announcement of a group project. Something about economies in different countries, hyunwoo couldn`t remember. On the bright side, partners were up to the students to decide. He began to look around in search of one of his friends, who had already made partners with each other.

“want to do this together?”

Hyunwoo looked at the girl next to him who had a wide smile plastered on her face.

“you don`t want to work with them, you want to pass right?”

Hyunwoo`s eyes began to wander at a fast pace, a little unsure of how to respond. He nodded yes and the girl clapped a few times before pulling out a notebook. Taking out a few pencils she began to sketch while talking about her ideas for the project. Hyunwoo`s eyes however were stuck on hers. She seemed to like the subject and know quite a bit, but that didn`t interest him. What did, however, was how her dark brown eyes caught the light from above. He swore he could even see them sparkle.

“my name is Minji by the way.”

“hyunwoo. My name is hyunwoo.” His voice grew smaller as he dragged it out.

“I always hear people call you something else.”

“nicknames probably, my real name is hyunwoo.”

“so i`m special enough to call you your real name?” yes, infact she became so precious to him in those few moments they spent talking that he didn`t care what she called him.

“I just prefer it.” Were the words that were said instead. Minji nodded and continued on about her ideas, suggesting ways to set up a power point and how to divide the speaking parts. Deep down inside hyunwoo wanted to ask for her number, for academic purposes of course. The non-academic side of him wanted it to know more about her. He sat there and questioned himself as to why he was thinking so far ahead. Sure, he had seen her in class before but never really payed attention. Why was it now that all of a sudden when they`re as close as they are he becomes curious? Sitting there with his head in his hand he became concerned, giving small reactions to Minji`s ideas. Minji didn`t realize they were not genuine, but she was happy that someone was agreeing with her. She talked and talked until the bell rang, and even then she continued talking. Hyunwoo would nod and occasionally give a `yes`, `that sounds good`, or `I can do that`. It`s not that he didn`t care for her ideas, he was just more interested in hearing other things but he couldn`t bring himself to ask. He couldn`t bring himself to ask what her major was, what she wanted to do in life, or why he was having the thoughts he was. No, definitely not that. He was even embarrassed to say he had another class to go to and he needed to leave. Eventually Minji had let him go but he let her leave first. He made a mental note to continue sitting in that seat for as long as he could.

-

A week had passed since they received the assignment and the two of them had only met in class. They made good progress, in Minji`s opinion. Hyunwoo too thought they were doing well, he knew for a fact that they were ahead than most. Today`s discussion included more of Minji`s ideas and how to make it better than what she had suggested the day before. And just like the day before, hyunwoo was stuck in his head. He was debating if he should ask her personal questions. After all they`re partners, he should at least know something about her.

“Minji, what`s your major?” hyunwoo hid his shaking hands between his legs.

“Psychology, I have a minor in english though. You?” she replied without even looking up.

“Engineering.” Hyunwoo`s voice was soft, Minji looked up at him and he swore he forgot what the conversation was about. She asked him to repeat and he did, to which she just nodded and gave a small comment too. Back to her ideas and hyunwoo was back to square one, debating what questions to ask.

“should we meet up? Outside of school? We could probably get more done.” Hyunwoo cursed himself for asking suggesting such a thing. Doesn`t it seem weird for a guy to ask a girl that? His motives could be mistaken.

“That’s a good idea. Can we do it at your house though? I live with my parents and-“

“that`s fine. I`ll send the address later.” His voice was loud for once, but he soon realized this and gave a shy laugh, looking back down at her notebook in hope that she won`t say anything about it.

“perfect. Now back to this.” Square one seems to be a cycle, hyunwoo thought.

-

About a week later, hyunwoo was spending his time somewhat cleaning up around the apartment. What made him nervous wasn`t so much the fact that a female would be coming into his space, but the fact that Minji was coming into his space. Of course he wanted to appear proper and somewhat of a gentleman, but not so much that it would be seen as fake.

The knocking sounds ringed throughout the apartment and hyunwoo instantly became nervous. He twisted the door knob, swinging it open and flashing a small smile welcoming her in. Minji`s eyes wandered around the place as she set her stuff down. She made comments about the décor and furniture, to which hyunwoo would just say `thanks`.

Minji had noticed something as well. She noticed that hyunwoo wasn`t very talkative when they were together. She also noticed how whenever he would ask her a question his leg would start shaking like crazy and wouldn`t stop until it became quiet between them. She also noticed how hyunwoo was very caring with her. He had manner hands, so he never placed his hand on her. However he was always there behind her in case she might drop something. If she dropped a pencil he would have it back to her within seconds. He would make encouraging comments to her on days she had exams, and he would even offer to take some of the work load for her to study. Minji was curious about all of this since the first week they began talking. Minji was very blind to things like this. She didn`t know what flirting was, or what it means when a guy acts this way. She interpreted as the courtesy of someone to help her succeed academically. That`s how she interpreted most things. She saw hyunwoo as a helper in a way, but she also thought of him as a close friend she`d like to keep. All of these thoughts occurred within the first few seconds she had stepped in the room. She dismissed them quickly, they had nothing to do with China`s economy anyway.

She began to pull out her laptop, then some pens and pencils. She turned around and motioned hyunwoo to come to the table. She began to explain her thoughts and how she had only set up the design of the power point. This stream of consciousness ended when she heard a something hit the floor, one of her pens. As usual hyunwoo darted to pick it up and return it, adding a cheesy smile. She bowed her head and continued on her ideas. As she typed away and as hyunwoo added in ideas himself she reached to fix her shirt, discovering a black stain on her thumb when she brought her hand back. She looked down and saw a black line across her shirt, probably from the pen she figured. She let out a sigh and hyunwoo quickly asked what was wrong.

“I guess when the pen fell it marked my shirt.” Again with hyunwoo and his manners, he attempted to spot the mark without getting too close. Minji stretched her shirt so he could see it.

“it`s not a huge one, it`s barely noticeable.” Minji`s eyebrows furrowed, the more she looked at it the more it bothered her and she wanted it gone. She wanted to change but she figured he wouldn`t have women`s clothing.

“I know but, it`s distracting me and it`s bothering me.”

“do you want another shirt?”

“please.” Before she could process the fact that she had just asked hyunwoo for one of his shirts, hyunwoo was dashing down the hall in search of a shirt. Minji sat there, dumbfounded as to why she said yes, and why she felt happy with the fact that he suggested it. A smile crept onto her face but it was gone when a white tee was placed in front of her eyes.

“it might be big, but I don’t have anything smaller. Or for woman. I live alone-“

“it`s fine hyunwoo, i`ll be right back.” Hyunwoo felt his heart beat a little faster and a smile forming. If this wasn`t enough evidence for hyunwoo to confirm that this girl did in fact have some sort of impact on him, then he was out of luck. Minji came back quickly with red cheeks and her head down, she sat down quickly and changed the subject back to the power point. Hyunwoo smiled as he spotted her blushing, taking a quick look at how the tee fitted her and made her look smaller. It was cute, and he wouldn`t mind seeing her like this more often.

Though Minji was talking about how China`s economy has been affected over the past few years, her mind was fixated on the scent around her. She assumed it was from hyunwoo`s shirt, and she was pleased by it. It was comforting to her.

Hours later the two had migrated to the couch. The coffee table in front of them was filled with paper work, note books, and laptops. The two of them were in silence as they worked on their own parts, occasionally checking on each other and asking for opinions. Minji had reached over to grab a packet, accidentally grazing hyunwoo`s hand which she realized was very close to her. The couch was small, that was all. She apologized but it came out in pieces, she couldn`t speak properly. Hyunwoo too was frozen and just shook his head, quickly turning his head back to the computer and changing the subject once again.

“What time is it?” the silence was broken by Minji`s whisper.

Hyunwoo unlocked his phone. “2:14 am.”

“Are we almost done?”

“I think so, I can take the rest if you want, you can sleep.”

Minji didn’t hesitate to set her laptop on the table and lean back, bringing her arms inside of the tee hyunwoo had given her and shutting her eyes. Hyunwoo continued to work, glancing at her laptop to see where she had left of, switching between the two to do her work as well. Not even 10 minutes later Minji`s head was on his shoulder, and hyunwoo had really considered waking her up. Was that comfortable for her? He wasn`t sure, but if she was asleep he figured it was. He reached behind him as quietly as he could in search of a blanket. He spread it out on top of her small frame, careful not to touch her. So he left her there, comforted by the sounds of her breathing and the tapping of keys.

-

The next morning Minji had woken up to a clean table in front of her, and a quilt on top of her. She peeked around and spotted hyunwoo zipping up his bag as well as hers.

“I let you sleep in, but we have the presentation in 30 minutes.” Minji had never jumped up so quick in her life. She rushed to put her shoes on and hang her bag on her shoulder, leaving something behind because they weren`t that important. She pushed a laughing hyunwoo out the door, scolding him for not waking her up earlier. The two bickered on their way to campus.

Their professor had given them a few minutes to prepare before presenting. The two quickly went over their slides, correcting each other and making last minute changes. Hyunwoo had to inform her about the work that he did, which she quickly memorized.

“you`re wearing my shirt still.”

Minji looked down, and smiled. “it smells nice.”

Hyunwoo too smiled and looked down.

“did you sleep well?”

“for the few hours that I had I guess, did you sleep at all?”

“by the time I had finished It would have been a waste.” Minji frowned and apologized for not helping out.

“hyunwoo let me ask you something.” Before he could give her permission she started talking, similar to how she would talk on end about her ideas.

“You`re very shy around me but you gave me your shirt. Is that supposed to mean something? I would assume you’re just watching out for me and you want me to do well but I can’t help but think that there is a different motive. Is there?”

Hyunwoo looked at her with wide eyes and looked around, shaking his head in response, practically agreeing that all he was doing was trying to help her.

“I wouldn`t say motive. Of course I want you to do well, this a grade for both of you know.” Minji rolled her eyes at his answer.

“you know what I mean. Is this what people call a crush? Is that why im overthinking about this?” a warning was made for 5 more minutes before presentations began.

“y-yes. That`s what they call it.” Once again hyunwoo`s voice was small and his heart was beating fast, he wanted to tell her what he thought of her, what he liked about her, and especially how cute she looked in his t-shirt. Yes, definitely that. They spent the next few minutes in silence, going through the slides once more. They exchanged advice quickly and memorized a few more facts.

“Minji do you not know what a crush is?” how did hyunwoo have the nerve to ask such a thing, even he didn`t know. Minji looked up at him and mouthed the word `you`. Hyunwoo was dazed, he was unsure of what she mouthed but he wanted to know. He was about to ask when their names were called first.

“we`ll talk about it later.”

Minji flashed a smile and grabbed hyunwoo`s hand, leading him to the front of the auditorium. If hyunwoo was to do this alone he would have asked to do it after class, but being with Minji made it seem east. Her confidence bled into him. Minji nudged his shoulder, smiled, and gave his hand a tight squeeze.

hyunwoo carried the belief that as long as he focused on himself he would be okay.

little did he know that the moment he focused on someone else he would be more than that.