We didn’t say much on the way to the canteen. He was pouting, and I didn’t really know what to say. Even though I’m usually comfortable in silence, I prefer talking over silence when I am with people who are virtually strangers to me. So I felt like I had to strike a conversation.

“You’re gonna keep on sulking like that for the rest of the day?” I asked.

Instead of answering me with his voice, he just nodded his head, still pouting with his lips and head down.

“Okay, I tell you what”, I started to become slightly ticked off. “We’ll go to a restaurant tomorrow. I have some more time then. All classes finish before lunch, so I have the whole afternoon off.”

After hearing those words, he brightened up, and his smile was suddenly brighter than the sun.

“Me too”, he exclaimed excitedly. “What do you want to do?”

“Let’s just take one day at a time”, I said. “This is my first time, really, so I have no clue on what to do.”

, it just slipped out of me. I was not supposed to say that. No, I don’t want him to find out. Why did I say that?

“First time?” He said surprised. “So, I’m your first? This is your first date? You have never done this before?”

The rest of the questions were sung a teasingly manner and I could feel my cheeks heat up.

“Mhm”, I managed to squeeze out of myself. I felt so embarrassed.

“It’s fine, I got this”, he said, still teasing me. “I’ve got experience.”

I can’t say I really like those words, but as they were not a lie and I already knew about it, I kind of had to accept it. I think I would have preferred to be with someone a little bit less experienced, getting to explore things together. Experience does not have to be a bad thing, though, as I could just follow his lead. Ah, I am torn, what do I really want?

“What is it actually like, dating a new girl every week?” I asked him out of curiosity. I do not really possess a filter, and so I often just say the things that comes to my mind.

“Starting out with the hard questions already, are we?” He said, not mad, just stating a fact. “You’re not gonna ask me what my favourite colour is? Or are you one of those that knows more about me than I do?”

“Don’t give yourself too much credit. I am just a really curious person. No experience, as I said. You can also ask me whatever question you’re curious about and I’ll answer truthfully. Which I hope you will as well. Honesty is a virtue.”

“Okay”, he agreed on the suggestion. “I won’t hold back, and I will be as honest as I can. Nah, but the reason?  I don’t really know. Maybe because I don’t like to be tied down?”

I nodded at his answer, even though felt that it was more to it. He said he was going to be honest, I wouldn’t blame him for only telling me about a fraction of the truth, as long as he didn’t lie. I could not push it. He did not actually know me, so for him not to trust me is not weird, if you think about it.

He then stopped, and looked at me for some time.

“Why do you want to date me?” he asked. “You really don’t strike me as a girl who follows the stream and just do this for popularity, or because you are actually in love with me. You have a different vibe.”

I was taken off guard with that question. Why did I ask him? Was it really because I was desperate? It was probably a part of it, but was it the only reason?

“Uh”, I started, not really knowing what to say. “It kind of just happened?”

“Kind of just happened?” he mimicked me and was on the brink of laughter. “Now I’m intrigued.”

“Uh”, I started once again. “So don’t misinterpret the things I’m saying… but it was kind of like a bet? But not really a bet. It really just happened.”

“I’m confused”, he said, still looking like he wanted to laugh.

“Well, I was talking with my friend, Haeni, about dating. I joked about that even you would refuse me… but then another classmate, Chanyeol, challenged me to ask you. And the rest is history.”

“Chanyeol?” He asked, highly amused. “So, there’s really no reason at all for it being me? Is it only because I’m easy?”

The laughter on his face faltered a little after the second question, and he almost looked sad.

“Oh my god, no. To be honest, I really thought you would reject me. You’re so out of my league. So handsome, so smart… Just everything good in this world?”

“Wow, thanks for the compliment.” He chuckled, finally letting the laugher out. “Those are all really superficial reasons, though.”

“Well, as I said, I am not your stalker.” I said and stuck my tongue out at him. “I don’t really know anything about you, except for your placement in the exams and... well, your appearance.”

“Fair enough”, he said and nodded. “I guess we know about equally as much about each other, then. Got any more interesting questions?”

By now we had reached the canteen. It was a little bit noisy, but nothing out of the usual. I could feel a little bit more people staring at me now than before, though. I felt a lot more exposed walking by Sehun’s side. I kind of liked it though. It is nice to not be invisible, though I guess the reason for all the staring wasn’t what I imagined myself being “famous” for.

“Of course”, I answered and smiled big toward him. “Let’s grab some food first though, it feels rather awkward to be standing in line in the canteen and talk about things other than food.”

“Sure, then I have something to look forward to.”

We grabbed a plate each and kept on chitchatting a little bit about the food. It wasn’t a gourmet meal today, but it wasn’t that bad either. We could choose from either a chicken salad or noodles with Thai soup. Both dishes looked appetizing, but as food with many colours usually appeals to me more, I went for the salad. Sehun went for the noodles.

“Where should we sit?” I asked. There were a few empty tables at the back of the canteen. There was also a table with a few people who waived quite fiercely, even calling Sehun’s name. I could recognize the faces as the people who Sehun usually hangs out with, some of his classmates and a few from the year above him.

“That’s my friends, they want to meet you”, Sehun said and shook his head. “We don’t have to go to them, they’re always like this. Or well, not this excited, usually. Sure they want to meet the new girl as fast as possible, but they are extremely curious about you. They heard the story.”

I blushed a little at his words, I guess it was a unique way of confessing my so-called love.

“It’s fine”, I said eventually. I wasn’t against the idea of meeting Sehun’s friends, they all seemed like decent people. They tended to be a bit loud, laughing a lot, and to be honest, a good-looking bunch of people, but no bad vibes came from any of them.

“I’m sorry”, he said and gave me an apologetically smile. “Don’t be scared, they can be a little bit forceful, but they’re all good people. If it is too much you can just tell me, or send a message, whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Thank you”, I whispered, as we had almost reached the table they were sitting at.

They all smiled at us when we arrived at the table, and created a space for two people to sit beside each other, so that I and Sehun could sit down.

“So, you’re the one they call Yesol?” The guy just next to me asked. I think his name was Baekhyun, but I wasn’t sure.

I nodded at him, feeling a little bit shy, as I knew everyone around the table had their eyes on me.

“Yeah, so this is Lee Yesol”, Sehun introduced me to the group of people. He then preceded to introduce everyone sitting around the table. “The guy sitting next to you is Baekhyun. The guy beside him is Kyungsoo. The girl over there is Jiwon, and the girl sitting next to her is Jeongyoon. Across from you we have Yixing, he’s from China, Suho and Jongin.”

I felt rather confused after he had told me all the names, I was right about Baekhyun, and I already knew Suho and Jongin’s names as well, but the rest was pretty much a blur.

“Nice to meet everyone”, I greeted and lowered my head a little bit. “I am terrible with names, so if I forget it I will be apologizing in beforehand.”

“It’s okay”, Suho said with an encouraging smile. “Most of the people here are really not worth remembering.”

His joke earned a slap from Jongin, sitting next to him, and everyone burst out laughing. It was a friendly feeling around the tale, and even though I didn’t let down my guard just yet, I did feel very welcome in to the group.

“I’m impressed by your way of asking Sehun out”, Jongin said when the laugher died down. “There have been some memorable attempts since it all started, but I think yours was one of the more courageous ones. Definitely one of the most interesting ones. I couldn’t keep the laughter in when I heard about it.”

Again, I blushed. I didn’t know what to answer that. I had made an impression – for better or worse.

“Don’t worry about it”, Sehun said, thinking my blush was because I was ashamed. “It was fun.”

The smile he gave me was so bright it calmed me, and I understood a little bit of why people rarely stayed mad at him for long. He had a way of making the room seem ten times brighter.

“You’re a first year, right?” One of the girls noted, I think her name was Jeongyoon, her name as pretty as her face. She had used a shade or two too white BB cream though, and it contrasted with the colour on her neck. You barely could notice, as her face was so amazingly sculpted that it took up more of your attention. It was just a pet peeve of mine, that I never really understood why peple had to tick off, even after living all my life in South Korea.

“Yeah”, I answered her, wondering why she brought that up.

“Sehun looooves younger girls”, she then said in a sing-song voice. Sehun glared at her and then rolled his eyes.

“Oh, shut up”, he said and threw a piece of food at her. It landed straight on her forehead and the guys around the table started laughing, except for Kyungsoo, who was too busy with his own phone.

The other girl, whose name I really couldn’t remember, gave Sehun a look that said she was mad, but I realised that it was only a joke, as she turned to Jeongyoon and told her she deserved it afterwards.

Baekhyun and Suho kept asking me really basic questions, such as what my favourite colour was, and what animals I like. Everyone else, except for Yixing and Sehun, started chatting with themselves. Sehun interjected sometimes in our conversation, mainly just listening, though. I tried asking the same kind of questions back to them, but they just bombarded me with even more questions. Yixing was quiet the whole time, looking at me and seeming like he was interested in the conversation, never saying anything.

“Why are you not saying anything, Yixing?” I asked. He looked cute with his styled black hair and gentle facial features. His hair was a little bit shorter than what I usually preferred on guys, though.

“His Korean is not that good”, Baekhyun informed me, before Yixing had the time to process the question, and realised it was aimed at him.

“Oh”, I said, a little bit ashamed for asking the question. To try to make up for my mistake I decided to see how much Chinese I remembered after studying it for a few years in school, also watching a lot of Chinese dramas. I started talking in Chinese with him. “How long have you been in Korea?”

Really surprised at the language he was now hearing he seemed happier, and the concentration that was stuck on his face disappeared in an instant.

“Two years”, he answered, also in Chinese. “You know how to speak Chinese?”

“A little bit, I used to study it in school”, even though I was saying basic things I felt that the three people I had been talking to previously, was looking at me with surprise.

“Your Chinese is very standardized”, he exclaimed happily. “You speak it very well; your tones are almost impeccable.”

“Nonono”, I said, showing the Chinese manners, while I on the same time realised the limitations to my vocabulary. “Impeccable? What does that mean?”

“Oh”, he said, giggling at me. “Kind of like… perfect?”

“Ah, I see! Impeccable.” I repeated the word to hopefully get it to stick on my head. We kept on conversing a little bit in Chinese, me asking him about China, sometimes having to get a word or two explained.

I finally realised that I was only talking to Yixing, even though this was supposed to be kind of a date with Sehun. I quickly turned around towards him and apologized frantically. Only to find him leaning his chin on one of his hand and smiling towards me. I was suddenly also aware of how he was resting his arm on the back of my chair. It made me feel even worse.

“I am so sorry”, I repeated for maybe the 20^th time.

“It’s fine”, he said, assuring me he had no problem what so ever that I had been talking like crazy with another guy. “It’s almost time for the lunch to end, though. I’ll walk you back, and hopefully I’ll get some alone-time with you.”

I felt so bad when he said those last words, the guilt almost swallowing me. I kept apologizing over and over again, while on the same time saying goodbye to the people around the table. Everyone waved us off.

“It really is fine”, he said and patted my head when we had put the trays back to where they belonged. “I have actually never seen Yixing talking so much during one lunch. We’ve all tied to speak Chinese with him, but none of us are really that good, so it kind of just ended quite chaotic.”

I felt less guilty after that, still not daring to bring up my eyes to meet his.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get more time to talk”, whispered. “I had so many questions stored up…”

“As I said, it’s fine”, he said and put his arm around my shoulders. “We can talk more after school, when do you finish?”

It felt really good having his arm around me. I felt protected, even though I didn’t really have anything to fear. I just enjoyed the sensation, and the warmth he was oozing. This gesture made all the guilt blow away, giving me a feeling that everything truly was okay.

“I finish at three, but I need to go by the library to study”, I said, making a face that was showing how much I didn’t want to go there.

“It’s fine, I’ll come with you”, he quickly said. “I’ll come by your classroom at half past two, then.”

With what felt like no time at all had passed, we had reached my classroom. I had no other choice but to bid him goodbye. He squeezed my shoulders a little, before he let go and told me to take care. He then hurried off to his next lesson.

When I entered the classroom, I was attacked by a Haeni running towards me. She finally stopped when she had her arms wrapped around me, almost knocking me over.

“I missed you”, she sang. Ever since we started this school we had been eating lunch together, given none of us were ill. “I had a very boring lunch without you.”

I smiled at her pouting face.

“I’m sorry”, I apologized, still smiling.

“So, how was it?” She changed the subject quickly, dragging me to my seat.

“It was… Nice”, I said, not really knowing how to describe it. Or what to say for that matter, considering I had been talking to Yixing mostly during lunch.

“He seems really affectionate towards you”, Risa said thoughtfully. “I can’t remember seeing him ever put his arm around someone the first day. He seemed so relaxed.”

My stomach twisted a little bit in excitement when she said that. It would be nice to be special. I quickly shook that thought way, considering how many girls he had dated before me.

“Nah, it’s probably nothing.”

We didn’t have time for more chitchat as the teacher came in to our classroom and started the class.

Soo much I have to do in school, but I end up writing even more just to procrastinate, due to that, hahahaha. I think I have like 3 more chapters finished already? I just try to keep the updating schedule on a somewhat regular basis. The thing that takes time for me is to proofread though. It's the worst TT

Gotta give a shoutout to alexajjang again, for leaving comments~ It really does encourage me to write more~~