-Present

Resting her chin on her palm, Yaerin stared at Seokjin who was reading the menu to order something new. She could not believe she fell for him before she met him. How unbelievably hilarious fate could be. She chuckled at her own thoughts.

Seokjin looked up and met his lovely girl’s stare. It seemed like, her imaginations were running wild again. “Yah,” he voiced out and pinched her nose. Yaerin growled in protest. “Don’t you dare imagining other men while having a date with me.”

Yaerin rolled her eyes, holding back her smile. “That’s impossible. It will definitely be, I keep imagining you while dating other guys.”

Hearing the little confession from her, Seokjin smiled and lowered his head, feeling a little shy. “I think I should have this,” he said, and quickly put his hand on the air, calling for the waiter. “What do you want?” he asked her, resting his chin on his palm and gazed at her, imitating her.

They were staring at each other, while waiting for the waiter.

“I can’t believe you will leave me.”

The smile on his face died. His breathing became heavy and he was ready to reply her, when the waiter turned up.               

“Yes, sir. May I take your order?”

He had lost his words to speak to the waiter.

Yaerin forced a smile. “Two Chinese Red tea, please,” she said and the waiter wrote down the order before leaving them behind. As soon as the waiter was gone, Seokjin reached for Yaerin’s hands and held them tight.

“Yah, pabo. Don’t you dare say that I’m leaving you.” His eyes were pleading her. “Wait for me. For five years. Only five years. After that, I will have a secure position in the navy medical team. Then…” Seokjin stopped. His hand moved to her cheek. He caressed her gently. “I will come to you.” He nodded, convincing Yaerin. “That’s my promise.”

She gave in and avoided his eyes. “What if you can’t study well there? It’s very far away from our place.” She made up an excuse. Somehow, it was too weak.

Seokjin smiled. “I will try my best to study well.” His both hands were holding hers.

Yaerin shook her head, eagerly. “No, no. What if you can’t score well or failed in any test after you have tried so hard?”

This time, he laughed. “Yes, yes. I will try harder. No big deal.”

Releasing a long sigh, she decided to let the matter slipped. It was always impossible to argue with Kim Seokjin. He would win with his creative usage of superlative and comparative words. ‘I will try harder’, ‘I will think more’, ‘I will do my best.’ There was no ‘give up’ in his dictionary. He would hang in there.

“So, how’s your test?” Seokjin immediately changed the topic after seeing how sour Yaerin’s face has become.

In a split second, Yaerin smiled brightly. “It was a piece of cake! I thought, the lecturer would set something that might make us all feel like, tomorrow will be the end of our future.” She was being very dramatic, describing her mid-semester test yesterday.

Seokjin’s laughter burst out. This girl. If people did not know her well, they would never know how adorable she could be. She might be good in examinations and public speaking, but she would always get scared in the crowd. She scored very high in IQ test and had strong memories, but always took quite a long time to remember new routes. She read dusty books which nobody has yet to find, but then condemned that those books were boring. She listened well to people and was a good listener, but never failed to relate everything with her psychology theories.

“I’m glad that your test was easy,” Seokjin responded while wiping his tears.

.    .    .    .

Yaerin took a sip of her white coffee while looking around. Some shops in the mall were having mega sales, but she was not engrossed with any of them at all. Her mind was already somewhere else. The picture of Seokjin pulling his big luggage and waved his hand happily at her. It was too painful to bear. The moment his back greeted her, she could describe how gravity suddenly became very strong that she fell down on her knees. And Seokjin never turned around to see how she was torn into pieces. He made his ways, just like that.

“Yaerin?”

Reality hit her, hard. She blinked dumbfoundedly and looked around. They were already in the parking lot. Seokjin was standing next to the driver door, while Yaerin froze next to the passenger door. She then met Seokjin’s eyes, still confused with everything. Just now, they were walking aimlessly in the mall, holding hands while Seokjin urged her to enter every shop that sold white and blue shirts. Neither did she resist nor agree.

Looking at that blank expression of hers, Seokjin hated it the most. He let out a long sigh and went to the passenger side. He could see how Yaerin took a step backward when he came closer to her as if she was caught for her wrongdoings. “Yah, Yoo Yaerin.” He grabbed her shoulders softly, not wanting to hurt her. For a while, he stared deeply into her eyes. “Please.” He hung his head lower, hiding his frustration. He knew Yoo Yaerin well. This girl.

Yaerin looked at him, feeling guilty. She opened , ready to say something. However, her intention stunted. She pursed her lips into a thin line and freed herself from him. She pushed away both Seokjin’s hands on her shoulders and went into the car, shutting the door close.

Seokjin was taken aback. He scoffed, slightly annoyed and walked impatiently to the driver’s side, getting into the car and pulled the door shut as harsh as he could. The atmosphere was tense, but that did not stop him from pushing the engine button. The car was now ready to move. Taking a quick glimpse around, his hands were already gripping the steering firmly.

The ride was very silent. As silent as a public library. They could hear their own breathings, to the point, their heartbeats were audible to themselves.

“We’re here.” Seokjin tried to be as calm as he could. He was not the type who would lose his temper easily, nor he would show his anger. There was no valid reason to shout or snap on his girl because being a girl, sulking was a part of them. Fire would get worse if he decided to become gasoline. “Yaerin.”

“Open the door.” Her voice was cold, but shaky. She did not spare him a glance.

Seokjin smiled and gazed at her for seconds. He then looked down on her lap where she was playing with her fingers nervously. “Yes, princess.” He hopped out and opened the door for her. He could guess what she would do next. If she does it, this will be the third time. Seokjin tried his best not to laugh.

As soon as the door was opened, Yaerin threw her snickers out. It flew a few centimeters away from the car. And I was right. Seokjin did not say anything and took the shoes for her.

“Put them on me.”

“Yes, princess.” Reaching for her ankles, he held them tenderly. He put the snickers on her feet and tied the shoelaces for her. It should not be too tight nor too loose. Just perfect. “Done.” His lips curled up in satisfaction. Seokjin looked up, waiting for her tears to greet him. Just like before, she had sulked this way as well. No talking, demanding him to open the door and threw her footwears out. She would ask him to put them back on her feet, and when he had done, she would cry and apologize to him. And Seokjin, he could not wait for that last moment to happen. Yaerin would start apologizing for every mistake she made since the first time they met.

However, now…

No tears. Yaerin did not cry. There was no sign of warm liquid flowing on her cheek. Instead, she lowered her head and bore into his eyes as deep as she could. She went nearer to him and he did not move an inch. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she leaned in to kiss him. And their eyes were shut.

.   .   .   .

-Last year

The sky was getting darker. Although it was still early, the clouds were giving signs that soon, it would rain. The wind was blowing vigorously and the scent of the rain was simply pleasant.

“Petrichor,” Yaerin whispered to herself and smiled delightedly as the pour began. She was enjoying her waiting at the bus stop and amused herself by looking at how fast everyone’s pace was to run away from the pure droplets.

“The earthy scent produced when it’s raining,” someone interrupted. “Petrichor.”

Yaerin was a little surprised and quickly spun around to see him. She recognized his voice well. And when it was really him, she involuntarily chuckled and smiled. “Seokjin-sshi!”

Seokjin took a seat next to her, leaving some space between them and returned her a smile as well. “You’re done with your yaja?” he asked her. Yaerin nodded silently. “Ah, that’s great! How I wish I am a girl and can attend Yonwei.”

She blinked. “Seokjin-sshi, don’t get me wrong. Our school yaja is until 12.30 PM.”

He widened his eyes and turned to face her in a split second. “12.30?!” And when she nodded again, his jaw dropped. “At least ours is only until 10.30 PM.” He was still in a state of denial. “But then, why are you here, Yaerin-sshi?”

That question simply made her felt uneasy. She was hesitating whether to tell the truth, or make some sensible lies. I’ll go with the truth. “Well…” she her dry lips. “I’m one of the top students in my school. So, our seonsangnim is kind of lenient with our yaja’s attendance.” Her eyes were fixed on her lap and she played with her fingers.

Silence.

 Yaerin sighed, inaudibly. Being high achievers only make you look good on paper, and make others around you look bad. The bus was approaching them and she screamed in her head, pleading the bus driver to step on the pedal harder.

While Seokjin, he was mesmerized. He secretly thought that Yaerin was charming. She smiled a lot to him, and got awkward very quickly around his friends because she was trying to hide her real beauty: intelligence. This girl. “Yah.”

Yaerin turned at him, looking astonished with her eyes rounded. Damn it, I never know she is this cute. He cleared his throat awkwardly and avoided her gaze. “You shouldn’t feel embarrassed for being on top. At least, you can save yourself from straining your neck, looking up too long, wondering about when you will reach them. Of course you will deal with people’s expectations on you which might be too high,” he said, and found some strength to look at her. Their gazes locked on each other. Seokjin smiled and ruffled her hair. “But that’s the main reason of why you’re on top. Because you deserve it.”

The bus shut its door, slowly speeding away from the bus stop. And Yaerin was still there, froze on her spot. She missed the bus, but was not bothered to run for it. She was stunned and the pat on her head was beyond comforting. His words struck through her heart and she felt like a burden had been lifted from her shoulder. Now I realized that I didn’t go to the public library merely for books.

“I missed it.”

Seokjin’s smile faded. He blinked in confusion. “You missed it? Miss what?”

Yaerin’s eyes were still stuck at Seokjin. “I missed the bus.”

.   .   .   .   .

-Present

One second passed. Two seconds. And it reached a minute.

Yaerin pulled away and leaned her forehead against his. She took in a deep breath with her eyes closed. Seokjin’s scent was her favourite. He smelled like cocoa butter rather than strong colognes. Very sweet and lovely.

“Do you know you smell like what?” she asked him. They were only a few centimeters away from each other.

Seokjin chuckled and gave a peck on her nose. “Like your favourite lotion.”

Yaerin smiled. “What if Appa sees us from the window?”

This time, Seokjin pulled her out of the car and embraced her dearly. “Let him be. I’m ready to be interrogated.”