Sweet chocolate was sure to melt people’s heart, Kang Seulgi thought, excitement b from her grin as she walked through campus with her bag full of kisses.

The chocolate by Harshie -- ironic name for such a sweet little treat, indeed, but that mattered none at the moment. The campus of her University was full of people who could use a little smile and a little treat to boost their energy and it wasn’t going to be hard. Seulgi looked inoffensive, dressed inoffensively with bright colors and her smile could light up the moon and set it on fire. So, naturally, who better than Seulgi to help the stressed youth of tomorrow? Everyone was a bit upset, stressed, as they naturally are. 

Coming out of the classroom and walking down the hallway, Seulgi found the first subject to charm. Park Sooyoung, close friend of hers. 

“Sooyoung, do you want a kiss?”

Sooyoung was flabbergasted at the sudden question and was about to protest until Seulgi showed her the chocolatey treat wrapped in silver. Then, the confusion went away and she laughed heartily. The chocolate was well received, a hug was exchanged and Sooyoung walked away with a smile and less weight on her shoulders. 

The second target was the chipper Seungwan who came in with a bright ‘Good morning’ greeting and was stopped immediately in her tracks by the question.

“Seungwan, can I give you a kiss?”

“What?”

“A kiss!”

“Uhh,” Seungwan was confused, scratching her head. “Seulgi, you forgot I have a da--.”

“No, silly!” Seulgi laughed, handing over the treat. “A kiss!”

“Oh!” Seungwan laughed, grabbing it carefully and bowing. “Thank you, thank you.”

“No problem,” Seulgi hopped on her spot a little bit. “I’m going to go around campus giving these away.”

“Seriously?” Seungwan asked, unwrapping the kiss she was given and lowering her voice. “Well, it shouldn’t be bad right?”

“I don’t think it’ll be bad. Everyone seems to need a little boost,” Seulgi said looking around.

“You’re too cute, Seulgi,” Seungwan admitted. “Just be careful, don’t piss any random boyfriend off.”

Seungwan’s concern was valid, however, Seulgi shook her head and moved on, fully confident that she’d avoid the mishaps.

And she did, approaching groups of people and offering kisses with that winning smile -- the initial unease that shrouded the group of friends was smoothened out the moment Seulgi started to give away the kisses, soon big smiles came to their faces and soft laughter just dancing off their lips. A frowning student read the too-thick textbook morosely, rubbing her eyes as they stung from all the reading. Seulgi came asking if she could give her a kiss and after detecting a possibly hostile rebuttal, Seulgi offered two kisses for the distressed young woman. Turned the frown into a softer expression and the grimace into a subtle smile. Two chatty girls were absorbed into their gossip before Seulgi came up to them and offered two kisses with a big smile.

Many others around campus received Seulgi’s kisses and some even asked for hugs afterwards, and Seulgi could see her little project becoming a success. However, she came upon someone who she kind of … felt nervous about.

Bae Joohyun, the woman who half the campus feared while the other half was infatuated with her. Stern, quiet and firm, Bae Joohyun was not playing around when it came to studying and was a bit too much of a homebody. Invited to parties? Declined. Invited to a sorority? Declined, albeit politely. She was enigmatic, or rather just very private with her personal stuff. Really, no one on campus knew if she even was interested in anyone. Men tried it, women tried it, but she was always expelling any unwanted person around her like they were bugs, unpleasant and gross. Well, not really, but you get it.

So, the only person Seulgi hesitated with was her, that pale goddess. But she breathed in deeply and marched on, determined and certain.

The Bae Joohyun in question was sitting under a tree with just a book sprawled on her lap and her bag resting on the ground. Around her was perimeters of nothing, detached from the rest of the campus like the amish are detached from society. By choice, because people could be too noisy while she was trying to study and organize. So, when her head shot up in a nanosecond, the once confident Seulgi stopped dead in her tracks with a bit of surprise.

A beat of silence.

Seulgi smiled shyly and bowed her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Joohyun’s eyes were still fixated on Seulgi’s sharp ones, quietly.

Which Seulgi felt tickled her nerves severely. “Uh, I… I was wondering something, I won’t take too much of your time.”

With that, Joohyun closed her book and listened attentively, her eyes a little wider with attention.

“I was… j-just wondering if I could give you a kiss?”

The shaky voice, the fiddling fingers, the nervous look and the shy smile from Seulgi instantly had Joohyun tingly everywhere. It looked and felt like an absolute confession of the most honest love and appreciation. A confession that the poor Bae Joohyun had been waiting for a long time.

In one swift move, Bae Joohyun tossed her book away, stood up and kissed the hells out of Kang Seulgi while Seulgi’s hand crushed the chocolate in her palm at the surprise. A misunderstanding that had Seulgi’s eyes wide but soon fluttering close.

A simple kiss with two lips melting into one another more tantalizingly than the chocolate, a kiss that had the campus far in the background stunned and surprised at the sudden display of passion from someone who usually never showed that kind of affection. But for the girls, no one was around to watch them. A sweet taste coated Joohyun’s lips as well as Seulgi’s, cherry chapstick and sugary chocolate mixing together to make the taste of love, in a way.

Just a second longer, Joohyun whined for in her brain as she felt Seulgi’s lips dictating the rhythm and pace very gently, but soon just detached to catch a glimpse of that dashing prodigy student. Pulling away, she smiled shyly. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me out.”

Seulgi blinked a few times in total silence, shaking her head to wake herself up, feeling the romantic hypnotizing that possessed her slowly fading, giving way for reason. “I--I,” Seulgi began with an embarrassing stammer. The rest of her sentence came out less pitifully, but still hilariously fragmented. “A-actually, I meant if you wanted a kiss,” then she held up the crushed chocolate, surprised at it as well.

The surprise hit Joohyun like a truck for certain, turning her pale complexion even paler (god knows if that was possible) and yanking agape. The confession… it wasn’t a thing? Suddenly her stomach became a vortex of mixed emotions and the red bean ice cream she had just three hours ago. Her heart went from a chipper, jumpy fella to a completely frozen one. Joohyun had opened up a little to the wrong person, didn’t she?

She reverted back to her cautious, soft-spoken self. “Oh,” was all that came out of Joohyun, her lips tainted with a soft sigh and that simple word charged with disappointment. 

A disappointment that Seulgi understood immediately. That was the sound of a true heart break if Seulgi ever knew one, so perhaps this woman was just as human as the rest of the campus Seulgi had been giving gifts and hugs to. This woman, just like any other girl, had her heart safeguarded and tender.

Seulgi couldn’t just leave it all like this. With a soft smile, she dug out three more kisses and stopped Joohyun before she walked away. “Hey.”

Joohyun couldn’t even look at her proper, but she tried anyways. Then, the three chocolate kisses came before her eyes, looking up towards the smiley bear-like woman. “What?”

“Take them,” Seulgi insisted.

And so Joohyun did, taking them cautiously and shyly bowing her head. “Thank you.”

“Did you really mean that?” Seulgi said softly, her fingers fiddling. “The… kiss thing?”

Joohyun finally could stare into Seulgi’s eyes, nodding. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed--.”

“No, no, please,” Seulgi stopped her a bit abruptly. “Don’t be sorry. That… that was a really good kiss, so I’m not mad,” Seulgi giggled which made Joohyun glow red. That was okay, because Seulgi was turning red too. “I… I would actually not mind a surprise kiss either.”

Joohyun smiled, caressing her earlobe shyly. “Really?”

Then a beep interrupted their moment, the indication of other business that needed to be attended. Academic business at that. Hastily, Joohyun grabbed her things and stammered all the way through. “I have to go, I have to go, I’m sorry, can we talk later? I’m sorry but I have to go.”

It amused Seulgi enough to make her laugh a little bit, shaking her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I really wanna talk, can I give you my number?”

“You already have mine,” Seulgi grinned wide.

Joohyun had to pause, her hands nearly dropping her book. “Huh?”

Seulgi only pointed to the kisses she put away in her chest pocket carefully. It was a vague sign but her smile was victorious. Turning on her heels, Seulgi hurried away to continue her own gift-giving adventure, leaving content.

Because hours later, when Joohyun inspected one special chocolate, taking the wrapper away she noted the number printed finely on the tiny piece of paper concealed inside it.

Seulgi’s phone number.