She sighed as she stood in front of the gates of the new university she’s going to attend to from now on. As much as she hated to transfer, she hated meeting new people, trying to fit herself in to an unknown crowd. She wasn’t the friendly type. She had very few friends back from where she came from. Her friends used to about looking like a serial killer when she frowns which made it hard for other people to approach.

She adjusted her backpack on her shoulders as she took a deep shaky breath,

“You can do this.” She whispered as she set foot to the unfamiliar territory.

 

---

 

 

He woke up to the sound of his mother shouting his name through his bedroom door. He groaned. He hated this day already. He kicked his blanket and whined some more before sitting upright and shouting at his mother to stop banging the door already. He sighed as he stood up to check his calendar on the left side of his room. Although, he already knew what today is. As if trying to worsen his very own mood, he stared at bad handwriting on his calendar.

First day as an accountancy major.

He clicked his tongue as he trudged towards his bathroom.

Could this day get any worse? He thought.

 

 

---

 

 

She doesn’t mind walking around the campus early in the morning. Her apartment was just a few blocks away. She thought why not familiarize herself until her first class starts. Her class starts at ten, it’s currently a few minutes passed nine. That’s enough time for her. She roams around campus not really looking at anything in particular. At the back of her mind, she wondered if she could find herself a hideout, a place she can go to if ever things got too much for her to handle.

Her feet led her to a secluded area with a few trees covering a patch of green grass big enough for five people. The branches were overlapping creating a shade under it. It was near the gym but far from her department, still she thinks it was a good location. The place looked like it had been hidden from the world. The grass were green, the surroundings was clean. It really was a perfect hidout.

 

 

---

 

 

He arrived at his department fifteen minutes before his class starts. He yawned as he climbed the stairs. He was tackled from behind by a familiar ball of sunshine that he wasn’t expecting to see so early in the day.

“Seungcheol-hyung! Ya!”

The person said as he grabbed Seungcheol in the position of a headlock. Seungcheol growled at him.

“Mingyu, let me go! Jesus Christ!”

The ball of sunshine eventually let Seungcheol go and was grinning at the latter.

“Grumpy, are we? Cheer up, hyung.” Mingyu said as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Seungcheol shrugged him off and rolled his eyes.

“Go away. You’re hurting my eyes by smiling like that.” He said as he continue to climb up the stairs.

 He groaned when he heard Mingyu following him from behind.

“How’s your vacation, hyung?” The ball of sunshine spoke again. Seungcheol resisted the urge to kick him off the stairs. He sighed and gave in, “Nothing new. Just home and playing soccer in the afternoon like always.” When Seungcheol was near his designated room, he stopped walking and turned to face his giant friend. “What are you doing here by the way? This isn’t even your department.”

Mingyu giggled and it made Seungcheol cringed. It was like looking at a huge lovesick golden retriever.

“I just walked Sunmi to her class.”

Seungcheol frowned at him, “You mean, that fierce girl from the Human Resource section? The captain of the volleyball team?”

“Yes. The Sunmi. We’re together now.” Mingyu said dreamily.

Seungcheol gawked at him.

“Are you kidding me? How did that even happen? She’s so ruthless and doesn’t she have a crush on Jeonghan?”

Mingyu just shrugged. “No, and yes, she used to have a crush on Jeonghan-hyung and I think Jeonghan-hyung rejected her and – “

Seungcheol cut him off, “And you picked up the pieces.” He sighed. “You’re such a sadist.”

Mingyu just chuckled. “Gotta go hyung. See you later at practice!”

Seungcheol nodded and went inside.

 

He sighed (he’s been sighing since the moment he woke up.) as he took his seat in the large room. It was a large class, around maybe 50-100 students. The subject was Taxation. As he waited for the class to start, he wallows in his insignificant thoughts. Particularly thinking about how happy Mingyu looks a while ago.

 

That lovesick puppy look was very familiar to him, yet it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He knows all too well what happens to a person who picks up the broken pieces of a significant other. 

 

---

 

 

She stepped inside the large room and scanned the rows of seats. There were a lot of people already but no one looked her way and that made it easy for her to look around for a seat. There was a seat up front. It was between a guy with cat-like features and another guy with a mirror on his hand.

She kept looking.

There were a group of girls at the middle but she’s afraid they’ll just shoo her. She may look judgemental, but she knows a lot about girls in cliques based on experience. She knows all too well that they can be either friendly or they’ll be girls with extreme bad attitudes.

She kept walking.

She saw a vacant seat at the very last row. There was a guy sitting beside it. The guy has his head on his arms on the desk. She couldn’t see his face, just a mop of black hair and pale skin.

She decided that she will sit there.

The guy wouldn’t even mind. She thought.

 

---

 

 

He felt someone sit beside him. He almost didn’t notice it. Aside from wallowing in his thoughts, the person moved so quietly and carefully, maybe afraid of disturbing him. He contemplates if he should sit upright or to just pretend that he’s sleeping. His dilemma was answered by the voice of the professor who entered the room. He heard a lot of shuffling, sound of students settling in their seats. That’s the cue for him to sit up straight and pretend that he likes this class.

 

She flinched when the guy sitting beside him suddenly sat upright. She glanced at him and wow. He was handsome. She took a deep breath, resisted the urge to whistle at the sight beside her. When he was about to turn to look at her, she looked away, her eyes straight at where the professor was. She bit his lip hoping that the guy didn’t find her weird by staring for a moment. She wanted to do a double-take because his lashes looked so long and unreal but decided not to. The professor is about to check their attendance anyway.

 

 

When he sat upright, the person beside him flinched. He wanted to look at the person, but decided not to. He really doesn’t want to talk at the moment. After a few seconds, he can feel that someone staring at him. It made his skin itch so he decided to take a glance at his seatmate. He was surprised to see a girl sitting there. Petite, with long wavy hair, glasses perched on her nose. It seemed like she was avoiding his gaze.

 

The professor started calling the name of students to check the attendance. Seungcheol felt his seatmate flinch again when she was called by the professor.

“Ms. Lee? Lee Areum? A transferee huh?”

The girl beside him raised her hand and let out a very shaky present.

“Areum? That’s a unique name. It suits you very well.” The professor commented.

The girl, Areum, blushed and said a quiet thank you.

The girls from the middle rows snickered. Seungcheol could hear them whispering insults.

He turned to looked at the girl beside him. Areum’s head hung low and she seemed smaller, her shoulders slumped. Seungcheol thinks this scenario happens a lot and Areum’s defense to it was to pretend that she’s invisible or make herself even smaller, if that’s even possible. Seungcheol ignored it and tried to focus on the discussion.

Trying to stick his nose in other people’s business is never a good thing. He learned that the hard way.

 

 

The class finished with the professor explaining their curriculum and their project for the whole term that has to be done with a partner. After that, people exited the room and went on with the rest of their classes for that day. Seungcheol didn’t see Areum in his next classes. He wasn’t bothered by it. Maybe they had different schedules since, she was a transferee and all.

 

At four in the afternoon, Seungcheol went to the gym to leave his things at their lockers and prep for his first soccer practice for the semester. There he met his circle of friends. They were all athletes, though not all of them were on the soccer team. He was tying his soccer shoes on when an annoying individual decided to poke his face.

“Stop it. I’m not in the mood.” He grunted.

“Wow. You’re grumpy today. Is it that time of the month, Cheollie?” The annoying individual snorted.

Seungcheol sat up straight and pushed the annoying individual of the bench they were sitting on. The annoying individual laughed hysterically.

“I must be right.”

“Drop it, Jeonghan.” He groaned as he stood up and stretches his body.

Jeonghan stood in front of Seungcheol, studying the black-haired boy’s expression.

“Something’s bothering you.” Jeonghan smirked.

“Yeah. You.” Seungcheol retorted.

Jeonghan chuckled, “No. You’re thinking about something really hard.”

Seungcheol let his gaze finally land on his bestfriend’s eyes. He sighed.

“Mingyu. He’s dating Sunmi.”

Jeonghan raised a brow at him.

“Didn’t you reject her?”

Jeonghan frowned. “Yeah, I did. Obviously, I’m not dating anyone right now aren’t I?”

Seungcheol’s brow furrowed, “It’s just…. It seems like Mingyu is picking up something that already shattered and beyond saving. Don’t you think it’s a –“ He was cut off by Jeonghan raising a hand in front of his face.

“Not everyone is like her, Seungcheol. Stop it.” Jeonghan said in such a serious tone, Seungcheol almost dropped the subject. Almost.

“Why do you have to bring her up? I’m just worried for Mingyu.” Seungcheol argued.

Jeonghan clicked his tongue. “No, you think that the thing that happened to you, will happen to him.” Jeonghan shook his head. “Don’t, Seungcheol. Mingyu is not you. This is different.”

“Are you trying to say, that it was my fault? Why it happened?” Seungcheol almost shouted at him. Anger trying to swallow him whole.

 

Jeonghan grabbed his shoulders. “I did not say anything. I’m just saying that it’s different. This situation is different from the situation with her. Do you understand? We’re not going to fight about this Seungcheol.” Jeonghan let him go and walked away. Seungcheol’s eyes stared at his retrieving back, staring at the YOON printed on his bestfriend’s basketball jersey.

 

 

Seungcheol needed to cool his head. He went out of the building and went to that small spot at the back of the gym where he knew no one knows about. It was a place with few trees with overlapping branches that created a shade. As he walked toward the spot, he was surprised to see something.

A small figure.

A person sitting on the grass, hugging the knees and seemed unmoving.

As Seungcheol got closer, he saw a pair of glasses on the ground near the unmoving figure.

When he was a meter away, he recognized the long hair and petite figure.

His brows furrowed, eyes squinting trying to figure out who it was.

When realization hits, he spoke.

“Areum-ssi?”