~Chapter Song: Yang Yoseob ‘Star’~

By the time So-Hyun woke up the sun had set and the only light coming into the room were the soft twinkling of the stars. She checked the time and it was 9pm. Crap she thought Oppa was right, I really need to sleep less.

She walked into the bathroom to freshen up and changed into a black hoodie with matching bottoms. She planned to study for the next few hours, but before that she needed to eat. Her stomach was growling as if to scold her for not feeding it since morning.

Opposite their accommodation was a convenience store and all she craved for was Jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) and some other snacks to help her concentrate whilst studying. She picked all she needed, paid and decided to send Jin-Goo a message letting him know that she’s awake. Before she could press send she bumped into something hard and fell backwards.

This was it. This was how she was going to die, death by text-walking. Her eyes were closed anticipating the impact. It’s taking too long for me to die isn’t it? She thought, but then she came to the realisation that she wasn’t falling, something was holding her lower back and she opened her eyes to see Professor Seung-Ho holding her with one arm.

They stood there staring at each other and So-Hyun was trying to stabilise the sound of her heart, her mind was telling her to pull away from him, but then again when did her thoughts and actions ever match.

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“Excuse me… You can’t be doing this here” came the voice of the employee that had just served So-Hyun. They both pulled apart immediately, she lightly bowed to the server and said thank you to her professor, quickly making her way out.

“So-Hyun haksaeng”

So-Hyun turned around to see her professor reaching out for her

“S- seonsaengnim” she said looking at her feet and Seung-Ho smiled at her shyness.

“What did I say about eye contact” He calmly reminded her, and she quickly lifted her head up to look at him. The soft breeze blowing her bangs into her eyes, she usually brushed it aside, but she didn’t mind it today, she was using it as her shield.

Seung-Ho tentatively reached out his hand and brushed the stray pieces of hair that was in her eyes and tucked them behind her ears.

“Now I can see your eyes” He whispered, his hand still hovering around her face.

Hiccup.

So-Hyun slapped her hand around and tried to stop breathing so that the hiccups would disappear, but the bag of food she was holding in her hand hit her instead.

Ouch.

So-Hyun looked up at her professor to see him smiling at her, dimples on full display and So-Hyun stood still. Why does she get like this when she’s around him? She doesn’t like him, she couldn’t like him, but something about him somehow left her speechless and captivated.

Hiccup.

Seung-Ho wanted to be careful, he hasn’t forgotten that they were with other members of the class, so he couldn’t be doing this in front of the accommodation where too many eyes would be on them. He pulled his hand back and smiled at her once again.

“Will… will you go for a walk with me?” He said softly and when he saw her nod shyly after giving it some thought, he walked a few steps ahead of her with hands sliding into his pocket. She quietly followed him.  

So-Hyun followed him quietly, tracing his every step trying to match his movements with hers. When his right foot moved she proceeded to put her right foot forward, then left and back to right until she bumped into him. Ouch. She looked up to see Professor looking at her.

“Are you okay?” He asked with a slight smile, softly rubbing the bump on her head “You should look where you’re going more often” He teased.

So-Hyun shyly nodded at him.

“Did you mean what you said earlier in your text?” He asked

So-Hyun took let out a small breath, nodded again and watched as his smile widened. He let out a big breath and looked up to the stars shifting to the right. She followed his every movement with her eyes. When she looked where he was looking she then realised they were standing on a bridge, the stars reflecting on the river. They were somewhere other students wouldn’t think to come. On each side of the river there were boats docked up with lights on. People must live there she thought. With a deep breathe she stood still taking in the view.

With eyes still looking at the river she spoke softly “Seonsaengnim… what do you feel when you look at the stars?” She continued without looking at him “When I look at the sky, at times I feel overwhelmed like the world is too big for me. There’s so much going on that I wonder what’s out there… the things that my eyes cannot see and the things that they do see are so different. But at other times I feel like the stars are sending me a message, telling me to shine brighter, just like they do.”

Every word she spoke hit his ears softly, he was watching the way her lips moved so as to not miss a single thing she said. He somehow understood her.

“If I’m honest I don’t know what I feel when I look at the stars” he spoke honestly “But I understand you. Before I became a professor, I felt like the shoes that I had to fill were too big for me. At my age what I could do and what I wanted to do were very different things. I was burdened by the role, but at the same time there was something calling me to do this job. I didn’t know it then, but my discomfort back then was what led me to my comfort today. You have to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable if you want to face this world So-Hyun-ah” When he spoke So-Hyun turned her head slightly to him.

Get more comfortable with being uncomfortable? She liked it.

“My decision back then is exactly why I’m here today… with you” he said even softer than before and scratching the nape of his neck in shyness.  

What’s wrong with me? Why is my heart beating to cheesy nonsense like this? This isn’t you So-Hyun-ah… Come to your senses!

“So-Hyun-ah…  Can I hold your hand?” He asked, but she didn’t say anything. He stood there as her innocent eyes penetrated his wishful ones. He scratched his head again in embarrassment and shifted his view to the river once again.

So-Hyun who was at conflict with herself, lifted her hands and slowly grabbed Professor Seung-Ho’s little