“I do agree that nurture has a great impact on a person’s personality, however, we cannot undermine an individual’s innate nature, especially if that particular characteristic is dominant. Some studies have shown that..” Sohyun was discussing with her classmate as they walked towards their next class when she was interrupted. “Hi, Sohyun-ah.” She stopped and turned to find Seungho standing a foot away. She raised her eyebrows. “Mian, I shouldn’t have interrupted your conversation. I see you at practice later,” and with that, Seungho winked and gave her a warm smile. He then acknowledged her friends before walking away. Sohyun stood rooted and blinked several times, surprised at his strange behavior before turning to see his retreating back. She shook her head and continued walking with her classmates.

“We’ve heard rumors that the two of you dated, and then broke up. Are you two back together again?” one of the classmates commented. Sohyun quickly shook her head. “We’ve never dated. We are just friends, used to be quite close but not so much anymore,” she tried to explain. “Com’on Sohyun, the other day, he kept staring at you in the library. When he realized you left, he scrambled out like in seconds to chase after you,” another classmate who was with her at the library mentioned. “Ohh, really,” the other girls giggled excitedly. Heat starting to rise up to her cheeks. “No, no!”  she tried to deny but to no avail. “He is so hot! If he had winked and smiled at me like just now, I would have melted into a puddle,” one of the girls chuckled. Sohyun just rolled her eyes.

One afternoon, while she took a break from studying to go to the restroom, she came back to her table to find a banana milk and a red bean bun on her book with a note from Seungho reminding her to hydrate well and not to skip meals. Her Econs classmates who were at the same table giggled and . Sohyun looked around but could not find him.

The following week, Sohyun was walking to campus with Yoojung. As Seungho walked past them, he stopped to greet Sohyun and tell her that she looked really pretty that morning. He then greeted Yoojung with just a simple good morning before walking away. Sohyun glared at his back.

Yoojung also stared at Seungho’s back before turning to Sohyun. “What was that all about?” she asked. Sohyun pursed her lips as she gave it some thought. “He has been acting weird for a couple of weeks. He was at the library one day, apparently staring at me. When I left, he ran after me, asking to have dinner with him. Which of course I turned down. Since then, I seemed to be running into him. And he would greet me, with smiles and he even left milk and bun at the library for me last week. I don’t know what got into him,” she explained.

They continued walking. Suddenly Yoojung stopped and grabbed her hand, “Is he trying to get back with you?” Sohyun shook her head. “I asked him when he asked me out to dinner. He said he wants us to stop fighting and be friends.” Seeing the raised eyebrows, Sohyun quickly reiterated, “normal friends only.” “And, you’ve agreed?” she asked. Sohyun shook her head. “I didn’t respond since I want to think about it. Anyway, he still affects me, so it's too early to be friends with him. I’m just going to ignore his attention.”

But Seungho continued to appear at unexpected points, with his captivating eyes, warm smiles, small treats and flattering comments. After some time, Sohyun noted that he did it when she is with others, never when she was alone, which made it difficult for her to confront him. Even during training, he would intentionally greet her only, making it seems there is something going on between them. Sohyun had enough and decided to confront him.

She waited at the carpark for Seungho. She was surprised to see Seungho going to his car alone, without Jieun as it was the day he supposed to send Jieun to her doctor’s appointment. “Hi,” she approached him. Seungho raised his eyes from his phone and his mouth turned up into a wide smile seeing her. “Hi” he returned the greetings.

“Where’s Jieun?” Sohyun asked.

Seungho raised his eyebrows at the question, “She should be here shortly. Are you looking for her?” he asked.

She shook her head.  “No. Just wondering,” she replied, staring directly at him. “I got to go soon. So I’m going to make this quick. A few weeks ago, you wanted the cold war between us to stop and we are to be friends, normal friends,” she paused as she looked at Seungho who stood there waiting to hear her out. His face was emotionless. “Your definition of friendships is a fluid as the water on the Han River. And that has been the issue between us. So, I’m telling you that I will stop the cold war, but I don’t want to be friends with you. Let's be strangers, you are the captain of the soccer team that I am cheering for, whereas I am just one of the cheerleaders. So, from today, please stop singling me out.”

Sohyun immediately turned to walk away but Seungho grabbed her hand. “I can’t do that. You’ve always been special to me. I can’t treat you as strangers,” he said softly.

Without turning to look at him., she responded coldly, “Then treat me as your enemy. I don’t want your attention. We are over. Stop bothering me.” She tried to pull her hand away but he held it firmly.

“I’m sorry. I know I hurt you badly and that I don’t deserve a second chance. Since then, every day was a torture knowing that I made a huge mistake. Please let me atone for it. I missed you so much,” he pleaded.

She shook her head. “I’m moving on. You should too,” she told him softly.

Seungho took a step closer to her, standing right behind her. He was tempted to put his arms around her but he held back. “I can’t. I don’t want to,” he whispered to her.

Sohyun shivered. He was so close to her that she could feel his body warmth and when he spoke near her ears, she felt like as if his words caressed her.

Before she could react, he whispered again, “Aaahh..” as he breathed in deeply, “I missed your scent.” He then released her hand and took a step back. Sohyun’s face had flushed red by then and she quickly entered her car and drove off.

“I can’t let him affect me,” she repeated it to herself in the car. But she can’t forget how she felt being that close to him. By the time she reached the office, her heart was still pounding and her hands shook. She clenched her hands and breathed deeply, trying to calm down her heart. She resolved that she won’t let him shake her and the best way was to avoid him as much as possible.

It was easier said than done. Seungho made even greater attempts to be around her. Sohyun was having lunch with a classmate one day when he joined them. He sat down in front of her, asking her friend to move slightly so that he would be sitting directly in front of her. He was polite, joining in their conversation as if it was the most natural thing to do. He wasn’t fully focussed on her, in fact, he was quite attentive to her classmate and she could see that her friend was taken by him. When he finished eating, he stood up and with a smile, told her he sees her at training later. After he left, her classmate was gushing after him.

When she walked to her classes, she was often wary as he would appear out of nowhere to walk her to her classes. She tried to ignore him or told him to go away, but he was persistently there, chatting with her classmates who by now, looked forward to his presence. Finally, Sohyun decided to go around to her classes on her own.

There is an away match. On the bus, she persuaded Hwagun to sit beside her on the bus. Hwagun was tired and fell asleep. Sohyun’s attention was on the view outside the bus when she heard Seungho woke Hwagun and asked her to let him take her seat. Sohyun was appalled. “Hwagun, stay. Don’t go,” she grabbed hold of Hwagun’s arms. Hwagun was torn. She turned her head between Seungho and Sohyun, not knowing what to do. Seungho raised his eyebrows and seemingly waiting for her to move. Giving up, she turned to Sohyun and apologized, “I don’t want to be caught between the two of you.”

Seungho sat down and gave a fuming Sohyun, a smile. She glared at him before turning her body away from him and faced the window. Sohyun stared outside for almost half an hour and was surprised that Seungho did not try to talk to her. She turned to find him sleeping, his hands were across his chest and his head lolling due to the movement of the bus. She saw that he looked tired with dark circles around his eyes. He didn’t seem to be getting enough sleep. Her heart softened and she naturally reached out to push aside his fringe that was getting into his eyes but stopped herself. She leaned back against her seat and sighed.

His phone alarm buzzed. Seungho rubbed his eyes and turned to look at Sohyun. He smiled when he saw that she no longer had her back towards him. She was listening to music. Taking the earpiece out from her ear, Seungho waited for Sohyun to turn towards him. When she did, looking very annoyed, he smiled at her sheepishly but with loving eyes. “I got to go up front now. Can I see you later tonight near the pool?” he asked hopefully. “No,” she said flatly. He pursed his lips in disappointment and sadly told her, “I’ll wait for you in case you change your mind.” When he stood up and walked to the front of the bus, Sohyun turned to the window and wondered again what she was going to do about him.

Seungho sat on the bench by the pool, his hands in his jacket as the temperature had dropped drastically that night. He wasn’t confident that Sohyun would turn up but he was still hopeful. As he waited for her, he thought of how to win her over. So far, she has been cold towards his attempts to be even just friends with her. He didn’t want to push his way back into her life, hence started with the casual hellos before he joined her at lunches. He wanted to soften her stance towards him. He then moved on towards pleading for a second chance. That didn’t work either. He was getting anxious.

In her room, Sohyun lay down on her bed, wondering if Seungho would be waiting by the pool. The weather was cold and chilly that autumn night. She walked to the bathroom window which faced the pool and searched for him. After several minutes, she caught a glimpse of him sitting on a bench at the far corner of the pool area. She looked at her phone and noted that the time is 11.45pm. “He’ll leave if I’m not there by midnight,” she consoled herself.

She lay down on the bed after turning off the light. Saeron, who she was sharing the room with, was already sleeping as they had a long day. Sohyun tossed and turned but she couldn’t sleep. Half an hour later, she went into the bathroom and looked out of the window and was shocked to see Seungho still seated.

She stood by the window, watching him warmed himself by rubbing his hands and blowing it, his head turning towards the building, probably looking out for her. She was worried. She took out her phone, contemplating messaging him that she was not going to meet him. As her worry continued, Sohyun heave a sigh of relief when she finally saw him stood up and walked back to the building.

The next morning, Sohyun bumped into Seungho at breakfast. She looked at him guiltily but he greeted her with a smile, and did not mention about the night before. From her table, she could hear him clearing his throat several times and he seemed to be having a slight cough.

Seungho blamed himself for catching a cold. He knew she was not coming and yet, he still waited for an hour. After settling all the logistics and the bus had moved off, he glanced at Sohyun’s seat. He decided not to join her as he didn’t want to infect her with his cold. Wearing a face mask, he sat down and slept.

Earlier, Hwagun told Sohyun that she would not sit with her in case Seungho comes over again. Sohyun nodded her understanding and sat listening to the music and watch the scenery. She waited for him to come over and was surprised when he did not. He must have been upset with her for the night before. “But I did tell him no, didn’t I?” she consoled herself. With that, she put her attention on the view outside the window although her mind kept straying towards Seungho.

When they arrived, Sohyun looked up to see Seungho removing his face mask and clearing his throat. Informing them that there is no training the next day, he dismissed everyone. Sohyun walked nervously out of the bus, raising her eyes to look at him. Again, he gave her a smile but Sohyun could see that he was unwell. His face has lost its color and his nose and eyes were red. She was remorseful.

Seungho went home and rested. As it was a mild cold, he recovered quickly after the good rest. The next morning, he was up and early. Decided to bring lunch to school, he texted Sohyun.

To the Hand

Good morning. Could we have lunch together today?

He stared at the phone, waiting for its response.

From the Hand

Good morning. No.

Seungho was disheartened to see her response. He looked at the packed food in front of him and then stared at the soccer field, thinking of how he can win her back. His phone beeped again.

From the Hand

You looked l