May 21, 2018

Minho eyed the girl from across his seat. He had long given up with the tutoring session when all he could see was her clouded slits of brown eyes and her late nods of understanding.

He couldn’t blame her.

After yesterday… he is even surprised she showed up in front of the school’s local bookstore which was also popular for student’s to hang out or even study in with it’s wide selection of desks and couches.

He felt a rush of anxiety, something he hadn’t felt in years maybe, when he stood in front of the bookstore, his fingers clenching onto the simple notebook in his hand. He didn’t know why he felt this nervous, his fingers twitched and plucked the spiral wire around the notebook… almost as if he was… afraid.

Yet, when he saw the familiar figure walk slowly towards his direction, he couldn’t help the rush of relief that ran into him… so she didn’t run away from him after all.

That’s what he kept thinking… that she was afraid of him.

Ready to give her a nod and a slight greeting, his eyes cut him off by the sight of her up close. From afar the girl could have looked normal with her simple black jeans and white t-shirt, but up front, he came across her swollen eyes consumed by the dark circles below them.

Her pale skin was a blessing when she was fine, giving her such a bright and youthful appearance. But her pale skin was also a curse at times like this, her eye bags contrasted rather darkly to her skin, making her look almost… dead.

“Are you okay?” His deep voice rang towards her. He was never one to care about others, but just the sight of her had him somewhat fixated onto her well-being.

She flinched, something he didn’t expect.

Snapping out of her trance, she met eyes with his large pupils and tried to hide her troubles.

“Yes, perfect. Let’s go?” She quickly diverted the topic and began gripping onto the door handle.

Minho shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and merely gave her a stoic glance, one that hid his real emotions of confusion.

He once again called to her, “Sulli.”

His voice came out rather harsh and raspy, something he didn’t mean to. But at the flinch he received, he became even more confused.

Was she… scared?

“Oh sorry…” Sulli looked at him, but everything jumbled up, overpowering her. She felt closed in, anxious, and desperate to get space on her own. “You know what? Let’s do this another time.” She began to quickly pack her things up when he spoke up.

“I’m not one to be settled with petty rainchecks, I won’t have time later on.” Minho stated rather bluntly and annoyed with her lack of cooperating and being a mess.

Sulli felt a jab stab her at that. These emotions aren’t helping her either with what she is already going through, she is confused enough.

Despite the slight hurt she felt, her lips arched into a wry smile. “It’s okay… I know I bother you already… we can look for another time, I just enjoy not being alone for once…” Quickly stuffing her things into her bag, she felt her fingers trembling.

“It doesn’t look like you are enjoying my company right now.” Minho stated, eyeing her quick actions, as if the faster she finishes, the faster she will be away from him.

At that, Sulli stopped. She looked back at him, trying to find anything out of him, but as usual, she felt herself meeting a cold wall. Sometimes she wished… oh how she wished… she could understand his emotions along with his words.

“Your company… your company is all I could ask for.” Sulli whispered, looking into her bag, avoiding eye contact.

Minho couldn’t respond, quite shocked at those words. He didn’t know what to do, he felt as if his walls were being knocked on, as if they were being bothered by someone outside.

Sulli sighed at his lack of response and his emotionless face.

“But right now, I’m confused and I won’t lie to you… I’m a bit… cautious.” Zipping her bag, she quickly placed it over her shoulders.

“I’ll see you another day, Minho. Thank you.”

And with that, their tutoring session ended abruptly and Minho’s large brown eyes were left watching the tall girl speed out of the bookstore…

The feeling that came after scared him, he didn’t like it.

He felt as if he was being gripped by the heart and threatened.

Goosebumps ran into him, he did not like this feeling at all.

Sulli walked cautiously into the classroom, the cursed statistics classroom… not hers… but his.

Sometimes, she just couldn’t help her curiosity and at this state of mind, it wasn’t curiosity anymore. It was something killing her, ending her nights of