Hani

15 minutes later, I was out the door, into the cold autumn night. While standing outside the store, I stretched out my stiff body from sitting too long and took a deep breath. I can't wait to get home and have my nap, I thought, looking forward to getting home to see my bed.

As I was about to make my way home, I noticed a figure, leaning against the wall by the store. Sehun stood there with one hand carrying a plastic bag from the store and another, stuffed in his jacket. I could sense his agitation by the look on his face, probably because of the cold. He must have had noticed me standing outside the store as he swiftly pushed himself off the wall and with a grin on his face he said, "Oh, finally! You didn't answer my previous question about the timing of your shift so I figured I should just wait for you," His voice sounded light like he was glad to see me but on the other hand, I was too astounded by the casualness that I just stared at him in disbelief. 

"C'mon it's late, I'll walk you home," he said as he makes a turn to his left and starts walking. Okay now he's being really creepy, I thought. When Sehun realized that I was not following him, he turned to look at me and waited. After briefly giving some thought to it, I decided to just go with it, I mean what could he possibly do to me… Besides, it's rude to reject, right…? I thought, considering the possibilities and the curiosity as to why he is treating me this way.

"My house is this way actually," I pointed to the other direction.
“Wow! Finally, you said something to me for the past 20 minutes or so,” he said with a very pleased look on his face. "And of course, lead the way."

I walked side-by-side with Sehun, maintaining a decent space between us. Both of us were quiet during the walk, lost in our own thoughts, which got me thinking why he offered me a walk home in the first place. The atmosphere between us was rather awkward, at least to me it was. 

I sneaked a look and saw him looking forward with a blank expression, he seems like he was lost in his own thoughts as well. I could see his almost flawless skin clearly despite the horrible lighting, realizing the huge difference between us.

Sehun is really good looking… No wonder girls go crazy for him, I thought, mesmerized by his good looks.

"Don't you have school later?" Sehun broke not only the silent but also my thoughts.

So he really doesn’t recognize me, I told myself, feeling a little disappointed. It wasn’t like his fault for not noticing me in school. Why would a popular kid like him notice a loner like me? I thought as I felt sorry for myself.

I pushed away my thoughts and replied to him, "I do actually, but…,” I wasn’t comfortable to tell him anything about my life. It took me a few moments to recollect my thoughts and finally continuing my sentence. “I have commitments to fulfil.” 

Sehun looked at me, “Such a responsible girl. That’s good."

Was that a compliment? From Sehun? I thought, feeling a little pleased but all I could do was gave him a weak smile. 

"Were you waiting for me earlier?" I asked.

"To be honest since the day I was with Kai, that wasn't the last time I came here. I came here quite a few times but it was always a grumpy old lady behind the counter instead."

Both of us laughed simultaneously, “She is always grumpy, God knows why. My life probably more than hers and I'm not even half as grumpy as her," I rolled my eyes bitterly. “Anyway, we're here already.” I stop right in front of a run-down looking building. “You didn't have to walk me home, I'm used to it already. But thanks anyway!" I told him with a wide smile that has been long gone from me. Sehun looked up at the building. I noticed his judging eyes and quickly gave him an awkward laugh while rubbing the back of my neck, “It's not much but it's enough,” as I look down with embarrassment.

"Hey don't get me wrong, I didn’t think about it like that.” Sehun cleared the misunderstanding. "Well, you better get going now. It’s really late and you have school later. I don’t want you to blame me for waking up late if we were to continue talking like this."

Although there was a little tease in his voice, I heard sincerity and concern in them. I looked up to him only to see that he was now standing a lot closer than before. Both of us stood there, just staring at each other and I could feel my face was starting to get hot.

A smile slowly crept on Sehun’s face and then he laughed at my flustered face. When I finally looked down to avoid his eyes, he reaches over to my head and gave me it a light pat. 

"See you around.” He turned and left me standing there in front of my apartment building, still looking flustered from his tease.

The next morning or should I say after I had taken my nap from work, I look at myself in the mirror after my hot shower and I noticed how haggard I looked. Memories of last night played back in my mind, I kept asking myself, how it turned out this way. It feels like a dream though. Then I gasped, "Oh my god!! I should just die!! I must've looked so hideous!" I can't imagine Sehun looking at this face of mine, I look like a walking corpse. "I could have passed as a zombie from the walking dead." I let out a heavy sigh. “No wonder he wasn’t able to recognize me at school.”

'knock knock'

"Hani-ah, breakfast is ready and please hurry or you'll be late." Mum nagged.

"Okay, mum. Coming!" I quickly put on my uniform and comb my hair neatly to tie it up into a ponytail. I came out of the toilet and have my breakfast. As I sit at the table quietly having my breakfast, my mum was reading the newspaper.

"Hani, please be extra careful these days when you come back home from your part-time job ok? I heard there's been a report about a stalker around this area. He preys on young females like you." She said with a concerned tone.

Hmm... Stalker? I thought. "Don't worry mum. Besides the store isn't that far from home." I assured her, though deep down I was a little worried about it too, I try not to show it in front of mum, I didn't want my worries to affect her health even more. "Well, I'm just asking you to be more cautious, that's all." She warned. "Will do," I responded. Then I did a time check and it was already 6.30am. I quickly finished up my food and took my school bag. I kissed my mum on the cheek and left for the subway station.

I lived quite a distance from school so I have to leave my house early as not to be caught tardy. As I was walking to the subway station nearest to my house when I noticed a guy from afar who's wearing the same school uniform as me. 'Didn't know anyone from my school stayed around here. I've never seen him before.' I gave a quick glance at my watch and it was almost 6.45am. 'Oh crap! I don't want to miss the train!' I picked up my pace and walked passed the guy. I wouldn't want to be in detention for being late.