A few days have passed since Jennie’s appearance at Hanbin’s house. I apologized to Hanbin the night when we had hot chocolate together, and that was the last time I met him during such hour. He told me it was not my fault, and he reminded me not to worry that much. He was also absent during dinnertime after that day and I do not even try to pry. Our shared routine is just dropping Hanbyul at school. That is also because the little girl demands me to tag along, and I do not have the heart to say no. If she did not request that, I would’ve just stayed at home after breakfast, just so I can reduce my interaction with the said guy to the bare minimum.

Spending my days reading the book I recently bought, I manage to kill time effectively and by the time I realise, it’s already Sunday and tomorrow, the semester will officially start. I smile in delight, feeling quite excited to face new challenges in new phase of my life. I also cannot wait to hang out with Jiwon and pick up from where we have left. Come to think of it, it was pure coincidence that he and I are brought together again after being apart for years. If he hadn’t picked the wrong locker, he would’ve probably left by the time I reached my locker. It was because he picked the wrong one and wasted his time there that he and I were able to meet.

Fate really is funny, isn’t it? It all doesn’t make any sense to me, how things happen the way they happen, and how we are always a decision away from living a completely different life. If I decided to work after high school instead of continuing my study, I wouldn’t be here. And if I decided to decline the offer from Seoul National University, I wouldn’t be here, and I would never meet this family, and I would never meet Jiwon again. It is because I decided to come here that I am on this path, with all these people. If I didn’t, then I would’ve lived a life that’s completely opposite from what I live right now. It really is fascinating.

“A penny for your thought?” a finger is snapped in front of my face and I blink.

“Huh?” I shake my head. “Nothing important.”

Hanbin takes a seat on the couch across me. I have spending my afternoons here in the living room, reading, and he was never there. I mean, he’s always everywhere but never there. And now there he is, with the book that I treated him the other day. He raises an eyebrow, perhaps not quite accepting my answer. He shrugs then, not prying any longer before he starts reading. He’s already halfway through the book and as he keeps flipping the pages, with his eyes so focused on the words, he looks smart… and attractive, somehow. Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean it in that way. Anyone who reads always appears attractive in my eyes—boys or girls.

“Stop staring,” Hanbin says, looking up from his book with a mischievous glint in his eyes, probably happy that he finally catches me off-guard too. “You are me through your eyes,” he cockily, proudly adds, teasing me.

My jaw drops before I scoff. “I am so not doing that,” I roll my eyes as I emphasize the word ‘doing’. “You’re not that handsome.”

“Don’t be shy, Hayi,” he continues with his teasing.

I fake a laugh. “Whatever helps you to sleep better at night.”

The next morning, we do our usual routine—having breakfast, dropping Hanbyul at her school—and after that, Hanbin drives us to the university, which soon to-be our routine as well. Like last week, he drops me in front of my faculty first.

“Thank you,” I say, to which he replies with, “It’s no problem. See you later.”

I don’t know what his ‘see you later’ means—either I’ll see him the next day or I’ll see him later today. I don’t ask, thinking that if anything, he would text me like last time. Smiling, I close the door and watches as he drives away.

I get to the classes with ease since I’ve spent some time to study the map of my faculty. The rest of the day flies smoothly without any problems at all. The classes wer