You don't get in my brain

You don't fill up the spaces

I don't whisper your name

Now that I built a fortress

- Lennon Stella

The hallway's filled. Literally. And Seulgi abhors the way she finds herself drowning, suffocating under water with the noise and the throngs of people pushing and talking over one another. She wants to be in someplace quiet where she could listen to herself think, not here, where she couldn't even speak without letting her voice float over the countless other voices.

She hates the crowd.

In a moment, Wendy's pulling her over to a corner where they could start some last-minute cramming. She was surrounded yet again by the bodies of students standing around, waiting for the big exam doors to open. 5 more minutes. 

"25 June 1950, Korean War. USA, USSR, China and the UN got involved.The Cold War, main events were Yalta Conference, Potsdam Conference, Truman's Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Stalin's salami's tactics..." Wendy was rambling, trying to remember the events and dates in their thick history textbooks but Seulgi wasn't listening. 

Because, she was frozen.

She tried to listen to Wendy, she really tried but she was unable to. Joohyun was right there, standing there, still looking so pretty and the same as ever. Seulgi wanted to push through the horde of people blocking her way to her, wanted to shout out her name to maybe wish her good luck or something, anything. She just wanted her attention for a minute, a second was fine. She just wanted her to look at her. She wanted a moment with her. 

It was impossible. She wasn't facing her. 

If anyone was looking at Seulgi, they would have seen how desperate she was. At first glance, she seemed just like a typical student - nervous and anxious for the exam. However, all those feelings she had was not because of the exam but because of the raven-haired girl standing just right opposite her.

Seulgi was tapping her feet unconsciously and every now and then, she would turn her head imperceptibly towards Joohyun and gaze at her for three seconds before shifting her gaze to somewhere else. She knew that she should just stick to what she had been doing four months prior - don't try too hard, acknowledge when she looks but don't approach. But she was so close to breaking; the dreams last night wasn't helping in the least.

Joohyun turned around before Seulgi could even act as though she hadn't seen her. 

Seulgi held her gaze and gave a small smile which probably looked more like a grimace before having an internal panic attack. Her heart was pumping so rapidly in her chest that she could practically hear the beating of her heart. And it didn't soothe her, it only served to make her feel light-headed. She could suddenly feel everything - the bead of sweat making its way down her back, the watchful eyes of Wendy. She couldn't function properly.

She was afraid of her response, mostly, before anything else. She wanted her to wave or smile back or maybe a small nod.

However, Seulgi wasn't paying attention to her and was just trying to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling. She didn't notice the large grin on Joohyun's face or the twinkle in her eyes that shone like the stars after dark.

Only a second had passed. It seemed like hours.

Seulgi calmed her beating heart and glanced at her. She was still beaming, eyes crinkled and Seulgi was caught in a whirlwind of emotions. She couldn't feel the crowd around her, didn't care about anything else except catching another glance of Joohyun. She was still in a dazed, unsure if Joohyun was really looking at her. After all, they hadn't