Special Chapter 1.1: That One Cute Girl In Class (what is education anyway)

When Nako first chose to take a course in Korean Literature, she went into it knowing it wasn’t going to be fun and games. She expected readings, analyses, and essays. What she didn’t expect was how ridiculously boring lectures would be. As she sat in the middle of the lecture hall, surrounded by a group of students lightly snoring or secretly playing on their phones, Nako found herself halfway through to sleeping, and she had to smack her forehead on the table to wake herself up.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced around the room. Everyone else around her were first-years, with a couple of keen postgraduate students sitting in the front hanging on to every word the lecturer was saying. Nako was trying to focus, she really was, but as her lecturer droned on and on everything just blurred into white noise.

Before she knew it, the lecture was over and her notebook was as blank as before. Well, hell. Hopefully the tutorial would go better. Maybe. 

It didn't. It wasn’t her fault, though, that a cute girl with long blonde hair decided to sit in front of her and instantly disrupted any semblance of logical thought in Nako’s brain. How was she supposed to pay attention when in the presence of a pretty girl with the softest cheeks ever seen? 

Totally impossible.

As the tutor talked about ancient literary masters and the whatnot, Nako leaned forward. She wanted to introduce herself to the cute blonde, get to know her. Just making friends, she told herself; that was a Nako thing. Nothing to do with the fact that Nako found the girl very attractive and thought they’d make a pretty cute couple if she did say so herself, nope.

Now how would she get the attention of a cute girl? It turned out that being petite - petite, not short - had its perks. Noting that the seat next to the blonde girl was empty, Nako squeezed under the table she was at and popped up on the other side. Maneuvering herself into the empty seat, she grinned when the blonde turned to her, surprise evident on her ridiculously adorable face.

“Hi,” Nako whispered sheepishly. “Sorry for surprising you, it’s just that I couldn’t see what the tutor was writing from back there, so I moved here.”

The blonde girl nodded in understanding. “Fair enough,” she whispered back. “Our tutor does have very small handwriting. Sometimes I still can’t see what he’s writing even from here.”

Nako chuckled, attracting the attention of their tutor. Shrinking in her chair, she waited until he turned back to the whiteboard before speaking up again. “My name’s Nako, by the way.”

“Hitomi.” The blonde girl smiled politely at her before turning back to the tutor. She picked up her pen and started to take notes.

“Hitomi, huh?” Nako murmured, grinning to herself. It was a pretty name, she thought; she liked the way it rolled off her tongue. “Hitomi.”

Over the weeks, she found herself looking forward to seeking out that shock of blonde hair at classes. Tutorials became infinitely more interesting whenever Nako managed to secure what she deemed the most coveted spot in the entire room: a seat next to Hitomi. Screw paying attention to the tutors; Nako would much rather observe the pretty girl sitting next to her. Don’t tell Eunbi, her older sister, that though. She’d murder Nako in an instant.

Of course Hitomi would be writing notes down - of course Nako would be admiring the way Hitomi wrote, each letter neatly printed out in black ink so that her notes were legible and easy to follow.

Of course Hitomi’s gaze would be focused on whoever is speaking in class - of course Nako’s would be trained on the blonde, observing how she’d pout her lips and puff out her cheeks when she didn’t fully comprehend something, or perk up with bunny-like teeth in a grin when she understood something.

She was too cute. Was it legal to be this cute?

“Nako.” Hitomi’s soft voice brought Nako back to the present. “The stuff he’s going through is going to be on the test next week. I know you're smart, but you might still want to pay attention.”

“It’s alright, Hitomi. I’ve got you to help me, right?” Nako sent her a blinding smile, making Hitomi scoff and roll her eyes.

“I can’t believe you.”

“Yes, Honda? Did you want to contribute ideas to today’s discussion?” The tutor called out. Hitomi froze in her seat. Hurriedly shaking her head, she kicked a laughing Nako under the table before burying her face in her hands from embarrassment.

Amused, Nako patted Hitomi’s head gently. “Sorry, sorry.”

“You’re evil,” Hitomi hissed under her breath. “Why do I always agree to studying with you again?”

“Because you love me?” Nako offered, teasing.

Hitomi only huffed and turned b