Chapter XXVII: the distance

Underneath the Surface
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Chapter 27

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Hana loves the feeling of the sand underneath her feet and the view of the sun falling below the horizon, behind the palm trees in the sunny state of California. On the weekends, her university friends take her out for “instagram worthy pictures,” the adventure consisting of road trips to the mountains or the trendiest food locations. But that doesn't distract her from the longing feeling in her heart to travel the streets of Seoul with the boys and their contagious laughter, or the thought of being in Baekhyun's warm arms. To occupy herself throughout the week, she spends her days roaming the open layout of her temporary university, attending lectures with thousands of students, and sitting at a bench in the grass fields to read a book or two. At night, she’ll return to her luxurious apartment that her parents rented out for her and she’ll make a few business calls for her father. She’ll spend the rest of her night doing her homework until around 1 AM when she decides to lay in her queen-sized mattress and watch a few shows until she falls asleep at 2 AM. Then, she’ll wake up to the sound of her alarm at promptly 8 AM, jump in the shower, and have a quick breakfast before she jogs to her morning lecture.

As she checks her phone on the way to her chemistry class (she waves to a few people she recognizes, of course), she’ll notice the message from Baekhyun received at 3 AM of him wishing her a good night’s rest as he begins to settle down for dinner at 7 PM in Japan. The time difference has not been helping the distance, unfortunately. She swears the reason that she can’t fall asleep before 2 AM is because of her interest in watching mediocre television series but, she knows deep down, it’s because she hopes that she can stay awake long enough to receive a text from the boy. Even though he’s still in Japan and she’s in the United States, she knows he’s trying his best to stay in contact, even if it’s only a few messages a day. 

When Baekhyun had finally gotten hold of her after her departure, she got quite the earful regarding her lies that she spewed to the boy. After a few hours of crying (both of them, even though Baekhyun whines and says he didn’t), they agreed that a few thousand of miles apart may be helpful for both of them to get their lives rearranged.

 

Hana gently lowers her backpack onto the ground and sets her notebook with a cute pink pencil onto her ridiculously tiny desk (can it even be called a desk, honestly?). She smiles at his cute message and responds with her own shy remarks, hoping that he’s dreaming well (since it’s 2 AM in Japan). As she tucks her phone away into her pocket, a figure plops down into the seat next to her with a smile on his face.

She’s a little confused because she’s at the front of the lecture hall and no one usually tries to sit next to her except for her new friend Ashley. Speaking of, where is that brunette girl? The girl shoots him a polite smile before opening her notebook, turning to the next blank page and prettily writing the date in the top right hand corner.

The boy suddenly speaks, “Wow, you have nice handwriting.”

“Oh. Thank you,” Hana responds in her perfect English. She feels his gaze remaining on her, so she awkwardly turns towards him and throws him another polite smile before turning her attention back to her notebook. 

She’s trying to write down the title for today’s lecture (polarity, gross) but as soon as the lead of her pencil taps the off-white paper, the boy speaks up again, “My name is Mark. What’s yours?”

Hana blinks at him before answering, “I’m Hana.”

“That’s a pretty name. Are you from here?”

“No, I’m from Korea.”

“Ah, that’s cool. I’m Korean too, actually. Since you’re not from here, I can take you out this weekend to show you some cool places around here.”

Ashley, Hana’s closest friend that she’s made since her journey to the States, slides into the seat on the other side of the girl and blinks at the interaction, “Are you asking Hana on a date?”

Hana ignores the girl and responds, “That’s really nice of you, but-”

“She’d love to!” Ashley pipes up.

Hana gapes at the girl, “I have a boy-”

Ashley slaps her thigh before sweetly smiling at the black haired boy in front of them, “Do you need her number?”

The professor walks in and promptly begins his lecture without a second to spare. Hana sighs and slumps in her seat, unable to speak in fear of being called out in front of thousands of students. For the rest of the 50 minutes of class, she feels the boy’s uncomfortable gaze on her and Ashley’s persistent knowing glances. Hana thinks about the boys back home every single day, but right now, she wants to cry because of how much she misses them. She just wants a hug from Sehun and Kai, a noogie from Chanyeol, treats from Kyungsoo, sweet words from Suho, and charming kisses from Baekhyun. But, she supposes, she’ll have to deal with this for now.

//

During lunch, Hana refuses to answer Ashley’s repeated attempts at conversation as she nibbles on her spicy chicken sandwich from the Chick-Fil-A line in the cafeteria. She’s upset because, at the end of lecture, Hana tried to tell the boy at least 10 times that she has a boyfriend, but Ashley kept ignoring her protests and even gave him her number! Sure, the boy was pretty cute, but honestly, how could he compare to Baekhyun?

Ashley whines, “Hana, come on. A cute guy asked you on a date!”

“If you forgot,” Hana glares at the girl across from her, “I have a boyfriend already. Like I’d been trying to tell him for a solid five minutes before you dragged me away.”

“Yeah, a boyfriend who’s thousands of miles away and can barely talk to you because he’s busy and the time differe

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Thank you for joining me on this journey! <3 Feel free to message me on instagram @chaptersforchan or twitter @letterstoloey! I'd love to connect with you guys! Thank you for your love and support for this story! :')

Comments

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Sey-ra
45 streak #1
Chapter 38: Omo this is so nice.I want another beak story from you.
Chanchaniee #2
Chapter 38: Good story ! I love it...
Myzurah
#3
Chapter 38: Wait wait, this is the end?! Ahhwaeeeee~ You left us hanging 😆😆 But I assumed they'll get back together and perhaps engaged after getting a scold from their parents hahahahah.
gogogirl26 #4
Chapter 38: Thanks for this story, i hope they will forever happy
baeknhyu
#5
Chapter 38: will there be an epilogue?
pyonsuke
#6
Chapter 38: Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful story! It was truly such a ride, making me go through so many different feelings, you did it all! I hope you take care and I wish you good luck in uni❤️❤️❤️
gogogirl26 #7
Chapter 37: Giving a chance to someone hurt you its quite risky tho afraid that he gonna hurt you aaagain but their heart beat for each other pls dating agaain or just marry soon
gogogirl26 #8
Chapter 36: Oh no! Baek act pls soon
gogogirl26 #9
Chapter 34: Okay i hope yixing wont steal hana