Suddenly, Chanyeol is everywhere.

I haven’t known who Chanyeol is before and I haven’t glimpsed his face near any of my spots too, but I got to admit that I’m not the sharpest person in the shed and I usually glimpses over people’s faces with disinterest and boredom, which makes them easily forgettable. Maybe I’ve done the same to him.

Whatever it is, Chanyeol’s suddenly everywhere. I go walking inside the cafeteria for lunch food and he’s there, sitting with a mixed group of girls and boys, either laughing at something stupid or smirking at one of the girls, making her blush. I go towards the library for a borrowed book or to finish my homework of the day and I disgustingly catch him making out with a different face every day. I walk amongst our big hallways and he’s leaning against one, with a different group of people —friends — than the ones that he was with in the cafeteria. 

He’s even in my classes, which gives space for a big clue on how he knows who I am while I don’t know who he is. He knows who I am because I’m always around him in my bio, math and English classes. He even gave me a cheesy wink once when I stood gaping at the door at seeing him sitting in one of the last rows, probably a main reason on why I never noticed him in my classes because I always sit up in front.

I ignore him, of course. I pretend that he and I don’t exist in the same space, that I’m either invisible or he is. The only time we really speak to each other is to spew venom — from my side — at him and throwing cheesy pet names — his side — as we clean the detention room. Thankfully detention only took three days, so by the end of them, I never had to see Park Chanyeol again. (I found out about his name as the teacher called him once for sleeping in class).

I tend to ignore a lot of people I don’t know and try to get close to me or give them the cold shoulders. People are a distraction from being studious enough to get into a good university. Friends always want to hang out or visit cute new cafes or whatever it is that friends do that take a lot of time. I wouldn’t know because I never had any friends before, and I don’t think of wanting one any time soon. But they’re exhausting. I have enough exhausting activities to worry about in school enough than these trivial matters.

“Hey, girlie,” I hear someone with a deep voice say from the seat next to me, and I raise my head from the English text book I have been reviewing to glance at him. “Fancy seeing you here.”

It’s Chanyeol and he’s sitting right next to me. Nobody ever sits next to me because I’m one of those difficult seatmates and I admit of it. Even in those desperate days where I really long to have someone sit next to me, nobody does. To see such a big guy getting himself so comfortably on the seat besides mine. My brain’s foggy with all different emotions right now, but the biggest feeling that I’m currently going through is annoyance. 

“It’s a classroom, which we share,” I say in a perfectly bored tone, going back to my book. “Where else would you see me?”

“Are you always this pushy?” Chanyeol titters amusingly, leaning his entire length sideways, the desk squeezing loudly at his weight.

“Trust me, I can be worse,” I shoot him a pensive stare, furrowing my brows. “What do you want?”

He blinks innocently. “What ever do you mean? It’s a classroom like you said. I’m sitting in my chair next to you.”

I awkwardly look backwards at where he usually sits himself and back at him. “But you usually sit right on the back.”

“You’ve been watching me, little birdie.” He says teasingly, but the way he’s looking at me is a little mocking and dark, as if there’s something all together different in the meaning hiding under his pleasant words. I blush like a round apple at being caught so easily and at the ridiculous pet names that he likes to shoot me with. I stare back at my textbook, trying to soften the harsh redness upon my face and failing.

“No, I wasn’t,” I deny. “I just never saw you anywhere around these first rows and suddenly you want to sit next to me?” I pretend to sniff loudly. “I can smell the suspiciousness a mile away.”

He laughs, clapping his enormous hands together, his yellow tresses looking especially golden at the flare of the sun reflecting behind him. I wonder how someone looking so incredibly ethereal says stuff that makes all this beautiful glory sinks down the drain. 

“Have no fear, my sweet girl,” he reaches over and quite literally snatches my textbook from me. I glare. “I just want to sit next to you today.” His eyes flicker dangerously, and he smirks. When he speaks next, his voice is lowered. “Why, can’t get my good looking self so near you? I’m too hot for you?”

“Too hot for me?” I give him an unamused look. “You must look at your reflection wrongly in the mirror.”

He laughs again, flicking my textbook around and opening the pages loudly. He stares at the book with outmost concentration, but he’s still regarding me with his speech. “You’re cute, do you know that?”

I blush again like a sore tomato. No one has ever given me such attention like the one Chanyeol is trying to give. I admit, I push people away and I don’t allow them to get closer to me because of my overdriven ignorance and stubbornness. But no one has ever tried hard to get to know the person I am, too. No one has tried to break through my walls and destroy them. No one has given me the attention I secretly long for. The fact Chanyeol is not deterred away by my blank expressions and flat responses says something about him, but I don’t fall quickly. I’ve taken a whole lot of time and effort to build my steel armor. Chanyeol’s not going to hop over them like how he’s aiming. I’m stronger than that, and I’m definitely stronger than his stupid nicknames. 

I clear my throat, calculating how I can get my book back. “Go back to your seat. You’re too tall for the ones at the back.” There’s a part of me that’s sending him back merely for the fact he’s getting close to me, and I don’t let people get close to me. There’s another part that’s agreeing with the truth I just told him. He’s too tall to sit in chairs that are too close to the board. People at the back won’t be able to look at the front. Not that I care. I just wanted him to leave. 

“It’s not my problem students at the back are too short,” he shrugs casually, dropping my book back on my table as if he’s aware I’m looking for a loophole to bounce. Thankfully, I won’t be needing that. “Besides, I want to sit next to you today.” He says this so casually and normally that I’m taken aback by his sincerity. I stare at his face, startled, and he stares back, smirking. 

“Why?” I ask. 

“You’re interesting, babygirl,” he leans backwards against his chair and spreads his legs apart, his eyes going hooded. “And I like interesting things.”

“Did you just objectify me?” I ask with flames of red and blue going on inside my body. I’m both flattered by his words — people never see me as interesting. I’m boring. I’m mean. I’m impassive. I’m everything but the term interesting, so it’s a bit flattering to hear it — and not letting it go past my head just like that, too. 

“Is that the only thing you heard from my entire statement?” He looks at me in disbelief and slight amusement.

I stare blankly ahead as the teacher enter the classroom with a faint smirk up in his face. “I’m only able to hear sarcasm and mockery. Everything else goes from one ear to another.”

He just laughs out loud, catching a few fleeting stares that I notice shoot up to his face like perked up monkeys. I’m trying to ignore his rocking body because of laughter so close to me and focus on the teacher. You can say I’m a good girl in this aspect where I put on my best face around teachers who I don’t wish to make them hate me to fail me. I watch the teacher with focused eyes, and I catch the faint smirk up his face, the way he’s flipping his papers amusedly, and blink. , he’s planning something. Instantly, I turn to Chanyeol with wide, panicked eyes. 

“Chanyeol, get up from here right this instan—“

“Hey everyone,” the teacher calls out loudly, interrupting my words. Chanyeol blinks, and I turn to the teacher with pursed lips and wide eyes. The teacher drones loudly. “Today we have coed projects to do. I’m pretty sure this is the first one I’ve given you from the start of this semester so no need to groan out loud.” 

Everyone groans out loud anyway.

“. Chanyeol,” I smack the taller guy with my hands, trying to pull him up and push him away at the same time. Chanyeol stares at my failed attempts blankly, clearly seeing my panic. “Get the hell up from this chair right—“

“Your seat mate next to you is your partner,” the teacher bellows, smirking so haughtily you might think he saved a union in his previous life. “I’ll assign three topics for the project and all of you will choose one together. I want a thousand word for this project and I will put a special focus on the opening and ending of your projects—“

“Darn.” I zone the rest out.

Chanyeol nudges me with his elbow cheekily, and I can practically feel his smile miles away. “Hey, we’re partners.”

“. My. Life.” I stomp my forehead on the table.

-

I’m working as a cashier in a restaurant because I’m bad at doing anything else. I’ve tried cooking and cleaning, and I don’t understand how someone can at them. Cooking is based on your tastebuds and how good you are in mixing ingredients that make beautiful and delicious plates. Cleaning is about making stuff sparkle and smell nice. Have you ever seen someone who at cleaning? I understand cooking because it requires a bit of brain, but cleaning requires nothing but physical abilities to withstand your growing laziness that calls out to you every time you pick up anything dirty from the floor. So why did I ? Thankfully, cleaning the room in detention was a punishment and I excelled at doing punishments, hopefully though I don’t fall into a situation where requires another punishment. I managed one cleaning session; I might not manage any more.

It didn’t really matter, though. I had a job that worked good enough with my heavy school schedule and gave me enough time to do