Lunch break at the university campus was greeted by an influx of new students, and it was on top of that, along with the mere fact that she had finally spotted him amongst the rowdy school bunch, that Taegi found it extremely difficult to breathe.

She didn't realise it until now, but she missed him so much.

Her grip around the strap of her backpack tightened as she tried to calm herself down, the rapid trail of thoughts whizzing around in the expanse of her own mind reducing to none. He had just finished giving directions to a new female student next to him, and was bending down to her locker to help her slip a few of her textbooks in. Was he always this nice to everyone? No wonder Taegi always liked him more than just a friend.

Taegi grew impatient watching the never-ending stream of student body leaving for the school cafeteria and tippy-toed on both feet in an attempt to peek over his shoulders. At that point in time, though, he had already turned around, and for a second their gazes locked. He removed himself from the new student, who politely thanked him, and the shadows of tiredness and stress on his face faded. He smiled.

“Taegi-ah!” the voice resonated from across the hallway, and despite the millions of other students walking by, Taegi felt as though for that second, the world was actually revolving solely about the two of them. It was a beautiful voice - much more lyrical and fitting for a singer than the young passionate artist who she had known, a voice that could cure her failing attention spans, a voice that was capable of changing her mind as long as it had  made the attempt to ask...

The voice that did amazing things, simply because it belonged to Lee Sungyeol.

The pit of her stomach filled with butterflies, like it always had whenever he was the one who started the conversations with her. Noticing the usual glossy black specs sitting on his nose to the white polo shirt free of the mole on his neck underneath his beige coloured blazer to the woollen scarf engulfing his chin, she had to refrain from biting her nails out of nervousness. They were manicured in a beautiful baby pink nail polish solution today and matched well with the conservative shades of her hand knit sweater. Everything Taegi had on her was of some variation of a peach tint on the spectrum of colours, and the only reason was because she knew it was Sungyeol's favourite colour on a girl.

She felt like she could recite a whole mental list of other stupid and fascinating things she found attractive about him, but refrained from getting herself started, because then she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop.

Taegi pulled her mind out of the clouds when she realised he was actually trying to approach her. She returned his attention for her with the most natural smile she could pull and held her hand up just in time to catch his wave. “Hey Yeol, wanna grab lunch together?”

Closing the last inch of space between them, he slung his bag over his left shoulder while his other arm carried a new load of visual art textbooks. “Well, then, what are we waiting for?”

❖❖❖

Walking to the cafeteria side by side, the two filed into the senior line and waited their turns to be supplied with lunch by the canteen ladies. As she stepped into her spot, Taegi’s eyes trailed over to the line on the other side of the room. Actually, it wasn’t even a line anymore. It was more like a clutter of children whom were let free from the supervision of their parents on a parent-teacher interview night event. It was her first year experiencing this as a senior at the campus, and the irony was, for once, she actually felt like she fitted in with the crowd. They found themselves lining up towards the end of the shorter line, and could only sigh at such absurdity though they were glad they were seniors and not assigned to the junior section of the cafeteria. She shook her head thinking about all the new freshmen they were going to have to 'look after'.

“This is crazy,” Taegi said, horrified at the increase in population at the campus.

“You don’t have to tell me that again,” Sungyeol nodded in harmony to her thoughts while moving forward to grab his share of lunch. He seemed like he was having a hard time choosing between the kimchi and the tofu stew.

“Yah, ppali, I’m hungry,” Taegi pouted.

But when he heard that, he only deliberately slowed down. If there was one thing Taegi had forgotten to make a note of on the ‘every day thing’s to look out for’ list for Lee Sungyeol, then it was probably the statement which said that he had the demeanour equivalent to that of an elementary choding’s.

She whacked his arm, and for a moment the two of them forgot that there were still students waiting behind them. Taegi even thought she heard the guy behind them grumble.

“O-o-okay I was only kidding!” he teased, before finally deciding on the tofu stew and a bottle of cold banana milk he was planning to save for his afternoon classes. He didn't have to tell her that for her to know; it was the daily routine and Taegi memorised it well. Remembering them as the weirdest yet his favourite combination at the cafeteria counter, other than pocketing a can of yakult, Taegi chose the same.

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a/n: I think I'll try to stick with shorter chapters this time round so I can update faster ahihihihi.