So it had been three years.

It was a new school semester, no doubt about that, but the numbers of freshmen enrolling just seemed to have quadrupled by the year. It was never this crowded in the last three years Taegi’s been transferred into the system, and it wasn’t until recently that she had gotten to know Sungyeol and the others either.

Lee Sungyeol was one of the few classmates in her course who Taegi actually got along with.

The girl who went from riches to rags after the death of her parents.

The girl who was undesirable, who clung helplessly to Kim Myungsoo.

That was what they all associated her with, when the rumours of her mundane past came with her transfer into the campus for the elite after the incident, but Sungyeol was the only one who didn't count the superficialities and insisted on helping her. If not for him, Taegi couldn't even begin to imagine where she would be right now. In a sense, Sungyeol saved her that day, but she knew never to exploit his kindness. Others say it was out of sympathy, but Taegi learned to ignore all those - there was always a kind of divine connection between them that she could never explain, that no one else would ever know.

She shared with Sungyeol the same timetable slot here and there, and for about a whole year now, one could say that the two of them were the best of friends. Well, to Taegi anyway. She didn't have many friends. Sungyeol, on the other hand, did. Although the two of them didn’t exactly classify themselves much with the other five members of his clique, Taegi still managed to remember there being a guy named Sungjong from the barista department, Sunggyu and Woohyun from the vocals workshop, and Hoya and Dongwoo from the dance and performance wing. Sometimes, she would think that they were still afraid to speak to her, her hanging out with the mysterious Kim Myungsoo and everything, who was supposedly notorious for his dangerous looks and failing marks.

But the issue had died down since, and Taegi couldn't help but take a loving to her studies at this place. The boys were nicer to her lately, too. They popped up here and there by Sungyeol’s dorm at the campus when Taegi stayed over for extra study tutorials. Too bad Taegi never had the same financial privileges of boarding at the school, though.

❖❖❖

For a while now, Taegi had been thinking that maybe, if they had kept at this pace, she would actually have a chance with Sungyeol–a chance that would bring her a step closer to getting to know him better. She did dub him her saviour, after all. But when she remembered that this semester was going to be her last peaceful one at the campus, she let her unhealthy thoughts put herself to shame. Soon they were going to be facing midterms. Surely it would make sense if she held her feelings in and confessed to him at a more appropriate time… or waited until he confessed, the latter of which would have been even more ideal, but the fact that tomorrow was Valentine’s Day wasn’t helping with her insecurities...

At all.

Roses were already hung up on lockers, and posters promoting all sorts of lover’s activities were taped along the walls of the campus. Every time a couple walked pass, Taegi would feel the atmosphere beside the boy she liked go awkward and her words, awry, or she would look hard in the other direction and try to change the subject. But Sungyeol didn’t seem to mind. He wore his pokerface as always; composed, intelligent, happy, a mischievous grin carved onto his face. Even Taegi could never truly tell what her best friend was thinking. It was as though the swarm of couples around them had done nothing to settle their relationship, and unlike her, Sungyeol didn't beg to differ.

That was what confused Taegi the most.

Suddenly feeling stressed about her feelings, the millions of questions she had been trying to avoid all year came back to haunt her. This year’s 14th of February was going to be the first she could spend with him as someone close. But should she tell him that she had liked him since their incident with the tiramisu cake? Would it be too sudden? Or did he already know? Who was she to him? Perhaps true love was an overstatement. Sungyeol always acted nice to her, but she didn’t know if he felt the same towards her. Worst case scenario was that he was nice towards everyone. Taegi was a er for those sorts of people. Or maybe she just felt indebted to him... in a way. She’d seen it all in the television shows already, and usually the ones who loved them ended up being abandoned.

... Heartbroken.

That was the last thing she needed after being shunned by almost everyone.

Okay, so maybe she should wait just a little longer.

Trying to console herself upon her vision of failure if she confessed, Taegi sipped down her yakult supply. She watched from the corner of her eyes as the boy next to her jumped up and down with food already in his mouth as he pointed at a free table a couple of girls had just vacated. One of them stopped to greet him, and Sungyeol excused himself from her company when she pulled out a rosy envelope to give to him. He took it. But when he kindly made it clear to her that he was going to refuse her proposal, a sad smile lingered on the girl's face, and she shot a sideward glance at Taegi.

She was new, and she was already getting to Sungyeol before she was. It wasn’t even Valentine’s Day yet.

Feeling quite pathetic, though relieved that her sudden fit of jealousy had subsided, Taegi made her way over to the table first, and sighed as she took a seat Sungyeol had just pulled out for her. She was met once again with the comely look on his face; the same one he showed her every other day, as though unfazed by the junior's confession. She wondered if Sungyeol would turn her down in the same way, and then come back as though nothing ever happened, if she had told him of her feelings. It was only at that point in time that Taegi realised how many different girls she would be going up against if she had actually wanted to date the boy in front of her. They all liked him. They all had money, potential even--she didn't.

What Taegi failed to realise however was how special and lucky she had been to be his friend; and that Sungyeol was actually watching the soured expression on her face the whole time she spent ruminating. That was what he liked about her too, he guessed. No price tags, no expectations, just her down-to-earth nature and a heart transparent with purity.

To Taegi, it looked as if there was going to be one more lonely girl for Valentine’s Day on the campus this year; but to Sungyeol, there was going to be one less.

--`,-{@}-`,--`,-{@}-`,-`-,-`-,--

a/n: thanks guys who actually bother to read~ TAEGI STOP FANTASISING ABOUT SUNGYEOL ;A;