♠♠♠♠♠

A few steps inside the lobby and Namjoo turned around. Some kind of light feeling bubbled within her. Yanking her heartstrings unexpectedly. She didn’t know what or how to describe it, but it fluttered there resolutely.

Walking over to the wide window wrapped around the first floor, Namjoo went toward the window. Touching the cool silver frame watching Sehun walk down the pavement to his dorm. She stayed there until he became a speck and disappeared in the distance.

Firmly smiling to herself she went to the elevator and took the elevator to her floor.

The next morning, she found herself wandering through the library, browsing the tables for its occupant. She even traveled all the way to the corner. Spotted an unfamiliar face before veering back into the hallway and away.

“Daydreaming?” Setting her tray down she took the seat across from Jongin. His box of fries sat off to the side untouched.

It was lunch. She had some time to spare before heading to class. After paying for her meal she’d recognized him from the condiment counter. Some days it had been since she’d talked to him even if they had seen each other here and there.

Since the trip to Busan some kind of wedge had dug itself into their friendship. Namjoo wasn’t sure why or how it happened, but it had. She more than wished to excuse that it was the circumstances of life, but knew better.

Some things unsaid between them hung there invisibly. A desperate force yearning to be reckoned. Like they had been going up a mountain together but suddenly they were lost and neither wanted to go back down nor any further up. Just stuck as if they were in quicksand. The more you moved the more you get pulled in. Both afraid to be the first initiator, so it was safer not to do anything.

“Not really. Just wasting some time.” She noticed a stapled packet fully opened. He was editing something she couldn’t see.

“Your paper?” Namjoo wondered. Jongin was in several Literature classes. Reading into Greek mythology. Another was creative writing. The other looked into television shows and the work behind the scenes; fancy for dialogue studying.

“Hey.” A voice made her look up to see Hayoung removing her backpack in the chair beside him.

Namjoo couldn’t quite decipher her feelings. Hurt, offended that Jongin hadn’t told her he wasn’t alone. And she felt stupid for feeling these motions, for even coming to sit with him.

“Hi, Namjoo.” Hayoung chirped picking up her plastic fork.

“Hey.” She kind of muttered slowly sticking her salad into .

“How is it?” Hayoung turned to Jongin. “Is it A+ material?”

“This paragraph loses the focus of the topic of your argument…” Pushing the paper into her view his voice faded as Namjoo watched and continued to stuff herself.

In her life she had never been regarded the third wheel.

“You are the main lead. You’re the star of the show,” her mother always chanted until the words were engraved into her brain, her mind, her system.

Namjoo didn’t like nitpicking, but right now she felt slighted from her big role on stage. It was unfair. She wasn’t used to this.

“A letter came for you in the mail.” The student at the reception desk called out when she walked into the dorm.

Nodding Namjoo went over to collect an envelope. She didn’t look at where it had come from until she reached her room.

It wasn’t from home.

An affiliate of her mother’s was reaching out to her.

♠♠♠♠♠

He should’ve said something. The thought ran around in his head counterclockwise when he walked out of the cafeteria building with Hayoung. He didn’t even know what his best friend was up to these days. Usually he did but they didn’t regularly text anymore like she was holding off on something. Kind of like he was to her about Sehun.

Advising was permissible, but telling Namjoo to do this or that in this day and age especially when she could make her own decisions was crossing the line.

What if Hayoung was right? What if Namjoo liked him? What was Jongin to do about it? It made him sound pushy even if he was just looking out for her.

At this point there was really not much for him to say. Not like either of their parents knew anything anyway. Consequences could come later.

Jongin’s phone rang three steps later and he regretted speaking so fast.

One look at the caller on the screen and he said, “Sorry, I have to answer this.”

Stepping into an isolated corner, he answered the phone. His dad’s voice blared on the other end. “Son! How are you doing? Are you in class right now?”

“No, I just had lunch.”

“Lunch?” The old man guffawed. “That’s good, that’s good. You shouldn’t skip your meals; you’ll break your mother’s heart.”

Jongin smiled and nodded as if his father was right there and could see him.

“Are you studying for exams?” His father cluelessly questioned. “Is it mid-terms right now?”

“Mid-terms are over.”

“Is that so?” His father’s voice shot up a notch. “Then it must be close to end of the year?”

“The semester ends in two months.” Jongin explained.

“Good news, good news.”

Jongin waited because his father didn’t often call to check on his welfare. The old man was dillydallying.

“Are you busy this week?” His father jumped start the real conversation.

“I should be.”

“Come home. There’s something important I need to talk to you about.”

Agreeing, Jongin bid farewell and hung up the phone. Tucking it into his pocket he walked back to where Hayoung was still waiting for him.

“Did something happen?” She worried.

“No, nothing.”

As they turned to continue, she told, “Sehun has a date later.” When he looked at her she hurried on, “If it’s going to cause a problem, I can tell him the club has a last minute meetup she can’t miss.”

Focusing on the pavement stretching in front of him he debated. “You don’t have to.”

♠♠♠♠♠

All day Sehun looked forward to this. Double checking his bank account at the student union he’d later run out from class in order to be the first in line to wash his clothes. Later deciding a good half hour which outfit made him the most handsome.

Late last night he’d ran out to grab a bottle of body spray, the cheapest of its kind from the convenience store. Disappointedly traveling to the center of the city for a more luxurious brand took too much time. Upon arrival the outlets would have already closed for the night. He made do what he had. Sniffed himself a couple times to ascertain he smelled nice and attractive.

Done and good. Satisfied he buried his wallet in his back pocket and ran out of the dorms. They were meeting by the bus stop. From there on they were going to the mall. Not to shop, but Sehun knew of a really good restaurant there. High ceilings, a side panel consisted of glass walls, a kind of fancy place with waiters and waitresses dressed their best in black and white. Leather bound menus were handed out once they were led to available tables.

Sehun wanted a window seat. In case he needed to pretend to look elsewhere for some breather. Namjoo would be pretty he knew and he was already anxious. Hoped not to mess up today and end up looking like an idiot like all the previous times.

This was supposed to be a quick trip there and back. And not a date, but he had dolled himself up too much. A good impression lasted, right?

Nearing the bus stop Sehun gave himself a onceover. Assuring himself he hadn’t totally gone all out. It was close to the weekend, but not actually the weekend yet. He was mindful that Namjoo had morning classes. At least he thought she did, he couldn’t be a thousand percent sure. He never asked but to be cautious was better than not.

They would be back before ten at latest. It wasn’t like college students slept at an according schedule, but he didn’t want Namjoo to stay up too late. The last thing he wanted was to be interfering with her studies.

Sehun stopped short when he saw that Namjoo was already at the bus stop. His heart thudded. Exhaling he went forth.

“You’re already here?” he started.

Turning at his voice, Namjoo smiled. “I got out of class early.”

He wondered if she had rushed out like he. Trying to withhold his excited smile, he said, “So, I thought about it…I mean, of course we don’t have to do anything really fancy or anything, but they have a nice restaurant at the mall. I’ve been there before and they have really delicious stuff on the menu. It’s going to be some forty-minute round trip and I know it’s not the weekend yet, but…”

“It sounds fun,” Namjoo cut his rambling off.

Sehun paused. Thought to himself. “Oh…yea?” He was doing it again. Being nervous unlike his casual self. Was he turning Namjoo off?

She nodded. “The bus is almost here.”

The trip to the wasn’t as bad as he imagined. It was kind of sweet. Heart pounding for him at most. Namjoo took a window seat and even opened the window. Poking her head out so she could face the breeze. Sehun watched the wind tangle through her hair. Notice the big smile on her face and it simply brightened him. The sight of her enjoying herself. Having fun beside him. It was so simple.

It was rush hour when they arrived at the mall, the hot spot for hot blooded youths to gather after classes. Sehun could easily spot the students skipping extra hour classes. The lot of them hovering around food booths or the arcade. Noisy teens acting out because they thought it was cool.

Sehun shuffled past with Namjoo. The restaurant was straight ahead. All the way down the hall on the other side of the gaping entrance. Through it he already spotted the classy wooden top tables and foodies dining. They passed a juice stall in the center aisle on the right. Four feet from it two garbage cubicles with trays strewn atop. Dining tables were spread around the lobby surrounded by various fast food restaurants. Lines had formed zigzagging around the open space.

Along the way Namjoo’s eyes stayed concentrated on the arcade on their left. Her stare so hard her head pivoted to keep it in sight despite her legs taking her forward. Until he halted.

“Do you want to go play?” Sehun asked.

Namjoo came off almost shy to much of his surprise. She fiddled with her fingers skittishly. “Do you mind?”

His brows jumped up a bit then grinned. They ended up not visiting the restaurant of his choice. Didn’t quite matter that he’d spent all night pondering over where to have dinner, what he’d talk about, or how he wanted the outcome of the night to be.

This was a more realistic ideal date for a regular college student. He didn’t need to reserve a restaurant, reserve seating, and prepare a hundred bucks for steak and wine. Sehun honestly wasn’t that kind or man or had the means. Spending a good hour and a half in the arcade wouldn’t break his wallet.

Hearing Namjoo’s whoops of joy and her laughter of astonishment as she learned how to kill zombies, ride a motorcycle and try not to crash into obstacles, or beat him at how fast she could shoot a basketball through a hoop. He taught her the whack-a-mole game she seemed kind of obsessed with. They even tried the punch bag machine to see whose punch was stronger.

What felt like six games was actually an hour more of their time. “Can we have pizza?” Became Namjoo’s last bout of the evening.

Sehun was giddy even if nothing had resonated romantic. After the first slice of pizza Namjoo had mulled over her greasy hands. Then she devoured another slice hungrily forgetting he was also there. When she caught his eyes, she cheekily laughed bringing a smile to his lips.

On the way out Namjoo continued eyeing her surroundings, as if she found everything peculiar. “What’s that?” She pointed toward a booth with a curtain concealing the inside. Sehun watched a couple of girls hurrying out and pick up their pictures from the side slot.

“A photo booth.” He answered.

“It looks fun.” She glanced at him.

Fun he was realizing was becoming her word of choice tonight. “Then, want to try it?”

Eagerly nodding she hurried toward the machine. He didn’t really care much for something like this. It felt like something girls would love, taking pictures, making funny faces for memory. It never sounded appealing to him, but as Namjoo was interested he was too.

That was exactly what they ended up doing. The funny faces, ogling over backgrounds and graphics like they were children. But the end result was more satisfying than he expected. So, when Namjoo, eyes twinkling as bright as her mesmerized smile, picked up their pictures he didn’t think he would ever forget this day.

♠♠♠♠♠

“It looks like we missed the bus,” Sehun sounded troubled when he took a step into the road and peered down the road for the public transportation. Vehicles dangerously zipped past bringing him back onto the sidewalk.

No one had been standing by the bus sign when they arrived. That should have been the biggest denominator that no more buses were making anymore stops. Yet they waited for half an hour hoping.

“Maybe we should call a cab.” He wondered.

Namjoo caught him glancing at his wallet worried. She only had a card, so Sehun had spent most of his money on the arcade, the pizza, and the photo booth.

Though she was aware cabs could accept electronic payments, she said, “We can walk back.”

“To campus?” his eyes widened exasperated. She imagined the mere thought must tire him especially after an entire day of playing with her.

Namjoo had had much fun. She hadn’t felt like this before. This kind of freedom. Enjoying herself. Being…a kid. And the junk food. The pizza. What was always a rare treat for her she had plenty today and it was deliciously satisfying. She was so blissful – if that was not too big of a word to describe the happiness flowing through her.

To be honest she did want to stay out a little longer. With Sehun was good, too. She was starting to appreciate his presence. Being with him made her feel bubbly. The sensation was warm; felt like some kind of brew boiling and threatening to overflow.

“I suppose we should.” Tilting his head back he observed the dim sky. “It’ll be dark in a few hours we could get locked out of the dorms.”

Heading down the sidewalk at an even pace, Namjoo kept a light grip on the picture from the photo booth. She had given him the other and kept one for herself. Merely thinking about it made her insides tingle. Whatever this feeling was she welcomed it wholly.

“Want to take a break?” Sehun suggested after half a dozen blocks. The trees had gone still. Traffic quieter. Most gone home to rest for tomorrow’s dues. The complexes around them glowed yellow. Through some curtained windows the television blared on the other side.

Opposite the blocked apartments the business buildings were abandoned for the evening. All the parking lots occupied with only few vehicles. The sun had surpassed the treetops disappearing somewhere below the skyline. Light was still visible, but the street lamps were coming on.

Namjoo did consider calling a cab for them, but she had never taken a stroll at night before. Taste the light breeze of spring on her skin. Watch the delight of the sunset or the stars come to life, faintly sparkling beneath the city’s superficial glow. And she had never walked with someone that made her feel good.

So, this felt special. A part of her wanted to carefully fold and tuck it away, remember it forever.

“Then, let’s sit there.” Namjoo pointed to a children’s playground across the street. The property belonged to the towering apartment complex, but the area was completely empty. Supposing they wouldn’t get in trouble, Namjoo first darted across the street. With no choice Sehun followed.

Grabbing a swing set of her own excitement, Namjoo sat down. A rush of adrenaline surged through her. In elementary she’d always seen her classmates scream with whoops of joy, scream, and chase each other on the school playground after school as they waited for parent to pick them up. While her mother chauffeured her away from the children, Namjoo keenly watched as they drove from the school. The laughter on their faces, their giggles of happiness had always been engraved in her memory.

This was that exact feeling she thought. What the children must feel on the playground. The height of glee.

“It’s small, I’m surprised you fit.” Sehun commented breaking her out of her euphoria.

“Oh…” She glanced at him standing to the side. Grasping onto the handle, she said, “I should probably get off.”

“Want me to push you?” He suddenly asked.

Her eyes brightened. “Really?”

Without waiting he stepped away from the set and pulled her back on the swing, gently letting go. Namjoo screeched joyously as the force of gravity pushed her forward, but her legs were long so on the way back her feet skid against the ground. Abruptly bumping into Sehun she came to a full stop.

Her chest beat up and down. Breathing choppily because she was so wired up. Waking from the childish spell only when she felt his grasp on the swing handle slowly inch toward hers. The touch was burning.

That tickling feeling again. She inhaled another breath as her eyes fluttered and slightly twisted her head to glance back. It felt like slow motion when she tilted her gaze to peer up at him. Saw that his eyes were on her, too.

The lamps along the darkening streets seemed to glow brighter and the universe spun around her in a haze. She felt into the lure of his gentle stare.

“You’re pretty.”

That tingling sensation again, but even harder this time.

***Whose ready for that time skip? Good innocent times are almost over