Scribbles

He was doing it again.

He always did this, literally never failed to. Maybe it was the monotone pitch of their teacher’s voice of the overwhelming unimportance of the stuff they were suppose to be learning, but there he was. Facedown on the table. It was wonder to her how he managed to keep his hair so perfectly maintained. Not to mention how, despite his obvious slumber, never get pulled up by the teacher.

Lime rolled her eyes back to said teacher, couldn’t help but count the limited remaining eyelashes that tried to decorate the brown orbs. Maybe it was just that their teacher didn’t care. She sure as hell didn’t put that much attention into her lessons.

Actually, the whole stupidity of ancient history escaped Lime. Who cared about a bunch of old dudes who’d long ago seen their graves? Their teacher, apparently. A soft but frustrated sigh left her lips as she aimlessly jotted down notes that would later be shared with the idiot beside her, all thanks to puppy dog eyes and her unapparent infatuation with him.

She rested her chin on her hand, boredom lining the otherwise pretty face.

Slowly, careful not to wake the sleeping form, she moved her pencil to the top corner of his desk. Slowly, almost as if she was simply bored and drawing lines on a table, she wrote out one word. The word she loved to call him by and he’d slowly gotten use to hearing. Even to the point that he responded to it.

Idiot.

She pulled back her pencil happily, oddly proud with herself. Maybe she was crazy. Instead of turning her attention back onto the lesson she turned to his book and, slower than before, wrote the last sentence of her secret letter to him in the space under where he’d finished writing. Part of the reason he’d never been able to read her love letter was thanks to the way she wrote it. In the middle of his notes, carefully concealed. It made it hard for him to find the small sentences. Lime chuckled to herself, but the main reason he hadn’t read it yet was because he never used his notes. He always used hers.

Her heart fluttered with a vague sense of fear. Did he even notice? How many times had she sat beside him in different classes, writing parts of sentences on a different page each time while he slept? He probably had no idea that she’d compiled a letter of her feelings to him across his book for the past year. Lime huffed out her breath in humored irritation, a smile playing on her face. Let’s admit it, Jang Dongwoo wasn’t exactly a genius.

‘Lime, please at least try and pay attention.’ Mockery had crept into the teacher’s voice but Lime brushed it away, not really caring. Instead she nodded to her teacher who turned back to the lesson mindlessly.

Lime rolled her eyes at the injustice. Here she was, writing a small note and getting in trouble but Dongwoo was still happily sleeping next to her. Not five minutes later the bell indicated the ending of the lesson. Lime had already packed away her books, though she tried to appear less than eager about leaving the class when she met her teacher’s eyes.

Lime watched, bored, as her classmates wandered out of the room until there was only her and Dongwoo left. With a soft smile at the still sleeping male she lifted her hand, poking his shoulder gently.

‘Dongwoo…’

Nothing. She should have known it wouldn’t be so easy. She poked a bit harder this time but, when there was no reply, she promptly shouted his name into his ear. Dongwoo shot up with the most adorable sleepy eyes and shocked expression Lime had ever seen. Instantly she shot into laughter, clutching her stomach as she tried to imbed the image of his startled face in her memory.

‘What?’

‘Nothing,’ she said weakly, laughter still bubbling in her voice. Standing up with him, she gripped her bag closely to her chest. ‘Seriously, why do you always sleep in class?’

Dongwoo shot her a heart stopping smile, ‘Tired.’

Not many people thought Dongwoo was handsome. Lime didn’t honestly care, he was perfect to her. People had their different preferences of handsome. Like seasons, not everyone liked summer. But to Lime, Dongwoo’s smile would always make her day, always bring a returning smile of her own to her lips. His eyes were soft and always brimmed with his innocent, exuberant happiness. He had a voice that charmed the ears and kept her caught when he was talking.

As always, the two headed to the grassed area. It was their favourite place to eat in the school, the two weren’t so fond of the cafeteria. Dongwoo stated it was too loud to talk and Lime just hated the looks they got. So they’d found the area they rested in now, surrounded by school buildings with a tall tree stuck in the middle.

With a spurt of sudden speed Lime reached the tree first, claiming victory as she sat down, resting her back comfortably on the solid bark. ‘What do you have to eat today?’

‘Sandwich, as usual.’ Lime wrinkled her small nose in distain.

‘Where’s the originality?’

Dongwoo just chuckled, ‘Not everyone has chefs as parents, Lime.’

Lime was half way through opening her lunch when his actions caught her eye. Dongwoo was pulling his notebook out of his bag. Fear ran widely through her but Dongwoo seemed oblivious. Dongwoo’s eyes were locked on his book and Lime watched, nervous, as he skimmed back through the pages, from the beginning to the end, as if he was looking for something. Her heart almost jumped out of when he looked up at her suddenly, his eyes locked with hers.

Her lips parted in a keen expectancy but the words that fell from his lips weren’t the ones she wanted to hear, ‘Can I borrow your notes?’

Lime gapped at him, frustration a heavy burden on her shoulders. Sure, she was use to it. How could she not be? She’d just been hoping again, hopelessly hoping that he might have noticed.

She let her eyes fall to her lap, her hands stumbling to bring her notebook out of the bag that was seemingly resistant to her actions. Lime didn’t even realize tears were burning in and slipping from soft brown eyes until her vision blurred.

Embarrassed she brushed them away quickly, sending a useless pray that he wouldn’t have noticed. Tough luck.

‘Lime?’

She sniffed, scrambling for an excuse to her tears before he even asked her, ‘H-huh?’ Her voice was shaky and she mentally cursed herself.

There was a slight pause, ‘Are you ok?’

Dry humor filled her. Sometimes she wished Dongwoo wasn’t so damn innocent. ‘Yeah, my throat just hurts. You know, flu season and all.’

Thankfully he let it drop and, with a small word of thanks and a concerned gaze in her direction, took her notes and began to transfer them to his book. Lime was too preoccupied in trying to settled her sudden unexplained burst of emotions that she didn’t notice Dongwoo’s sudden change in expression.

Merged in the pages of his book was a beautiful sentiment of unutterable infatuation and compassion. In-between his bulky and messy handwriting were perfectly written sentences, the letters curved with femininity that rolled together like an ocean wave. There was no way he wouldn’t recognize that handwriting, he’d copied it for almost two years.

Slowly he began to piece together Lime’s puzzle of a love letter. Starting from the first page to the last, spread across his book were carefully hidden sentences. Words that Lime was too shy to say but were too loud to be left unspoken.

Jang Dongwoo.

You’re an idiot, did you know that?

Every time we’re in class, you’ve got your head glued to the table and droll rolling out of your mouth. Seriously, do you not sleep at nighttime? What are you, a vampire?

Stop trying to steal my notes. Idiot.

While you sleep, ever single time, I’m trying to take notes. Do you know how annoying it is trying to pay attention when you keep coming into my mind? It’s so frustrating, I might go crazy.

You’re the reason I almost failed last term. Take that, sleeping monster. If I fail again, you’ll owe me a cupcake.

Want to know something? I like you. Scrap that, I love you. Even when you ignore me and only turn to me for your stupid notes, because you’re lazy.  It’s been, what? 2 years now? I’ve been in love with you, for two long and obviously delusional years. You must have tunnel vision or something, to never have noticed. It kind of hurts, you know, to love someone who can’t even see you.

Either way I still love you. And, god but I miss you when you’re not here. I miss your constant peace sign and the way you laugh. I miss the dumb way you wake up and your overwhelming confidence. Even your bad cooking and how proud you look when you convince me to lend you my notes. That , by the way, especially when you spill coffee on it.

So, I like you. See if you can ever figure it out.

Yes, , this is a love letter. If you discover it maybe you really are a genius.

‘Lime?’

‘Yeah?’ By then she’d somehow brought composure back into her face, though it was still a little red from her burst of tears. She turned to meet a slightly embarrassed Dongwoo.

Almost awkwardly he waved his notebook at her, not quite meeting her eyes when he asked, ‘When did you start?’

It only took a moment to realize that he had, in fact, found her awkward letter. Lime’s eyes dropped to the ground. Her voice, with a tentative question in it, rested in air, ‘You read it, then?’

He grinned wryly, ‘Not exactly the most romantic love letter.’

Lime’s tone was lined with embarrassment when she responded; ‘I was never exactly in the best of moods when I wrote something.’

His answer came with slow steps. ‘So, it was over a time, I guess…?’

It took a lot of effort to swallow the ball in but somehow she managed it, ‘It’s been about a year.’

Dongwoo’s face flushed crimson, an almost delightful expression of shocked joy fluttered over his face. Lime didn’t know whether to be charmed or worried. ‘So… is this a confession?’ He tapped a long finger on the book, finally meeting her worried eyes.

With all the courage she could muster she nodded her head mutely. The biggest grin she’d ever seen on Dongwoo’s face surfaced, sending her stomach into disarray.

‘So, since I found your love letter, I can accept or decline, right?’ Why was he so excited? With nerves playing a fundamental role in her suddenly speak impairment, Lime just nodded again, crossing her fingers as subtly as she could.

‘Then…’ Dongwoo scooted closer to her, taking the trembling hands in his. ‘When do you want to go on our first date?’

Lime blinked once before shocked laughter floated out of her. His own mingled in, weaving between hers. Maybe her clumsy love letter wasn't all scribbles after all.