❝ Melting that icy cold heart.

First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiousity; yeolkyung for kpoplove95

"Yookyung-ah, you ought to take a break. You have been practi-"

"I am fine, unnie."

Chorong sighed. Yookyung had always been persistent since day one. Words that go to her always fell on deaf ears, no matter who it was and up till today, Chorong and Eunji have not figured out who Yookyung would listen to whole-heartedly. 

"Yookyung, won't you listen for once?" commented Eunji, approaching Yookyung who was deeply immersed into practicing the spells that she had learnt earlier in class today.

Yookyung kept silent and continued with what she was doing. Time was too precious for her to waste and she wanted to make full use of it before the semester examinations begin. A perfect score was what she wanted to achieve and she had always been missing it by one or two minor mistakes that she claimed that she would not have made. In fact, she has been the top student of the wizard school for three consecutive years and no one had ever been so close to achieving such remarkable results as compared to Yookyung.

To add on, Yookyung was more than just a typical perfectionist. She would put her heart into everything that she does and she would not ever, take them for granted, even if it means to tire herself out or be it an impossible 'mission', Yookyung would still do it. No one could stop her from doing anything as long as she sets her mind onto it. 

"It's about time," Yookyung finally spoke, breaking the silence between the trio who had been engaged with their own activities.

Eunji knew what she meant and she could not help but be amused, yet again by the fact that Yookyung could always keep track of the time so accurately, almost like as if she was a human clock. Well, if most students could, then Yookyung would definitely not be at the top of the game. It was because she was so thoroughly organized and observant of whatever that is happening around her, Yookyung was able to attain such an honourable status for herself.

"Let's go then!" Chorong grinned while getting on her feet.

With that, the trio proceeded to where the assembling hall was, together with the other students who have yet to realise that the school bell had just sounded a few seconds ago.

"You're here!"

Yookyung whipped her head back to see a familiar, grinning face, the one that had unnoticeably caused her heart to flutter every single time she sees him. 

"You are punctual. As always," the boy continued as Yookyung inhaled deeply.

She always thought that he was extremely observant of whatever she does but then, she realised that his actions were similar to how he treated his friends as well. So, that would not make her a special exception. What she truly could not understand was his treatment towards her. Even if she had given him the cold shoulder or utter a few words to shake him off, he would still have that genuine smile plastered on his face the next time they see each other.

"Here," he said, handing to Yookyung a yellow lunch box right when she intended to ignore him.

"What?" She finally spoke as she averted her gaze to the box that she was now holding.

"Take it," he answered, and scrambled off to where his friends were before she could say another word.

Then and there, Yookyung remembered that she did not have her lunch and she wondered how did he know.

Sungyeol was called the social butterfly for a reason, mainly because he is able to interact with almost everyone that he meets. He was able to magically lighten up the mood and bring joy to others so naturally. Maybe, because of that, many feel attached to him one way or the other. They just want to have him by their side all the time, regardless of any occasions. On the contrary, Sungyeol just could not 'capture' the heart of one and that happened to be his seating partner - Hong Yookyung. 

For one, she remains silent most of the time when he initiates a conversation with her. Others had prodded him not to talk to her any further and many had the perception that Yookyung was being arrogant and snobby. But not for Sungyeol, he never had that impression of her and as much as he knew, he thought that Yookyung was just reluctant to converse with others and prefers to mind her own business in order to save herself from the limelight.

Besides, they have been classmates for nearly three years and Yookyung's intriguing personality seemed to have grown rapidly on him, so much so that he could not afford to not see her for a day. Even his friends, Hoya and Woohyun had long guessed that their friend had an interest on the 'ice princess'.

"Thinking about your princess again?" Woohyun teased, nudging Sungyeol's arm as they made their way towards the dormitory located at the upper storeys of the school.

Hoya chuckled, noticing the shade of red surfacing on Sungyeol's cheeks and ears.

"My princess? Since when did I take an interest on someone?"

"Oh c'mon. It's obvious," Woohyun continued, flicking his fingers so that the wooden door would open.

"W...What?" Sungyeol stuttered, rushing forward as his friends followed intentively.

"Hong Yookyung, isn't that who you liked?" This time, it was Hoya that took the lead.

"Who is that?" 

Sungyeol's friends broke into fits of laughter upon seeing the attempted expression on his face. How could he possibly still keep his friends in the dark when they had found out about his love letters he kept under his pillow? It was definitely a bad idea to be sharing a room with a bunch of best friends who would easily 'invade' their friends' privacy.

"Roses are red, violets are blue. Sugar is sweet and so are you." Woohyun read aloud.

"Should I remove my brain to stop thinking about you? Or should I remove my heart to stop loving you?" Hoya read another, this time, waving the letter in his hand to show Sungyeol what they have gotten.

Sungyeol mentally slapped himself. Those lines, those quotes, those were the the things he wrote in the letters that he wanted to hand to Yookyung but failed to do so. What about now? His "world's bestest friends" had just humiliated him and as much as he wanted to tear them apart, he couldn't.

"Aish," Sungyeol muttered, hiding his face with both of his hands as his friend settled beside him on the couch.

That night, Sungyeol had finally gathered up the right amount of courage he had to. His friends have definitely gave him a push after "lecturing" him for an hour or two about how much of a coward he had been. Now he stood, outside the library, catching his breath right after an excited run towards where she was. The library was deserted and free from the usual crowds in daylight. He knew, however, she would still be browsing through the books at this hour, brushing up on whatever she had learnt and that was perhaps, what that drawn him to her.

He liked how she delicately flips through a page after reading and how she would scratch her head when she encounters something that she does not understand. He liked how she would always be eager to learn new things and hidden inside of her, was a curious and excited child. He liked how she would always lend a helping hand to those in need and expect nothing in return. He liked how she would sometimes smile at the endless jokes that he makes. He liked how she was, the one and only Hong Yookyung.

"What are you doing here?" There she was, standing right before him with her hair tied up in a messy bun.

She was dressed in a casual, pink dress that went just right above her knees. Her eyes were slightly weary from all the reading and she tightly clutched onto the books that she had borrowed. Sungyeol gulped. He had not expected that he would see her so soon after he had arrived at where she was. All he wanted was just a little more time, to calm himself from the nervousness. He could only lower his head while she reached into her bag to find something with her free hand. That was when, he set his eyes on the fresh wound on her left knee.

"Let me help you," Sungyeol said, bending down almost immediately as he reached out to her knee.

Yookyung flinched a little in surprise as Sungyeol touches her wound with his bare hand. She knew that he had learnt how to heal secretly a year back when she had found him under a table at the library, flipping through a book hastily. She was told to keep it a secret and perhaps, that was the reason why they have become 'friends'. Yes, they might not appear to be friends due to their rare interactions but deep inside, they both knew they had developed a bond between each other. 

"Thanks," Yookyung smiled lightly as Sungyeol nodded in acknowledgement.

Being able to witness a person heal had always been Yookyung's dream. Since young, she had heard stories of legendary wizards who saved countless numbers of lives with their healing powers and now, Sungyeol was able to execute it so easily at his finger tips. 

"You should smile more, you look beautiful when you smile." Sungyeol confessed, earning a shy glimpse from Yookyung as she examined her knee.

"I will. Thanks for the sandwich," Yookyung responded while handing him the yellow box that he had passed to her earlier.

"It's getting late. Let's head back together," Sungyeol initiated, taking the books from Yookyung's hands as she nodded in agreement.

Under the moonlight, the duo began strolling, side by side towards where their dormitories were and even though neither of them had uttered a word, they were certain that their presence alone had erased the awkwardness and pulled in a series of heart-tuggings between them.

That night, Yookyung wished that time would stop.

❝ author's notes

Hey there! Thanks for being the first subscriber and thank you for requesting this one-shot. I hoped it turn out the way that you wanted it to and I did not really include much couple scenes but much more of a blossoming relationship between the duo who liked each other. I am sorry for not including mini scenes for woorong and hoji, i just could not fit them in. But, i included them as cameos, ya know, the main character's friends. oh and, thanks to those who have subscribed and requested ^^