http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Getvpt0yIcY

Lin Ji An & Chen Yu Lun: I am always here

====================================================

Danji returned to school on Monday.

As much as she- or Luhan, for that matter- didn’t want to go to school, she hated being absent, even if that might have been tolerated in college.

The morning passed by quietly and slowly as always. Then noon rolled around, and the day suddenly started to speed up.

*I’m done!* Danji finished typing the last word on her literary analysis and stretched triumphantly. She looked around the library and wondered why it was so empty. She checked the time and gasped. It was already lunchtime! She had art photography in an hour, so she would have to quickly catch lunch.

Danji gathered her belongings, swung her leather bag over her shoulder, and ambled briskly towards the door. The library door swung open, and she stepped back automatically.

Oh! That was close!

Alen heard the panic in her head and looked up. Surprise flickered in his eyes. “Danji…” Her head shot up, and her own eyes rounded with shock. “Alen sunbae!”

“I’m sorry. Did I almost hit you?” Alen asked apologetically.

“You did, but luckily, you missed.” She smiled, and he responded with a warm grin.

“Are you going somewhere?” Alen asked as he looked her up and down curiously.

“To lunch.” He had heard her answer before the two words had left .

“Alone?” Alen studied her face.

Danji rubbed the back of her neck. What would he say if I told him yes? That I haven’t made any friends yet? He would think think I’m such a loser. She sighed heavily.

Alen smiled a little. “I haven’t had lunch either. If you don’t have anyone else to eat with, do you want to join me?”

Danji’s head jerked upwards, and her eyes grew round. “Join…you?”

Ten minutes later, they were in the cafeteria.

“What do you want to eat?” Alen asked.

Danji scanned the menu board. Hamburger. Chinese food. Bulgogi. Sandwich. That sounds good actually.

“Sandwich?” Alen guessed.

Danji blinked at him in surprise. “How did you know that?”

*I can read your mind.* “Lucky guess.” Alen smiled. Danji smiled back. “Well, you guessed right. What are you going to eat, sunbae?”

“I think I’ll settle for a sandwich, too.”

They headed towards the correct eatery and ordered sandwiches and soup. Danji took out her wallet, but Alen had his credit card out already. “For both of us.” He told the cashier. She gawked at him. “But-but-“

“My treat.” Alen flashed a heart-stopping smile that made her heart respond in a strange way.

It fluttered. It actually skipped a beat, which never happened around anyone but Luhan.

Alen’s eyebrows slightly furrowed as he tried to decipher her mystified thoughts.

Danji shook her head to get rid of the ideas in her head and smiled gratefully up at him. “Thank you.”

Alen gave her a small smile and nodded back. They took their trays and found an empty table in the center of the room. They sat across from each other and wiped their hands with the wet towels. “Thank you for the lunch, sunbae.” Danji smiled appreciatively. “It’s nothing,” He assured.

Wah, it feels so weird eating with someone again. It’s a good weird though. Danji giggled happily.

Alen heard her thoughts and smiled softly. *It feels “good weird” eating with you again.*

They ate their food and chatted mostly about ceramic and art.

“Did you live in Myunghae all your life?” Danji asked. Alen shook his head. “No, I came here last year for college.”

“Oh, I see. I’m not from around here either although I do live close. Where are you from?” She questioned.

“Zhejiang Jiaxing,” Alen replied. Danji gave him a befuddled look. “Where is that?”

“China,” He answered. Her eyes almost popped out. “China?!”

Alen nodded.

No wonder. I thought his accent was a little off. “Wow…you’re a long way from home. But then again, you’re not the first Chinese I met.” Danji giggled. The mirth in her voice made him question the reason behind her laughter. Then he heard one name in her mind.

Luhan.

Even in her mind he could hear the warmth and affection in the way she said his name. His heart prickled and squeezed as if someone had stuck a hundred needles in ther