“If you feel uncomfortable-”

“I'm not, don't worry about it.”

“But you look a little worried-”

“I'm fine, just drop it and lighten up already.”

I stop and turn her to face me.  “Hyerin, I know you've been a little hesitant about publicizing our relationship.”

She blinks just once, her face as unreadable as ever.  “I was just waiting to see if you would be comfortable with everyone noticing,” she admits, dropping her gaze for a moment.  “It's fine if you want to keep it secret.”

“N-no, I'm really fine with it, really,” I rub the back of my neck nervously, “I-I didn't mean to make you doubt my-”

She places a firm hand on my shoulder and silences me with a chaste kiss.  A small smile forms on her face as she pulls back a few inches, probably knowing how hard my heart is pounding.  “I trust your feelings already,” she assures me. “You need to stop being so hesitant around me. Just go with the flow.”  Her hand on my shoulder slides down to gently press my stomach with her fingertips, earning a blush from me. Hyerin chuckles.  “Contain yourself, Junmyeon. Let's go.”

A week after my confession, I walk through the doors of our school, finally able to hold her hand in front of the entire student body.  I was nervous about how the school would react, but I was more concerned about how Hyerin would take their criticism. She had assured me countless times that she doesn't care what anyone says about her, but I still want to protect her from any potential threat. It’s about time I learn from her.

At first, no one really notices our joined hands, which makes me a little less tense.  Looking over at Hyerin, I notice that she’s cool as a cucumber. Then again, what else do I expect from a poker-face master like her?  I smile, a little proud of my girlfriend for having more balls than I do.

Feeling my stare on her, she faces me with a playful smirk.  “Are you holding up okay? I don't feel your pressure on my hand anymore, do you feel faint?”

I blush slightly.  “No, I'm doing fine.  I'm not surprised that you are too.”

She shrugs, her free hand tucked in her jacket pocket casually.  “I'm completely calm, I'm just worried about you.”

I relax my hold on her hand, lazily entwining our fingers together.  “I think I'll be OK with this,” I say thoughtfully.

She an eyebrow.  “Really? That means I'll have to get you used to the next step then.”

My eyes widen.  “What do you-”

Her free hand swiftly reaches up to cup my neck before planting a soft kiss on my cheek.  My heart races in tenderness. In the corner of my eye, I see a few heads turn in our direction.  Eyes round, they start whispering to their friends.

But I don’t care about any of that.  The chuckle Hyerin does after seeing my reaction is actually closer to a giggle.  I feel warmth crawl over me. She looks like an innocent schoolgirl as she giggles at the blush crawling up my face.

“You don't need to give me that horrified expression, I'll hold off on it until you're more comfortable with other people seeing us,” she continues teasing me.

At this point I don't care if people start to take notice of us.  I take the opportunity to cup her face with my free hand and peck the corner of her lips.  Her eyes round in shock, making her look even more childish. “I'll try new things with you,” I respond with a small smile, feeling the aftershock of my surprise kiss.

Hyerin blinks at me.  “You never cease to amaze me, Joonmyeon,” she whispers, almost in awe.

I just smile at her.  “You bring out the courage in me.”

“That's good.”  She smirks, back to her old self.  “I didn't want to date a skirt.”

I bump her shoulder with the arm that still holds our entwined hands.  In response, she just lays her head on my shoulder as we both walk to our homeroom class together.

After school, Hyerin and I are in the library doing homework because I said I needed help with Physics, but the truth is I just wanted to spend time with her.  The first time I asked her to come to the library with me, I found out that she’s actually a great student. All those times I thought she was doodling in her book during class was actually her taking notes.  Most of the time, I would act out just to bother her, but other times, I actually need her help.

“How do you do this problem?” I ask, pointing to a question in the textbook open on the table between us.

She turns toward the book, finishing writing her answer without looking.  “You just have to use the distance formula, use only Y axis values, acceleration is the gravitational constant...”

I frown at how easy it is f