{ Chapter Two: Acquaintance }

London, 2004.

“So, I bumped to this boy at the hallway earlier this afternoon, and he looked pretty Asian to me,” Hyeri mumbled, still trying to munch the Big Mac she bought at the McDonald’s. It was already 6 P.M. London time, and Hyeri was having her quick dinner with one of her friend from the college, Sojin.

The red-haired girl sitting across her sipped on her diet coke before asking, “Is he Korean?” eyes widening, kind of her habit.

Hyeri shrugged and shook her head, “No idea. He didn’t speak anything,” taking the seasoned fries, “He only bowed before he left.”

“Douche,” Sojin squinted. Hyeri giggled. Sojin was a senior to her, who was the only Korean beside her. They met last year, and bonded a tight friendship since then. Hyeri’s first meeting with her was when she substituted an absent lecturer and tutored her class for three days. Her hair wasn’t red that time, it was black. Sojin was that type of girl, she wasn’t afraid to tell how she actually feels about something. Pretty straightforward, and quite fierce, and Hyeri adored it.

A squeak of a little boy with spilled lemon tea in their conversation, and both girls’ attentions were flown to the poor crying kid. The older sarcastic-chuckled, “I ain’t ya’ mother,” then laughed at her own words. Hyeri cracked up joining her senior. “Right. Anyway, how’s your thing with your guy in Korea?” Sojin casually asked, wiping her hands with a wet baby tissue.

For whatever the reason was, Hyeri pulled her lips upwards just thinking about Jaehwan—or Jaehwan oppa, she says. “We’re doing just fine, unnie.” She then remembered that Jaehwan would Skype her later at night. “He promised me a Skype call tonight.”

Sojin squealed, “Aww, why are you guys so cute. I’m just sitting here, alone, sad, and lonely.” She then pretended to blow her nose and wipe her tears.

The short haired blonde could only giggle and hit the older in a friendly gesture. “You’ll find yours one day.”

Few minutes later both of them decided to go back to their homes. They parted ways at the subway station for they were going to the opposite direction. The train ride was crowded, but luckily Hyeri managed to get an empty seat. The train was filled mostly by people who were going home from work. Hyeri could judge from their neat and monochrome-themed outfit, the sockets below their eyes that have gotten darker, and the envelopes held in their arms. Usual sight for her. Soon as she unlocked the automatic door of her apartment with her card, she stormed inside and walked straight to the bathroom to have a warm and relaxing shower. The type of day she just had that day was surely a tiring one. While still drying her hair with the towel draped on her shoulders, she took the laptop from her tote and switched it on, and quickly logged in into her Skype account. Seconds after she logged in, Jaehwan called.

It was when Hyeri and her small group of friends were looking for a table that she noticed that that boy was eating alone. She had the sudden urge to fix the strap of her tote on her shoulders before speaking to one of her friend, “Um, you can go first, I think I’m gonna go there.” Without hesitating, everyone but her left for the empty table by the window. Hyeri then approached for the boy in yellow shirt.

“Hey,” Hyeri greeted, smile plastered on her face. “You’re the boy from yesterday, right?” She asked in English.

The boy, who was enjoying both his ham sandwich and a boring-looking book, turned and was a bit startled by the sudden greet. He was awkward, and nervous, Hyeri could tell. But then he managed to give the girl a short reply, “Hello.”

Hyeri was glad that he replied. She then continued the conversation, “I’ve never seen you here, are you new?” With that, she earned a nod. ‘This boy is painfully awkward,’ she said more to herself. “No wonder, then,” she said. “Bet you didn’t come from here, eh? Where do you come from?”

He shyly replied, “South Korea,” and added a little smile afterwards.

“Really?” Hyeri asked, eyes widened, in Korean, “Me too! Wee, another Korean!” From her tone, Hyeri was a bit too excited to hear about that. “I’m Hyeri by the way, and I’m in the third semester,” She then offered her hand for a handshake, “What’s your name?”

Accepting the friendly handshake, the boy bowed his head politely, “My name is Sanghyuk. Please take care of me well.” Sanghyuk then grinned and his crinkles appeared by his eyes.

The insides of Hyeri’s went jelly, that she herself couldn’t deny that the smile of his was surely adorable, and quite dorky. A-dork-able? Right, if that’s a word, Hyeri would use it. The two exchanged casual ‘nice to meet you’s afterwards. Few seconds of another short talks later, the older decided to bid a goodbye to Sanghyuk, for she was already starving she could eat one full thanksgiving’s turkey. Wait no, it’s not goodbye, it’s ‘see you later’, in their case. Though Hyeri had walked away, Sanghyuk’s eyes were still laid on the girl’s back, smile still carved on his lips. Unintentionally, Hyeri turned her head that her blonde curls swayed. Sanghyuk was caught red-handed, and quickly avoided her eyes. The former couldn’t help but to smile to herself—though in the back of her mind, she thought it was a bit creepy. But in the end, her lunch tasted bit better anyway.

London, 2005.

“Really, stop it, Sanghyuk-ah!” The girl with smeared green tea flavored ice cream on her nose squeaked. On the other hand, Sanghyuk was laughing, hands full of ice cream, one hand with the green tea one and the other was the vanilla. Hyeri hit the younger’s chest lightly, “Give me back my ice cream at once!”

Being the witty kid he was, Sanghyuk denied. “No,” he retorted, and took a bite of Hyeri’s green tea ice cream. People around the park one by one took glances at them, probably thinking that why would people at their age fight over ice cream.

Hyeri made a hissing sound and took Sanghyuk’s sleeve to wipe the sweet substance on her nose. Sanghyuk was surprised by the act, and screamed femininely, “Noona! This is my favorite shirt!”

“And that is my favorite ice cream, give it back!” The girl with two short pigtails remarked, eyebrows knitted and lips pouted.

Swear to anything, Sanghyuk couldn’t handle it when Lee Hyeri pouts. Quickly he gave the ice cream back to its owner, only after he stole another bite. Hyeri sighed heavily, but felt happy at the same time that she could eventually ravish the sweet and cold dessert of her likings.

Chuckling, Sanghyuk pinched the girl’s cheek, “No more pouting.” He then placed his left hand on the bench behind Hyeri’s back, slightly around her shoulders. As a reply, Hyeri stuck out her tongue and messed with Sanghyuk’s hair. Feeling so done, Sanghyuk let her. He giggled at the girl’s cute gestures, and said, “Why are you so cute?” But voice barely a whisper.

Hyeri was fluttered, and she could feel that her heartbeat just got a lot faster. Seconds later she realized that her face was only inches away from Sanghyuk, and it stressed the heck out of her. But then she took off the cap she had been wearing and placed it on top of Sanghyuk’s head. “Cute? Is this cute?” She asked, though not literally waiting for the answer when all of the sudden Hyeri pushed Sanghyuk’s vanilla ice cream towards his face. And it was a catch play afterwards.

London, 2004.

“Yeah, I just met a new Korean student today, oppa,” Hyeri, in her pajamas, said in front of her laptop, sipping the last bits of her favorite banana milk. On the other side of the world, Jaehwan with combed hair smiled and told her that it was a good news to hear.

“Oh, his name is Sanghyuk,” Hyeri added, after throwing the trash to the bin just beside her desk. She took her warm and snuggly blanket and cocooned herself on the couch as she continued to chat with her boyfriend. Jaehwan playfully replied that he’s jealous with her new friend. Hyeri whined and laughed at him. The next minute they spent just smiling at each other’s images shown on the screen, and saying how much they missed each other. As Hyeri yawned, Jaehwan chuckled at the cuteness.

“You should go to bed now,” Jaehwan said, voice ever so soft and gentle. “It’s like 11 PM there, right?” Though Hyeri didn’t want to—because she still want to chat all the way through the night— Jaehwan had to go to work, since it was around 7 AM in Seoul, and she was dead tired. Rubbing her eyes, she mouthed an okay and sent him a fighting message. Jaehwan beamed before giving his girlfriend virtual hugs and kissed the screen, saying their iconic ‘I love you, chu’. Hyeri did the same.[]

To be Continued.

Author's Note: you guys liked it??? meh it's only the 2nd chapter though. please look forward to the next chapters. kinda surprised, eh? um, no? ok. dont forget to read the time and place ok! see you soon. subscribe, comment and upvote lovelies.