Faded jeans, a snug jacket and posh shades.

A handsome face, a confident jaunt and a charming smile.

Smart humor, politeness and a friendly aura.

Lee Taemin had everything that made him the freshmen stud and soon the most sought after guy in the whole campus.

But he was a heartbreaker. Half way into the semester and Taemin had rejected every girl that had come to him- directly or indirectly- just increasing the buzz about him more around the campus. Every student was curious about the reason Taemin turned down every girl, saying nothing but a polite thank you and a deep felt sorry.

Some thought the guy was possibly gay, even his best friend Kibum, well until he saw the boy glancing furtively here and there, his eyes stealthily following a tall figure, who anyone would have mistaken for a guy from it's height and baggy clothes if it was not for the lush dark long hair it possessed.

Choi Minjung was the only girl Taemin may had looked at more than once, and with the way Kibum found Taemin's eyes gain fervour over the days, he knew his friend was done for.

Stud of the campus was entranced by no fascinating sight (according to Kibum's standards). She was a year ahead, the topper of her batch, arrogant, quiet and mostly unsocial, having only a couple of girls as friends, but rather popular, being labelled the “ice princess” by many. She was a bundle of everything boring and bland, from her unchanging ponytail to her unchanging black ballet flats; making Kibum grimace every time he caught Taemin ogling, sipping on his drink quickly and continuously, not knowing he was done until that disgusting sound of him slurping on air resounded in the whole of the canteen.

"Why her?" Kibum asked one day at lunch, catching Taemin watch the tall girl buy her usual sandwich while they both slurped on smoothies.

Taemin turned to him, raising a brow in confusion.

"Choi Minjung."

Taemin choked over the smoothie he had just sipped in and coughed a riot before turning to Kibum, "You...found out."

"Piece of cake. I know you well, Lee."

"Don't in." Taemin muttered, slightly angry, "You have a horrible reputation with girls."

"Horrible or not, it is still a reputation. At least I accept their advances, not like you, being a monk."

Taemin just rolled his eyes, glancing around the canteen once again for Minjung, sighing on finding her gone.

"She is the only one who shows zero interest in me."

"Is that what turned you on?" Kibum smirked. "Ignorance of your prestigious traits?"

"Do you have a mind only for that?!" Taemin exclaimed, "And stop blowing my image out of proportion. I know it is you spreading crap about me being great at this and that. All those poor girls come up to me, praising me for an achievement I have never achieved, and then confessing to me before I could correct them. It feels awkward and plain bad, rejecting their praises...and then, rejecting them."

"If you feel so bad, just bang one of them."

Taemin glared at him, "You are an , you know?"

"I have heard that a lot," Kibum smirked, lowering his voice, "...especially in bed. Now thats what you call a turn on, not a Miss Proudy Pants who I am sure will moan out formulas if you bang her."

Taemin grimaced, although his face did tinge at the thought his friend managed to push into his mind, "erted ." Taemin got up, squishing his empty smoothie glass, and goaling it into the nearest trash bin, "And its formulae, not formulas." With that he had left, his strut kinda off, and Kibum chuckled, watching his friend turn to the corridor which led to the washrooms.

"Choi Minjung, huh?"

"Go to the library." Kibum repeated on finding Taemin puzzled after he had said it the first time.

"But why?"

Kibum pushed him into the huge room, where Taemin's senses filled with pin drop silence. Kibum stepped beside him, grimacing at the library's interior, "Find the math section and you will know why."

"Math...why...OH!"

"Shh." Kibum grabbed his arm, dragging him to a corner to escape a few puzzled heads that had turned towards them. He turned the boy, making a small space between the books on the shelf to peek out from and then pulled Taemin close, signalling him to peek out as well.

Choi Minjung sat right opposite, on a small stool, surrounded by thick books. She kept scrawling in her notepad, her brows constricting whenever she read from this or that book before scrawling more notes down.

“She's just a shelf away.” Kibum whispered, “Be your charming self and don't worry, the image of you I have exaggerrated is a bonus point, not a minus point.”

Taemin found himself nodding absentmindedly, lost in the view before him. He hadn't ever seen her this close, and Taemin regretted why he had not, because Choi Minjung was not only strikingly pretty, but adorable too, her every frown, her every pout, her every raise of brows, sending Taemin's heart to a butterfly's flight.

“Go, go!” Kibum ushered, pushing him out of the aisle of shelves and Taemin staggered out, his movement making the girl look up from her books and glance at him with knitted brows.

Having her finally look at him, Taemin thought he might just melt into a puddle of goo. His embarrassment and his hesitation made him think of just walking away casually, but when he turned, he faced Kibum's glare which made him turn back, swallowing all the hesitation he held.

The girl had long lost her interest in the intruder and had returned to her books; and Taemin stepped ahead, making her writing stop. She did not look up, but Taemin could notice how tight she had begun to hold her pen.

He sighed.

She had noticed him and even though it was gonna end in his disappointment, he could not just turn back now, could he?

Taking a deep breath, he began, “Um...Noona?”

Taemin waited for the girl to acknowledge his call, but she did nothing, so Taemin just decided to continue.

“Hi, I am Taemin...uh...you must have seen me around I guess. Well, of course...that...that..well. I have seen you around as well. I mean...I just saw you at the canteen...occassionally on the basketball field, and well, yeah...today in the library...and I just...um, I think it's a hint you know? Okay, yeah that was nonsense...so what I was trying to say was...” Taemin took a deep breath, his heart falling on finding Minjung motionless and still staring at the notebook in her lap. He swallowed and closed his eyes, “I like you. Will you go out with me?”

He opened his eyes and found Minjung on her feet, and the moment she noticed Taemin had opened his eyes, she hurried out of the aisle, leaving all her belongings behind...and leaving Taemin gaping at her leaving figure.

“You totally blew it. Congrats. You went Noona on her right away, this was bound to happen.” Kibum's voice came, “Well not like I was expecting anything else out of this if you would have done it properly.” He sighed, walking out from behind the shelf, “She ignored me too when I bumped into her yesterday and apologised. Just zoomed past me like I had the plague. Was expecting she would react better to a confession, no matter how sloppy.”

Taemin remained silent, lost in thought.

“What you thinking? This is how it ends, dude. She's built of so much pride that she won't accept an apology, so accepting a confession is totally out of bounds.” He patted Taemin's back, “There are plenty of fish in the sea, Choi Minjung was not even a fish. She was a frog. Nothing lost. Now cheer up.”

Taemin began to chuckle, “Frog.”

Kibum raised his brows, “Wow, were my words of consolation so effective?”

“I don't need your words of consolation, Kibum.” Taemin replied, his chuckles calming, but the cheer not leaving his face, “Because fishes are boring. A frog is what I want. A shy, panicky frog.”

“Huh?”

“She didn't ignore me or just leave me hanging, you know.” Taemin sighed, “She kinda gave me hope, running away with pink cheeks and bashful eyes.”

“Or maybe you are blind to the obvious.” Kibum rolled his eyes.

Taemin turned and began to gather all that was scattered around the stool Minjung had sat on.

“Why are you cleaning up her mess?!” Kibum exclaimed.

“It's not a mess.” Taemin replied, putting the books back, but holding onto the notebook and the bunch of pens as he walked out of the aisle, Kibum following him.

“Then what is it?”

Taemin waved the notebook, putting an arm around Kibum's neck, “An excuse for seeing her again.”

Taemin did see her again, in the hallways, in the canteen and in the basketball field. He wanted to go to the library, to see her in the real sense, but he would hesitate, doubting the different impression he had of the girl.

A day turned into a week and Taemin couldn't handle the antsy feeling within him which grew intense whenever he glimpsed Minjung in his surroundings or whenever he spotted the notebook and pens that he made sure to carry around all the time.

He grabbed onto the notebook and pens and began to circle around the library entrance after lunch. He closed his eyes, gathered his courage and entered, sauntering through the shelves to find the math section. He stopped on finding a mess of books and peeked ahead, finding Minjung seated on the stool near a different shelf, writing seriously in a different notebook.

Pushing the memories of his messy confession away, Taemin entered the aisle, making the girl freeze again at his approaching footsteps.

“Hi, again.” Taemin spoke in a low, nervous voice, his voice becoming panicky on noticing Minjung squirm, “Sunbae!” He said, correcting the Noona that was going to slip out, “Wait, I just came to return these.” He extended the book and pens, finally making Minjung raise her head. She took the book and pens quickly, lowering her head again, mumbling a thank you.

Taemin smiled, but did not leave after that exchange but stepped ahead, gaining courage as he crouched in front of the girl, “You are welcome.”

The girl just blinked, not meeting his eyes, but seeing how her face flushed, Taemin felt his heart skip a beat, and the confidence he possessed, returned solider than ever, “I am sorry for last time.” he began softly, “It was too sudden and...weird...you can forget about it.” He got up and turned, ready to leave, but he felt the hem of his shirt being caught, to which he turned, finding Minjung letting go of the inch of his shirt she had caught to stop him.

He looked at her, finding her struggling with her words, her face gaining hue with passing time but Taemin waited patiently. A few minutes later, she finally spoke.

“It was sudden...but not weird.”

Taemin's face lit up at her words.

“But,”

Taemin's face began to fall.

“It's sudden and just...well...” She hid her face behind the book, unable to continue.

“I understand.” Taemin replied, his voice gaining a dismal tone involuntarily, “It's...okay.”

“That's...not...” Minjung began, her voice muffled due to the book she held against her face. She put it down slowly, revealing the adorable rosy mess her face had turned into. “Nevermind.” She got up and began to pack up in haste, but before she could leave, Taemin caught her by the arm, “What did you mean then, Sunbae?”

Minjung wriggled her arm out of his grasp, “N-Noona sounds better.” And she was off, leaving Taemin grinning ear to ear.

“We...we don't know each other at all.” Minjung finally broke the silence the other day, fidgeting with this and that while Taemin just sat opposite her, cross-legged, between those two shelves, where she had been working on her notes yet again.

Taemin had taken the liberty of not only finding her, but also greeting her with his bright smile and sitting with her, on the pretext of