I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

It’s no use, I thought as I stared at the back of Kim Sun’s head. Never once had she looked back as she was either focused to the teacher at the front or side-glancing Jae Hyun with her fist raised from time to time. Jae Hyun kept retaliating too, with his famous eye-rolls and condescending smirks, which probably earned him a higher spot on the list of her most annoying friends. From my view, however, it looked like they were close friends with a severe case of love-hate relationship. I don’t know why but somehow… I feel like separating the two. Casting them away from each other the way Adam and Eve had been separated when they were first brought down to Earth from the Heavens . . . Now that was an unsettling thought.

Why do I feel that way? I continued to stare at the two.

To make it even stranger, I was holding onto the folded shopping bags that belonged to Kim Sun in my hand. I was supposed to return them to her, after all. How was I supposed to give them back to her if she does not remember me? She did not even spare so much as a glance at me ever since she set foot in the class. How do I know? Because I did not take my eyes off her the second she stepped in. Perhaps it was fated that she would meet Jong Suk, Jae Hyun and Young Kwang yesterday – even from the brief moment they had, I’m sure she had met Jong Hyun too – but did that mean that she had completely forgotten about me? Was it because there was nothing out of the ordinary that occurred on our first meeting that it was easier for me to slip out of her memories? I tried not to sigh once I was done recognizing the sinking feeling in the pits of my stomach. I was jealous.

I tried to recall every detail of our brief meeting from the day before. I came aboard the bus and she was already there. We accidentally knocked our heads together when both stood up to help that granny. We helped that granny pick up her groceries and went back to our seats… What then?

“Damn you, *Dory head,” I silently cursed myself.

I tried to endure the rest of the boring class with the teacher’s droning lecture not really helping my case to stay awake and think of ways to approach Kim Sun…without scaring her away.

I yawned, and when I realized I was not supposed to be falling asleep, I lightly slapped my cheeks to fight off the incoming sleepiness. Think of the small details, Lee Soo Hyuk! Don’t give in to this yearn to sleep just yet. Slowly my eyes started to lose focus, so I forcefully enlarged them. Focus, Soo Hyuk! Aside from the old granny, what else happened between you and Kim Sun? Right before my head drooped till my chin touched my chest and the beautiful creature called slumber fully embraced myself, I remembered a particular line that she had said.

“You’re a second year like me? Wow! I thought you were a third year, judging from your deep voice.”

*

When my vision slowly came back, it was already the end of that period... or probably the end of the third period? I felt a distinct ache at the back of my neck. Damn. I should not have fallen asleep in that posture.

Slowly stretching my arms (and my neck), my eyes adjusted to the light to find a familiar pair of brown eyes looking at me fondly. Fondly? Huh.

I refused to say anything. I challenged her to say something with a look.

She smiled, showing off some cute rows of teeth. “Morning, sleeping beauty.”

I grunted with a nod, and looked away. I was still upset that she did not recognize me when she could with all my other friends. It was just yesterday, God damn it!

She giggled and leaned closer to me. “Are you mad at me?” she whispered.

Something in the tone that she used in her question gave me some pleasant goose bumps. “No,” I stubbornly said, though my scratchy voice revealed that I had not been exercising my vocal chords for a moment.

Something almost dangerous gleamed in her eyes before she stood up and gently sat at the corner of my desk. Even though I welcomed it with all my heart, I panicked.

“W-Wait,” I looked to the left and right before my eyes widened. No one else was in the class except for us. “Where’s–”

“Everyone else is out for recess. It’s just you and me here,” I heard Kim Sun chuckle and sigh.

! My brain can’t function when she’s so close!

“Hey.”

“What?” I grounded out through gritted teeth.

She bent down so that our noses were almost touching. Her gaze was so forceful and magnetic that I could not look at anywhere else but at her… molten brown eyes. I was frozen in my seat.

Slowly, the magnetic aura dissipated into a gentle and timid one, her eyes looking apologetic as ever as she muttered, “I’m sorry for not acknowledging you earlier when I could remember your friends. I did meet you first but I just didn’t know what to say to you.” Her fingers gently played with locks of my hair as she whispered, “Can you forgive me, Hyuk-ah?”

I felt my heart beating in my chest irregularly. I could not breathe properly with this girl in front of me. Still not finding the strength to push her away, I managed to ask, “Why should I forgive you when I barely know you?”

Her eyes became these adorable crescents that literally caught my breath. “Silly Soo Hyuk,” she playfully scolded. The next thing she did made my heart stop. Her warm hands held my shoulders as she leaned her body onto mine, whispering, “Because you love me, you idiot.”

I watched in fascination as Sung Joon and Jong Suk took turns trying to wake up the pale boy sitting behind me. Apparently the said boy had managed to sleep through the first, second, third and forth period and even as the bell rang and signaled our lunchtime, he still did not budge. The boys told me to wait until everyone was out before making a move as they were more comfortable having lunch in their own little group. When I asked them why, they just shrugged it off and said that it was a story for another day, so I left it at that. I didn’t want to pressure some newly made friends into