3.

             Mark, surprising, sat next to you again.

            “Hey!” He was too cheerful for a Monday morning.

            “Don’t ignore me!”

            You gave a nod and return back to your notebook. You heard Mark let out an amused laugh.

            Large hands slipped into your vision and lifted your notebook from your hands. “I said don’t ignore me! Not you too!”

            This guy… !

            “Hello Mark.” You manage a smile and tried to ignore his overly smug smile that showed his proudness for being able to make you look at him.

            “Goodbye Mark.” You snatch the notebook back and tune him out.

            Out of the corner of your eye, you see a small pout beginning to form on lips… You quickly force yourself to look away.

            Mark continues to pretend to sulk. “And to think I was super happy today because your advice worked too…”

            … “What?”

            “Oh – so now you’re talking to me?”

            You shake your head, not believing what he just told you. The “advice” you gave was just something that managed to blurt out of your mouth to help you escape his intense stare – “how on earth could it have worked?”

            “What – how would I know? You gave me the advice –“ Mark’s eyebrows twisted together. “Hey – did you give me advice or something?”

            Well – not technically…

            “Oh man, you’re so mean!” Mark broke into loud laughter, the ends of his eyes wrinkling together, his smile making him look even more good-looking –

            Stop!

            “Either way – thank you. I sent her a message that can be seen as flirty or caring – and she replied with a flirt – I think. So yeah – I do a shot after all!”

            He looks expectantly at you for congratulations. 

            “Well… Good for you, I guess…”

            For some unknown reason, you felt a little down.

…

            Then I will send you a message everyday. That way you can never ignore me… :)

            You stare at the screen, unable to comprehend what just happened.

            Okay, not only does this guy not understand the phrase ignoring you, but he thinks that this is some kind of a game?

            And what on earth is that at the end of the text? He dares put that stupid smiley face at the end of his text…?!  

            You control the urge to throw the phone to the end of the room.

            Relax.

            This isn’t really your phone – you will need to return it sooner or later… Breaking it will only cause more problems and –

            Another text?

            From that same number –

            Noona, today I had class and I ate Japanese ramen with all my friends. They are a stupid bunch, I think one of them made a bet with another that he could get the number of the girl who sat next to us by just doing a dance… Oh don't worry – I didn't participate or anything. I just sat beside them and watched him fail. They also told me to just give up on you already… but don't worry about that either. I won’t, not after you’ve given me a second chance.

            Ugh, your head is hurting more than before now.

            That’s great, you manage to type out, hoping he’s not too stupid to catch the flowing sarcasm in it.

…

            This is definitely getting out of hand.

            It was like an alarm clock that did its job so diligently. The ringtone rang everyday, without fail, and you were close to tearing the phone apart. If only it didn’t belong to your academic advisor…

            You braced yourself for today’s text:

            Noona, last night I watched a movie about love. Towards the end, the guy waited under the rain for the girl for three hours until she showed up. She was so touched by his love. He got a really bad cold in the end and it was kind of funny. Don’t you think it’s romantic though? I feel like I’m doing the same thing too, waiting for you. Are you by any chance touched?

            It was always like this. Texts that say short everyday events, ending with small confessions of love.

            It was cute, but useless. You weren’t the one it was intended for after all.

            You fingers moved automatically on the keypad to type the reply, as they have been for the past few days. No. Stop texti-

            The ringtone signaled another text.

            Ah, probably not since I’m not standing in the rain after all. That's okay though, I’m not really fond of the rain anyway. Do you think standing under a shower with cold water will do the job? I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ll still get a cold.

            … Wow.

            You tried to stifle a small smile that was dangerously tugging at your lips. This guy… You had to give it to him – that was kind of funny and sweet. Something so sweet didn’t deserve your usual no stop texting me already reply…

            I hear ginger tea is good for colds.

…

            Your head is buzzing like a fire alarm, and the loud students’ talking during the break is not helping you at all. Their mouths open and close like a noise pollution machine, making unpleasant sounds that make you want to just throw up…

            Maybe you should not have left the air conditioning on during your sleep right after your shower. Your hair was still wet and you’re pretty sure this is how your cold came to be –

            “Oh dear, you look like hell!”

            What a loud and obnoxious person –

            “Damn, did you sleep with your head on the floor or something?” The boy before you teased uncaringly, completely unaware of how rude he sounded.

            Who is this little –

            “I’m Jackson by the way.”

            “Look,” the Jackson guy really is getting on your nerves now. That annoying little smirk on his lips isn’t helping either. “I have a cold and my head hurts like . So if you’d kindly go away I would really appreciate it.”

            “Oh, man!” Jackson’s eyes.“That’s why you look like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed! Heol, you seriously look like –“

            You were just about to smack him in the head and walk away, when he pulled out a plastic cup. A strange smell rose from within the cup, and for some reason its’ smell extremely familiar…

            “Here,” Jackson placed the cup in front of you. “My friend got a cold too and so he asked me to buy him this because apparently it’s good for colds. You’re lucky I bought extra. Enjoy!”

            After Jackson left, you took a small sip.

            Oh.

            Ginger Tea.

__

Was a little stuck on how to continue, but here you guys go :) 

another sweet little update :D

I tried to keep the descriptions short and simple, but I feel like my writing style is showing again...

ugh. This is hard. 

Oh well. Comment on what you thought of it I guess. :) 

<3, Yoonah