I Need You | Seonghwa

2

The next day arrives, and Haerin sits in a different seat in that same class this time. She has decided that if Seonghwa still sits beside her, she'll start talking to him properly. If he doesn't, she'll let him go.

She half hopes he'll sit somewhere else today.

To her horror, the man walks in and his face brightens as soon as he notices Haerin. He eagerly speeds to the seat beside her and her chest feels warm again after seeing his soft smile.

"Hey Haerin! I didn't get the chance to see you after class yesterday," he begins, lively as ever. Haerin feels like slapping herself in the face in that moment. "Sorry, I had somewhere to be urgently..." she sheepishly lies, avoiding eye contact.

"You know, you can just say you needed to use the bathroom, it's completely natural," Seonghwa chuckles.

Haerin comes to the shocking realisation that he witnessed her running past him to the bathroom and she just knows she could cook an egg on her face with how hot it is right now.

"T-that...I m-meant after that," she stutters. Seonghwa finally lets out a loud, melodious laugh. He doesn't even know how much he's making her heart flutter. "Don't worry, I was just messing with you," he grins.

Trying her best not to melt on the spot, Haerin softens up. She doesn't regret being friends with him at all.

"You know, I had been trying to be friends with you for weeks last year," Seonghwa suddenly admits. Haerin's eyes shoot open to five times their original size. "Why?" she exclaims. After realising what she just said, she falters. "I mean, I had no idea!" she smiles, knowing for a fact that she goes around with her head pointed to the ground so often, its no surprise that she didn't even notice someone so radiantly beautiful trying to approach her.

"I didn't have any friends from our course and you seemed really sweet. I guess I was right to think that," he answers her question anyway, sending her into the state of euphoria.

The class begins right as he utters those words, allowing Haerin to spend the entirety of the hour thinking about his words. His face looked so genuine when he said that, nearly as if he really meant exactly what he said.

She takes a deep breath to try and calm the butterflies in her stomach. There's no way anyone can be as sweet as Seonghwa. There's absolutely no way. Haerin is fully convinced that Seonghwa is the embodiment of perfection with no flaws.

Once the class ends, she doesn't run away this time. Although she kind of wishes she did.

"I'm going to meet my friends for lunch now. Would you like to join?" he offers. Haerin's heart goes wild with infatuation at the thought of having lunch with Seonghwa, but then it freezes with anxiety instead at the thought of being with a group of strangers.

"It's alright, I'm having lunch with my friends too," she responds, trying her best to look and sound regretful.

"That's fine! See you around and take care," he sweetly utters as he walks away from her. She's left standing there with the warmth of a hundred blankets once he leaves.

He said "take care"...he really cares about me...

Once the coast is clear, she scurries to the lounge area above the canteen. That area usually has less people than the canteen so usually if she's lucky enough to find a small table to herself, she takes it.

And just like every other day at this time in the day, she finds a small table in the corner of the lounge. She hurries there with her head ducked, not comfortable with the feeling of eyes on her. She opens her lunch box and chews her sandwich nice and slowly while reading a comic on her phone.

Oh boy, is she a sucker for romance comics.

She tries to control the smile on her face as the male lead confesses his love to the main character in the comic. She wonders when it'll be her turn to experience something like that, even just once in her life.

She sighs as her sandwich reaches its end. She supposes she should pick her essay topic on the university portal now, seeing as the selection time begins in five minutes. Her teacher had warned everyone that the topics go fast, so she's slightly on edge. There's one topic that she really wants.

She nervously anticipates the selection screen on her phone.

As soon as the clock hits 3 o'clock, she slams her finger onto the screen to select her topic. She was exactly on time, there's no way she wouldn't get the topic.

All colour leaves her face when the screen changes.

"This selection is not available anymore. Please make another selection."

She curses under her breath as she chooses some other topic. She huffs and opens her laptop, feeling very annoyed. She wanted that topic so badly.

But there's no point wasting time now. She may as well get started with her research.

As she's mindlessly scrolling through research papers, a voice snaps her out of her thoughts.

"What are you doing all alone?"

The voice she'd recognise anywhere causes her to instantly whip her eyes up from the laptop screen. Right beside her table stands Seonghwa himself.

She hops in her seat from the surprise and glances behind him, seeing a group of men staring at his back from across the room. That must be his group of friends, but how long has he been there? Has he been in the same room this whole time?

"Oh...my friends all went home so I'm just starting the essay while waiting for my train," she lies through her teeth. "Oh! Which topic did you choose?" he excitedly asks, taking a seat in front of her.

She blushes at the sight of his curious face right in front of her. She's never seen anyone look so interested in her before, and she can't help but find it adorable. She could stare at his adorable face all day.

She reads out the topic she got, but then deflates a little. "I really wanted this other topic, but some idiot took it first," she scowls before reading out the topic she wanted.

Seonghwa's smile drops and he plays with his fingers. "I'm so sorry, I'm the one who took that topic. I'm sorry, I feel bad," he profusely apologises.

Haerin's mind comes to a halt and she gasps. "No need to apologise! I'm happy you got that topic, I'm actually liking my topic now," she exerts, regretting ever opening her mouth. Seonghwa deserves that topic way more than her. He deserves the world. "...And sorry for calling you an idiot," she bashfully adds after.

"No it's alright, you don't need to lie," he dejectedly mumbles. Haerin's heart shatters. How could she wipe the precious smile off his face?

"I'm not lying, it makes me happy to know that you are the one who got that topic and no one else," she shyly admits, telling the truth for once.

Seonghwa's eyes soften and they meet Haerin's again.

"I need to go to the train station too, mind if I join you?" he asks.