PUCKER UP ❆ LEE HAECHAN

❆ chapter twenty-three

At the next lecture, Haechan showed up again, sitting next to her. Luckily for her, he didn't try to disrupt her this time, instead just quietly sitting with his own laptop, doing his own work while she listened to her professor.

Hyerim wanted to ask how he got her timetable, but it was very possible he just asked for it from Jihee, or got it from the office, or knew someone in her courses. Plus, it wasn't like she minded. He treated the lecture like a library, quietly working on his own projects while she worked on hers.

After the class ended, she watched as Heeseung came up to her, bowing at Haechan before speaking to Hyerim.

"I just wanted to ask when you were free?" He looked at the girl expectantly, but Haechan beat her to it.

"I thought you guys had another teammate? Isn't it supposed to be groups of three?" Haechan questioned.

Hyerim rolled her eyes. "We've literally never seen Minjeong come to a lesson before, so we're ruling her out as a deadbeat. It'll just be Heeseung and I 'cuz neither of us can get her contact," she informed him, pulling out her phone to look at her calendar. "I can do 2pm tomorrow at Cafe Dream after my shift, if that's okay for you?"

Heeseung nodded, much to her relief. The last thing she wanted was an unavailable, uncooperative teammate. Bidding her goodbyes to Heeseung, she walked towards the exit of the lecture room, Haechan of course trailing behind her.

"See you tomorrow at 2pm in Cafe Dream!"

Turning around to see the boy bidding her goodbye cheerily, she groaned, knowing who she was going to see after her shift tomorrow.

❆

Untying her apron and farewelling her co-workers, she exited the staff room with her stuff to see Haechan sitting at a table, laptop already out on the table.

"Of course you're the first one here," she commented, sitting down at the table while craning her neck to look around for Heeseung. "You're not even in our group."

"What, can't I provide moral support?" He puffed his cheeks out in an attempt to look cute, putting his index finger on his lips. Hyerim grimaced, looking at him in disdain.

Luckily, the door of the cafe jingled, indicating someone had walked in, and she looked over to see Heeseung strolling in. His eyebrows raised spotting Haechan sitting next to her.

"Hyerim!" Heeseung sat down across the pair, bowing his head slightly towards Haechan, who just nodded in response. "Haechan, you're here as well..." Heeseung's voice trailed off.

"And do you have a problem with that?" Haechan raised an eyebrow, leaning back on the booth while slinging an arm around the back of it. Hyerim looked back at his arm, before scooting forward a little bit on the booth.

"No, of course not!" Heeseung waved his hands, shaking his head. "But, I do have to ask..."

Hyerim looked up at the boy sitting across from her.

"Are you guys dating?"

The girl was quick to answer. "Absolutely not," she firmly replied, glaring at the boy beside her, who mimicked being shot in the chest. "Ignore him, please, and let's get started on the project."

The two teammates started on their project, Haechan keeping himself sat beside Hyerim. He would glare at Heeseung every time she laughed at one of his jokes, or whenever he would lean forward to look at Hyerim's screen. By the end of the session, the poor boy was shaking in his boots, making sure to keep a healthy distance between himself and Hyerim otherwise Haechan would be ready to pounce at him.

"S-see you next time, Hyerim!" The boy stammered, his things stuffed inside his bag, ready to run out of the cafe and not look back.

Hyerim turned to Haechan, who had a smug smile on his face. He toothily grinned at her, packing up his stuff.

"That was a productive session, wasn't it?" he chirped.

Hyerim gave him one last glare before also packing up her stuff. "You are so annoying."

❆

Haechan continued to show up at her lectures. He was at most of them, occasionally missing some because of a class, Hyerim was guessing. He also became a regular at Cafe Dream, showing up during her shifts to order a drink and study, every so often shooting her a wink or making a kissy face whenever they made eye contact.

He was annoying, but Hyerim had admittedly gotten used to his presence again. It reminded her of high school, where he would constantly cling to her, getting her schedules and following her around everywhere.

Although Haechan had physically changed (new hair colour, build getting more muscular), he was still the same boyish, puppy-like high schooler like he was 2 years ago. Their dynamic was also the same - teasing, with him flirting and her rejecting. 

She missed it.

chapters are so short lately they're only like 600-1k words when i try to aim for at least 1.5k-2k words :(( sorry