It Beats For You

03. 22

As you awake from your sweet slumber at 1:45pm on a Saturday afternoon, you remembered that you had to drop by the stationary shop to get new pencils and paint brushes for your Art lesson next week.

Damn... Why can't my Saturdays be empty at least for once... You mentally said to yourself as you lazily dragged yourself to the bathroom. You stood beneath the shower as the cold water rinsed your body, making you feel refreshed almost instantly. You proceeded to get ready and prepared breakfast for yourself.

You were living alone because your family lives in the province while you lived in the city because you had moved here when you got accepted into college, so you had to do pretty much everything....yourself. The other day just happened to be one of the days where your family visits you to check on your wellbeing (as well as your performance in school). It sucks, you thought, because if you wanted something, you had to do it all by yourself.

With it being a Saturday, you decided to dress comfortably thinking that you wouldn't meet anyone outside. You doned a plain white t-shirt with black high waisted jeans, pairing it with white sneakers and you let down your moist hair behind your back. As you grabbed your keys with your right hand and your sandwich with the other, you headed out and made your way to the streets.

The air in the area you lived was and has always been clean, fresh and relaxing. You inhaled deeply as a big gust of wind blows at you. Ha~, that was refreshing, you thought to yourself as you walked down the street making your way to the stationary shop down the road.

You opened the door and helped yourself in. Your eyes skimmed around the store when it stopped at someone with a familiar figure. His back was facing you.

Oh my gosh, could it be...?

You said to yourself as you walked further in towards the counter to collect the special paint brushes that you had ordered last week. "Thank you!" you said as you handed the money to the guy who was behind the counter. "Now.... time to get me some pencils," you said as you walked down the aisle towards the pencil section, only to realise that Mr. Park-wait no, Jimin, was there too. He was dressed so casually-and you liked it. He wore a black t-shirt with plain dark blue jeans with black shoes.

You stood still and stared at his side profile, thinking to yourself if it was possible for one to look that good even while choosing pencils.

"Y/LN?" he said, only realising your presence after some time. "What are you doing here?" he continued. "What an obvious question," you said as you cleared your throat, your face getting flushed as you were embarrassed that you have been caught staring. "What else could I've been doing in a stationary shop?" you laughed the embarrassment away.
"What are you doing here, Mr. Park?" you asked. "Oh please. I've told you, it's Jimin. Please don't call me that. You'll make me sound old," he giggled.

Old? you thought. He looked young, well young enough for him to fit in the 20s category.

"How old are you?" you bluntly asked, then realising a moment later that the conversation was now awkward as hell. "Young." he said as the corner of his lips turned into a smirk. "That's not funny," you muttered as you rolled your eyes, realising how lame he could be. He turned to face you, eyes locked with yours as he said, "I'm not married, if that's what you want to know." he continued.

You were surprised. That's not where you were heading towards.

"25?" you guessed.
"22," he answered.

You choked at your own saliva. Your teacher is 3 years older than you! "Wow," you said, impressed. "You're already teaching at the age of 22, now that's something new." you continued as you realised that his eyes was still fixed on you.

"What? Is there something on my face?" you said as you brushed your cheeks, hoping to clear off anything that was there. "Y/LN, care for a drink with me? Unless you've planned something, then it's totally fine...." he asked. "What? Now?" you asked. Not that you were complaining, but you couldn't believe that the hottest teacher in the campus had asked you out for a drink.

"Now is just as good as any other time," he answered.

"Um yeah, sure...." you said, eyes trailing off to the pencils. "But I have to get some pencils before we go." you continued. Jimin nodded as he looked at you stand beside him, reaching for the box of pencils that was placed in the higher rack. You tiptoed but you still weren't able to reach for the pencils. Jimin looked at you while you as you struggled.

"Ugh," you grunted softly when you felt a hand wrap around your waist, balancing you on your feet. "Let me help you with that," Jimin said as he took the box of pencils with him and passed it to you. You bit your bottom lip, trying to hide the grin that was slowly forming as you felt the warmth of his hand over your waist.

"T-Thanks," you said as you felt your heart hammering against your chest. You proceeded to pay but Jimin was a step ahead of you, waiting for you to place your items on the countertop. "It's on me today," he said as he took out a credit card. "You can thank me later," he continued. You stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say as you looked at him retrieve the items along with his card. He handed the bag containing your items as he grinned. "Let's go?" he said as he gestured towards the exit, signalling that you should go first. How gentlemanly.

The both of you walked out of the store, making your way to the cafe he mentioned about which seemed to be nowhere in sight. "So where are we heading to?" you asked casually. "There's a cafe down the road," he said as he motioned with his head. "You seem to know this area well," you said, trying to start a conversation with him. "Where do you live?" you asked again. He looked back, pointing to the building next to where you lived.

"There." he pointed. "The cafe is a walking distance from my house, so I usually walk there instead of driving," he chuckled. "Some say it's 'killing two birds with one stone'. The cafe has really good coffee and secondly, I get to enjoy the fresh air as I make my way there." he smiled excitedly at the thought of a warm cup of coffee.

Oh my god, you thought. He lived so near you, and this means that the chances of bumping into each other on a normal day would be extremely high....

"We're here," he said, breaking you from your trance. "Oh, um yeah," you said nervously. "You okay, Y/LN?" Jimin asked. "You can just drop the formality and call me by my name, Jimin. No need to go all formal on me," you giggled as you sat down on the chair. Jimin smiled.

"What would you like to have?" Jimin asked as he handed a menu book to you. "Coffee, tea," he paused, "or me?" he said, looking up to you as he wiggled his left eyebrow. "Stop it," you giggled and shrugged in discomfort. You've got to admit that his words definitely made you blush, but you immediately chose to ignore it, because he didn't notice it anyway.

"Waiter," you called to the man who stood near your table. He approached the both of you. "Coffee for him and a cup of orange juice for me," you said. "With lots of ice cubes, please." you continued as you smiled to the waiter.

"What are you, an ice holic or something?" Jimin said. "Pagophagia," you sounded, Jimin looking at you totally clueless. "I find comfort in eating things that are of no nutritional value," you answered as you tucked your hair behind your left ear. Jimin nodded his head, showing interest in this "pagophagia" thing when the drinks came.