Remnants of the Heart | Kim Taehyung

11: evite

ACT 2 — SCENE 3
SHE AVOIDS.

          MONDAY BRINGS Seojung her official first day of college.

She's nervous, overflowing with anxiety that she hasn't been able to wash away since last night. Has gotten used to waking up mid-day for weeks that hearing her alarm go off at 6 a.m. In the morning felt like a welcoming to hell. But the despite her body still being on vacation, she's more than prepared for the new academic year. She's gone shopping for stationery—notebooks, highlighters, post-its, you name it—and clothes prior to this day because getting her education with new stuff is oddly pleasing.

The first thing she sees when she checks her phone is a good morning text from Jeongguk, which surprises her because she had never expected him to wake up before her on the first day of college. The next text is also from him, saying that he'll see her in a few hours followed by the overuse of heart emojis, something that has her falling back to the bed and smiling at how corny he can be sometimes. Her bed suddenly becomes comfier than usual, and she would do anything to be able to get under the blankets and go back to sleep, but Jeongguk's heart emojis are what keeps her going. She texts back a "you better not be late for your first class" before jumping off the bed to finally start the day.

First on her agenda is breakfast. She whips up a simple sandwich in mere minutes (makes one for Jeongguk as well which she wraps with plastic) and eats while scrolling through instagram, looking at all the recent posts from her friends back home. It has never taken Seojung long to get ready in the morning. She's not one to do her hair or take a while to put makeup on, so the girl's set to go after approximately half an hour.

Seojung exits her apartment after putting everything in her backpack. There's a teensy bit of excitement bubbling in her chest as she locks the door. High school, to put it thoroughly, was boring, so she can't wait for what college brings to her life. A smile creeps up her lips as she thinks about meeting new people and making new friends, but it soon vanishes when she hears the door opening behind her.

"Good morning," Taehyung's deep voice greet her. Seojung turns around and is faced with her high school crush, backpack slung over one shoulder and dressed so effortlessly but still manages to look fresh and nice. She's surprised that Taehyung's up this early just to get to campus. Teachers knew him for always being late to most of his classes back then.

The only word that comes out of her mouth is a short "hi" because she doesn't know what else to say. Seojung shifts on her feet, suddenly feeling awkward despite knowing that there's no need to. This is Taehyung, the Taehyung who she grew up with, the Taehyung who she saw almost everyday, and the Taehyung she pinned on for all her high school years.

There's no lie that she's been avoiding him ever since her first day here. It's just something that her body does out of control. Walks the other way when she sees him down the street, ducks her head whenever she sees him at the lobby, try to remember when he leaves and comes back just to make sure they don't run into each other. For a while that seemed to do the trick. Except now that the school year has started, Seojung's going to no doubt see him a lot during the day, and there's really nothing she can do about it. Hiding from Taehyung (and not knowing why she's hiding from him) is not going to do her any good. If anything, things are just going to be more awkward, and Seojung will be more pathetic than she already was.

"So, first day of classes. Are you nervous?" he asks, closing the door and locking it.

"Not really. Just wish I didn't have to wake up this early."

"Right. Straight-a student like Park Seojung doesn't need to worry about things like school." Seojung laughs, unsure of how to respond to the compliment if it can even be called that. "are you leaving? Do you want to go together?"