SHE stood there like a forbidden statue, engulfed in this man's presence. in her mind, she was just thinking of how embarrassing was it for her to have someone eavesdropping on her pale blushed conversation with her mom just now.
"ah. hello. mister..." sana dragged her voice softly so that the man could fill in the blank space. "sehyun." he answered confidently, in somewhat reassuring way that made sana's heart flutter briefly.
sana swore she wasn't staring at this man, she was just stuck in the moment - lost in her train of thought as her blood rushed through veins for having to stand in front someone so close. it had no boundary to how this conversation would end up, and for an introvert like her? she wasn't even prepared to talk to anyone in seoul. at least not now.
sehyun kept his grin for a long time before continuing, "please stop staring, miss sana. it's impolite." in which made sana tremble, vaguely agitating - unable to think or speak. by any means, she knew she had made a very terrible first impression.
"listen. i don't know who you are, but my last neighbor was just like you. you remind me of her - petite, small and ... hopefully not problematic. since now that you've moved in," sehyun paused, as he placed both his hands onto sana's shoulders, "you're not problematic, right?"
sana's expression darkened by his question, in which she obediently replied, "no! i.. i don't usually cause problems back home."
he nodded but refused to say anything before turning his head, heading to his apartment door as he softly mumbled, "good." under this breath. his back was away from sana, but she could still sense that devilish smirk sehyun unable to wipe off his smug face. if it wasn't because of her reticent attitude, she would've shouted back at how "friendly" he was.
"hmph. jerk." uttered sana faintly.
-
her very first day of orientation was a mess. her university was crowded with students trying to get by and she was just standing there like a lost puppy finding its way home. sana didn't know a single person there too, which contributed to the fact that she wasn't trying to ask questions nor talk to anyone.
until a young bright girl around her age approached her with a warm smile. she reached out to sana, attempting to shake her hand, "hi there! i'm a volunteer here and i'm supposed to help first years like you get comfortable in this rather, miserable place... i'm dayoung!"
sana shyly shook back, and replied, "ah... i'm leaning towards the shy side... so i would really prefer if you don't force me to join any clubs or you know.. councils where i have to introduce myself..."
"... and try to get along with people you don't even know? please. i know that feeling too well. i'm just going to show you around. no scam." said dayoung, reassuring her new acquaintance once again.
sana was thankful for her, since dayoung was the first person to relate to her problems. from the huge tour, she got to know that dayoung was in her second year of college, slightly introverted but still enjoyed going out for a couple of drinks with strangers.
"you know... sometimes you just need to hang around people that you know is going to motivate you through the semester. well.. in your case, you found me. so that's a really big advantage in surviving college. kudos to that." rambled dayoung.
sana continued to follow her friend before dayoung let out her hand, blocking sana's way. she sneakily scoffed across the building and said, "and make sure you don't ever hang around with that guy."
her eyes followed dayoung's, observing that familiar man standing on the other side, his tall figure and golden-blonde hair immediately stood out to her in disappointment. at this point, she wasn't even surprised to see him, twice. at the two places she was going to live and study for the whole semester in korea.
dayoung voiced out, "sehyun. what a jerk."
