Where I Belong

Chapter 7: Call Me

When Solbin woke up the next morning, the spot next to her where Minseok should be was empty. She sat upright but remained disoriented. It took her a moment to recall last night's events. Yep, they had had amazing sex. It was mind-blowing, yet hardly surprising. But she was not entirely sure if that was makeup sex or just...sex. Were they officially back together? Or not yet? Should she take him back?

She got out of bed and switched on some lights so she could find her clothes and put them back on and then wash up. Minseok was nowhere to be found so she thought she ought to give him a call. She took her phone out from her bag and suddenly she was reminded that her phone had died ever since yesterday evening, but she was so occupied with this and that that she had forgotten about it. Once it was recharged and came back to life, she breathed out in relief.

She knew for certain that she had missed a lot, but she almost dropped her phone when she saw on her screen that she had 52 missed calls from Baekhyun last night, and an additional 26 this morning. Instantly, she was a mess as everything that had happened between them yesterday had invaded her mind. Getting on his motorcycle, being the sole audience for his performance, and then bedding him...her memory was so vivid, so detailed, so specific that it had included everything from the way his tongue slipped past hers to his orgasm face when he was on top and buried deep inside of her. She chewed on her lip tensely, feeling remorseful for leaving him like that yesterday — he obviously cared enough about her to keep calling her but she was oblivious to it the whole time. She did not forget why she left so hastily. It was because she was jealous of not just Seulgi but also all of the other girls that were falling to his feet, getting to be around him often, et cetera, et cetera. She just could not stand that the sweet and fun (and illegal) things that he would do with her, he might also be doing with other girls. In fact, just thinking about it had made her feel sick.

Still, she had to ask herself why. Why was she feeling this way? Why did she give so much as a damn about Byun Baekhyun, the notorious bad boy of the university? Why did she want him, desire him, crave him like she did yesterday when she was supposed to be in love with Minseok?

Getting more and more nervous, she placed her phone face-down on the table. She had to sit down lest she get so frustrated she might pass out. She massaged her temples albeit frowning, and ran her hands through her hair because she was so confused about her feelings.

She sighed and told herself to keep her shit together and think straight. Now, what were her feelings for Baekhyun?

Her thoughts went back to the first time she laid eyes on Byun Baekhyun. It was the first week of her first semester at uni. Being a clueless freshman, she could not even get into the library without embarrassing herself. She knew that she had to use her student card to get into the library, but no matter how many times she placed her card on the sensor, it just kept showing 'ERROR' and a big fat cross on the screen as if it was trying to humiliate her and remind her of the failure that she was. She was sweating nervously and looking around like a lost puppy because she did not understand what she was doing wrong. She just looked so stupid and angry with herself that she could not even do something so simple.

Then came a calm chuckle from behind her. It was not a mocking laugh, however. She turned around in worry, and there Baekhyun was.

"I'm guessing you're a student like me, right?" He spoke to her, a charming smile gracing his perfect face. She felt herself nod but she was not doing it consciously anymore. She was immobile, only able to stare and admire this attractive passerby who was kind enough to help.

"You keep swiping your student card on the sensor for staff cards. Staff members use the yellow channel; students use the green channel. This one right here," he explained with a demonstration, and let himself into the library. "Is the one you should be trying."

She was able to take a glance at the photo on his student card, and he looked goddamn hot in the photo. What the hell? Who in the world could even look hot on an ID card? Crazy. She thought that she and a lot of people looked like potatoes on their ID cards. But not Baekhyun. He was exceptional.

Flushing madly, she followed suit and finally accomplished the impossible mission of getting into the darned library. "Thank you," she squeaked awkwardly.

Baekhyun merely winked at her and soon vanished somewhere between the endless columns of bookshelves and rows of computers, leaving her to wonder if she would ever meet this handsome stranger again.

She did.

The second time Solbin ran into Baekhyun was by the lockers. He was leaning against the wall casually as half a dozen girls gathered around him. He looked perfectly natural and carried himself with grace and charm. A round of laughter arose among the girls; he must have told a joke.

Solbin was just there to get a few things from her locker, but she stayed for a few more minutes than necessary just to check him out, visually appreciate him. She observed the way he smiled with his eyes, his gesticulations, his pose...and no matter what he did, his girls would stare and sigh in admiration, wishing they could take pictures with their eyes, breathe in this beautiful sight.

She did not even ask for his eyes to meet hers. It was an accident, perhaps a coincidence, or even fate, that he had made eye contact with her across the corridor. Feeling exposed and vulnerable now that he had noticed her, she slammed her locker door shut and turned on her heel. It would not hurt to get to her next lecture a few minutes early, she figured.

Gingerly she took a seat in the lecture hall. Very few students were in the room and the professor was not here yet. Normally she would just ignore whoever sat down next to her, but this time she turned her head and was startled. It was him. It was Baekhyun!

"You...you're enrolled in this course too?" She asked slowly.

"No, I'm just here for a word with you since you left so hurriedly just now," he said impishly. Whereas she tensed up, he was sitting back, with a relaxed posture. "You know," he added, "when I met you at the library that day, I really didn't think you would turn out to be a thief."

She frowned, offended. "I'm not a thief."

"Oh? Then why did I catch you stealing glances at me just now?" He smirked in amusement.

But the truth was that he was the thief. He stole her heart. She just did not know it until now.

It was almost a whole month later when Solbin saw Baekhyun again. This time it was at an art exhibition. Baekhyun and a few of his classmates were at the reception table, in charge of handing out pamphlets and souvenirs.

"We're meeting for the third time now. Seems we're destined to keep running into each other, huh?" He beamed, and she was enchanted.

"I guess people who are meant to be together will always find their way back to each other," she replied mysteriously.

"Ah, I like the way you think," he said puckishly, evidently in a good mood. "I'm Baekhyun, by the way. But you can call me..." his voice trailed off when she least expected it.

"Call you what?" She asked innocently, waiting for him to tell her his nickname of some sort (which, she later found out, was Kyoong).

"Call me on my cell phone," he smirked, handing her a stack of pamphlets. His classmates did the same with the other visitors in the queue. "Just in case you need help with, you know, getting into libraries and stuff like that. Or if you just want to grab coffee and check me out, that's fine too."

She opened the pamphlet and found a post-it note with his name and number scribbled on it.

Now was the time she should be dialing this number. She had made the call already, but that was when she heard the shuffling of keys. Minseok was home.