Hello Stranger

Part 1- An Unfortunate Meeting

1238 words

The bell rang.

Thank God.

You were a flustered mess, not being able to focus on your work because of Hyunjin's bubbly laugh, making an appearance almost every five minutes as the professor rambled on about stocks. And in return, now you had more homework. Luckily, or should I say unluckily, you had lunch right after Econ, and you bolted out of the classroom as soon as you heard the liberating ring of the school bell.

You pondered where to eat as you took your bag out of your locker. Now that you didn't have the comfort of your friends to spend an hour with, the rest of the school seemed big and lonely, everyone else already paired up or situated with their usual friends.

Hesitantly, you closed your locker and began to wander the school halls, searching for a suitable place to eat.

Definitely not the cafeteria, you thought, peering into the large space filled with students, I would stick out like a sore thumb if I ate alone here.

About a minute later you found yourself at the entrance of the library, questioning whether you should enter or not. It was peaceful, the papers from the books on the tall shelves seemed to absorb all of the noise in the room. But in the end you decided not to; it was too quiet for your liking.

Authorized personnel only. You stared at the sign to the staircase that leads to the roof, reading it's black letters as you weighed the consequences of getting caught. It's not like students weren't allowed on the roof; the botany and agriculture students went up there frequently to check out the greenhouse and other various plants that lived up there. You could easily just lie and say you were one of them. Making your decision, you grabbed the cold metal handle and swung the door open, the musty smell of the staircase making you squint. You quickly ran to the top, pushing the door open to reveal the bright sunlight and crystal clear sky, and a smile instantly found its way up to your lips. The cool air filled your lungs as you took in a deep breath, instantly relaxing you as you smelled the various greenery on the other side of the roof.

You walked over to the railing of the roof, watching the cars whiz by on the adjacent highway as the wind played with your hair. Sure you were alone, but up here there was so much to look at; you didn't mind the solitude as you watched the landscape below-

CRASH!

A loud sound similar to something breaking was made behind you, causing you to whip around in panic to find the source.

You weren't alone.

A boy on the opposite side of the roof sat on the ground, seemingly clutching his arm in pain as a now uprooted pot of zinnias lay scrambled on the concrete, mixed with shards of terra cotta. His arm was covered in dirt and he wasn't wearing his blazer, which means that he could have gotten cut, and that thought alone triggered your motherly instincts. Without a second thought, you ran across the roof towards him, taking off your bag as you neared him.

"Are you okay?!" you gasped, quickly unzipping your bag and shoving your hand inside, looking for the familiar smooth plastic of your first aid kit. The boy looked up at you with mild confusion and amusement.
"I'm okay, really," he mumbled, looking at his arm before wincing slightly. He was cut. Badly.
"You're bleeding," you knelt on the ground next to him, pulling out the box with a red cross on it.
"Seriously," he started to get up, brushing off some of the dirt from his arm, "I'll be fine-"
"Look, I know we don't know each other," you started, looking him in the eye, "but I do know that if you don't get that cleaned up, you're gonna get an infection. I also know that if you go to the school nurse, she's gonna ask you what you did to get that cut, and you don't want to explain to her that you destroyed one of the zinnias for the botany class." He narrowed his eyes at you. "So if you just let me help you, I can dress your wound and we can go our separate ways. Deal?" You stretched a piece of gauze in between your hands for him to place his arm into, looking up at him expectantly.

He looked away for a second, sighing before he sat back down, placing his arm onto the white fabric before you tied it around his arm. You worked in silence, him not looking at you, and you occasionally stealing glances at him while you poured saline onto his cream skin.

You considered yourself to be pretty observant, it almost always comes hand in hand with being a quiet person. However the boy sitting in front of you had incredibly charming looks, and you wondered how you had never seen him before. He looked about your age, had fluffy brown hair that reached the tops of his almond shaped eyes, which had the longest eyelashes you had ever seen. His nose was cute, it had a little mole that sat on the left side of his impeccably straight bridge. And his lips sat in a slight pout, light pink with a deep Cupid's bow.

His face was flushed red and he was slightly out of breath, and that's when you noticed the heat in your face as well. The silence was becoming painfully awkward, and you were desperate to find a way to break the ice, not to mention you were curious about the boy in front of you.

"So you're a rule breaker too, huh?" you asked, glancing up at him. His eyes flitted to you for a second, confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Well for one, if you were a botany kid, that wouldn't be the way it is right now," you nodded towards the sad looking pile of dirt next to you two. He chuckled.
"If you're referring to me ignoring the sign at the bottom of the stairs," he sighed, looking at your face now, "then yes, and that makes two of us." You tied the gauze tight to his arm, watching how his bicep tensed up at the pressure.

"Okay so um...don't mess with that for a couple of days," you said, putting the materials back into the small white box. "I would suggest waiting until Wednesday to check on it-"
"Where did you learn all of this?" he suddenly interrupted, making you pause and chuckle.
"I have a little sister," you smiled at him, "and she's very...accident prone," this made him burst out laughing, the sound reminiscent of summer breezes to your ears. You stood up and smoothed out your skirt, before reaching out a hand to help him up.

"Thanks..." he scratched the back of his neck, realizing that he didn't know your name.
"Y/n," you grinned, to which his eyes widened. "My name is y/n."
"We have the same math class," he smiled sheepishly, embarrassed that he didn't recognize you sooner.
"Really? I didn't know," you scolded yourself mentally, surprised that you had seen him for half of the semester and still didn't know his name. "And you are..?"

"Minho," he replied. "Lee Minho."