ψ ᴄʜᴏꜱᴇɴ × ᴍᴀʀᴋ ᴛᴜᴀɴ ψ

^9

Chatters filled the classroom in the early morning as the students waited upon the teacher's arrival. 

Jinyoung and Areum were casually conversating in their seats like the usual as Youngjae and Yugyeom talked to the classmates next to them. 

"Ja ja! Yeorobun, take your seats!" The class president flagged as the homeroom teacher walked in. 

"I know you guys are excited since the first term is almost over, and for those who've been in my class long enough, new term means?" The teacher leaned in before leaning back as she heard their responses.

"New seatmates~~" The class whined in disbelief. The teacher shook her head before grabbing a box full of papers which supposing has their names in them. 

"I'll call you up one by one and you draw the papers in these box which has all of your names in them. You and your partner can start sitting next to each other from today till the end of year." 

The students whined louder when they had no choice to choose their seatmates.

Slowly, the students got called up, some seemed happy with it but obviously some are not.

"Lee Areum! Come get your new seatmate!" The teacher waved, gesturing for her to come up.

She was definitely feeling anxious and worried about having a new seatmate, she was already feeling very comfortable being around Jinyoung since he is her guardian angel.

Grabbing the folded paper and opening it slightly as all eyes laid on her. 

"Saem! C-Can I change my seatmate?" But to no avail the teacher refused her proposal.

Feeling hopeless, Areum gave up immediately and walked up to the front of the class to announce her new seatmate. 

"Um...Markeu Tuan...?" She slowly lifted her head, in search for the boy who was busy scrolling through his phone at the back of the class.

The teacher walked up to him and cleared her throat. "Come Areum, you'll sit here!" She said pointing to the empty seat next to him. 

"Okay that's it class, your next period would be taken over by a lecture so please proceed to Lecture Hall 2! And no you can't sit with whoever you want, sit with your seatmates that I've assigned!" 

Areum packed her bag hesitantly and quickly made her way to the lecture hall along with Jinyoung. Mark didn't even look at her behavior, nor did he care about the new sitting arrangement or the fact that they were soulmates.

At the lecture hall, many students were settling in with their new seatmates. Mark came in a bit later, which means he has to find Areum. Scanning the hall for that one girl who dared not talk to him still. 

He sighed as he placed his bag next to him and sat next to the girl who was quiet as usual. Not long after, the lecturer started his speech. 

"Okay everyone! My name is Jungwoo Kim, you can just call me seonsaengnim Kim. This is a lecture that will take over this original period for the next few weeks! To get started, this whole lecture project's main focus is your partner!"

Everybody exchanged glances with their partner before facing back to the front. 

"This week, since I believe your homeroom teacher assigned new seatmates am I right? So we will be focusing on the bond between you and your partner!" He clapped. 

Areum took a quick glance at Mark who looks like he was just staring blankly to the front.

"First things first, this is a simple one kids. All you have to do is grab your partners hand and look into that person's eye for a minute. Now get to it! The timer will start when I see everyone's ready!"

Many partners have already got prepared, Jinyoung was also holding his partner's hand but he was watching Areum and Mark with a concerned look. 

Areum turned to face Mark but he couldn't be bothered with it. She nodded before looking the other direction and put her head down, now that was something he noticed. He instinctively rolled his eyes before tapping on her shoulder. 

He put both his hands out, waiting for her to grab it. Areum was speechless by his sudden move but slowly grasp into his grip. Her sense feeling the soft but cold big hands of his as they interlock their fingers, feeling their soulmate bond strengthening itself.

"Okay, the time starts now! Look into your partners eyes for a minute!" 

Areum's eyes were already on him as he slowly turned to face her. She can't help but smile, giving him warm vibes that sent a funny feeling through his heart, but he managed to maintain a straight face. 

After that one minute, Mark immediately broke the eye contact and faced back to the lecturer. 

My heart feels like it's gonna burst...why though...whatever, I just want to leave this place