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If someone had told Shin Yuna that she would be a regular patron of the university library, she would have balked and laughed as she walked away. She’d always been a good student - just good and she was fine with that. And she studied hard to get the grade she wants, which was never an ambitious straight As or 4.0 GPA.
But now, sitting in the library across from her boyfriend, she came to a conclusion.
“I think I’ve gotten at least 10% smarter because of you,” she declared, her voice a bit louder, which earned her a look of gentle warning from the guy sitting across from her in his white t-shirt and light blue denim jacket.
She nodded apologetically before leaning closer and whispering, “I think I’ve gotten at least 10% smarter because of you.”
He broke into one of his no-teeth smiles, amused. He’s a generous one with his smile, that boy - one of the things they both have in common, although she’s more generous with her pouts and other expressions.
“So now you’re 110% smart?” he replied, which made her roll her eyes. He’s clearly generous with his compliments too.
“I’m serious. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have studied as much as I do now,” she said.
He eyed the empty notebook and the unopened textbook in front of her with a grin.
“You know what I mean,” she blushed, slightly embarrassed that he’s pointed out how little she’s actually studied today.
She’d probably say that she studies 50% of the time that she’s here with him - the other half is spent daydreaming, watching YouTube videos or Netflix, and looking at him who’s always seated across from her. She has told him this a while back, to which he responded with, “So it’s my fault that you don’t study?” She responded with an emphatic yes, “Definitely. You are far too cute,” which made him blush.
“You’re a good influence on me,” she continued and she’s known this to be true for a while - her sister, her parents, and her friends have pointed it out as much.
There’s just something about Eunsang that makes her want to be better - that makes her believe that she could be better. And he has a way of doing it that doesn’t make her feel small and inferior. He’s able to make her feel proud and content with herself while still striving to improve. It’s a weird, unreal contradiction that she never thought possible.
He smiled at her compliment and she thought she could see a hint of pink on his cheeks before he looked down on his textbook.
Thirty minutes later, Yuna was knee-deep in her advertising assignment when he placed a pink Post-It note on her laptop screen. She looked up and he was already back in his books and wasn’t able to see the curious smile on her lips. Post-It notes are her move while he communicates through unspoken gestures towards the door. So this was highly unusual.
She glanced at the note and grinned.
Circle one
Waffles or pizza
She thought for a moment before circling her answer and sliding the note back to him. His laughter was silent but she could see that it was genuine.
When they left the library a few hours later, they walked out of the library and he asked, “Did you finish your assignment?”
She nodded, “I just wanted to get a rough draft written. But now I am staaaaaaarving!”
He laughed and pulled her to the direction of the cafetaria. “Since you didn’t pick waffles or pizza… tonkatsu?” he asked.
“Yes please!" she answered with a wide toothy grin.
“I can’t believe I worked at the library for four hours. FOUR HOURS! See what you’ve done to me?” she muttered later in between bites of her food. “If I graduate with a 4.0, it’s going to be your fault!”
“Well, I’ve already been to most of the dessert shops and pizza parlours in Seoul because of you. So I’d say it’s a fair trade,” he retorted back, his smile teasing.
“Umm excuse me. Who was it that made me get up at 6AM to line up at the new cake shop in Uijeongbu last week?”
He protested weakly, “You know I have a sweet tooth.”
She thought for a moment, “So you make me study while I give you cavities. Great”
“It is,” he grinned while she threw her clean napkin at him.