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Soonyoung skipped her Biology lecture today, partly because she had to finish homework for her Literature class and also because she just wasn’t feeling sitting down in the lecture hall by herself as she resists the urge to check her phone as her professor would probably call her out.
Her apartment was on the other side of campus so she sprinted, juice box in hand because she skipped breakfast, again, to the science department building to her lab room. Realizing she was a few, more specifically twenty, minutes early, she sat down at the nearby bench, waiting for her teaching assistant to open the lab.
She regrets having lab right after lecture on a Wednesday; it interrupted with her lunch time schedule and limited her time to eat before her following class.
Soonyoung also didn’t dress up that day, only throwing on sweatpants that hung on her hamper basket and grabbing a nearby hoodie in the kitchen that smelled decent.
She scrolled through her phone, gazing up every now and then as her other classmates began to walk by as lecture just finished moments ago. Her back was against the wall, the hood of her sweater pressing against her neck, causing her to squirm and grimace as she sent a selfie to her best friend, Seokmin, who was probably stuck in her own lecture class.
“Is our TA here today?” a gentle, soprano voice asked. Looking up, Soonyoung’s eyes widened. Before her stood a slightly shorter, pink-oranged hair girl who pushed her glasses up and sipped her half-full Starbucks.
Who the hell was this beauty and why did Soonyoung just notice her? From the name on her cup, she was probably name Jihoon, and the cute name fit her cute appearance indeed.
Their TA rushed over, five minutes before their schedule time slot in the lab. Soonyoung went to her respective numbered table, three, and turned to see Jihoon was the table two in front of her, one. How has she not seen Jihoon before? True, Jihoon was a bit short, but someone that gorgeous was going to come up on Soonyoung’s cutie radar.
She put her backpack in the back, texting Seokmin that she’ll meet up with her after an hour and fifty minutes. Going back to her table, she stuck her leg out, climbing onto the stool, only to hear someone react as they tripped over it. And, of course with Soonyoung’s luck, said person happened to be Jihoon.
“Shit,” she muttered to herself. Jihoon balanced herself well, straightening up, flipping her hair behind her denim jacket, and pulled her leggings to her stomach, looking back at Soonyoung. “S-sorry,” the clumsy one apologized.
Jihoon gave a small smile. “Don’t worry about it.” Her head turned, her boots bringing her back to the front seat, making Soonyoung’s heart beat in sync with her steps. Damn, she just met the girl, tripped her, and felt infatuated by her? Who the hell was this girl?
–
There was no possible way that Soonyoung could embarrass herself anymore in front of Jihoon, right?
Wrong.
Soonyoung and her tablemates, two freshmen named Seungkwan and Hansol, were actively using the simulation on their laptop to answer the questions in their lab book. Every now and then, she would peak over and see Jihoon writing down next to her tablemates, Seungcheol and Jeonghan. She isn’t sure what it was, but the way Jihoon’s hair draped down her neck, the front part in a small, messy bun, just made her look even more attractive.
“Noona,” Seungkwan nudged as he dangled her feet off of her stool. “We can go to the next step, now.”
Hansol swiveled around in his chair to see where Soonyoung’s eyes were and he smiled to himself. He pointed out a question in their book. “Can you ask the TA about this, noona?” he grinned, knowing that she’d have to pass Jihoon’s table to do so.
With a blink and a shy smile, Soonyoung nodded and ruffled her younger friend’s heads as she slowly and timidly made her way to the front. She was slowly approaching Jihoon’s table, grunting to herself every time Seungcheol stepped closer to Jihoon’s side. She’s seen him around, that one engineering major who had all the girl’s attention. All except her’s and, hopefully, Jihoon’s.
She was on the verge of passing them when, unknowingly, she stepped on their laptop charger that ran on the floor and lost her balance, right as she was in front of Jihoon. It didn’t hurt, being a Dance major and all, she was use to the aches, but it did stir up a lot of attention.
To her disadvantage, Jihoon only stood up on the bars of her stool as Jeonghan and Seungcheol ran to her aid. She wanted her beautiful princess, not two prince charmings. She stood up, repeatedly saying she was fine, looking in her peripherals to see her younger tablemate friends snickering at her.
Just as her dongsaengs instructed, she went to the TA, asking her to clarify the question in the lab book. A bit disappointed, actually very upset with herself, Soonyoung made her way back, tugging the headband around her forehead that held her blonde ponytail neatly together.
“Hey,” Jihoon called out as Soonyoung began to walk back. She turned to the pink-haired cutey, looking around her to make sure Jihoon was, in fact, speaking to her. She giggled, covering her mouth with her hands, that looked rather smooth and delicate as Soonyoung observed. “Yes, you.”
“Me?” Soonyoung mouthed, pointing to herself, but awkwardly poking her left breast in the process. Jihoon nodded, motioning her to come over as Seungcheol and Jeonghan were arguing over the lagging system on the laptop. She scratched the back of her neck nervously, seeing that Jihoon was working on a music composition sheet rather than her lab book. “S-sorry about earlier?”
“Earlier?” Jihoon asked, her gaze not leaving her paper. After she finished writing on the staff, she put her pencil behind her ear, fixing her hair in the process. She blinked before smiling. “Oh, the tripping?” She scrunched her nose and shook her head. “I-it’s fine, really. Just be more careful.”
Soonyoung may be infatuated but she swears, she swears on the jellyfish dance she took forty hours to learn, that Jihoon’s cheeks were flushed a faded tint of pink, which could only lead to the assumption that she was blushing. She nodded at the shorter, awkwardly standing there, feeling a bit odd just watching the other one continue her composition work. “S-so…”
“I’m sorry,” Jihoon apologized, making Soonyoung a bit confused. Was Jihoon apologizing for her beauty or what? “The cord,” she pointed with her pencil to the charger Soonyoung tripped on moments ago. “We should have plugged it somewhere else.”
“Oh, no, don’t worry. I fall all the time,” Soonyoung chuckled, eyes widening as she just noticed what she had said. “I-I mean– I dance–” she blinked, groaning to herself. “I’m sorry, let me start again..”
Jihoon giggle, something Soonyoung found herself get weak over. She shook her head, “No, I get it. You dance, you’re used to the accidental slips.”
A bit shocked, also a bit impressed, Soonyoung slowly nodded.
Looking at the time, Jihoon sighed. “You should go back to your table. I don’t know if Hansol-ah and Seungkwan-ah would leave you once they finished the simulation without you.” Realizing this, Soonyoung grew a bit sad, but Jihoon coughed to gain her attention back as she walked away. “W-we can grab a cup of coffe after this if you want…”
Were her ears deceiving her? Was her dream girl just asking her for a cup of joe? “S-sure,” Soonyoung shyly smiled, eyes curling up into a smile as well. Jihoon responded with the same expression, going back to her work, making Soonyoung flustered. Back at the table, even her friend Hansol, the Chemistry major, could sense the chemistry the two had.