Chapter Text
It was a Wednesday, eighth in the morning, not even the birds were happy to sing on the rainy day that was today. And neither was Sohyun. Her first class of the day was Musical Theory, the kind of class that won’t give you the urge to sleep, right?
That's what she hoped for.
She entered the classroom, a normal sized room, with some 40 desks? She doesn’t know, never had the will to count. There were four students in the class, she was too early, so she picked the best place, not in the front row, nor the back, just in the middle. Sitting in the only desk in the row that didn’t have anyone else close. To pass time while the teacher didn’t come into class, she pulled out one of her books and started reading.
As the minutes passed, all she was focusing on was the book in her hands. She was so into it that she didn’t even notice the girl standing by her side. She said something, but Sohyun didn’t understand. She turned to the girl in order to ask her what she was talking about and suddenly, the girl sat on the seat right next to her.
Sohyun looked in confusion. “I'm sorry, what did you say?”
“Well, I asked you if I could sit there, but you were so focused on the book that you didn't hear. Or you just ignored me” the girl said with a small smile plastered on her face.
“Oh, no, I wasn't ignoring you. Sorry.” She stopped to analyze the person. If she knew her it would be more awkward than it already is.
“So, can I sit here?” She was already sitting on the chair, waiting for confirmation. “I can leave if you want.”
“No, no. It's okay…” Sohyun's eyes were still on the girl. She didn't know her, maybe she just didn't remember. “What's your name?”
“Zhou Xinyu. You're Sohyun, right?” She was now looking directly into Sohyun's eyes. “I've heard a lot about you.”
Sohyun didn't answer. She was thinking “what did I do for her to know me?” “I don't think I've ever seen her, did I?” She had many more questions, but no answers. Until Xinyu threw her out of it.
“Well, you are quite famous around here.” She looked around as she continued. “I've seen your face in many ‘ulzzang’ Instagram accounts.”
“What's that?” With her response, Xinyu shifted her gaze to Sohyun. “I've never heard about that.”
Xinyu laughed. “So you're saying that you didn't know you're one of the prettiest girls around the campus?” Sohyun's face was still, pure confusion. “Wait, really?”
Sohyun nodded, and Xinyu got even more confused. “Girl, don't you have any social media? I'm pretty sure that if you search your name these posts will appear."
She then proceeded to Google her name.
There were so many pictures of her. She clicked on one of the pages. She showed up a lot, there were some friends of hers, such as Nakyoung and Yooyeon, but her face appeared almost three times more than theirs.
She scrolled through the page feed, there were hundreds of photos of various people. Other than her, one other face seemed to stand off. She looked to the side. “Well, I'm not the only one." Sohyun pushed her phone to the girl on her side.
Xinyu laughed. “Oh, yeah,” She posed to match the picture on the screen. “I'm really pretty too. But I don't think there's any comparison to the first place.” She said, a teasing smile on her face.
Sohyun didn't respond. Just looked at her. She felt her face getting warmer by the second, covering her left cheek with her free hand.
The teacher entered the classroom, at exactly 08:30. “Seats. Now.” The students quickly adjusted to their place as the teacher started the class.
At 9AM, he started talking about the bimester’s project. A work in pairs, due to the end of the next month. He didn't assign the pairs, but said each student would have to do it with the person sitting with them.
“I hope you're more brains than I am. I Really can't do well with theories.”
“Don't worry, you can do the presentation if you want to.” Sohyun spoke calmly. It was selfish of her, but she wasn't in the mood to stand in front of 40 strangers who would be actually paying attention to her.
“Ah, if it's possible, then yeah.” She looked at her in hope, but still thought it was too much work for one person to handle. “But if it's too hard, I can help you.”
The teacher interrupted to add more information to the project. “It's important to remember that both people of the pair write and talk, even if just one part. You can use the rest of the class time to decide the theme and roles.”
He then sat back in his chair and finished. “I want the presentation to be done on the 25th of February, the written part needs to be on my desk on the same day. Don't forget.”
The class then erupted into chaos. Some were just talking about nothing in general, others about the project.
“I guess that idea won't work,” Xinyu said, there was some frustration in her voice, but she still laughed. “But hey, you can have the smallest part, I'm ok about talking a lot.” She said, her smile wider now.
They talked about the presentation and other random things. Sohyun found out Xinyu is Chinese, which she already assumed from the name and accent. She also discovered that she's a Dance Major student, and that she plays volleyball for the university's team.
Once the class ended, they changed their numbers and continued their day as usual.
When Sohyun got home, she immediately ran to prepare herself to sleep. It would be better to not say anything to Nakyoung, yet.