Author's Note on Timeline: 1-2 months after Chapter 3 (Somewhere around July-August).
(Yi Jung and Third Person POV)
"Something is seriously wrong with me. My eyes seems to follow her everywhere..."
I never intended on paying this much attention to her. Honestly.
At first, she was just the new girl: Chu Ga Eul. Smart, talented, cheery, and…nondescript. I gotta admit that she is pretty and cute but with all the ladies that I've encountered, it wasn't anything I hadn't seen before. She gets along pretty well with Jan Di and Woo Bin, but so did the rest of the F4. Her versatility in almost anything amazes (Trust me, she can do a lot of things.) Hair: Black, Has a thing with headphones, Eye color: Brown...
Well, I suppose these were some of the few things that wasn't ordinary about her.
Another noteworthy thing is that, despite knowing how ordinary she is (well, at least for me), despite knowing that she wouldn't-(COULDN'T)-mean much more to me than the F4 or pottery... I still noticed her.
No. Slash that out. I keep noticing her.
Seriously, I think something is wrong with me.
Maybe it's the way she walk, or the way she tilts her head when she's really thinking hard or curious about something. Or the way she hums while skipping or those funny (not to mention, cute) faces she make when she reacts. Perhaps it's the way she plays the piano or guitar or maybe it's just our thing in pottery and art.
I noticed her. And not like how I noticed Jan Di's formidable stance or Ji Hoo's calm aura. Those were clinical observations (at least that's what I thought.) But when it came to Ga Eul… I make different observations at all.
I noticed how natural her smile was—not forced, never forced—and how she walked with a strange grace, as if she was dancing with every step; and I noticed how her eyes would lit up when she was excited, and how she can convey emotions in music.
Nope. Those weren't clinical observations at all. Not One Bit
It was around mid-May when that happened. I didn't really have a name for it—not that one didn't exist, because I was sure that in this world obsessed with love and romance, someone would've come up with a name for it—but I preferred to keep it that way. To me, that was just like Chu Ga Eul—indescribable, beautiful but ambiguous, strange but endearing, frenetic but compassionate, and above all, more confusing than end-of-the-year finals.
Most people would dismiss it as nothing. It wasn't a kiss; it wasn't even a hug.
It was just… just...that.
/ / *flashback on mid-May* / /
The lounge was empty this day. Quite an uncommon occurrence considering how Woo Bin or Ji Hoo would usually be here at this time. Ji Hoo because he was bored (and would usually sleep.), Woo Bin because he is playing. Jun Pyo on the other hand is busy pursuing someone. (Uuughh.. I'll never understand romance. I can't even imagine myself in his position. The mere idea sends shivers in my spine strong enough to make me puke. Me and Love? certainly no chemistry.)
I didn't mind all the absences. I left the lounge, bringing with me my French textbook and went to my pottery classroom in an attempt to study. I have a test next week and I intended to do it well. Seriously, study? To impress Chu Ga Eul because the names and scores are displayed in the board? No. (Yes).
"Sunbae...?"
I didn't budge, but my eyes flickered from my book. Ga Eul paused mid-step while opening the door, headphones hanging about her neck, dressed in the simple Shinhwa Uniform. I can feel her gaze. I tilted my head, signaling to come in and gazed back at the book.
Faint footsteps. She was walking closer.
"Sunbae, can I ask you something?"
Yi Jung nodded vaguely. "Sure. About our latest assignment?
"Um…" Ga Eul shuffled. "No.. it's about... About… ummm… teenage love."
Yi Jung froze right as he was turning the page. He must have looked insanely stupid in that position—the page held in his fingers, halfway to the left but halfway to the right, bent in the strange way only paper could manage to be bent—
"…Huh?" is all that came out of his mouth. 'Did I just heard it right?'
Ga Eul whirled her head away. "S-sorry. It seems you're kinda busy. I'll just...come back some time..."
Yi Jung struggled to maintain his composure. (He shouldn't have had to; she was just supposed to be Ga Eul the new girl, Ga Eul the classmate, Ga Eul the friend.) "No, please. Go ahead." A wry smile curled at his lips. "French is hardly proving to be interesting at the moment."
Ga Eul ducked her head shyly, her eyes beaming with warmth. "Sunbae, I really need some advice."
Then suddenly, she took a huge breath. It was so huge that Yi Jung was afraid her lungs would burst, because there wasn't any way that someone as petite as her would be able to take a breath that large without suffering some sort of health consequence—
"Someone I know has asked me for some advice and currently I can't find my best friend at the moment, even though I called her twice already and I'm guessing she's busy with swimming, and I don't really know Jae Kyung unni that much considering that we have only met last week so it's kinda bit awkward if I ask her these type of questions cause it's like I'm really close to her, and not to mention that she also just transferred—"
It was at that moment when So Yi Jung changed his mind. Chu Ga Eul wasn't ordinary at all. (He wasn't sure an ordinary person would've been able to talk for that long.)
He quickly held up his hand to stem her flow of words. Her mouth snapped shut, and she looked quite abashed.
"S-sorry, Sunbae," she mumbled. "I didn't mean to… Well, you know. You don't have to help me if you don't want to."
Yi Jung blinked. "What? No, that's… Just, why don't you start from the beginning? And, take it a little slower, maybe…?"
A faint blush scribbled over her cheeks. "Y-yes. Of course. I… I'm sorry..."
The apology was completely unnecessary. In fact, some part of Yi Jung was just a tiny, tiny bit pleased that Chu Ga Eul had sought him out for advice. He managed to place that feeling into the 'People-Think-Highly-of-Me' and 'Hoobae-Think-I'm-Sort-of-Wise' category… but if Yi Jung was honest with himself, he knew it would lean more toward the 'Girl-Who-I-Think-is-Cute-is-Asking-Me-For-Advice' category. (That category didn't exist before Ga Eul appeared in his life.)
::-::
It was a pretty long tale, but by the time Ga Eul had come to the end of it, she seemed to know what to do with Yi Jung only putting few words.
Yi Jung smiled at her as she began to think. 'Seriously though. Who am I giving some advice when I'm just a Casanova?'
"But you know what Sunbae... I think you're right." Ga Eul concluded
'I am?' Yi Jung thought to himself. 'Who would have thought.'
"I mean about 'the waiting' thing... Now that I think of it, if you do meet the right person, you'll know it eventually."
"And... how exactly will you know it?" Yi Jung chuckled. 'seriously, this girl is one hopeless romantic.'
Ga Eul gazed back at him with glinted eyes and smiled, "Well... you can't stop thinking about them. They're your best friend and soul mate. No one and nothing else will compare."
And it was the bright smile on her face that alerted Yi Jung to their current proximity. At first, she'd been standing very awkwardly in front of him, but at some point in her story, she'd gotten comfortable enough to sit on the same area as him—on the opposite end. Now, he realized that she'd somehow magically teleported right next to him so that their legs were touching.
Yi Jung wasn't sure he fancied being so close to such a pretty face.
"So… It seems you have your answer" he said easily, trying not to look at that face.
Ga Eul nodded, her smile only getting brighter. "I think I do." She clapped her hands together, her eyes dancing. "Komawo, Sunbae..."
Yi Jung was just about to say that he really hadn't done anything—because really, he hadn't—when he noticed that Ga Eul's face coming closer to his and she was beginning to lean forward, like she was going to kiss him—
But then she stopped and stared into his face, her hazelnut eyes wider than he'd ever seen them.
For a few moment, they sat there, Ga Eul still leaning—well, half-leaning—towards him in the most awkward position he'd ever seen, her face quite close to his, and no one else is in the room, no one else is in the room—
Then Yi Jung realized that his own hands had become sweaty. That fact alone jarred him back to reality.
"Wha... What?" He asked the young girl as he tried to remain as calm as ever.
Ga Eul smiled, stood up immediately and looked at him then smiled at him again. "How about you sunbae... Do you also believe in soulmates?"
Yi Junng swallowed. He suddenly felt as if he had something stuck in his throat. He tried to regain his composure as fast as he can. "Soulmates?" he said—and mentally cursed at the tremor in his voice as he did. "I'd want spend the time looking for my soul mate — although I'm not even sure stuff like that exists"
Ga Eul suddenly giggled but at the same time, confined it.
"And you are smiling because?" Yi Jung asked
"Well sunbae... you said you're not sure if stuff like that exists. But as I observe you, I felt otherwise."
Yi Jung was dumbfounded. 'What did she just said?'
The two were locked in a staring contest for a few moments until —
*RIIIINGGGGGGGG*
That was the school bell signaling lunch break was over. Ga Eul immediately went to the door.
"See you later sunbae...!" She waved as she closed the door.
Yi Jung sighed in disbelief He resented the fact that while, the bubbly girl had appeared to regain complete control of her body, his heart was still running wild, his stomach was still rolling over and he was still feeling on edge.
Soulmates? Could a Casanova like him believe in such thing?
AN: AHHHHH FINALLY IT'S DONE! sorry if it's kinda boring (I tried to make it as long as possible) ... Reviews and suggestions are appreciated!
