Resonance ✓

"Ree? Is that you?"

I managed to stifle my gasp. Only one person ever called me that. The familiar voice that had been buried deep inside my mind for so long, suddenly emerged without a warning. Was it a moment of déjà vu? Probably. But was it my imagination? I was yet to discover.

I looked beside me. "Oh hi, what a coincidence!" I made a surprised grin. I didn't feel all too happy internally but I was surprised indeed. There were so many emotions that began to resurface, too fast for me to sort them out properly.

It was him. Not that it was ever out of the realm of possibilities for our paths to cross so many years later but it still felt uncanny to stumble across him after so long. On top of that, at a conference; it was not like we were at a dinner party of a mutual friend. But what was life if it wasn't dusted with fortuity and chance encounters? Besides, we came from engineering backgrounds so both of us being present tonight at a conference couldn't be all that unnatural.

He was still the same yet he wasn't? The unkempt dark hair, always borderline ready to stand up like spikes in all directions but somehow he managed to keep it just this close to tamed all his life without using any hair product, or maybe he did use some, I just wasn't aware. That boyish expression he wore, especially when he was fascinated by some new discovery (most of the time they were lame things I could assure you that). Like every other time I had seen him, he wasn't wearing glasses tonight. He had contacts instead. Did he stop wearing specs altogether or did he only dress up for tonight's occasion? Weirdly enough, he was still lanky. Well, almost. He did buff up just a smidge but I expected him to look a bit more muscular. What was his diet anyway? And of course, he ended up loosening the tie of his formal attire because he was restless like that. Keeping him locked in a confined space for half an hour was enough to test his patience. It was strange that I could remember all these little things about him so clearly. At that moment, all I could pray for was that my emotions weren't evident all over my face. I didn't want to make small talk with him but I felt the pressure.

"Well, the world is indeed tiny." He grinned sheepishly, shrugging.

"Yeah, too tiny to not trigger your composure." Before I could stop myself, the sarcastic remark slipped out. My eyes got bigger as I mumbled an apology. "I'm so sorry."

He stared at me, half amused, half amazed. "You're still the same."

"Yeah, people don't change, do they?" I tried not to sound bitter. I didn't even know why I felt bitter at that moment.

"I disagree though."

"Figures. It's your favorite pastime." I deliberately sighed. "Yes, I'm aware of your passion for contradiction." I guess, now that I started being mean, it was hard getting back to not remain one. I mean bickering was possibly the only thing that took place every time we were around each other. In fact, we got to know each other because of some pointless argument.

"What's so good about these boys anyway? Tsk." He made a disapproving face.

I was in the class alone minding my own business rewatching Exo content on my phone. No one else had come so far. I did prefer to arrive as early as possible, I didn't like being tardy. He, like many other days, also came early within a few minutes of my arrival. I didn't know what got into him that day but he, who never interacted with me before in the last one year even though we had been taking more or less the same courses all this time, randomly felt like sitting in the same row. And not just that he even began making questionable comments when he saw me streaming MVs on my phone. I never even talked to this person and out of nowhere he dared to judge my favorite group? Besides, who gave him the right to act so chummy and familiar with me in the first place?