The hour seemed to fly past really fast for me, as usual, and I decided to grab something to eat in the cafeteria as soon as we were let off early. It was still quite empty with perhaps three or four other students there because lunch was still about an hour away. I didn't mind though, because I liked such a silence.
I didn't want to admit it but I was feeling kind of strange. My goal to find a boyfriend was because I was tired of being alone all the time, but perhaps that wasn't the case. Perhaps what I was looking for was someone who could somehow heal the emptiness in my chest that was left behind by none other than Hyuk.
My first crush had been Han Sanghyuk It was right when I got into college... He was in the year above me and of course, there was no way that he even knew I existed at that time. He was so popular, and I was just a geeky newcomer. But still, I admired him a lot from a distance for a while. I loved how social he was, constantly smiling and laughing with all kinds of people regardless of what department they were from or what age they were. He just seemed like a really bright person, which encouraged me to like him even more... But unfortunately love didn't seem to be as easy as liking someone and being granted the wish of being with that person too. It was more than just that and status, looks and everything else played a bigger part on it than love alone.... And so, it didn't take long for me to snap back to reality and learn my place in the whole circle.
I sat down under the shade of a big oak tree on the university grounds, legs outstretched and leaning back against the old bark. A lot of couples had scribbled their names all over it with love hearts and confessions, but such things only made me feel bitter so I ignored them.
It was a bright and sunny day with a fresh summer breeze rustling the leaves occasionally -a perfect day to spend some time outside. I usually liked staying in the lab no matter what, but it felt way too hot and stuffy to stay inside today. Besides, I had started reading a novel a few days ago about a poor girl from the slums falling in love with an aristocrat and I got so into it that I wanted to read it without people constantly walking in and out of the lab.
I stretched my arms out and yawned as I reached the end of a chapter and adjusted my glasses before flipping to the next page when I was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a guitar.
Surprised, I looked around me and realized that the sound was coming from the other side of the tree trunk. Soon the person started singing along to the beautiful tune with a low and charming timbre to his voice. Whoever this guy was, he sounded almost like a professional singer and the huskiness in the way he sang was making my heart beat a little faster although I hadn't even seen his face yet. I wanted to see who it was, but at the same time I worried that he would stop playing if I made a sound.
As I continued to listen to it, it eventually occurred to me that it sounded like the tune that Hyuk always played on the piano. And now that I thought of it, the voice was very much like his too.
I hadn't seen Hyuk ever since that day in the lab. It had already been almost two weeks now but I had heard him practice a few times as usual.
"Liked it?"
I jumped a little in shock and stared up at the person suddenly standing next to me. I realized that the music had already stopped and the guy was leaning over me with a smirk and the guitar in one hand. I was right, it was Hyuk indeed.
I was flustered and unable to answer him fast enough after learning it was him and ended up just staring at him until he sat down beside me. He started talking about the weather, the rooms being too hot and something about having seen a guy trip and roll down the stairs earlier. I wasn't sure what exactly was happening as I blinked at him while he continued to casually talk to me about random things. In the meanwhile I was thinking about how to feel about this, how to feel about HIM, because I really couldn't figure it out. I wouldn't say my crush on him was over, but I had accepted our differences and how we couldn't be together. He'd made that pretty clear in the past but the way he interacted with me now just made it seem like he didn't remember a thing.
