Things didn't go back to normal after that, however they did remain more or less the same... with Hyuk around me. He'd pester me whenever he saw me and I had to admit though, I had started going to sit under the oak tree more and more often so it wasn't like I was trying to avoid his pestering either. He'd also always walk me home now without fail and honestly, I knew that I liked having him around but denying it was like second nature to me. Ever since what had happened in the past, it became a habit, almost like a defense mechanism. And it also wasn't just our past that reminded me of how far in status we really were. His mother made sure I didn't forget that fact either.
I met her by chance on one of these days when Hyuk and I had decided to head out to buy some snacks during a break together. While we were stood by a tteokbokki stand outside the campus, Hyuk's mother seemed to have spotted us while driving past and had her driver pull over. Hyuk rushed over to greet his mom and adorably hugged her, looking happy to see her here. I was smiling like an idiot about it until I noticed that his mom didn't have quite so much of an affectionate attitude towards me. I could feel her eyes burning holes in me with so much hostility that I couldn't even open my mouth properly to greet her at first. Hyuk noticed her looking at me and went on to introduce me.
"This is Kim Mirae." He said. "She's a good friend from the science department."
Despite Hyuk's enthusiasm, his mother looked down at me with a degrading glance and nodded. "I see."
Hyuk didn't seem to catch on, but I got the message she was trying to convey. While he briefly turned around to take the tteokbokki from the guy at the stall once it was ready, I went on to greet his mother properly.
"Hello." I politely bowed at her, feeling completely out of place and unnerved, but what happened next felt like a slap in the face.
She looked at me as if I was dirt on the side of the road and turned away, heading back into her car. Even until now Hyuk didn't really know what had happened, but I remember being so frozen in shock that I remained standing there speechlessly for about a minute.
It was an unpleasant experience and I never wanted to meet her again, but it wasn't like I could get rid of Hyuk even as a friend because of that. After all, I liked having him around regardless of our differences.
A couple of days after that I was sat under the oak tree as usual, reading yet another romance novel in which the female protagonist was just about to be kissed by the male character. A refreshing breeze blew a few leaves down onto the page of my book and I paused with reading as I removed it.
"Aish, is he going to do it or not?" I muttered to myself regarding the male character when I noticed a batch of students walking in through the university gates. In the midst of them I saw Hyuk walking onto the grounds and it took me a moment to absorb the scene. Hyuk already always stood out among the other students as it was, but the random violet hair was really making him conspicuous.
He caught sight of me and without further delay he was heading straight towards me with a fast pace. The closer he got the more I stared at him weirdly, seeing how violet his hair really was. What happened to him suddenly... was he trying to make a statement?
"It's all your fault!" He complained grumpily as soon as he reached me, touching his hair with a forlorn expression.
"How is it my fault?" I frowned, eyeing him weirdly.
"Your stupid shampoo did this to my beautiful silky hair!" He pointed accusingly at me.
It was only then that I realised what had happened and tried to the best of my ability not to laugh. I pressed my lips together and cleared my throat. "Seems like we went a little wrong with the ingredients..."
"Yah! You told me it was safe to use!" He got even angrier as he continued to nag and wail about it. This went on for almost the whole day, and although I found it hilarious I couldn't help but find that the violet hair actually suited him. It was pretty evident from the way the girls were giving extra attention to him today.
Later that day we were both working in our respective departments as we usually do -Hyuk on the top floor, me on the one below. I was really starting to get tired when I noticed that the music from above had stopped, so I quickly packed my things and got ready to leave too. We kind of fell into this routine eventually, where I would also pack up as soon as he stopped practicing on the piano otherwise he would end up waiting for me again.
I saw him walk into the lab while I was still putting some test tubes away. "I'm almost done, I just need to clean the workstation up."
Hyuk just nodded and sat down where my jacket and bag were piled up. He remained strangely silent, but I didn't think anything of it since I assumed he was probably tired just like me.
After I dragged myself home with Hyuk trailing after me, instead of leaving right away he stood by the gate a bit longer than normal. I wasn't sure what was up with him because he was acting strange quite a lot today. He hadn't said much the entire journey and when I glanced back at him from the front door he just smiled at me and left. It wasn't his usual dorky grin but that genuine smile that could make every girl on campus swoon.
I decided to shrug the thought off for now and went inside to get ready for bed. As usual I pulled out my textbooks from my bag to get the right ones ready for tomorrow's lectures when I saw a letter fall out of my bag.
I picked it up and examined it with a frown, confused as to how it got in there. Then I carefully opened it out of curiosity to see what it was.
It was an invitation to a house party from Hyuk.
I guess we hung out often enough for him to invite me to such things but the way he's been acting and the way his words in this letter were written kept telling me something that seemed outrageous. You could call me insane but it honestly seemed like he was subtly dropping hints that he had feelings for me. Even thinking about that now was absurd but this was making me so nervous that it seemed almost unmistakable.
"I've been thinking a lot lately. I have something to tell you, so I really hope you can make it. I'll be waiting."
I read those words over and over, and every time I did I could only conclude it as a discrete confession.
"Kim Mirae, you've lost it..." I muttered to myself all night, unable to sleep. I wasn't sure what to do anymore because if it really was conveying his feeling, then would it mean I accepted them if I went?
"Do I want to accept?" I pulled the blanket off my face as I stared at the ceiling, thinking hard. I placed a hand on my chest and felt how hard and fast my heart was beating right now, just with the thought of him having feelings for me alone. I really was never over him -in fact, I liked him more now than ever before. But, after what happened in the past I wasn't sure how I could just repeat the same mistake again. As much as I knew how much I liked Hyuk, I also knew I just wasn't up there on the social ladder that I could be with him and it was as simple as that.
During the past few years I had learned that social status was a powerful thing and while Hyuk was somewhere at the top, I was somewhere on the other end.
