Eyes Don't Lie

chapter 1

The cool breeze of summer night felt pleasant on her skin. She sigh at the comfortable silence around her, she needed it as it always help her clear her mind from the thoughts she wants to shut down. "I'm afraid you'll strain your neck if you keep looking at the sky, it's been an 1 hour already what are you even looking at you do this every night isn't it boring?" Says her best friend while she laid on her bed scrolling mindlessly on her phone. She huffs out a laugh which rather seemed forced than actually finding her sarcasm funny and adjusts her sitting position on window sill still looking at the night sky full of bright stars some tiny some bigger. Her scarf was wrapped around her head loosely even though there were no men around she still felt like keeping it on, this is how she was. "Are you missing your family or regretting choosing business economics as major?" Her friend asks glancing up at her through her glasses before she get back on scrolling through Instagram. "It's nothing like that" she replies woefully. "Ahhh you don't have to hide from me " her friend let's out with a yawn. It gets quite for some time her staring into the darkness of night and her friend back on her phone. "Why aren't you sleeping it's late we have an early morning class tomorrow?" Her friend yawns while stretching in her bed letting out strange sounds. "I'm about to do so" "I'm here for you don't miss your family too much hmm" " of course " wafiyah smiles at her friend as she makes an attempt to get off of the window. "I'm hungry?" Selena says " your random timings of hunger is captivating" she huffs and climb on her bed. "I didn't eat anything since lunch what else do you expect?" Selena defends herself. She adjust her pillow untying her hair but keeping her scarf on her head but this time it's not around her neck as she laid, the softness of mattress hit her hard. She let's out a satisfied hum because today wasn't easy day either, the hectic classes, the home sickness low energy She went through all of it today. It's been almost 3 month her semester started there are still months left for her masters degree to complete yet she can't collect herself and her emotions together. Her home back was not something to miss but still it was after all her home, her parents died long ago she doesn't have any clear memories of them but bits of events are there especially the once of their death. She closed her eyes as the memory flashed through her eyes because it feels same every time she think about that moments of her life. She want to ignore and not think about it. The silence is calming and she hopes her friend won't try to break it again, she loves her alot and consider her not only a friend but a sister yet she want to stay silent and not talk. "I said something you can't ignore me like that" she opened her eyes stared at the ceiling and thought some wishes don't come true so she focus her attention on her friend rather dejectedly who had taken her glasses off glaring at her trying to look intimidating but failed successfully. She props her elbow to support upper body as she says " how may I help you?" Which in turn received a huff of disbelief from her friend. "I said I'm hungry you should ask me what I would like to eat or even better make me noodles, won't you do that for your Sela " she blinks her eyes with a pouty lips to act cute but it cringed her out. She made a disgusted face at her tactics " please don't ever do that again, it's traumatizing and there's a bag of chips in drawer eat them, I'm sleepy can't cook or leave my bed " she rejects and turned her side of lamp off, the lamp which her friend gifted her. It was very dear to her so she brought it with her, there was light coming from other side of the room but she had a habit of sleeping in complete darkness and silence. So she pulled her scarf over her eyes and blocked herself out. She could hear her friend getting up to grab chips and being considerate she was, kept her munching low. She was grateful to have her as a friend who always acted mature and protected her and accepted her as she was. Slowly and gradually sleep took over her and she drifted to her dreamland.

Waking up early for the class was always unfathomable and above all the ear piercing sound of alarm added to the distress. She patted on the nightstand until she found her phone and turned the alarm off. Waking up early was bothersome from the start even before coming to a new country and starting fresh, it wasn't as lively and vibrant as it should be. Stretching her arms to get rid of sleep, she sat in her bed and gazed out of the window then to the sleeping figure of her friend who was also awake fighting battle with the drowsiness. She went to freshen up and get herself ready for the daily grind. After half an hour she came out, water drops were dripping from her hair which she wanted to dye lavender but was afraid of the consequences. She wanted someone to tell her so that there's someone to blame when things go south. Her friend also decided to lose the battle and went to take shower. The mornings in this dorm are always like that, silent and peaceful, Both go through their morning routine without any word. She was changing when her friend came out, she screamed "close your eyes, stupid human" "you don't have anything different from me so chill also I'm not interested in you anyways" her friend says nonchalantly. She hurriedly wore her dress which was black knee length shirt and trouser. Her hair were still wet but not dripping "you can open your eyes now" she says as she put her clothes in the laundry basket. Her friend rolled her eyes at her "as if they were close" she muttered to herself. "We have only 45 minutes until class hurry up I'm hungry, I can't wait for lunch time, I might starve to death" she say dramatically. She puts her hijab which also contained niqab and Abaya, she had vowed to herself that she will never take her hijab off in Korea no matter who have problem with it. She felt safe and comfortable, she could feel the energy surge through her veins when she was ready. Her face cover with veil, her body well hidden under the gown which was quite open and lose for her size. She put her shoes, the one which her brother bought her in Riyadh when she went there to visit him. She took great care of them as their color was white so they were most likely to get dirty. Anything related to her siblings were dear to her and she cherished them immensely. Both girls left their dorm, on their way out they bought a quick snack from convenient store after making sure they're halal. The campus was far from dorms so they used shuttle bus to get there on time. Entering campus was always like walking into a den. They were used to getting curious looks from everyone but still it was not very pleasant getting all the unnecessary attention. But one thing she was thankful for was that they didn't bully them or had problem with their way of life. They walked to their classroom and greeted the students present. Soon their professor came and like that they got busy in taking notes while keeping up with professor. The professors were very kind, always treated them equally and fairly, helped them whenever they needed and always recommended places to visit and eat. The professor who sponsored her was a middle aged elegant woman named Shin Hye Soo who was the best person she's ever met in her academic career. Not only did she help her settle in but also provided her emotional support. She would look up to her supervisor and try to perform better, she was getting good grades all teachers were satisfied with her. It was end of the last lecture for today, when she heard Ms Shin announce " Attention class!" She looked up from her notes to give her attention to the professor. The class went silent immediately and everyone's ear perked up, because if professor call for their attention it must be important. They all sit straight looking explatantly, curiosity evident on their faces which had their professor smile at her students. "Relax kids nothing to get cautious about, your summer break is around the corner isn't it?" In return they give nod of assurance " I have an amazing news for you all" the students interest piqued at that, they straightened up their backs leaning forward. It was almost comical even at this level of education they sure acted like kindergarten kids, Excited and curious. She looked around to take in everyone when her gaze met one of her classmate whose name she didn't remember. The boy didn't even try to hide the fact that he's staring and continued to hold her gaze. She panicked internally but tries to keep her calm, so instead she looks away reciting all supplications and prayers in her heart. She's always been like that, timid and shy. She'd panic easily and get anxious whenever any such incident happened. If someone stare at her or try to approach her, she get scared her heartbeat accelerates. Rightnow she doesn't want to come off as anxious so she put her pen down to avoid tapping on desk. Her professor continues "So if you have any plans for the break cancel them because I have a project for you all and there's no discretion for anyone" the class erupts in no's and sighs. " I have made different groups each consisting of 3 students and mind it I won't change the dynamics for anyone" she says " every group will be sent to different company where you will work as interns and make daily , weekly and overall report of 3 months" She finishes. It was indeed a good news for her as she'll get to work and learn and not laze around in her dorm. It was good opportunity but the uneasy feeling of being stared was still there. She turned around to subtly look at that boy who was looking at their professor and happy about the information. She sigh in relief, the professor started to assign groups to all, there were total of 37 students in the class. " now group 8 mingyu, Yuna and wafiyah" oh so she'll have a male group member which she doesn't know by name and a girl who is a walking fashion show. Yuna was very pretty and loud but on other side she was really kind and sweet girl, who'd greet her enthusiastically and never judged her. She looked toward Yuna who look back at her with huge smile on her face and blowing kisses to which she smile and return with nod of gratitude. Her face was covered with veil so the crinkle of her eyes showed away her joy and appreciation. With that the class times over and professor bid farewell to her students and leave. She walk toward Yuna who extended her hand to hold her hands. Even though Korean Yuna was quite tactile but she didn't mind at all. "I'm so happy to be in same group with you and mingyu is also great guy" Yuna says. "Me too but I don't know who's mingyu is he here ?" She asks as she look around "oh yeah there, the boy in black shirt sitting in last row" her eyes widened at that, it was the same guy who she caught staring at her. "He is nice and respectful don't worry okay he might look suspicious but he's a sweetheart, he would have been my type if he wasn't that quite and reserved" Yuna explains as if she knew what inner turmoil was going on in her. "I hope so, your friends are waiting see you soon " she smiles and wave her a goodbye. When she turned around to get her stuff and leave she almost got a heart attack, there stood mingyu with an arm distance from her. She stumbled back and put her hand on chest to calm the frantic heartbeat. "Hi, I'm mingyu. I didn't mean to scare you. Now that we're in a group, let's be friends" he says as he extend his hand for handshake. It was first time she had such a crazy encounter with anyone so straightforward and crazy. She needed time to process but she also had to respond to the boy standing in front of her. "Hi, I'm wafiyah. Its okay I didn't saw you there" she stuttered out after good minute of holding his hand hanging in air he pulled it back and put in his pocket. His strong gaze made her uncomfortable, so she didn't look at his face. There was silence for a few seconds which she broke by letting a sigh because she has to make some thing clear. She opened her mouth to say something but he interrupted " bye" and left her there alone to deal with her misery.