The next morning, Aira awoke to the soft glow of dawn filtering through the curtains, her thoughts still consumed by her encounter with San the previous evening. Despite the flicker of curiosity that had ignited within her, she couldn't shake the lingering sense of frustration that had simmered beneath the surface of their interaction. After all he was still a complete stranger in her flat by the universities team.
As she dragged herself out of bed and stumbled groggily into the kitchen, Aira was met with the sight of San's empty chair and the lingering remnants of his morning routine. Why did he left all of the things here and not in his room?? The familiar pang of annoyance resurfaced at the thought of him, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment that he wasn't there to face her scrutiny.
With a resigned sigh, Aira set about preparing her morning coffee, her movements slow and deliberate as she tried to shake off the lingering fog of sleep. But no matter how hard she tried to distract herself, her thoughts kept drifting back to San and the impenetrable mystery that surrounded him.
She finally pressed a few buttons on a coffee machine to make herself some double espresso, because it seemed like only double intake of caffeine can help her to wake up.
Lost in her thoughts, Aira didn't hear the sound of the front door opening until San breezed into the apartment, his presence filling the room with an undeniable energy that sent a shiver down her spine.
Where was he this early in the morning? She asked herself.
"Morning," San greeted casually, his tone betraying none of the tension that hung between them.
Aira forced a tight-lipped smile in response, her irritation bubbling to the surface once again. "Morning," she replied curtly, her voice tinged with an edge of coldness.
San's smile faltered slightly at her frosty demeanor, his gaze flickering with uncertainty before settling into a mask of indifference. "Sleep well?" he asked casually, his words ringing hollow in the empty space between them.
Oh now he cares all of a sudden? After how he introduced himself last evening?
Aira bristled at the question, her frustration mounting with each passing second. "Fine," she muttered tersely, refusing to meet San's gaze as she busied herself with her coffee.
"Aren't you going to ask me where I was?" San raised his eyebrow at her cold answers.
"It's not really my business, besides you yourself said, that you don't waste words on chitchatting" Aira muttered while scrolling through her phone and taking a sip of double espresso she help in her left hand.
San came closer to her, sweat still dripping from his forehead, possibly from the morning run or some sort of activity he did this early in the morning and snatched the small cup out of her hand.
"That's my coffee you jerk!" she raised her voice, annoyance bubbling in her veins.
"Thanks for the coffee." San chuckled after chugging the espresso down his throat in one go.
Aira looked at him with a mixture of shock and disgust at the same time. San managed to ruin one of her favourite parts of the morning routine 'A peaceful morning with a cup of coffee while checking her schedule or what's new on social media'.
She watch him disappear in the his room, yet at the same time she understood that she couldn't bare the messy morning where San was ruining her morning right before classes, so she decided to take a quick shower while San was still in his room, pack her things and leave early.
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Arriving on campus, Aira sought solace in the familiar hustle and bustle of university life, the chatter of students and the hum of activity serving as a welcome distraction from her tumultuous thoughts. Spotting her best friend and course mate, Wooyoung, among the crowd, Aira's spirit lifted slightly as she made her way over to him.
"Hey, Woo!" Aira greeted warmly, her voice tinged with relief at the sight of her friend.
Wooyoung turned to greet her with a bright smile, his eyes lighting up with genuine affection. "Aira! Good to see you." he exclaimed, pulling her into a tight hug.
As they fell into step together, Aira felt the tension of the morning slowly melting away in Wooyoung's presence. "How's your morning been so far? I've heard our professor recognised your creative side and hard work on the last assignment." she asked, eager to shift the focus away from her own turbulent thoughts.
Wooyoung shrugged nonchalantly, his easygoing demeanor a comforting contrast to Aira's inner turmoil. "Same old, same old. And yeah he finally did notice the creative spark in me, not just base level technicalities. " he replied with a grin. "But enough about me, how about you? A birdy has told me that you've got yourself a new roommate? He poked her side while teasing.
"Oh tell me about it... It's the worst morning I've had in a while, not including that one after your friend's party." she chuckled under her breath.
"Come on, he can't be that bad." Wooyoung joked.
"How the fuck did you know it was a guy?!" Aira turned tu him surprised just to find Wooyoung having a wide smirk plastered on his lips.
"Do I look stupid to you or what? If that was a girl you wouldn't cuss her off to me after meeting her. Besides I've told you already a small birdy has told me all the info I need to know."
"Was that birdy named Ryujin or Yuqi?" she questioned.
"Ryujin." Woo simply answered.
"Wow I truly didn't expect you to out her like that." she laughed.
"I don't care if she's your sister or not, but one thing I know that there are no secrets between you and me." he placed his arm on her shoulders. "Now let's go, we need to prepare the studio for today. And we can talk about your new friend there."
"Sure. And he's not my friend, just an annoying roommate I have to share a flat with from now on."
