Midnight Caller [HWANG HYUNJIN FF]

8. Prince's (late) birthday

Hyunjin replied to Minji's voice message 48 hours after his official birthday. His reason for being late was that his battery died and he was so drunk that his friends and classmates carried him back to the rented apartment. Minji read that reply filled with sad emojis and broken hearts, a reply that ended with "It would have been a better party if you were here", smirking emoji attached.

She dismissed his horny suggestive words as her schedule became extremely busy and it was only the end of March. Minji didn't see much of Chan, getting informed by Minho that his friend was too busy training and studying. Students were already under too much pressure for the upcoming exams and Minji found it best to relieve that accumulated tension every weekend in the dojang.

Sparring with Felix felt both easy and demanding - when the match began and his brows furrowed, Felix would hit and kick with surgical precision but when they sat back on the mat, he would explain and guide Minji on what to improve, give a detailed overview of her actions during the match.

But sparring with Minho felt challenging throughout - he was relentless and fast and Minji hadn't won once against him. He would comment on her flaws but not as detailed as Felix would do. He teased her and purposely angered her just so that he could see her fire up and attack with many open holes for him to use and strike back.

Academics-vise, Minji spent most of her time studying in the library since her roommate tended to study aloud, preventing the other girl from focusing on her lectures. There, in the quiet of the library, she acquainted Kim Seungmin - a sophomore in the Public Administration Department, two years older than her. He was extremely smart, helping Minji with an English grammar example she had been stuck on - that's how they met (when he peeked over her shoulder and told her to use Present Perfect instead of Present Continuous tense). He later helped her with Korean history, philosophy, and classic literature, agreeing to meet her in the library every weekend after her taekwondo training. But, aside from studying, they had a chance to talk which was how she learned that he trained kendo and was one of the top three in the shooting class.

But Minji's quiet reading of the latest psychology lesson, where Seungmin asked her to give him a review on the topic, was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone on the table. The brunette boy sitting across from her gazed up from the cultural history book he was reading, eyeing Minji and then her phone. It wasn't a message but a call as the smartphone continued buzzing persistently.

"You gonna answer that? The vibration against the wood is annoying." Seungmin raised a brow and Minji slid the button to cancel the call.

"No. Let's continue," Minji smiled and they returned to read their assigned lessons but her phone lit up and buzzed again. Minji's grunt followed Seungmin's scowl and she shut the phone again.

But when the call came for the third time, Minji took the device and stormed out of the library, her grip on it so hard that she could swear she heard the plastic crack.

"What!?" Minji whisper-yelled in the hallway, outside of the library.

"Hello to you too, princess," his ever-so-smooth voice rivaled her anger.

"Hyunjin... I'm in the middle of studying... Why are you calling? Isn't it, like, 4 AM in LA now?"

He laughed over the line and Minji's shoulders slightly relaxed. It has been so long since she heard that laugh.

"I'm back, baby."

Hyunjin's words made Minji's body tense up and deprived her mind of any words. Why was he back in Korea? The spring break was long over. It was the first weekend of April. Did his college give him a week off? No, that was impossible.