Storm. || Zen/Hyun Ryu

[9]: you.

The day after; Friday.

10:00 am.

I looked around the classroom to find Hyun, only to find he wasn't here yet. I mentally shrugged and looked back at the board in front of the classroom.

Good morning.
Please take a seat next to your partner.

I searched around for two empty desks, and eventually found it. Carrying my books, I made my way to the two empty desks sitting next to each other at the middle of the classroom. I sat down, placing my books on the other desk to indicate I was saving the other seat.

The familiar school bell rung once again. Right after, Hyun immediately rushed in to the classroom.

I scanned him-- he looked different, that's for sure.

His silver hair seemed messier than usual, some strands floating up. He was wearing the hoodie he offered me yesterday, which was wrinkly at the moment. Plus, his posture was less straight and confident-looking. His red eyes-- looking duller than ever made their way to my direction, a friendly smile curling his lips once he saw me.

I shook my head and stopped staring as he approached me and sat himself down. I pushed my books on my desk while he places his books on his own. I tensed up, the familiar smell of his cologne filling my nose.

Before I could say anything, Miss Arthur stood up from her chair and walked to the front of the room, the class completely silent. We all eyed her.

She cleared her throat before speaking, and then examined the classroom from left to right with her usual cold and bored looking expression. "As I said a few days ago, we have a project. It is important you work hard with your partner because both of you will play an important role in this project." She looks around again to see if anyone had questions, and then continues. "Each group will be given a topic. You will have to write a story with your own characters and plot based on this topic. One person in the group will produce ideas and make the characters, as the other will turn those ideas into a story."

She takes a file on her desk and looks down at it. "Okay, here are the topics," She tells us, then looking up. She calls the names of each person in a group and calls out their topics. The topics varied from things like love and friendship, bravery, kindness, resilience. She soon faces mine and Hyun's desk, "[Y/N] and Hyun. Your topic is family and comfort."

I turned my head to face Hyun. I could almost hear his eyes widen. I gritted my teeth into a concerned look. "Are you... okay...?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, "I don't even know.."

"Oh. We can request a topic change if you're not comfortable with it..." I whispered.

He changes his facial expression again, one out of guilt. He shakes his head aggressively, a dorky smile on his face. "No, it's fine!"

I chuckled silently, giving him a comforting smile. "I don't mind changing it, but okay."

I glanced back at Miss Arthur, to find her done assigning the topics. "I'm going to pass out a planning sheet. While I do so, feel free to discuss with your partner."

"Hey," Hyun started, causing me to face him once again. "Are you free after school? We could start early," He suggests, his cheeks tinted pink. I bit my lip to think, only for him to interrupt my thoughts. "If you can or want, that is."

I giggled. How cute. "That's a good idea."

Miss Arthur finally approached our desks, placing one sheet of paper flat between us. I looked at him again, "Do you want to write?"