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Bora propped her chin on her fist, the fingers of her other hand drumming a persistent rhythm on the desk. The clock on the wall had ticked past eight o'clock almost ten minutes ago, yet despite promising to meet her on the hour, her boyfriend was still nowhere to be seen. She supposed it shouldn't have surprised her. Then again, tardiness was rather a pedantic issue if Bora took all things into consideration.
She had met Kwon Jiho not long into the first semester of her freshman year, at the café she worked at part-time. Bora had recognised him immediately because Jiho was the kind of person that had more than just perfect facial proportions going for him, and resultantly was one of the more talked about students at her university: no mean feat considering its size.
Coincidentally, it turned out he was a friend of Kim Namjoon, her own close friend and co-barista, and she began to notice Jiho more and more in the window seat of the café, usually making the most out of Namjoon's employee discount. Despite the fact that he frequented the café as an excuse visit his friend, she had often caught him stealing glances at her: glances which she'd ignored as a courtesy, totally not to play hard-to-get.
According to him, it had taken four weeks to pluck up the courage to ask her out on a date, which Bora had found bemusing and not a little flattering considering how every head turned when he walked into a room He was one year her senior and studied psychology in the same class as Namjoon, and he had a face that belonged on the cover of a magazine. To someone who's romantic endeavours had so far been limited to poor decisions and drunken one-time-things, it was a bit daunting. Bora's love life was a constant source of amusement for her friends - much to her chagrin - so maybe it had been desire to prove something, paired with that pretty face, that had spurred her to say yes.
It hadn't taken long for him to ask her to be his girlfriend, and not much longer for Bora to be sure that it was love. Everyone always told her he was such a great guy and how lucky she was. Bora would laugh light-heartedly and agree every time. How lucky she had been to find a someone like Jiho, who seemed to make everyone adore him without even having to try. Someone who was willing to put up with all her fucking bullshit.
Most importantly, she had Jiho to thank for keeping her on track with her studies when her mother fell ill and, then on track with her life when her mother passed away. For a few months, she had closed herself off to nearly everyone and would have shied away from him too if Jiho hadn't been so determined to stay by her side. Perhaps from that point onwards, it had been easy for Bora to turn Jiho into a Band-Aid for all her problems. So maybe it was her own fault for too easily becoming dependent on someone who'd given her no reason not to be. Funny how love and the world work in such fickle ways.
Her fingers halted their tapping when she saw a familiar figure rounding the bookshelves. Bora watched Jiho's handsome face burst into a dazzling smile as his eyes caught hers, and she suddenly felt a surge of emotion torn between slapping it straight off or running back into his arms. She managed to give her own smile in return, and even maintain her composure as he kissed her cheek before sliding into the seat opposite hers.
