Within These Shadows || Park Chanyeol/Do Kyungsoo || Book 1

1

September, 2018

Seung Mae looked at the mirror for a couple of more seconds before sighing in defeat. Even after four months of doing it, she still couldn't draw her eyeliner perfectly winged. Not like she liked wearing eyeliner anyway, but it was the first day of third year, second semester in college. And it was also one of those days when she was feeling beautiful. Days like those were rare in the life of a soon-to-be Computer Science Engineer. Give Mae a complex code to crack, she could do it way before the timer went off. But she could NOT draw an eyeliner perfectly.

She huffed before blinking a few times, and got up; walked over to her table, grabbed her bag, slung it over her shoulder and turned to face her roommate's bed. Like every morning, the bed was empty and neatly done. She smiled a little; her roommate was always up early in the morning, way before anyone in the dorms woke up. She would head out for a jog first, come back for a shower and then go to the on-campus chapel. She didn't go there to pray; rather to study because no one would be there early in the morning.

Seung Mae broke away from her thoughts, grabbed her phone and room keys, and headed out. The college building was at a walking distance from the dorms. Walking across the freshly mowed grass always reminded her of her best friend; the girl was so lazy that she brought her bicycle from home, just to ride it from the dorms to the college building. The thought always made Seung Mae chuckle.

"Earth to Mae, earth to Mae. You're drifting apart again." Came a voice from beside Seung Mae. She knew that voice all too well to look to her left to check who it was. Her smiled widened.

"You know Jay, you're making me believe more and more that you might actually be the witch of the 21st century." Mae said.

"Why? 'Cause I popped up right when you were thinking of me?" Jay- Jayline Woods, Seung Mae's said best friend and roommate had appeared beside her, riding her bike at a slow pace.

"Yeah."

"Or, thinking about me while walking to class is something that you've been doing every single day of your life since college started. Anyone who hangs out with you regularly would know that. Plus, I couldn't be a witch even if I wanted to. Then I would spontaneously combust on taking one step inside the chapel." Jay shrugged, causing Mae to laugh.

"Yah! What's this? The 17th century? Witches can't go to church?" Mae laughed.

"Well, that's what they always say about bad witches. If I'm gonna be a witch, heck I ain't gonna be a goody-two-shoes Hogwarts-going Hermione!" Jay matched the pace of her bike to that of Mae's.

"You need an exorcism," Mae laughed.

"And you need to stop looking so pretty."

Mae looked down at her outfit; she was wearing a pink floral top that was a birthday gift from her mom, a cardigan over it, and a pair of denim shorts. She didn't think much while picking her outfit for the day. On opening the wardrobe, her eyes fell on the top and she chose to wear it. Mae didn't like wasting time in deciding what to wear. Whatever she wore, she felt like herself, because almost all of her clothes were more for comfort and less for fashion. But she looked pretty to Jay all the time anyway, and her best friend never missed the opportunity to let her know that.

"It's the top your mom got you for your birthday last year," Jay said. "You're gonna be turning some heads today."

"Sunbae heads or hubae heads? Or peer heads?" Mae asked eagerly.

"Shit heads," Jay stuck her tongue out at the girl beside her.

"Yah! I'll kick you off the bike," Mae stopped walking.

"You could try, hehe!" Jay laughed like a culprit and circled her bike around her best friend. "Get on. At your pace, we'll reach the class next week." Jay stopped the bike in front of Mae, who smacked her on the arm before getting on at the back.

"Hold on tight, 'cause this witch's broom flies faster than the golden snitch!" Jay said before paddling really fast, causing Mae to hug her tight and laugh even harder.

"You really need an exorcism, Jayline!"

*

"You know, you should have worn something nice for the first day," Mae said, walking towards her class.

"I don't need to turn heads, Mae." Jay replied, causing Mae to roll her eyes.

"Neither do I. But you could've still worn something other than your T shirt and hoodie."

"Whoa, whoa! Don't disrespect the hoodie! And I'm wearing pants too! Don't forget to mention them! You're gonna give people the wrong idea, Mae!" Jay placed her hand over her heart, pretending to be hurt, earning a smack on the head from the girl beside her.

"I'll contact that exorcist after class, today." Mae shook her head in disbelief. They had reached her class and stood outside the door. Mae turned to face Jay and looked at her with a look of disappointment.

"Ask him to bring his favorite djinn with him. You know how I love to flirt with danger," Jay winked and smiled mischievously. Mae smiled at her sarcastically, before smacking her on the arm with her notebook.

"I'll see you during lunch. And you know, you can stop walking me to class everyday?"

"If I stop, that djinn from the Econ-major will swoop you off of your feet any day."

"You've scared that stalker away last year, Jay. He's not coming back, and stop calling him a djinn! For God's sake, grow up a bit."

"If I do, will you finally date me?" Jay smiled goofily, causing Mae, yet again, to roll her eyes. "You know, if you roll your eyes that much, you'll probably end up rolling them to the next planet," Jay chuckled.

"Keep being an idiot and I might just move to the next planet, myself. And you're not even gay in the first place. Stop asking me out! You'll give people the wrong idea!"

"Why? Worried that I'll scare your potential sunbae and hubae boyfriends away?" Jay wiggled her eyebrows.

"Leave, please." Mae clasped her hands together in a gesture of plea.

"Fine, I'm leaving." Jay chuckled, turned around and began strolling down the corridor, towards her class.

When Mae was sure that her best friend was far enough, she turned the door knob and opened the door to enter. She looked for a seat at the front because that's where the professors' lectures could be heard the clearest. Upon finding one, she walked up to the front and took her seat. She placed her bag on the next seat and her notebook on the table. 'This semester's first day is better than the last,' she thought to herself, only to be proven wrong.

"Ahn Seung Mae! Saranghae! You belong with me!" Came a loud voice from the back; more specifically from the door, grabbing everyone's attention. Mae quickly turned around to see Jay standing there, making a heart shape with her arms extended and connected at the top of her head, a huge smile on her face.

Earlier, the moment Mae had entered into the classroom, Jay had turned around to run back into her class. As soon as her eyes landed on the back of Mae's straight-haired head, she pulled her all too famous prank. She'd been doing that every semester since the first year of college and yet, Mae fell for it every time. As a result, both the girls had become quite famous around the campus.

Mae's face went pale and her jaws dropped wide open; she looked like she was almost on the verge of having a mental breakdown. Jay laughed out loud before running out through the door she had come in. Smiles and light laughter rippled throughout the classroom, causing Mae to put her head down on the table and cover it with her notebook. She wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. Earlier, when she had seen Jay walking away to go to her class, she had believed that her best friend wouldn't pull her prank this semester. If only she had known she'd be embarrassed yet again, she would've never let Jay walk her to class.

"Jayline Woods, I hate you," Mae groaned.

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[The book cover has been made by me but the pictures used in it are not owned by me. They've been taken from Google, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.]