Hello Stranger

Part 3- A Little Change

1014 words

For the next couple of days it's peaceful.

Just you sitting on the roof during lunch, enjoying the view, doing your math homework, daydreaming about Hyunjin...

...and stealing glances at Minho. But of course that doesn't mean anything; you two are acquaintances at most.

And one particularly fair day, where the sun is out and the breeze is light, you catch yourself staring for too long. You couldn't help it; he had been replaying the same 10 seconds of music for the past 20 minutes and it made you want to leap over the metal railing. To say you were curious was an understatement, but even more than that you were annoyed.
Since it seemed pointless to try and focus, you started to pack up your things, deciding that for today, you would eat in the library.

However you stopped when a fortune cookie fell out of the bag of your leftover chinese food.
You didn't hesitate to crack it open and stuff one side of the cookie in your mouth, turning the small slip of paper in your hands.

"You will soon receive an offer you cannot refuse."

Raising your eyebrows, you folded the paper in half and slipped it into your blazer pocket, intrigued but also relieved that it wasn't a bad fortune like last time. So you quickly put the rest of your stuff away, closing zippers and tying your laces before making your way across the roof. You watched as Minho repeated the same set of dance moves, only to again be tripped up by the same part. When you reached the door however, instead of just walking inside like your brain so desperately wanted you to do, your feet stopped you.

"Hey dancer boy," you called out, to which he froze and cast a glance over his shoulder, not fully turning around at your words.
"Um, try leaning on your back leg when the beat drops instead," you suggested. "I think the reason why you keep messing up is because you're off balance or something..." When he didn't respond, or even turn around, you swung the door open and went inside.

What you didn't see, was how Minho's cheeks heated up slightly at the fact that you even noticed what he was doing enough to know how to fix it.

...

You slowly made your way to the school library, eventually coming to a stop at a vending machine in the hallway. Come to think of it, you were kind of thirsty. After staring at it for what felt like ages, you decided on some lemonade, fishing out your wallet for some spare bills.

You punched in the code for the drink, only to find that you were a couple of quarters short of what you needed to buy the bottle.
"Dang it," you mumbled under your breath as a particular tall boy stepped out of the bathroom next to the machine. He turned to you at your words, his blinding smile gracing your frustrated face.

"Need quarters?" he asks, hands in his pockets as he stepped up to you. You looked up at the familiar voice.
"Oh, Hyunjin...I um-" you stammered, and he let out a soft chuckle that made your mind fuzzy. "Yeah I'm two short-"
"I got it," He smiled again, the sight making you weak as he pulled out a couple of quarters out of his pocket. You scoffed at the peculiar action.

"Do you just carry quarters around with you?"
"Yeah," he pushed two into the slot and put the rest back in his pocket, the machine making a cute jingly noise at its request being fulfilled. "No one around here carries change, so sometimes when I see someone who needs a couple quarters, I just..." he trailed off, glancing at you for a moment. "I'm sorry, which one did you want?"
"Oh um, C3." He pushed the buttons and brushed some of the hair out of his eyes. You both stood in front of the machine, waiting for it to process your order before he leaned over to you.

"Did you finish your Econ essay?" he whispered, making a chill run up your spine. You looked away, not knowing how to say that you hadn't even started yet.
"Not exactly..." you fumbled with your fingers, and he raised an eyebrow at you.
"Have you even started it?" He gasped, a hand coming up to his mouth in disbelief. When you remained silent though, he burst out laughing, and your face heated slightly in embarrassment.

"Oh jeez, I thought I was the only one," he put a hand on his chest, sighing in relief. You met his eyes, confused.
"You...haven't started it either?" You whispered, and he shook his head, doubling over in laughter. After hearing the contagious sound, you started to giggle too, loosening up as you heard plastic hit the bottom of the machine.

"Ah...are you free during study hall tomorrow?" Hyunjin asked, crouching down and reaching into the slot to grab your drink. Your head tilted in confusion.
"I think so, why?"
"Do you wanna work on our essays together?" He stood up and held the bottle to you, awaiting your answer. Your eyes widened; you didn't think you heard him right.
"Like..." you thought about your word choice before speaking, "like a study date?" He didn't even bat an eyelash before gently nodding his head. Was he...blushing? That had to be the dim fluorescents.

"Sure," you nonchalantly took the bottle out of his hands, trying to control your excitement and the fact that your hands were shaking. His eyes disappeared into crescents as his lips broke out into the cutest smile ever, before he turned to leave.
"I'll see you in the library?" he asked before rounding the corner of the hallway.
"Yeah," you sighed, almost dreamily, and he giggled before disappearing behind the wall.

As soon as he disappeared, you looked down at the bottle and groaned, shaking your head lightly.
You were so distracted by him that you told him to get the wrong drink.