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

21

December, 2018

"You've been smiling an awful lot, lately." Jay was sitting on her roller chair, leaning back and spinning on it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mae denied, despite having a big smile on her face, eyes glued to her phone. She was seeing a photo of Chanyeol and his sister that he had uploaded on his SNS. They both held out their hands, making the V sign, and he was wearing the guitar bracelet that Mae had given him. He had been wearing it everyday since his birthday and hadn't taken it off once.

"At least try not to smile while denying it?" Jay stated. "I'm guessing something happened on Yeol's birthday?"

Mae sat up fast, looking at Jay with a poker face, "Why would you say that?"

Jay stopped spinning and sat up straight. "So, something did happen." Jay smirked.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. It's just that, semester final starts in just half a month, and you're not stressing out." Jay shrugged.

"Now, what are you implicating?" Mae narrowed her eyes.

Jay laughed. "Fine, let's both cut to the chase, shall we?" Jay raised her eyebrows.

"Fine," Mae pouted.

"You've been acting different for the past two weeks. Might I add, specifically since Chanyeol's birthday. You're smiling more, you're stuck on your phone most of the time, study sessions aren't a bother to you anymore, and you zone out a lot." Jay crossed her arms, a smirk on her face.

"Is it that obvious?" Mae asked sheepishly.

"Is it because of Yeol?"

"I guess," Mae lowered her head, feeling shy.

"C'mon, tell me. What happened on his birthday?"

Mae smiled at the thought of the events of 27th November. She took a deep breath before telling Jay all about it. She skipped some of the details about Jay being a handful, because she didn't want her to feel down about it. When she finished her story, she had a big smile on her face.

"Hmm. I think my respect for that flagpole goofball just increased a lot." Jay nodded her head in approval.

"Flagpole?" Mae chuckled.

"Have you seen the guy? He's probably taller than the flagpole we have in our university."

"You give people the weirdest names ever." Mae shook her head, still chuckling.

"I'm happy for you, I really am. It's nice to see you finally liking someone after so long." Jay smiled affectionately. "But Mae, you should also keep this in mind that just because he's treating you right, doesn't mean he might be the one. You know that, right? You deserve to be treated right by anyone and everyone. It's something that should be normal."

"I know. That's why I'm not rushing into things. We just text each other often. We have study sessions, yes. But I'm not all head over heels for him. That'll take time, and effort from both sides. Also, I don't know if he feels something too, or he just texts for the sake of niceness." Mae shrugged.

"Hmm. Uri Seung Mae-ssi has grown up so much. I feel like an ajhumma already." Jay stretched her arms, chuckling.

"What about you, though? You and Kyungsoo seem to be getting along quite well."

"He's bearable," Jay started spinning on the chair again.

"And?" Mae smirked.

"And, what?"