“Of course they had to do maintenance on the day of the exam.” You mumbled to yourself as your scurried as fast as you could to the shuttle stop. “And of course, I just had to forget to set my alarm.”
The shuttle stop was coming more into view and empty seats were the first things you noticed and this usually meant, damn…did I seriously miss the shuttle? There was no way you were going to wait another 15 minutes for the shuttle, spend another ten minutes to the main math lab, and an extra five walking to the exam room your professor assigned for the class.
You sat on the bench and placed your face in your palms. Just like many mornings, you contemplated if the grade was actually important. You felt sweaty after running and the sun was beating down against your skin. You already had an A in that class, but did you really want to skip out an exam?
You almost missed it, but you swore you heard your name being called, so you raised your head to find a dark blue car in front of you. Sitting inside was your adorable seatmate, Do Kyungsoo, who was smiling in your direction.
“Missed the shuttle?” He asked, sweetly.
“Yeah, I slept in.” You chuckled.
“Come on, we can go together.”
I have another exam to take on the second floor. I can still take you back to your dorm if you don’t mind waiting a bit.
You promised yourself to do better in your other classes as you browsed through the rack of clothes in front of you. Kyungsoo had finished the exam ten minutes before you did and you assumed he was just as studious in his other classes compared to you. There was a popular outdoor shopping complex that was in walking distance from the main buildings on campus, so you messaged Kyungsoo on social media letting him know where you were.
Kyungsoo probably would have finished his second exam in record time, so maybe I shouldn’t have come here and I’m trying not to spend money today.
You didn’t realize that you mindlessly walked toward the jewelry section in the store. There was a ring bundle that was eight dollars, but it was eight dollars too many. It was pathetic how devastated you felt after placing back to its rightful spot.
“Can’t afford it?” A man wearing a track suit and a white cap that barely covered his eyes stood beside you. You didn’t want to look directly at him, but after taking a small glance, you could already tell that he was years older than you. Instead of speaking, you just shook your head so that you didn’t come off rude.
“How about I purchase this for you and you can thank me by having a cup of coffee with me across this store?” The man had the ring bundle in his fingers as he looked right into your eyes. The vibe he was giving off was making you extremely uncomfortable, so you took a step back.
“Um, no thank you. I wasn’t planning on buying it anyway.” You attempted to escape the situation, but he grabbed onto your wrist and yanked you closer to him.
“Come on, gorgeous. Just one cup of coffee. It’s not like you’re waiting for your boyfriend on something.”
You almost wanted to answer, “Actually, I am waiting for my boyfriend and he’s going to kick your ass.” But even in this situation, calling Kyungsoo your pretend boyfriend still made you feel shy.
Just say it, dammit! This man is he huge creep. What if he hurts you?!
“Actually, yes. She was waiting for me–did I take too long, babe?” Just like in any romance movie, Kyungsoo appeared from your side and laced his fingers between the fingers of your free hand.
All you could do was stare at Kyungsoo who was casually holding your hand and smiling at you so sweetly you almost melted into a puddle right on the spot.
“Pfft, you’re not so tough shrimp. Now, back off.” The man gripped your hand tighter causing you to wince in pain.
“You’re hurting my girl.” Kyungsoo said with a stern voice. “Let. Go.”
The two had a short intense stare off until the man let go of your already numb hand. He scoffed at Kyungsoo and purposely bumped his shoulder whilst leaving the store.
Kyungsoo stared at the man until he was no longer in sight. He then turned back to you with a concerned facial expression. He took your hand that was in slight pain and caressed it in his own. “Are you okay? I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.”
There was an odd instinct inside of you that wanted to hit him because he was apologizing for a dumb reason. There was a look of devastation as he stared at the slight reddish pink hue on your hand due to the pressure. Or maybe you wanted to hit him because he looked extremely adorable.
“Don’t apologize, Kyungsoo. I’m fine.” You smiled to reassure him that you really were okay.
Still holding on your hand, he led you out of the store and into the small cafe not too far from the clothing store. He left you sitting alone for a short while and when he came back he was holding two small cups of iced coffee.
“Here.” Kyungsoo slid the cup towards you as he sat down. “How is your hand? Does it still hurt?”
You looked down at your hand and examined it for any more red hues. “No, it feels better. Thanks, Kyungsoo.”
You watched as he smiled at his drink and spun the ice cubes around with the straw. Now that Kyungsoo was back from taking his final, this meant it was time for you to go back to your dorm and relive the short moment of him holding your hand in your head.
Great. You’re such a hopeless romantic, you know that?
“It’s still early. Do you want to accompany me for a little shopping? I can still take you back to your dorm.” Kyungsoo asked.
Shopping? With Kyungsoo? Was there any question as to what your answer was going to be?
You sat on a small chair that was outside of the men’s dressing room. Your cheeks were burning all the way up to your ears. The whole 30 minutes the two of you spent walking around and browsing, stopping once in a while to try on clothes and accessories, Kyungsoo held onto your hand. It wasn’t a casual palm-to-palm holding of the hand, he laced his fingers with yours and even when he let go to do something he always remembered to hold it again. You didn’t have the heart to question him–heck, you were screaming inside because of how happy you were.
Okay, you need to calm down. He can probably tell how nervous you feel because of how sweaty your hands are.
You heard your name being called from inside the dressing room and when you peeked inside, you spotted Kyungsoo wearing the outfit you picked out for him.
“Do I look okay? Ripped jeans aren’t really my thing.” Kyungsoo shyly chuckled as his eyes moved back and forth from you to the mirror.
It was embarrassing for you because you felt as if your eyes turned into hearts and your jaw literally almost dropped. A navy blue v-neck and black ripped up jeans suited Kyungsoo so well your heart practically combusted in your chest.
“Y-Yeah, Kyungsoo. It suits you well.” You didn’t mean for your voice to stutter and it embarrassed you even more.
“Okay good. I guess that means I’ll purchase these.” Kyungsoo said with a smile. “You can wait at the coffee shop we were at and I’ll just pay for these. I promise I won’t take long.”
Just like he promised, Kyungsoo returned quickly with the shopping bag containing the outfit you chose for him. To return the favor, you had a to-go cup of iced tea as a “thank you.”
“Hopefully I didn’t take too long–Is this mine?” He asked whilst sitting down across from you.
“Yeah. Thanks for today, Kyungsoo. I needed a day like this after stressing over finals.”
It was silent for a moment. The only noises were the laughter and conversations from the customers sitting around you. You shared shy glances and quiet chuckles within the silence.
“Oh! Before I forget–” Kyungsoo reached into his shopping bag and pulled out a v-neck similar to the one you chose for him. “This is my thank you for walking around with me.” You tried to refuse the shirt, but Kyungsoo strongly insisted.
“Thank you, Kyungsoo. But I really should be the one giving you thank you presents especially for what you did for me earlier today.” You gently clutched the shirt and hoped that your cheeks weren’t as red as you imagined.
Kyungsoo rubbed the back of his neck and reached out to place his hand on yours. “Um, this is a bit sudden, but I don’t want today to be the last day you and I do something together.” He laughed and cleared his throat multiple times before continuing. “Maybe we can have dinner tomorrow night, if you’re not busy?”
“I–uh–well, yeah. Sure, I’m not busy tomorrow night–as well as the rest of summer break.” You wanted to rip your throat out. The last part of your sentence was supposed to be kept as a thought, but nope; if you weren’t already embarrassed enough, this was the icing on the cake.
“Good. Because I hope to see you everyday of break, but um, I’m actually going to need your number. After a whole semester with you, I never had the confidence to ask for your number until now–maybe because I spent the past half hour holding your hand.”
Without hesitation, you took his phone and added your number. “I’m surprised you even contemplated on asking for my number.” You laughed, giving his phone back.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Kyungsoo smiled at you sweetly and winked.
Maybe you weren’t such a hopeless romantic after all.
HAPPY NEW YEARS MY BABIES!!!!! How about a new story to start off the new year? I actually had a dream similar to this, so i decided to exaggerate it a bit more and replace the dude from my dream with an exo member. I thought kyungsoo was definitely fitting for this. I hope to continue MTG this year. School starts next week, so let's see how this goes. I also hope you guise like this story. Have a healthy and blessed year my loves! - rae♡
