10

                                    

                                          
| we meet again |
                          
"how lucky are we to be in the same college as well!" minju squealed as she hugged hayoon and eric. eric shrugged himself away from her, "another 3 years with you? no thanks, minju." hayoon could only laugh at her two friends. hayoon was more than thankful that her friends enrolled into the same college as her. even if their departments were different, she felt glad that her treasured persons were near her.
                          
"hi hayoon!" she heard changmin's voice. hayoon waved him over, noticing that there were three other males behind him, including her brother. changmin rushed over, giving her a hug, before he was pulled away by juyeon. "hands off my sister, ji changmin," "wow, juyeon as a protective brother? never seen that before," kevin mocked him. "hi! since you guys are freshmen, we'll help you around campus," the four seniors smiled at them. they shared their departments, deciding who would help who. "alright, see you guys later at lunch!" juyeon waved as he, alongside with changmin, dragged eric to the engineering department. 
                          
"hello, i'm chanhee and this is kevin!" the two other males greeted the girls. "you're with me!" chanhee linked his arm with hayoon before they set off to the education departments. kevin and minju clicked well as well as they headed towards the fine arts department. "some things you gotta know, if you get professor lim, you should lay low cause he's one hard-headed bi- ow!" chanhee was interrupted when a male figure bumped into him. his black permed hair caught her eyes as he bowed before he dashed off towards the engineering side. 
                          
-
                          
lunch time was chaotic as college students swarmed the different cafeterias located at different departments. chanhee had been a great tour guide which hayoon was thankful of. they were on their way to meet the rest at their usual hang out place. there they were seated on a long bench and table. 1..2..3..4..5..6? hayoon frowned when she counted an extra person. her gaze fell on the familiar black hair male who sat quietly next to eric. kim sunwoo. once again, they met in college.
                          
"hayoon! they said sunwoo's a close friend. are you okay if he joins us?" kevin chirped. eventhough she badly wanted him gone, kevin had been nice and asked her about it. "yes, i'm okay," hayoon mumbled, taking a sit between her brother and changmin, away from kim sunwoo. the two males, along with minju and eric, had glanced at her worriedly. "are you okay?" changmin whispered, a hand sneaked its way to pat her arms. hayoon could only nod as they all resumed eating. 
                          
-
                          
after lessons, they all met up at the entrance. each waving goodbye to part on their own ways. eric had minju with him as they waved at hayoon. "hayoon, get home safe. i have basketball practice with jacob and kevin," her brother briefly hugged her before they went on his way. "hayoon, i'll send you-" changmin was pulled back by chanhee, "dude! we have a part-time job to get to!" changmin pouted as he waved at the girl. and hayoon was left with kim sunwoo who had stayed silent. "bye sunwoo," she had said before she walked away from him.
                          
the pitter patter of the footsteps behind her made her irritated. hayoon knew who it was but she tried to brush it off until she had enough. spinning on her heels, hayoon crossed her arms as she faced the male behind her. "go home, kim sunwoo," her voice was low as she kept a blank expression.  "i really need to talk to you-" his words were cut off as the girl groaned. "oh so i was right?" hayoon raised an eyebrow. "yea, i'm sorry-" "it's not that easy, kim sunwoo. but that took you long enough," she spat out, her glaring eyes trained on the boy who was close to tears. "go home. i don't want to talk to you unnecessarily," hayoon turned back, ignoring the male as she scurried home.
                          
-
                          
sunwoo was back home as he slammed the door to his room shut. his bag was thrown off onto the bedroom floor as he collapsed onto his bed, staring up at the ceiling. he knew he screwed up terribly and the guilt had been eating him up since after high school up till then. he remembered that day clearly when they got into the heated fight with one another - their 17-year-old selves in their empty classroom screaming at one another and he regretted it so much. he would blame it on his immature self but even a person not in their right mind would not have done something dumb like he did. sunwoo was reminded of the pain hidden in her voice when she had argued with him. 
                          
'why can't you see, kim sunwoo?' her words repeated themselves over and over again. 
                          
"i see it now, lee hayoon," he mumbled as he stared up at the dull, white ceiling of his room.
                          
once again, they met, however, in bad terms. they used to be close and others would call them 'less than lovers' but after every unfortunate incidents, they were back to acquaintances just like the beginning.