OPIA: THE AMBIGUOUS INTENSITY OF LOOKING SOMEONE IN THE EYE

The difference between the weather the next day from the previous afternoon was astronomical, so was I.

The sky above me was painted in cerulean, accompanied with canopies of pristine white clouds, stilled in their positions and staring at me from far. And there I was gazing back at them, a smile playing in my lips.

The sun wasn't present yet there was an amount of warmth in the weather. This was the afternoon I liked, an afternoon filled with certainty and tranquility.

Nonetheless, the weather app in my phone indicated a rain shower in the evening. I was prepared today. In my hands were the spring boy's indigo colored umbrella and my own black one which wasn't as small and folded like his.

Students dispersed from the Art building, some giving me a quick glance and others rushing by. My hair constantly flew with the spring breeze and I had to brush them with my hand from time to time, a notorious con of having shorter hair.

The staircase of the ancient building had fissures decorating the worn out tiles that indicated their presence with time. They said the Art building was the oldest in the university. Shifting between my legs, I started wondering if I should sit on one of the stairs like countless of other students that were situated there, circled with their companions. Some with guitars and singing loudly, others doing assignments in their laptops, some reading a book. Everyone minding their own, as if they were part of a symbiotic relationship.

I didn't have to mull over the idea of making myself a contributor too when I saw the boy I was waiting for climbing down the staircase. Even among the crowd of students, Wonho was distinguishable from afar.

Another boy walked beside him, shorter in height, specs on his face and a mop of brown curls on his head.

Before they would both walk away, I held a hand out in the air, waving it frantically and I could feel the corners of my mouth tug in a grin. Both of them noticed and I put my hand down with it, fixing the identity tag hanging from my neck and my hair (again) in the meantime.

The curly haired boy stood there and Wonho walked over to me. A white tee on his body paired with blue jeans. His dark hair bouncing with every step he took.

With our distance getting closer I realized how different his outfit from the last day was. The white and the blue in him mirrored the sky above my head, and the dark in his hair captured the shades that had started to spread over the tails of the once white clouds, indicating the evening shower that was coming by.

He was so pale that the white in his body seemed like a second skin. He towered over me even when he stepped down the stairs. I really couldn't take my eyes off him.

Perhaps, I felt so close to him because I knew him for such a long time.

Didn't I only come to know him yesterday?

"Hi." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, breaking me from my trance.

Quickly collecting my saner thoughts, I gave him a quick bow and held out the indigo umbrella towards him. "Thank you," I said. The students sitting on the age-old stairs had started to get up and walk out with the darkness quickly enveloping the place. I could tell the canopies above my head were no longer white like Wonho's t-shirt.

I still felt safe, maybe it was not because I was prepared to embrace the rain this time. "I am Moon Sunhee from journalism. Most know me by my nickname, Sunny," I introduced myself, the colder breeze sweeping away the words but he seemed like he had heard them.

He was grabbing the umbrella with both of his hands, twisting the material and his eyes were anywhere but me. "I am Lee Hoseok, getting my Masters in music. You can call me Wonho."

"I know." A giggle escaped me involuntarily. He finally looked at me with incredulous eyes, though soon it was interrupted as he took a step back and sneezed on his elbows, a sniffle following.

"You caught a cold?" Because of last night, suddenly I realized that his pallor was because he gave me his umbrella last night, hence getting caught by the drizzle.

"It's nothing. Sorry." He took another step back to create a greater distance between us. The tip of his nose red and a flush on his cheeks.

The words tumbled off my tongue before I could apprehend, "Please let me take you out as a way of thanking you."

A drop of rain fell on my shoulder, from afar the curly haired boy too stared at us as if he could sense what was going on. Nibbling on my lower lip I cursed at myself mentally, making a fool out of myself was enough to ward off any person. He had just learnt my name, and the next second I asked him out.

"Okay."

The spring air was cold, seeping through the thin material of my body but my heart was filled with an unexplainable warmth. I stared up from the cracks on the gravel to the senior and for the first time our eyes were locked.

This was how it's supposed to be.

There was a burning intensity in his eyes, at the same time they were filled to the brim with serenity. An ambivalent pair of glowing coals and again, they were dying fire.

This was how my earth was supposed to rotate, right here. Not the date I could've gone last day, but even if I could go back in time I knew I would surely choose to spend the afternoon sleeping outside the kendo club. Because only that would lead me to Wonho.

Did I really only meet him yesterday?

"I will contact you soon about the place and time." It was me looking away first this time. The distant sky rumbled as if disagreeing with my motion.

The afternoon drifted into evening blue, albeit the sky was charcoal for the rain that was falling on my umbrella before tumbling down to earth.

I could only recall Wonho's dark pair of eyes as I walked to home. From the meeting to an hour later, I could only think about him.

There was something about him that pulled me in like gravity. I couldn't remember the last time I was this intrigued by a person, over no reason at all if I crossed out his handsome features. That wasn't what got my attention.

Perhaps it was the serenity spreading for him, or the nectar in his eyes, or the music in his voice. I couldn't really pinpoint an exact reason to go out of my way and invite him on a date, something that wasn't so 'sunny-like'.

I tried to push the circling thoughts to a corner of my mind and tried to focus on the petrichor in the air and the sound of the rain pouring from the sky.

Only then did I notice another sound. Footsteps from close behind.

Probably, it was nothing, but through circumstances I'd learned to not have faith in the 'probably'.

Therefore, I quickened my steps and started taking the longest strides I could. Having a mediocre of height wasn't really helping to do that. I heard the footfalls rush behind.

There wasn't anyone else in the streets. The sky rambled again, rain falling harsher and syncing with my thudding heart. My grip on the handle of the umbrella got so tight that I could feel the metal digging into my palms.

My converses splashed against the rain water. The foreboding noise behind me louder, the person was matching up with my pace.

Instinctively I grabbed my bag closer to my chest. My free hand caressing the flimsy material to check the outline of the spray bottle situated in the front pocket.

Abruptly I halted, the marching behind me stopping with that. My heart was jumping out of my chest and my breathing was haphazard, but there wasn't time to waste, it was better to defend head on than to wait for the attack to happen from the back.

When I pivoted on my heels with the spray bottle in my hand and my bag now on the wet ground, I only saw a glimpse of the tall and brooding person who stood behind, his body skeletal and longer hair hiding his facial features.

And then he crumpled to the ground like a puppet who had his strings cut off.

My eyes grew wide at the sight of the man unconscious by my feet. I was pretty sure I hadn't sprayed a miniscule of pepper on him.

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A/n: guess who's back in the story?

Also the image I chose for wonho of the day:

Just imagine he's wearing blue jeans instead of black. This photo has always been my favourite. He looks like he just came out of a novel.