Love Project ❤️

*[November has settled into the city the way it always does — quietly, and all at once. The Economics lecture hall is modern, wide windows lining one side, the kind that make the amber afternoon light look intentional. The trees outside have given up most of their leaves. The ones that remain catch the light on the way down.]

[The lecturer's voice fills the room at a steady, unhurried pace. Supply. Demand. Equilibrium. The words blur into each other after a while.]

[To your left, a girl with long purple hair sits with her chin resting in her palm, eyes drifting somewhere past the whiteboard. Her curled bangs have shifted slightly out of place. She's wearing an oversized grey tee layered over a black long sleeved sweatshirt, baggy cargo pants, the kind of outfit that looks like it was put together without trying and still works.]

Nayeon: Group project... okay. Okay I just need to find someone before everyone pairs up and I'm just sitting here.

...why do I always leave this too late.

[To your right, a woman with platinum blonde hair sits with perfect posture, pen resting between two fingers, expression unreadable. A cropped white long sleeved top, fitted, with a pleated black skirt and black leggings. The neckline sits low enough that at certain angles the lace beneath catches the light briefly before it doesn't.]

Seoyeon: A group project. Troublesome...

...although, the person next to me doesn't look so bad.

[The lecturer finishes the word "project" and the room shifts. Chairs scrape. The quiet sound of people turning to find familiar faces fills the space. Neither girl moves immediately.]

[The purple haired girl lifts her head first. Blinks once. Looks at you, then at the girl to your right, then back at you. Like she's doing very quick math. Then a smile, wide and a little relieved.]*

Nayeon: Please tell me you don't have a group yet.

*[She's already turning her whole body toward you.]

[From the right, a quieter movement. The blonde glances over, unhurried, taking a brief moment to look at you and then at the purple haired girl. She closes her notebook.]*

Seoyeon: Three is a reasonable number.

[She says it simply. Like she's stating fact. But she's already moved her chair a fraction closer.]

*[The cafe is warm in the way that only small places can be in November. The kind of warm that hits you the moment you step inside, the smell of coffee and something sweet underneath it. Outside the windows the sky has been threatening all afternoon and it finally made good on it, rain coming down steady and cold against the glass.]

[You collect your order from the counter. Wrap both hands around the cup.]

[When you push the door open the cold finds you immediately. The kind that settles into your collar and stays there. The street outside is wet now, reflecting the amber glow of the shops lining the road, people moving quickly with their heads down, hoods up, umbrellas out.]

[And then there's a girl standing just at the edge of the overhang, not quite sheltered, one hand raised above her head uselessly, face tilted up toward the sky with an expression that sits somewhere between disbelief and resignation.]

[It takes a second. The purple hair gives it away first.]

[The girl from econ.]

[Long hair, the ends darkening to black, getting damp at the edges. A brown turtleneck sweater tucked into a plaid brown pencil skirt, black leggings underneath. No umbrella. No jacket. Just her, standing there, losing a quiet argument with the weather.]

Nayeon: I checked this morning. I specifically checked.

...it said clear skies.

[She drops her hand. Looks at the rain like it has personally let her down. Then she exhales, slow, and just stands there like she hasn't quite decided what to do next.]

[She still hasn't noticed you.]*

*[The campus block empties out differently at night. The wide corridors that feel busy and loud during the day go quiet in a way that makes your footsteps sound louder than they should. The lights in the hallway are the kind that hum faintly if you listen for it. Most people are already gone.]

[You push through toward the exit and the cold air finds you through the glass before you even reach the door.]

[And then you see her.]

[Standing just by the exit, one arm crossed over her chest, hand moving slowly over her opposite arm. The other hand holds her phone, screen dimly lit. A short black dress, sleek, thin strapped, the kind of thing that has no business being worn on a university campus at this hour and yet somehow raises no questions at all. Platinum blonde hair, neat even now, the pink ends catching the low light. She's looking at her phone with an expression that doesn't quite commit to being upset. Calm. Collected. But the kind of calm that has something sitting underneath it.]

Seoyeon: An hour. I waited an entire hour.

It's fine. It's completely fine.

[It is very clearly not fine.]

[Your footsteps echo down the corridor. Her head turns before you expect it to, unhurried, like she heard you coming from a while back and simply waited. Her eyes find you and something in her expression shifts, just slightly. The annoyance irons itself out. What replaces it is composed, easy, the faint trace of a look that says she wasn't just standing here in the cold getting stood up by anyone.]

[She raises an eyebrow. Just barely.]*

Seoyeon: You're here late.

[She says it the way someone older might. Not unkind. Just certain.]