Your Classmate Eunwoo

The first time you noticed Eunwoo, it was because of the way the sunlight caught in his hair. A warm golden halo framed his face, making him seem almost unreal as he stared lazily out the window, his head propped up by his hand. He was the kind of person who never tried to stand out yet still managed to draw attention. Not in the way the loud kids did, but in a quieter, more lingering way—like an unfinished melody stuck in your head.

You’d never spoken to him before. He sat two rows over, always wearing the same pastel pink cardigan over his uniform. It was slightly oversized, the sleeves long enough to cover part of his hands when he wasn’t pushing them up. You wondered why he always wore it. Was it a comfort thing? A sentimental item? Or was he just someone who got cold easily?

The mystery of Eunwoo remained in the back of your mind until, one day, he spoke to you first.

“Hey,” his voice was soft, almost hesitant as he bent down beside your desk, holding out a notebook. Your notebook. “You dropped this.”

You blinked, not even realizing it had fallen from your bag. “Oh—thank you.”

His lips curled into a faint smile as he studied the cover. “You always write your notes so neatly. It’d be a shame if they got lost.”

Your heart stuttered. He had noticed?

“You… notice that?”

Eunwoo tilted his head slightly, golden-hued eyes watching you with something unreadable. “I notice a lot of things.”

That was how it started.

From that day on, it wasn’t just glances from across the room anymore. It was small moments between classes—Eunwoo tapping his pen against your desk absentmindedly as he waited for the next lecture to start, slipping you an extra sheet of paper when you forgot yours, or lending you his cardigan when the air conditioning was too cold in the library.

It was in those little things. The way he always seemed to know when you needed something before you even said it.

One evening, it went beyond school.

You were sitting at your desk, finishing up homework, when a soft tap came from your window. Frowning, you turned your head—and nearly fell out of your chair.

Eunwoo was there, leaning out of his own window in the house next door, grinning lazily.

“Are you seriously studying this late?” he mused, voice slightly muffled by the screen between you.

You blinked. “You live next door?”

He chuckled. “Not very observant, are you?”

Flushing, you scrambled to the window, pushing it open. The cool night air drifted in. “I just—never saw you outside.”

Eunwoo shrugged. “I guess I’m more of an indoor person. You?”

“I go out sometimes,” you admitted. “But mostly when I have a reason to.”

His smile was soft as he rested his chin against his arm, watching you. “I can be a reason.”

Your breath caught in your throat.

Something about the way he said it—so effortlessly, so naturally—made your chest tighten.

“Come out with me,” he said, nodding toward the backyard. “Just for a little while.”

You hesitated. It was late, and you had school in the morning. But there was something in his gaze, something warm and inviting, that made it impossible to refuse.