The classroom was unusually quiet for a college morning. Sunlight streamed through the windows casting long, golden streaks across the rows of empty desks. The only sounds were the soft rustling of pages and the occasional scrape of a chair. Yunjin leaned back in her seat, her fingers idly tracing the rim of her notebook, pretending to concentrate on the lecture notes she’d already memorized.

Chang sat diagonally across from her, his posture perfect as always, his dark hair catching the sunlight in a way that made it look almost alive.

He didn’t have a notebook open; instead, he was staring at her, an almost imperceptible smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

Yunjin felt a familiar heat creep up her neck. She shot him a glare, half-exasperated, half-amused.

“Stop staring,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.

“Am I?” Chang’s tone was teasing, casual.

But the intensity in his eyes betrayed the calm act.

“Yes, you are,” she murmured, lowering her gaze to her notes. But of course, she wasn’t fooling him.

He knew every little trick she had—from the way she fidgeted with her pen when nervous to the way she bit her lip when annoyed.

Chang leaned slightly forward, lowering his voice. “You’re lying.”

“I am not.” Yunjin’s whisper was sharp, though her eyes betrayed her amusement. “Focus on the lecture. You’re going to fail if you don’t take notes.”

Chang rolled his eyes dramatically, pretending to reach for his notebook but instead letting his hand hover above her desk. “I think I’ll pass,” he said, voice low enough that if anyone else were here, they wouldn’t hear. “I’ve got… other distractions to keep me awake.”

Yunjin narrowed her eyes, but her lips twitched. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet, here I am,” Chang said softly, leaning back in his chair, his gaze lingering on her longer than necessary. “Still impossible. Still yours.”

Her heart skipped. Even after eight years, the way he could make her pulse quicken with just a look hadn’t faded. She wanted to roll her eyes, but instead, she muttered, “Don’t get used to saying that out loud. No one can know.”

He smirked, a glimmer of mischief in his dark eyes. “I never get used to anything with you.”

The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable—it was theirs. It was the quiet understanding that no one else could ever interrupt, the secret they’d held since middle school. Yunjin caught his hand subtly brushing against hers across the desk. A fleeting touch, almost casual, but enough to make her fingers tingle.

As the lecture drone began again in the background, Yunjin’s gaze met Chang’s one last time. There was comfort there, excitement, and a spark of something that no amount of time could dull. Eight years of knowing each other, eight years of keeping their love hidden—and in that quiet, empty classroom, it felt like the world belonged to just the two of them.