Original Manhwa by Ssamba ch 1-68, Fluttering Feelings

No-rea woke up drained, break was officially over and adjusting to the morning schedule had never been easy for her. No-rea’s alarm rang again, she felt herself getting irritated at the sound. Frustrated No-rea looked at her phone, sighing heavily she threw her covers off of her. If she didn’t get up now she would be late. She rubbed her face, come on, she said to herself, at least she would be able to see Seol-a first thing in the morning, she smiled. She sent a quick good morning msg in the group chat she had with Hwang Hye-kyung and Beak Seol-a before jumping out of bed, 15 minutes later she was walking out the apartment.

No-rea could hear all the chatter in the class before she walked in. She scanned the room looking for Seol-a and Hye-kyung. She spotted a large crowd in the corner of the class, in the middle was Seol-a, she looked like she was enjoying herself. No-rea looked around the room spotting Hye-Kyung a few tables over on her phone. She walked over, moving Hye-Kyung bag from the chair reserved for her and plopped down with a huff. 

Hye-Kyung looked up from her phone, “About time! I just sent you a msg.”

No-rea felt her phone ring and cleared the msg. 

“Looks like the Queen is back on her throne”, Hye-Kyung nodded toward Seol-a, “She was surrounded when I got here”

No-rea looked back over at  Baek Seol-a, making eye contact, she really was breath-taking, just like a queen should be. Seol-a smiled brightly at No-rea, and stood up, waving good bye to the group she had been chatting with. She slowly made her way over to No-rea and Hye-Kyung, stopping behind the person sitting next to No-rea.

“Do you mind if I take this seat?” Beak Seol-a asked sweetly, showing a stunning smile to the young man sitting next to No-rea. 

“Oh, yeah. Sure”, the young man stammered, enthralled by her beauty. He stood and grabbed his things, pulling his chair back for Seol-a to sit down.

“Show off!” Hye-Kyung exclaimed.

“Poor kid didn’t stand a chance”, No-rea laughed.

Seol-a just shrugged her shoulders, smiling at the jokes.

Seol-a lightly bumped No-rea's shoulder and smiled at her. No-rea smiled back, seriously unfair, she thought, why are you so pretty. The professor clapped his hands, pulling No-rea out of her trance, “Good morning, class”

Focus. Focus, No-rea pulled out her notebook and prepared to take notes.

The girls walked to the cafeteria, No-rea never eats breakfast before the first class so it was a necessity the group understood to always stop for a meal. Seol-a and Hye-Kyung both ordered hot drinks and No-rea got a rice bowl, extra meat with an egg on top. They grabbed their orders and walked over to an empty table.

No-rea’s stomach grumbled, ” Argh, I’m starving”, she groaned unpleasantly, opening the utensil package.

Seol-a laughed,” Maybe I should pack you a lunch from now on!”

Hye-Kyung wrapped her arms around No-rea, “Do you need big sis to take care of you?” she cooed to No-rea.

No-rea aggressively nodded her head, “What am I going to do without you two next semester!”, she whined.

Seol-a took a sip of coffee, she’s so cute, she felt a warm feeling of emotion well up inside of her. Being with No-rea always brought a sense of warmth that only her heart could feel. She watched No-rea devour her food, only taking a break to drink some water. She glanced over at Hye-Kyung who was busy on her phone, sighing as she set it down. 

No-rea looked up, “What’s got you sighing like that?’, she asked with a mouth full of food, ”Boy trouble?”.

Hye-kyung shook her head, “No, I was offered an internship with a company I really like. I filled out the application over break but still haven’t gotten an email that I got selected for the internship.” she sighed again.

Seol-a nodded her head, ”Is the internship very competitive?”

Hye-kyung rested her head on her hands, ”Maybe, I thought applying earlier would get me ahead. The internship doesn’t even start till summer break!”

“It can take a long time to hear back from things like that.”, Seol-a said encouragingly, “Sometimes I won’t hear from a hiring agency until the day they want me to show up! They really can be inconsiderate.”

The girls laughed at the thought. The conversation seemed to relax Hye-kyung, No-rea relaxed ,as well, and went back to her food. She hadn’t even thought about internships yet, Hye-kyung and Seol-a seemed worlds away. What plans did she have for her future, she was already behind in classes, what was she even working so hard for. She stared into her bowl, moving some food around as she thought. Seol-a looked over at No-rea and tapped the table. No-rea looked up at her,

“Could I have a bite of your food? I didn’t eat a lot for breakfast.”, Seol-a explained. No-rea nodded and slid the bowl over to her, Seol-a picked up the fork and indulged herself.

Hye-Kyung, ”The world must be ending for this kid to share her food!”, she poked No-rea in the cheek.

“Don’t make me sound so greedy! I share!” ,No-rea said haughtily, biting at Hye-Kyung finger. They continued to poke at each other like sisters, giggling like children. Seol-a watched with subtle envy, she had never had any close friendship that allowed this type of skinship. The connection they shared was something she couldn’t even comprehend. What if this was what she truly desired, was what she felt really love? 

“Thank you.” ,she said and slid the bowl back over.

“You can finish it if you want.” ,No-rea suggested. Seol-a shook her head, ”That plenty”,she smiled.

“Are you two ready?” Hye-kyung asked,” I have to get going”.

Seol-a looked at her phone and nodded her head,” I should leave, as well.”

No-rea looked at the little bit of food left in her bowl and scooped it all into one bite. Stuffing her mouth, she nodded and gave a thumbs up. The girls laughed at No-rea.

“Come on, kiddo.” Hye-kyung laughed, as they all gathered their things to leave.

No-rea dumped her food and set the tray on a nearby cart, internships already, I really need to get my shit together, she thought as she walked outside with the girls. The cold wind swept through her jacket so she quickly zipped it up, shivering a bit. They all walked to the end of the block, stopping to part ways with Hye-kyung, her class was in the opposite direction. No-rea and Seol-a walked together toward their lecture hall, they had class in the same building. Walking inside, No-rea headed toward the steps, when Seol-a grabbed her hand. She looked down at their hands and looked back at her face. Seol-a cheeks were red from the wind but even that added to her beauty. 

“I’ll see you later?” Seol-a asked sweetly. Her voice always sounds so sweet to No-rea, like the first sign of spring, flowers finally blooming and the pleasant feeling of the sun shining, warming you enough to be outside without a jacket. The feeling of new beginnings and hope.

“Of course!” No-rea replied, giving her a big smile and squeezed her hand. Seol-a smiled and squeezed her hand back before letting go and heading to her class. No-rea bound up the steps with a sudden burst of energy.

Seol-a unwrapped her scarf, stop smiling so hard, she felt her heart fluttering with happiness, people are going to think I'm crazy. She walked to class, her steps feeling light along the way.

Sung-pyo picked up the 55 lbs dumbbells and walked over to his bench. He sat down with a grunt and threw the weights up on his legs, using them to push the weight up into the air. He took a deep breath then extended his arms up to start his set of incline shoulder presses. The gym was fairly packed but Sung-pyo music drowned out all the commotion around him. The heavy rock music he played filled his head, dangerously bouncing off his eardrum, no noise was going to distract him. 

His breathing was labored as he sucked in a breath, grunting through the reps,” Come on!” he commanded himself, pushing the dumbells to the ceiling, two more, he chanted. 

Pushing himself to the limit he dropped the weights and bent over to catch his breath. He scrolled through his phone, looking for a new song to start his next set. Switching to a different playlist, he passed a song No-rea used to listen to. It was an energetic pop song with a good beat and catchy lyrics, so he hit play, letting the funky beat fill his head.

He hadn’t expected to see No-rea so soon after coming back from the military. Seeing her on the side walk that day had shocked him so much that he called out to her without thinking. Even though she seemed as shocked to see him as he was, she didn’t seem bothered at all to talk to him. She was as sweet as he remembered, maybe sweeter. 

His friend came and tapped him on the shoulder, Sung-pyo took his ear bud out,”You almost done, man?” his friend asked.

“I’ve got one more set of shoulder press, then I was going to hit the cable machines.” Sung-pyo looked over at the machine, they were completely packed. 

“Maybe not”, he frowned, “Let me finish this last set.” he said, picking up the weights again. His friend nodded his head and helped him get them back in the air.

His time in the military had made him accustomed to working out in the morning. Waking up at 5 am for morning pt had given him a new perspective on his morning routine. He wasn’t as diligent as he was in the military but working out in the morning became a necessity to start his day.

After they finished at the gym, the two went to Chipotle to get some food. Nothing tastes better than a fat burrito after a good workout. 

“Who was the girl you carried out the bar last night?”, his friend asked. 

Sung-Pyo looked at his friend,” It was my ex” he stated directly, no need to hide the truth.

“Seriously, I didn’t know you had a girlfriend. I’ve literally never heard you talk about a girl once!” His friend teased him loudly, clapping him on the back,” And she’s friends with Beak Seol-a! What are the chances? You should ask her to hook me up!” His friend laughed at his own joke. They both knew that would never happen.

Sung-pyo had never met Beak Seol-a but she didn’t seem like the type to come for a double date if he was there. When they took No-rea home the other night, there was some strange tension in the air he couldn’t place but it felt impossible to have a conversation. 

He shook his head, the only thing he had said to her that night had been a bit insensitive. He had been reluctant to leave No-rea that night and accused Beak Seol-a of being unfit to take care of her. It was a dick move and he knew it.

“I doubt Beak Seol-a would even give you a second look.” Sung-pyo ribbed his friend. “Maybe if you spent more time in the gym, she might consider you.”

“Dude, you go too early in the morning. There’s no way I can do this every morning!”, his friend complained.