Her eyes fluttered open to the fluorescent lights above her.

    " Well hello there, how are we feeling?" Lisa heard a woman's voice, but as she looked around the room, she wasn't looking for its owner.

    "Wasn't there someone here with me?" She asked. The nurse walked closer to her with a glass of water, and urged her to not try and sit up too fast.

    " Yes, the young man who brought you here. He left some time ago."

    " Did he?"

    " Mmhm." The nurse was busy writing out paperwork from the work that laid across her desk. " It was good that he brought you here, instead of heading back to a dorm. Most people forget that there is a nurse right here on campus." She rambled on.

   Lifting her feet over the edge of the bed, Lisa slowly began to stand up.

    " So eager to leave? Honey, I think your enthusiasm to be on the go is what got you here in the first place."

   " Thank you so much, but I'm feeling great now, honestly." Slipping her feet into her shoes, Lisa spotted her duffle bag on a hanger across the room. As she moved about, the nurse continued to talk.

    " I know that you're feeling fine, but I think it's best you wait another twenty minutes or so. That way I can monitor you."

   "I'm fine, really. Thanks again!" Rushing out the door, Lisa raced down the main building's halls hoping that maybe she just missed Jae Hwa.

    When she emerged from the door, she did a quick scan of the grounds. Out of all of the people that walked before her, and not one of them was Jae Hwa.

    Disappointment brought a frown to her face.

    Walking down the steps, she trailed her finger along the steel railing. Lisa wasn't oblivious to things around her. She knew that whenever she left the dance studio, there was a chance that she would be accompanied by Jae Hwa as he not so secretively walked behind her. Having a compact mirror helped her to get a glance of him the first time she had a feeling of being followed.

    She didn't like the cat and mouse game going on, and these past few weeks had been more than enough for her. Speeding up, Lisa walked as fast as she could to Jae Hwa's dorm. She had never been the type to chase after someone else, but there was a first time for everything.

oOo

     Taking the steps by two, Lisa hurried up to Jae Hwa's dorm room. She could hear music coming from some rooms the further she ascended the stairs. Dodging between the young men coming down the steps, Lisa lost her footing.

    " Shit!" The palms of her hands throbbed as did her knee. She could see a fresh bubble of red liquid ready to spill down her leg. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself up and was off again.

     Breathless in front of his door, Lissa held her fist tight and banged for him to hear.

    She couldn't hear any movement from the other side, but what she did hear was the radio being turned up louder.

   Banging again, Lisa spoke under her breath as her entry continued to be denied.

  " James!" Kicking with her feet and pounding with her fists, Lisa was determined to be answered.

     Behind her, Jae Hwa approached the scene puzzled by what he saw. It looked like Lisa was going to put a hole through the door with her aggressive hits.

   " Let me in! James!"

    Jae Hwa raised an eyebrow upon hearing the name.

   She's here for me?

   " Jesus Christ! What the hell do you want?" When the door swung open to reveal a shirtless Thomas, Lisa lost her balance and fell face forward into the room.

    Thomas maneuvered quick enough to miss her falling body. He looked at her in bewilderment, and then relief. At first, he had suspected that an angry lover was awaiting him on the other side. Seeing that it was in fact Lisa, he was relieved to know that he didn't have to do any explaining to his current rendezvous.

   Once Lisa had regained enough of her dignity to lift her head, she was shocked to see a familiar reddened face staring back at her.

   " L-Lisa. What are you doing here?" Sara held the pillow at her chest even closer, mentally wishing to disappear.

   " Sara?" Looking between the two, Lisa scrambled to her feet, embarrassed for interrupting." Sorry! Really, I was just looking for Ja-Yeah I'm just going to-" Backing out of the door, she made her exit.

    Tilting her head back, Lisa groaned, rubbing her neck. She could hear muffled sounds of Sara and Thomas arguing, and she had a feeling that she would come face to face with her soon.

    After a moment's thought, she began to figure that maybe it was a good thing that the person who answered the door wasn't Jae Hwa. Something told her that the emotional wave she had ridden here would have made her spill out all of the newly acquired feelings she had for him. Maybe she wasn't quite ready for that...

  " Oh God!" Startled, Lisa jumped back as she saw the person who had invaded her every thought for the past three weeks.

    Jae Hwa cleared his throat, looking any and everywhere he could so that he wouldn't have to meet her brown orbs.

   Lisa was frozen on the spot, struggling with swallowing the nerves that had gathered in her throat. They hadn't ended on a good note the last time they had met, and she was for sure that she would show just how angry she was with him. Only now, her anger seemed nonexistent as the feeling of anticipation took over while waiting to see who would make the next move, and what it would be.

      Relying on the little confidence she had at that moment, Lisa took the plunge and initiated conversation. " I came by to see you." Her voice had come out just as stern as she had hoped. Straightening back her shoulders, she lifted her eyes to stare him down, but was met by an equally-if not more intense-stare.

    His silence was unnerving. The only movement he had was the slow methodical blinks. The fist at his side clenched as he fought the urge to look at her injured leg, where he had seen a glimpse of blood when he first arrived.

     "We need to talk, James."

   "We do?" His voice was cool as he replied.

   "Yes! I think it's been long overdue now. Come on." Leading the way, Lisa walked with pride, but soon realized that she heard no footsteps following behind.

   "James." She called.

   Shaking his head, Jae Hwa stuck his tongue into the side of his cheek.

   You're calling me like that?

      Crossing her arms across her chest, Lisa spoke with a low voice,"So, what. You want to do this here? In front of everyone?"

   Jae Hwa glanced around him for emphasis." I don't see anyone else. Whatever you want to say, say it now."

    "You know what? I'm leaving." Lisa spun around quickly, stomping down the flight of stairs with exaggerated steps. When she hit a blind spot, she continued to make loud noises as she waited to hear if Jae Hwa would follow. She held her breath as the empty sound of the stairwell would have given away her position.

    After what felt like forever, she finally heard his unrushed steps. Smirking, she leaned against the railing, waiting for him to find her.

   "How long are you going to stand there?" Looking up, Jae Hwa leaned over the banister with his arms and legs crossed as he stared down at her." You shouldn't just hang out there."

    Her mouth remained open as she struggled with the words to say. She had never had someone treat her so nonchalantly before, especially a guy. This didn't make sense; he should have asked her what was wrong by now. He should have been apologizing for kicking her out, for ignoring her, and yet he stood there completely unbothered by anything.

    "I could say the same to you. How about you stop stalking me outside of the dance studio? You didn't think I would notice?"

   "Stalk-stalking? I don't stalk you!" Jae Hwa stood up straight as he processed what he was saying.

   "Showing up at the same place and same time where ever I am constitutes as stalking."

   "You're accusing me of being a creep?"

   "If the shoe fits..."

    Lisa began to walk away as she finally heard his footsteps chasing behind her. The hand on her elbow drew her into an unlocked closet that seemed to be just the right size for a person in a half.

    "What are you doing?" She looked up into the poorly lit room as she searched for where Jae Hwa was. A light flickered on and revealed him to be at the tip of her nose, so close that she felt herself going cross eyed just to see him.

  "Talk. You said you had something to tell me. That's why you were beating down my door, huh? Talk!"

   Jae Hwa hopped from foot to foot as his anger was released. His pacing nearly ran a hole into the ground as Lisa stood stupefied. Stopping, with both hands on his hips, he stared her down through the dark.

    "Lisa." The name came out with a bite.

    "Why are you this mad..." her words came out as mere breath. Straining his neck closer, Jae Hwa waited for more.

    Lisa tucked the escaped strands of hair that framed her face back behind her ears. She was never one to accept that she was at fault. She had tried hard to ignore the fact that abandoning someone after being together almost constantly could hurt. Lisa had been the most familiar thing to him since he moved here.

    And I left him alone. It became hard to swallow as her heart and mind pushed her to see her wrong, to feel the guilt.

     The only sound around her was the heavy breathing of Jae Hwa as he began to calm down. As her fingers gingerly reached out to feel for his body, she could feel the soft streams of cool air meet her face. There was a hitch in his breathing, and the muscles in his arms immediately clenched.

    "What-what are you doing right now?" His eyes widened. He could feel the heat of her chest meet his.

   " Lisa-"

oOo

   When she had leaned forward, introducing her taste to his, what was to follow was hard to imagine. Lisa had kisses before. Ones that tasted of Cola and popcorn in the dark rooms of movie theaters, or in the middle of a crowding high school dance. 

    The one thing that they had all in common was the fact that she had not initiated any of them. She remembered the embarrassed looks upon eager faces when their thought out spur of the moment lip lock didn't rouse up the response in her that they had expected. She knew that when she was not interested in that kind of affection from someone, she would stand rigid, waiting for the moment when she could softly tell them, "I'm sorry. I just don't feel the same way about you."

    Going out a limb here, she was left on nervous tip toes as Jae Hwa stood in an all familiar position. His mouth remained unmoving against hers, and she could have died at the wall she felt even as her lips touched his.

     Her shoulders slouched as she counted to five in her head. If he didn't react in some way, she may crawl in a hole and die.

oOo

       The stiff hand held in midair began to twitch. It was the first sign of life that told Jae Hwa he was, indeed, still alive. A sharp sensation had shot to every inch of his body, rendering him motionless in his state of surprise. His eyes crossed as he looked at the girl below him, trying her best to become one with him.

      Jerking his head back as he regained control of his body again, Jae Hwa caught Lisa as she stumbled forward. He took a breath, allowing oxygen to circulate to his brain to get his mind going again.  Before Lisa ran out of the closet from her seeming fail of a kiss, the single light bulb flickered on. The light waved back and forth from the force of Jae Hwa's pull.

    The passion lurking behind his brown orbs lurched out.

    Both hands softly grasped her neck; the pads of his thumbs rubbing the sensitive skin just behind her jaw. He wanted to see her. He wanted to see the softness of her lips, the way the parted as he descended upon them. Pulling her closer to him, Jae Hwa kissed her with all that he could.