Sometimes, you'd find yourself glancing at Hyunjin without even realizing it.

It wasn't conscious… your eyes wandered on their own. And when you noticed, it was too late. He was there, distracted, fiddling with his backpack zipper, laughing at something silly someone said. And suddenly, his mouth would get strangely dry.

You'd quickly look away, as if you'd been caught doing something wrong.

Hyunjin did the same thing. You noticed the details. The way he became quiet when you spoke. The way his gaze lingered half a second longer than it should have. The way he licked his lips when he looked at you.

There was no obvious flirting. No pick-up lines, well, maybe only sometimes.

When you sat close together, the space between you seemed smaller than it actually was. Sometimes his knee would brush against yours under the table. Sometimes your arm would brush against his when someone passed by in the narrow aisle. And it was always quick. Always casual. But the body reacted before the head.

You felt your heart race for no reason.

Hyunjin pretended to be natural, but you noticed when he took a deep breath, when he straightened his posture, when he looked away just to avoid being too obvious.

One day you laughed at something he said, nothing much, a kind of silly joke, and he stared at you for too long. His smile slowly faded.

"What?" you asked.

He blinked, returning to reality.

"Nothing. You just… Your smile is beautiful."

You fell silent. He did too. The silence became heavy, but not uncomfortable.

And it was always like that.

Late-night messages that started with any silly excuse. And ended with too much conversation for someone who 'had nothing going on'.

Never a kiss. Never a confession.

But there was that constant, silent tension that lingered there, growing slowly, in the lingering glances, the quick touches, the conversations that always seemed to begin by chance, but never did.

And perhaps the most obvious thing of all was this:

you both knew.

You just didn't have the courage to be the first to say it.