Getting to know Yohan was a part of college you never expected to happen.

His circle involved the popular guys, the junkies that skipped lectures and threw frat parties to get hook-ups. Your circle, on the other hand, was much smaller. Your sophisticated little selection of friends complimented your independence and academic drive.

Two individuals who had no real similarities. Though, those stark differences brought you both strangely closer.

It started when he seated himself besides you at a lecture, labelling you as a "smart one" when he spanned the hall and found your furrowed brow and glasses perched high on your nose. It'd always be the ones like you he could easily copy notes and answers.

That was the day the infamous bad boy of campus developed an interest for Miss Perfect.

It started with your kindness, soft words and gentle guidance to help him in those lectures. And although you should've been scared of the scars coating his knuckles, you'd still spark up questions to get to know him better.

Conversations with you became something Yohan rather looked forward to everyday. He'd attend lectures just to see your face and walk past you in halls deliberately close to remember your sweet perfume.

Months had passed, leaving your growing friendship a strange topic for campus. Your friends warned you, Yohan's friend's laughed. But there was nothing that could pull you both away from the endearing bond that drew you both closer.

Mock season soon approached—leaving everyone, or everyone who cared, scrambling to put their efforts in to get good scores. And that included you. And Yohan.

Perhaps it was a good thing he'd meet up at your apartment every now and then. Although it was annoying to be dragged into your study sessions, he was actually getting better with his work. Secretly, he admired you for never giving up on him, as much of an idiot he was.

Yohan lounged beside you on you desk, a little lower in height because there was no other seat apart from your vanity ottoman. Same position as always, him on the left and you on the right.

The satisfying tapping of your keyboard and manicured nails filled your bedroom. There was a cosy, feminine vibe that made him feel relaxed, a safe space that soothed his mind. That was when he wasn't working. But you made him, and he'd gotten so tired of writing that he was drawing squiggles on the lined paper he was supposed to fill out with an answer for you to mark.

But you didn't realise. You were busy typing away at coursework, so focused it made him feel a little guilty he wasn't doing the same.

What he was focused on was the tenseness in your shoulders and that taut little pout. You'd been working so hard these past few weeks.

His chest fluttered with something warm for you, and he couldn't help but let that consume him properly for once.

"Hey," Yohan murmured in the silence, nudging his knee against yours to get your attention.

You stopped typing, turning your head to meet his gaze.

"What?" You asked softly.

"Why don't you take a break?" He murmured.

Something subdued settled within those baby blues.

"What do you mean?" You questioned back, raising a brow. "We've only been studying for an hour and a half. And you still haven't finished your-"

"Nah, not me." Yohan interrupted softly, leaning in a little closer. Just enough so his shoulder almost brushed yours. Enough that you could see the warmth in his eyes better.

"You, Princess." He murmured. That petname fell naturally from his lips, a secret title meant just for you. "Why don't you take a break?"

You paused.

Something very fuzzy settled in your chest as his gaze lingered.

"What do you mean?" You repeated, softer this time, quieter.

His fingers suddenly itched to reach out.

And he did.

He lifted one hand gently, just to gently tuck a loose strand behind your ear. Suddenly, something electric settled in the air, gentle and warm like every other meaningful moment.

Your heart almost skipped a beat.

"Is working all you know?" Yohan asked, his gaze flitting slowly over your features.