#campuscrush

but you only groaned internally, suddenly keen to just sleep through the lecture as you realised your laptop was dead of battery.

"thanks," you mumbled out of politeness, inching just the slightest bit closer so you could attempt to look occupied.

"i'm mark," he began, his own hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck, only to stick a hand out for you to shake.

and when you slowly gazed upwards to link name to face, you steeled yourself at the unexpectedly handsome appearance of a man smiling down at you. with his jet black curls falling over his eyes slightly and a somewhat mischievous grin showcasing his perfect pearly whites, mark looked like every college student's campus crush. from his casual decision of a university hoodie to his favourite pair of basketball shorts, this man looked nothing short of a dream.

what was someone as fine as him doing here? who gave him the right to look this perfect at 9 a.m.? 

these were the thoughts that circled your mind as you stared up at your fellow classmate, gaping at him like a fish out of water as your mind buffered for a response.

"o-oh! I'm Y/N," you finally stuttered, cursing yourself internally as his kind eyes shone down upon you somewhat protectively. you pulled your hand away from his too, realising that you were shaking it for just a bit too long.

and as badly as you tried to make eye contact with him, your panicked self could only send him a soft smile, whispering a quick thanks for the textbook as you looked down at it, despite knowing reading would not be a successful endeavour today.

upon seeing your focused self, mark too drew his attention to the textbook, not wanting to be a distraction to your learning. but he couldn't help it - after seeing you in this lecture hall a few times before, he had developed somewhat of an interest in you. and when he saw you approaching him today to take the seat beside him, he couldn't help but feel nervous and a little proud.

it was now or never.

"hey, do you get what that guy's saying?" mark quipped, lazily laying his cheek against his open palm as he glanced over at you subtly, not wanting to come off as a total creep for fully staring. and as he saw you visibly roll your eyes towards the lecturer, he crinkled his nose as a soft smile made its way to his lips, courtesy of your response.

"i swear he likes to make everything ten times more confusing," you replied, easing up a little in front of the intimidatingly handsome student next to you as you finally turned to face him.

"right? He's going to be the reason i heck up my GPA."

upon hearing his cute complaint, you stifled a giggle, noticing the lecturer glaring at you and mark warningly for the noise you were creating in the otherwise quiet room. did he just replace his swearing with heck?

"if you fail, i have no hope," you joked, sending a grin his way as the lecturer's words began to tune out.

and when he saw you cutely smiling up at him, he could have sworn his cheeks had grown 4 shades pinker, his voice hitching in his throat as he looked away bashfully. his ears were burning, and the hoodie he was wearing over his basketball jersey suddenly felt too hot to be on.

is this what his dormmates meant when they had called him a simp? for liking someone he didn't even know the name of? well, until now.

"Y/N?"

upon hearing your name, you turned towards him, smiling before humming in acknowledgement. you found yourself playing with the fabric of your cozy pyjama pants, the butterflies still present in your stomach as you smiled up at mark.