I’m slowly starting to realize something about who I find attractive.

The people who initially catch my eye, who I immediately want to get to know and hang out with all the time. Who I want so desperately to notice me yet want them to stay away because they make me feel weak in the knees. Who I would do anything and drop anything for, even while knowing they wouldn’t do the same. That attraction, based primarily on superficiality, tends to fade away, and usually leaves me saying, “What the hell was I thinking?!”

It’s the people who don’t immediately catch my eye. The ones I happen to get to know by chance, and want to continue to get to know. Who surprise me more and more each time we talk and hang out. Who make me smile just at the thought of them, and make my heart beat faster when I get a message from them. When the attraction grows rather than fades with time, those people are the attractive ones I should focus on.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. If someday I find someone who has the best of both worlds, then I’ll be jumping off the walls with happiness. And this won’t make me stop swooning over people just because they’re hot. But it further confirms that the most beautiful people can be the ones you initially overlook. So from here on out, I’ll try and look closer.

-Aldy