The next day Piyoon had classes to attend to so she got ready and walked into the kitchen. She was surprised to see Jimin sitting at the dining table with a glum face. She half expected him to be MIA like last night. She was even more surprised to see Riley teaching Jungkook how to cook at the stove. He turned around once he felt her presence. He smiled a boyish grin and said, "Good morning!"

Her heart throbbed once and stopped. Riley also turned around to greet her and Jimin only gave her a glance. "Good morning," she said. "What are you two doing?"

"I'm teaching him how to cook. He was staring at me earlier so I thought he wanted to learn." Piyoon smiled, knowing the real reason he was staring at Riley. She sat down across from Jimin and his eyes followed her every move. She stared at him and then to his bright orange hair and her face scrunched in disgusting. He had somehow convinced her mom that orange hair was a trend. The thing he didn't realize is that faded orange hair was a trend but because he never washed his hair or grew it out, it stayed a bright colour and she didn't really like it. It stood out like an elephant.

"If you don't like it then sit beside me," he said. "Then I won't have to see your morning face either."

"I'd rather not be of close proximity of you or your orange hair. So you better get used to this morning face." He scowled and was about to argue back but Riley stopped them. "Let's have a quiet morning for once." He set down her breakfast and sat down beside Jimin while Jungkook sat down beside her.

"Where's mom and dad?" she asked, digging it to her food.

"They came home late last night so they're still in bed," Riley answered. She looked to her right where the living room is and saw a blanket thrown over the couch. So Jimin really did sleep on the couch last night, she thought. She looked at the Sapphire across from her and he mouthed, "What?"

"If you're not eating and you don't want to see my face, why don't you go over there." She nodded to the living room. He scoffed and left the table at once. Riley told her to keep the bickering to a minimum and joined him at the couch.

"How was your night?" she asked Jungkook.

"It was great. It was the first time in a while I slept peacefully. It's all thanks to you." She smiled, glad he felt safe in her home. "By the way, are you going somewhere today?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to school today. I have classes in 40 minutes."

"Can I go with you?"

She looked up from her bowl. "Sapphires are not allowed to be in my school." All schools have detectors at the front doors. There is a law that schools must have them and they are checked annually. The government believed school is for a student environment and not a place for Sapphires to assist their humans.

"It's okay. Can I at least walk you to the bus stop or something? Or walk you out to your car? I'll leave right after."

"I walk her to school," Jimin called from the living room, overhearing their conversation. "I'm not a baby," she called back. "Your mom's orders."

She sighed and shook her head. "It's better if you stay indoors anyway. It's dangerous for you out there if you come back by yourself."

He nodded and watched her eat. To him it was surreal to even be under a roof with a family. It didn't matter to him that the Sapphires didn't like him. He was just grateful that this girl happened to pass by and give him a place to live but at the same time he was scared. Would he have to go back to that alley again? Was his happiness only short lived? He wanted to tell her, "I'm scared. I'm scared about how other Sapphires look at me, I'm scared about my time of death. I'm scared about what will happen after today." Maybe saying that will make her pity him and let him stay there longer but he was only imagining. He would never take advantage of the human who decided to give him luxury.

"Jungkook..."

Jungkook snapped out of his thoughts when Jimin spoke. "Let's go. There's not much left, you don't want to be late." Piyoon, saved from the awkwardness, stood up and put her dish away. She was quite aware that the Sapphire was staring at her but she decided not to say anything. Noticing that he hadn't moved from his position, she concluded that he was in deep thoughts and did not want to bother him. For once, she was thankful for Jimin's interruption. She waved goodbye and rushed to the front door where Jimin was waiting for her with an umbrella. She wore her rain boots and windbreaker before they left the house.

The two walked along side each other under the umbrella while they were on their way to her school. They were only a 20 minute walk away from her campus building, which she was very fortunate about. She studied hard for the entrance exam because the college she currently studies at is very prestigious and famous. It was all because she didn't want to leave home to go to the next closest college which is an hour drive away.

For the first time, the walk was very awkward. She was aware that he was mad at her for bringing in an abandoned Sapphire but she couldn't help it! It was the first time she ever saw one and it wasn't her fault she was weak for them. On top of that, they had a spark so it made things even more complicated. It wasn't fair that he was mad at her for that.

"Hey, watch where you're going, you birdbrain." He switched the umbrella handle to his other hand so he could pull her closer to him with her shoulder against his side. Her head leaned up so she can view his face. He looked down at her and scoffed. "You don't know what you just did, did you?" She shook her head. "You stepped out under the umbrella. You would have gotten wet if it wasn't for me." She scoffed and he looked at her, offended. "Did you just scoff? I saved you from the rain!"

"Sorry, I didn't know the rain was dangerous. Thank you, for saving me from the flesh eating acidic rain. Thank you." He let go of her shoulder and pushed her out of the protection of the umbrella as revenge for speaking so sarcastically. She gasped and almost tripped on her own two feet. "Hey!" she yelled and swiftly grabbed the umbrella from his hand before running ahead. "Thanks for walking me halfway! You can go home!"

He covered his head with his hands and ran after her. "I'm ten minutes away from home! Give me back that umbrella!"

They made it to the college in one piece and Jimin was back to his annoying self but she didn't have the courage to ask what happened back at the house. He left with the umbrella, promising he'd come back for her when her classes ended. He told her he left a spare umbrella in her bag just in case and left.

She headed to her locker to grab her books but an arm blocked her way. She didn't have to look up to know who it was. He is the most annoying person she ever met. He's more annoying than Jimin and that's saying something. She doesn't know why he bothers her so much. No, she couldn't say he liked her because from what she observed, he was exactly like that to other students. The reason why he chose her to be his target greatly confused her. From the thousands of students in the college, why her? Apart from being annoying, he's one of the popular boys on campus because of his good looks. He has small eyes but because he has a good body build and athletic, people compliment him. Some say he looks cute when he smiles and others say he looks cool and charismatic when he's serious. Piyoon didn't understand what they were saying. Everyone is so shallow, she concluded.

"Good morn' hon." She almost gagged. "What? You can't say hi to me? And look at me why don't you?"

"Hi," she sighed, refusing to look at him.

"Come on, you've got to say something longer than that. I can't listen to your beautiful voice if you just say one word."

"Get out of my way, Shownu. I need to get my books."

He leaned further against the lockers. "Not until I meet your eyes," he sang.

She closed her eyes and silently let out a breath of frustration. She opened her eyes to glare at him but he responded with a smile that made his eyes disappear. He moved his arm out of my way. "There we go. Now, my day has been complete because of you." Her eyes automatically noticed his newly dyed jet black hair. "You like it?" he asked, touching the ends of his hair.

"No," she said, grabbing her books and shut the door. Unfortunately for her, the boy did not leave her alone. He had the same morning class as her. "Come on. You have to admit, black is the new trend. It's much better than the light brown I rocked, don't you think?" She didn't respond and continued to walk to her first class. He didn't give up though and changed the topic instead. "So, you turned 19 a couple days ago." She almost glanced at him. She didn't even know how he knew. It's not she told him and she definitely didn't have him as a Friend on any site. "Did you go to Sapphire Square?"

"What is it to you?" she said in an annoyed tone. "Girl, no need for the venom. I was just asking." She admit, he wasn't asking an annoying question. That is what people in general ask each other but she felt agitated. His presence is annoying, she concluded. She answered, "I did."

He nodded, saying hi to a couple of people on the way. "Are you going to find it?," he asked. "Sapphires aren't really my thing. I got my clue and all because my parents made me. I lied to my parents about actively trying to find it. Next thing you know, I find it by pure coincidence."

"Your parents must be happy," she said sarcastically.

"They still think I'm looking for it." Piyoon suddenly stopped in her tracks. She didn't care if people behind her complained and cursed. Their words didn't reach her ears anyway. She faced him. "You abandoned it?"

He shrugged like it was the most natural thing to do. "Like I said, Sapphires aren't my thing. I don't dig the whole transforming thing. It's just unnatural. Like, why did people make it for anyway? You still have to buy your own things. It's not like it can replace everything you need."

He had a valid argument but so did she. "Sapphires were created to accommodate us. They were created so we can be happier. It's not about transforming to replace the basic materials we need, but to be there for us when we need them. Sapphires can be our companions. Instead of having them as our slaves, they can be our friends when we need something to say. They can be the shoulder you need to lean on. That ear and that shoulder isn't a stranger. That ear and shoulder isn't from someone you built a relationship with. That ear and shoulder is from your Sapphire, something that was created to assist you, to befriend you, to like you. No matter how annoying you are, the Sapphire will always like you, until you abandon it."

He stared at her for a second longer before saying, "It doesn't like me."

Before she could say anything else their professor stopped them. Apparently, they were having this argument right outside the door without knowing. Basically, the whole class and the people in the hallways stopped what they were doing and listened in. The most embarrassing thing was, the professor decided to repeat their argument in front of the class. She couldn't help but keep her head down and glare daggers at the back of Shownu's head.