I've always had this habit of quoting famous people's words, or even people who others never even heard of. Some of my school friends laughed at this habit, my long-time friends got used to it, sometimes finding it inspiring. Others, well, find it plain annoying. And one person in particular...

"Jihoon!" I exclaimed. The bunsen burner shot sparks and I quickly turned off the gas. "I swear, we could have lit everything on fire!"

"But we didn't," My lab-partner grinned, a hint of mischief in his eye-smile.

I sighed. It didn't seem like Jihoon put safety as the number one priority in the Chemistry lab. We all know that trying to light something on fire without supervision could cause all sorts of trouble.

" 'Chicken fizz! O Lord, protect all of us who toil in the vineyards of experimental chemistry!' " I accidentally yelled it out while pointing my test tube in the air. My classmates started looking at me as if I was an idiot. Maybe I am; I wasn't the best in this field of study.

"...by Alan Bradely," I finished.

Jihoon rolled his eyes at me, "How about we just hurry up and finish our lab?"

"Oh, so now you want to be serious about this?" I joked.

He didn't bother answering and continued to turn the heating plate on. I've known Jihoon for only two years. He had moved schools. I remember it was also around that time I became intrigued by quotes and the amazing things that came out of people's mouths. It must have been because Jihoon always said something witty that confounded me. He was that kid who loved music and had a serious shell. Yes, it must be because of his commentary, his smile that told of his humor under his layer of seriousness, his eye-smile. Everything about Jihoon, made me fall deeper in love with him. It felt so deep, I knew it had got to be a one-sided love.

One of my friends leaned over from another lab station and gave me a sly look. She was that friend who loved to ask about people's crushes and social life. I mentally cringed and prepared myself for what she was about to ask.

"Hey~ ______," she cooed.

"What do you want?" I groaned.

Her eyebrows knit together and she frowned. "I was just going to ask if you had a crush on anybody. Hm? Any first love?"

At this, I thought I saw Jihoon's head snap up in interest, but I was too busy shivering at the thought of confessing that I actually did have a crush, and that my crush was my lab-partner, and that his name to be specific was Lee Jihoon.

" 'H-how on earth,' " I stumbled, " 'Are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?' ...--Albert Einstein."

She laughed an turned back to her own lab partner.

For the rest of the class period, Jihoon was oddly silent. A few times, I caught him looking at my face. He would quickly look away, but I would keep on staring at him. I notcied that his eye wasn't smiling as much now.

After our lab clean-up was over, Jihoon picked up his bag and left the labroom. I didn't see him anymore for the whole day.

" 'The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved...--Mother Theresa.' "

-x-

It felt strangely lonely, to be by yourself or with your group of friends and being ignored by someone you thought would at least be close friends with. I guess I should say that I missed him.

It's been about two and a half weeks since Jihoon began to stop talking to me altogether. He wouldn't even look at me in the hallway. Chemistry became less and less interesting, if it was at all. I realized that Jihoon had given color to my daily life. My heart wouldn't stop aching and longing.

I was walking back to my classroom until I saw Jihoon inside. Alone. I held my breath and peered through the window. He seemed to be writing something in his notebook. It must have been his personal notebook since he rarely ever takes proper notes in class. I couldn't help but wonder What is he writing about?

Jihoon stood up, stretched and walked out of the classroom from a different door. I was still unnoticed. His notebook was left wide open, his belongings still laying at the desk's side.

I quietly slipped inside. It's getting a little too late for people to still be at school, what's he doing here?

Lurking cautiously to his desk, I could hear my heart pound loudly. I know, I know. I shouldn't be peeking into other's private lives. But, if this notebook can give me answers to why Jihoon has been ignoring me, then...

I lifted the notebook to my eyes.

" 'You know...I'm not always going to be around to help you.' --Charlie Brown. That was when she helped me clean up my broken beaker and acid I spilled on the counter.

What? Wasn't that... I read on.

" 'Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of overcoming it.' --Helen Keller. That was what she always told me whenever I was feeling the worst.

" 'Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?' --Beethoven. That was when she totally at art class. Even I drew better than her."

What the heck? These are all the old quotes I've said to Jihoon. There's even that new one I said in class, the one about "chicken fizz." I scanned and scoured through page after page of my quotes and Jihoon's memories asscociating with the quote. They all had to do with me. At the bottom of each page, Jihoon himself would write his own words. They were usually 'She never makes sense!' or 'She's crazy.' I flipped to today's entry. My heart seemed to twinkle, skipping two beats when I saw his line.

"Yet, somehow, she makes me smile still." I held my breath again. Jihoon had written much longer, to the back of the page.

"I still have no idea why she does this. My classmate just had to ask if she had a crush on anyone. And she just replies with Einstein!? I mean, how ambiguous can you get!? Now I'm scared she might like someone else, maybe she already has a major crush on that jock. I can't. I can't look at her, I don't want to see her with anyone else. What am I supposed to do? Ignore her? I don't want to either... Ah, she'll never like me the way I like her. I'm no good for her. She's got to be with someone who'll be just as weird as her. But I can't let her go. I can't be happy for her if she's with someone else. It's like I just want to..."

The rest of the sentence was scribbled out, unreadable. There was a quote I've never said before at the bottom:

" 'I tell my piano the things I used to tell you.' --Chopin," I read aloud.

"Hey."

I jumped fifty feet into the air. I was so engrossed in Jihoon's notebook, I didn't realize he had came back in. Dread filled me as I heard his voice. Oh dear, oh dear. I'm definitely going to get tongue-lashed.

"J-Jihoon," I turned around to face him. "...Sorry." I looked down.

He sighed and took the notebook from me. There was silence for a bit; we just stood there, facing each other. Should I say something? He basically confessed through his notebook.

"How much did you read?" he muttered finally.

"Up to today's," I replied heavily.

He sighed once more, "Well?"

"Well what?" I looked up.

"Well, if you read all of today's, then you'd know how I feel about you."

I nodded, blush rising to my cheeks.

"And just so you know," he took my hand into his, "Whatever your answer, my feelings won't change for you."

I was so confused. I thought Jihoon had always found me annoying with my quotes, a sister who can't help but dote on her brother's mistakes. That's what I thought Jihoon thought of me.

"Jihoon, I won't quote anything from anyone this time," I smiled, gathering the courage to look him in the eyes. "Because this time, this is straight from me."

I took a deep breath, "I love you!"

His soft palms curled around my fingers more tightly.

"I love you!" I cried. Warm tears began flowing down my cheeks as I confessed to the boy who I had crushed on for two years. Nothing else needed to be said. Just those three words were enough for my heart.

It was enough for Jihoon too, because, by the third time I tried opening my mouth to say it again, I was stopped. Jihoon leaned forward and kissed me. The notebook was dropped, long forgotten. Neither of us needed it anymore.

" 'If there ever comes a time where we can't be together, keep me in your heart. I'll stay there forever.' --Winnie the Pooh," he whispered into my ear.