Jiyeon was late. For the first time that school year she was late. She was early everyday, in the classroom. Seungcheol had gone to the room to talk to her but only found Woozi and a few other students.

“Woozi!” Seungcheol stood in front of his desk. “Have you seen Jiyeon?” Woozi didn’t look up from his phone and shook his head. Seungcheol groaned and left to find her. He decided to wait in front of the school after not finding her anywhere in the building.

Jiyeon arrived about 10 minutes before the first bell rang.

‘Safe.’ she sighed and got off her skateboard. She learned to skateboard when she was 11 from her cousin and fell in love with it. She sometimes rode Baram, her skateboard, to work but had never in her five years of riding had she ever rode it to school but desperate times called for desperate measures. Baram was 23 centimeters wide and 80 centimeters long. Her deck was a sparkly galaxy design with her initials in the middle and had purple wheels. She bought it at YWF skate shop in Hongdae. The owner, Yongguk, had helped her pick it out and Himchan had designed the deck. It was one of her babies.

“Jiyeon!” She looked to see Seungcheol running towards her. “Why were you late?” Jiyeon rolled her eyes.

“I wasn’t late.”

“You know what I mean.” Jiyeon shrugged.

“Woke up late.” Seungcheol looked down at the skateboard. She noticed and grinned. “This is Baram! My skateboard!”

“Where’s your helmet?” Jiyeon blinked.

“My helmet?” She paused, and then shrugged. “Don’t usually use one. Only when I’m doing tricks.” Smiling, she stepped back on to the board and made her way to the building. Seungcheol stared after her. She skateboarded? Why didn’t she tell him that before? He thought he knew more about her. How much didn’t he know?

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Halloween was on a Saturday that year. Jiyeon’s boss had decided they staff were going to dress up as characters from Alice in Wonderland. Jiyeon was Alice. Her boss said it was because she was small and already had the blonde hair.

So there she was, standing at the counter with her hair curled with a large bow on her head.

“I feel ridiculous.” She growled, tugging on the edge of the white apron.

“You look adorable!” One of the baristas dressed up like the white rabbit said, patting her on the head when he passed. Jiyeon shook her head and went to go change the sign to open. Here goes absolutely everything.

Five hours into work, Jiyeon thought her head was going to explode. It wasn’t the compliments that were getting to her. No. It was the leering and the creepy suggestive comments from creepy, creepy men, who most likely believed that they were superior to women and treated them as property. s. Jiyeon hated this type of guys. She sighed after she shook off another guy bothering her during her break. She had 10 minutes left and just wanted to drink her latte in peace. Suddenly her phone buzzed with a text message from Seungcheol.

Still at work?

Yeah. On my break. She waited a few minutes before she got a reply.

Oh… When do you get off?

‘In 2 hours. Why?’

Jiyeon didn’t get a reply before her break was over. A little disappointed, she pocketed her phone and got up to go back to work.

On the other end, Seungcheol was having a difficult time figuring out what he wanted to say. What was he going to say? At first he was only curious but now he was contemplating going to see her. Maybe taking her out to eat or just to hang out. Finally making up his mind, he grabbed his jacket and left to go wait for Jiyeon to get off work.

“See you later Alice!” Jiyeon waved at her coworker as she put on her jacket. Still in her costume, she stepped out on to the street, thinking of what she should do next. Home or shopping? She got her paycheck and had been meaning to go shopping to get some new things. Like a bag and some sweatshirts. Stuff like that. Sighing, she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and started down the street.

“Jiyeon! Hey! Jiyeon!” She turned to see Seungcheol walking towards her.

“Seungcheol sunbae! Hi!” She smiled, looking up at him. Seungcheol looked her up and down.

“You look cute, Alice.” He gave her a goofy smile and tugged at the bow on her head. She pouted and swatted his hand away.

“This wasn’t my idea.” She grumbled, “I wanted to be Catwoman.” Seungcheol laughed.

“Of course you did.” He paused before adding. “Do you wanna hang out with me?” He held his breath, hoping she would agree.

“Sure.” Jiyeon shrugged. “I have nothing to do anyway.” He sighed in relief and led her to the subway.

The two found their way to the mall. Jiyeon really didn’t spend much time there, not really being one for malls. There was usually too much going on and she often got lost. She hated being lost and it always took forever to find her companions again.

There were a lot of people in costumes. It was Halloween. People complimented Jiyeon on her costume, to which she smiled in thanks. Seungcheol loved watching her get embarrassed and blush every time. She stuck close to him, trying to make sure she didn’t get lost. He could feel her shoulder rubbing on his arm and he was trying hard not to grab her hand. It might have made her uncomfortable. Nothing could bring down his mood.

Jiyeon got to do the shopping she wanted to do. She quickly found the bag she wanted; a pink Longchamp tote that was on sale. It was a little more expensive than she wanted but it had really captured her eye. It was a really nice shade of pink. When she first saw it, she had grabbed Seungcheol and basically dragged him into the store. He found it really cute.

When she found a store that had hoodies she liked, she went in and walked straight to the men’s section.

“These are for guys. Why are you over here?” Seungcheol looked at her rather confused. Jiyeon shrugged.

“Men’s clothes are bigger and more comfortable.” She pulled down a blue sweatshirt. “And why does it matter who the clothes are for?  Clothes are clothes. I don’t understand why they need to have a gender.” Seungcheol looked at her in shock. She had a point. A really good one. But She just kept looking through the sweatshirts.

“You’d look good in this one!” Seungcheol jumped.

“What?”

“This sweatshirt.” She laughed. “This shade of green would be nice on you.” She held the sweatshirt up to him. “Hold this.” He held it and she stepped back. She tilted her head and squinted her eyes. “Yes. I like this one.” Jiyeon took it back and returned to her search.

“What are you gonna do with that?” Seungcheol asked, following her.

“I’m gonna buy it for you!” He blinked and tried to process what she said.

“No no no no.” he grabbed her arm. “You don’t have to do that.” She shook him of and smiled.

“I want to.” He didn’t argue after that.

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On that Monday morning, Jiyeon decided to skateboard to school again. She had gotten there faster than usual and really had liked the feeling of flying when she was on her way. It was fun dodging people and various objects. And the resulting chaos.

She didn’t put her hair up that day; opting instead to let her hair fly. Although, she did pack a brush. She blew past everyone in the school entrance, laughing when they had to quickly move out the way. When she saw Wonwoo, she called for him. He stopped and turned around. She almost ran into him, but expertly dodged him at the last minute. Wonwoo squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the impact. He opened his eyes when he heard her laughter.

“You should see the look on your face!” She squealed, pointing at him. Blinked at her, rather confused. He shook his head and smiled.

“Maybe if you hadn’t given me a heart attack, I wouldn’t have made this face!” Jiyeon just continued to laugh.

“Come on silly. Let’s go to class.” She picked up her skateboard and walked to the school.

Chemistry was confusing. Jiyeon squinted at the bored. What the was the Quantum Mechanic Model? She groaned and tried to scribble down all the information on the board. Running her fingers through her hair, she glared at the teacher. Great. Now he was explaining orbitals. ing orbitals. Nothing made sense.

Wonwoo rather liked chemistry. Even though he liked labs more than lectures, everything the teacher was teaching them was interesting. It was obvious the Jiyeon felt the opposite. He found it funny that she was getting so frustrated that she was tugging on her hair angrily. It was cute. The teacher called on him and he easily responded earning him praise and a sigh from Jiyeon.

“Did you understand any of that?” Jiyeon asked, resting her chin on her folded arms on his desk.

“Of course.” He smiled. She dropped her head and huffed. “I take it you didn’t?”

“No.” She mumbled.

“I can-” before he could finish, Hoshi came over.

“Jiyeonnie!” He plopped into the seat next to her and grabbed her hand. “Do you understand any of this?” She shook her head.

“Not. At. All.”

“Me either!” Hoshi pouted, “I was hoping you would so you could explain it to me.”

“Just ask Woozi.” Wonwoo grumbled. Hoshi stuck his tongue out at him.

“I wanted Jiyeonnie to.” Hoshi paused before he got an idea. “Yeonnie! Let’s both ask Woozi! Maybe we all can study together!” Wonwoo groaned. There went his chance for another study date. Then Hoshi said something that made him want to scream.

“Wait!” Hoshi stuck a finger in the air. “Seungcheol hyung’s really good at chemistry. Why don't you ask him?” Hoshi inwardly smirked at the feeling of Wonwoo glaring at him.  Jiyeon nodded and pulled out her phone to send Seungcheol a text.

In his classroom, Seungcheol was talking to Joshua and another boy in his class when his phone vibrated. He pulled it out and smiled when he saw that it was a text from Jiyeon. After reading it, he jumped up.

“YES!” he yelled. His classmates looked at him confused. “Sorry.” he sat back down, grinning like an idiot. Jiyeon. Han Jiyeon. Was asking him for help. Sure she also mentioned Hoshi, but it didn’t really matter.  His fingers shook as he replied. He was definitely agreeing.

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“Give him back.” Jiyeon looked up at the tall boy in front of her.

“Excuse me?” she tilted her head. “Give who back?”

“Wonwoo hyung. Give me my hyung back.” Mingyu grumpily crossed his arms.

“I don’t get what you mean…” Jiyeon was confused. Why was this tall underclassman angrily pouting at her? She had never met him before.

“You should know!” Mingyu stomped his foot. “Ever since you came, Wonwoo hyung doesn’t hang out with me before school anymore! So… Give. Him. Back!” Jiyeon’s mouth opened in realization.

“I’m sorry.” She said quietly. “I didn’t know that.” She paused. “I can tell him to hang out with you more, if you want?” Mingyu’s eyes lit up.

“You’ll do that?” Jiyeon smiled and nodded. “Thank you Jiyeon noona!” He grabbed her hand and swung their arms back and forth. “Bye!!” He ran off back to class. Jiyeon blinked, shrugged, and went to keep her promise.

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“Large, soy, no water chai for Eunmi!” Jiyeon called. She smiled when the girl thanked her and returned to her work. Her Saturday shift was always so busy. She started at around 10 in the morning and ended around 2, the lunch rush was right in between. It was raining that day. The whole world seemed dark and gloomy and all around gross. People were piling into the café to escape the wet mess outside. Jiyeon couldn’t blame them.

“Small green tea latte for…” She paused to learn how to pronounced the name on the cup. “Lu Ssi?”

“Lucy.” The woman laughed. “Don’t worry about it.”  Jiyeon smiled and nodded.

“Jiyeon-ah!” She turned to her boss. “You’re on break!” She sighed and passed the last drink to the customer.

Jiyeon stared out the window at the rain pelting down on people as they trudged on to their destinations. She hated the rain. She couldn’t skateboard, it was annoying to walk Mickey, he always got dirty, and it just felt sad. No particular reason really. Her mom always said they the dark did that to people. If Jiyoung were with her, it would be better. She and her sister would play board games and laugh at the wet people running below. Sighing, she took a sip of her latte and zoned out. Everything felt off. Something was wrong with the world and she couldn’t figure out what. What was it? She looked down at her phone. It definitely did not have the answers. She sighed again. Perhaps she’d go visit some friends. Or maybe go to the library to study. Scratch the friends part. She just wanted to be alone. She sniffed and wiped a tear that had spilled out with out her knowledge. She hated the rain.

Jiyeon wasn’t at school on Monday. Wonwoo had come it to class with milk bread and a can of coffee, only to find that she was nowhere to be seen. He frowned and pulled out his phone to text her. When he checked his phone at break, she hadn’t responded. He was a little worried.

“Hey Ji-“ Seungcheol froze at the doorway, and then walked over to Wonwoo. “Where is she?” Wonwoo shrugged. “Do you know where she is?” Wonwoo shook his head. Seungcheol sighed and left.

‘Where could she be?’ He thought, scratching his chin. He had wanted to talk to her about studying that week. Well, he kinda just wanted to see her. Badly. He felt his mood plummet. It was amazing how much seeing one person made his day so much better. Jeonghan and Joshua watched him worriedly as he stared out the window.

After school, Seungcheol wandered mindlessly until he ended up in front of Jiyeon’s apartment building. He stared up at it with his phone in his hand, trying to decide if he was going to call her to come out.

“Sunbae?” He turned around to see Jiyeon staring at him wide eyed, carrying a paper bag. “What are you doing here?”

“I-I-I uhhhh… well i-“ he stuttered. “Came to see you. You weren’t at school today.” She smiled at him.

“Thanks for checking on me.” She walked past him. He stood dumbly, watching her walk away. “Are you coming? Sunbae?” She motioned him to follow her. He smiled and jogged after her.

“Welcome to my humble home!” Jiyeon walked into the kitchen to put the paper bag down. Seungcheol looked around. The apartment was clean and well decorated. There was an open floor plan living room, dining room, and kitchen. The windows opposite the kitchen had a balcony that looked out onto a park. He walked over to a wall with pictures all over it. There were pictures of her family, with a girl that looked almost exactly like Jiyeon, but was definitely not Jiyeon. No matter how similar they looked, he could always tell her apart. From everyone and anyone.

“That’s my sister Jiyoung.” Jiyeon held out a cup of tea to him. “She’s a year younger than me. She’s away at school.” Seungcheol looked down to see her with a sad smile on her face. “She’s my best friend.” She sighed and turned around. “So… You came to check on me huh?” She curled up on the couch and patted the seat next her. He smiled at sat next to her.

“Yeah…” He looked out the window. “I don’t know why I did but when you didn’t show up at school today I… I got worried.” She laughed.

“I’m okay sunbae. Just tired.” Suddenly, a huge dog bounded out of one of the rooms, jumped on to Seungcheol and began his face. He struggled to get the dog off him. “Mickey! Mickey!” Jiyeon grabbed Mickey’s collar and dragged him off. She sat on the floor and held on tightly to her squirming dog. “Sorry about him. Mickey’s a little hyper active. Aren’t you baby boy.” She cooed at the dog that was anything but a baby.

“It’s ok.” He smiled. “He’s cute.” She smiled back at him.

The two of them talked together on the couch about everything: their families, schools, dogs, even which shoe they put on first. He couldn’t help but stare at her as she talked animatedly about various things. Her eyes would sparkle when she got excited and she would adjust herself on the couch, pulling her knees up to her chest. She would smack him on the arm every time he made a joke that she did not appreciate. He couldn’t help but smile. At 7pm Seungcheol’s mother called him to come home. He walked backwards while he left, watching her wave him off.

Jiyeon watched Seungcheol leave and smiled. She felt a lot better since he decided to visit. She had been in a slump since that rainy Saturday and really appreciated that someone had thought of her. She had gotten Wonwoo's text but didn’t have the heart to answer. She answered him, apologizing for not answering.

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Free dress days were the best. Everyone got to show off their own individual styles. They got a chance to stand out, rather than blending into the crowd of blue and tan uniforms they had to wear everyday. The school became more colorful and lively on these days; everyone excited to be themselves 100%.

Jiyeon had a hard time picking out what she was going to wear. Clothes were strewn all over her room. On the floor, desk, even her sister’s bed. Finally, she decided on a large sweater and cat tights with black platform heeled boots. It was cute and comfortable. Yes. Even the boots. No skateboarding that day. Taking one last look in the mirror, she grabbed her backpack and ran out the door.

Wonwoo couldn’t pay attention during class for anything. He was more focused on the girl in front of him. She looked cute that day. It wasn’t that she didn’t look good everyday; She just looked extra cute being swallowed up by the huge grey sweater. Every once in a while, she would lift her arm to try to shake the sleeve from over her hands. When it wouldn’t work, she would huff and push it up with her other hand.

“You look cool today Wonwoo.” Jiyeon smiled at him. She appreciated the simplicity of his distressed jeans, plain white tee, and bomber jacket. “I especially like the Dope beanie you got on.” Wonwoo looked away, blushing.

“Thanks.” He paused, looking back at her. “You look cute too.” He mumbled. Jiyeon giggled.

“That’s good! I tried too. Oh!” She dug around in her bag till she found what she was looking for. “I made cookies last night. I brought some for you!” She handed him a Ziploc bag filled with chocolate chip and sugar cookies. She had even written his name on it. “I hope you like cookies! I made a lot.” He was touched. She had thought of him. It made him all warm on the inside. He watched her with a small smile as she looked around in her bag and pull out a second bag. “I brought some for Soonyoung too.” Wonwoo couldn’t careless that she had brought cookies for someone else too. All he cared about was that she had brought some for him.