No one knew exactly how, why, or when it had begun. Before they were even fully aware, both Jaemin and Dabin were already very comfortable with one another. Like usual, they were reading while talking to one another over a strawberry milkshake (for Dabin) and an Americano (for Jaemin) during that one Friday afternoon. It had become a habit. Although they had not set a certain schedule, they would still meet at least thrice a week on an afternoon as if they had previously set an appointment. Even when the café was not packed, they would sit across each other. Hence, Dabin would always look around the café whenever she entered the said place, usually, the guy would enthusiastically wave his hand to get her attention or vice versa (except she would just stare at him before giving him a timid smile).

“We’ll be second year in high school soon,” Jaemin spoke up. During their casual conversations, they found out they were in the same year and were actually the same age. (“You’re in 1^st grade in high school? Cool, me too!” Jaemin once exclaimed in glee. “You’re born on July? Aw… I’m not older than you. I was born on August.” The boy sulked about the age difference even if the female was barely a month older.) “Will you still study in your school? Why not try to grab a scholarship from my school?”

Dabin shook her head. “Ace High School is just a dream,” she said in her usual soft voice. “Maybe I’ll try to enter in college.”

Jaemin pouted. “I thought we’d be classmates. That’s a pity. Then, I’ll wait for college to be in the same school as you,” he proudly told her, resembling a kid and that made the female laugh—almost like a giggle.

“We can still meet here though,” the female said, trying to appease the sulky male.

The male was across her, resting his face on his right palm with his lips still as pouty as ever when he talked. “But we’ll be busy when school comes. Will you surely come here during your free time? It’s really fun talking to you even if you don’t talk that much.”

“Why?” Dabin did not know why she asked that. She was confused as to why Jaemin would love talking to her. She was not ignorant, she heard about Jaemin’s achievements and about him in general. She knew he was better off with friends better than she was.

“What do you mean ‘why’? You listen well and although I wish you speak more, hearing you speak is like a reward. It is fun,” Jaemin replied with a grin, wiping off his pout completely.

Ah… he was still having fun. Dabin understood that Jaemin might find this whole ordeal as a kind of a game. It was something he would throw away—he would throw her away eventually. But, that did not make her sad. People tend to throw useless things away after some time. Still, Dabin felt no offense because for once in her life, she felt like she belonged in one place. If she would end up being thrown away no matter what, she would rather enjoy things as they were.

“Here.” Jaemin once gave Dabin a tiramisu that he made, successfully concealing it from the workers (“foods from outside are not allowed”, the sign on the door clearly stated). “Keep it and eat it when you get home,” he told her in a hush whisper, ushering her to keep the container with tiramisu.

“W-what is this for?” Dabin stuttered, hiding the container despite her surprise.

“Just a gift from me.” Jaemin grinned, eyes were twinkling. “I accidentally made too much and it would be such a waste to throw away, right?”

Of course, it was strange that someone would accidentally make too much dessert but not completely impossible either. “T-thank you,” Dabin thanked him. “I don’t have anything for you though.”

Jaemin shook his head, his sweet smile continued to adorn his face. “That’s completely fine. I gave you that because I want to, not because I want something from you,” he assured her, sipping on his ice Americano as he did so. “So don’t be bothered by it.”

“Do you like sweet things?” It was one of the rare questions that came from Dabin since Jaemin would singlehandedly carry the conversation.

Looking so sure, the male nodded his head. “Yeah, sweets are the best. I like making desserts and eating them. My friends and I would usually hang out to make sweets. Many actually thought that it was a very girly hobby but we really enjoyed it. And, where on Earth did we get the idea that making sweets are only for girls? That’s very childish.”

Dabin could not help but to laugh as she listened to Jaemin’s blabber. It was one of those things that made them closer to one another.

More than Jaemin’s endless babbling and his homemade tiramisu, what probably pushed them closer to one another was actually Dabin. The school year just started but it did not lessen the pressure that Jaemin was receiving. It was suffocating, he admitted when the two of them met one day. The male did try to mask his worries with a smile yet because his smile never reached his eyes, the female instantly knew that something was wrong.

“You don’t look good,” Dabin spoke when she settled down on her seat right across Jaemin. “Is something wrong? Y-you can tell me.” She struggled to not stutter simply because she was afraid that she might appear to be nosy. The only source of her courage was the fact that she wanted to be there for her friend.

Jaemin looked at her with a stiff smile. However, he was not able to continue sporting that forced smile as he was staring right at Dabin’s concerned eyes. He dropped his smile eventually and let out a sigh. “I think you’ve heard about it but there’s another Math Olympiad competition coming around, right?” He was muttering that Dabin had to strain her ears to listen. “I know I should be used to this but all those expectations are suffocating.” He even let out a bitter chuckle. “But I’ll be fine, really.”

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” There was a pause when the female realized what she just said—she did not know where she got that from, the courage was unexpected. “I mean, we can take a breather by walking in the park or something,” she hastily added.

The male looked like he had calmed down even just a little so he spoke with a tiny, tiny smile on his face. “Let’s go.”

Before the two knew it, they were walking around mindlessly in Seoul. They did nothing but to talk and to eat like close friends would do. They did not know then how one another had become important for each other.