--Minri's POV--

"Minri-ah, since when did you and Taemin Oppa become such good friends?"

Heena and I were sitting together in Fine Arts class, sketching images of flowers as a warm-up. Her question threw me off guard. Nobody had ever asked me that before. And I had no idea that anyone could define Taemin and I as 'close'.

"Huh?! What do you mean, Heena? Since when were we close?" I asked in confusion. I frowned at my cherry blossoms, which had been scraped after my surprised pencil stabbed the paper.

"You know what I mean," Heena said. Her tone was edgy. "Taemin doesn't hang out with anyone. Not even with his former friends. So how come he's hanging out with you?" Her emphasis on 'you' made me uncomfortable, as if she was disgusted of me. I tried to ignore it.

"Well, I'm just being friendly. His locker is right next to mine. Why not have a locker friend, right?" I laughed lightly.

"He doesn't care for any friends. All he wants is for everyone to get away from him. Everyone."

"Why would you say that?" I asked. To hear her say such words was an awful thing. "How come everyone is so cruel and cold to him?"

Heena threw a glare at me. "Cruel? Cold? That would be him. He used to be very popular. He used to have lots of friends. And he used to have lots of admirers as wells. But he decided to throw them all away. It's his own fault. Leave him alone, Minri. He's no good for you."

I erased my flowery mess and frowned unpleasantly. "Heena, is there something that happened to him? Why did he suddenly become like that? There must be a reason, right?"

She growled in frustration and sighed. "Minri, you're new here, so you don't know about the incident that--"

"Girls! No talking! Sketch silently or else I'll separate you two, araso? I know you guys are friends, but talking can happen at another time," Miss Lee cut in. "Understand?"

"Nae,Seongsaeng-nim," we answered with a bow.

For the rest of class, we sketched without a word. My cherry blossoms became so surprisingly good, I was impressed with myself. I caught Miss Lee staring at it admiringly. She smiled and held it up to examine closer.

"Well, well, your skills are definitely impressive indeed, Miss Park," she gushed. "Cherry blossoms are beautiful flowers, aren't they? Absolutely lovely."

I nodded happily. "Ye, Seongsaeng-nim. Cherry blossoms are my favorite flowers.They symbolize sacrifice and love. I deeply appreciate the meanings behind flowers like these."

Miss Lee smiled approvingly. "I didn't know that, Miss Lee. Thank you for telling me. Actually, there are lots of things I don't know," She laughed.

I laughed. "Everyone has something that they don't know. I'm sure."

"Heena, what about yours?" Miss Lee asked.

Heena smiled proudly at her drawing. "I have a Bleeding Heart flower sketch. What do you think, Seongsaeng-nim?"

I peeked at Heena's drawing. She had drawn a branch with a long row of bleeding heart flowers dangling down below. Heena glanced at Miss Lee hopefully. Miss Lee grinned.

"The flowers are magnificent! Heena, you always put so much effort into the little details of your works."

Heena beamed in delight. "Gamsahabnida, Seongsa--"

"However, this picture is not your best," Miss Lee said with a slight frown. "It doesn't capture the essence of how unique and beautiful Bleeding Hearts are supposed to be. It might be due to the fact that you drew the flowers in a row. Or maybe there's too many Bleeding Hearts in it. Two or three would have made this an excellent work. Keep it up, Heena!"

As Miss Lee walked away, she turned her head and smiled at me. "By the way, Miss Park, yours was perfect! Would it be alright if I hung it up on the wall?"

"That's absolutely fine," I replied. "Thank you, Miss Lee!"

She smiled and continued looking at the students' works.

I jumped up and down, giggling with excitement. "Aigoo, Heena, I'm so happy! Miss Lee loves my picture! That's amazing, isn't it?"

Heena stared at me. She smiled slowly. "Yeah, it's great. Mine could have been better than yours if I hadn't drawn so many flowers."

"Practice makes perfect," I soothed her, patting her arm.

She jerked away. "I don't need practice. I'm better than you, Minri. You were just lucky."

I tried to speak, but Heena had stood up and left the classroom. I bit my lip. Heena isn't mad at me, is she? I didn't mean to show-off, if that's what she thought.

~ ~ ~

I headed out of Mr. Song's classroom. He had assigned a whole load of homework. I sighed. My plan was to get some ice cream after school. I guess not...

Someone's shoulder bumped into mine. I bowed. "Excuse me,"

"Yes, excuse you." replied the stranger.

I looked up. "H-Heena! Where did you go? I was really wor--"

Heena interrupted me. "I was busy. I can't always entertain you, Minri. I have other things to do as well."

"But where did you go in the middle of class?" I asked.

"It's really not your business, you know. I have to go. I'll see you later," she said, walking off.

"Heena!" I called. She didn't turn around. I recognized the look in her eyes: Coldness.

Why is Heena acting like this? Did something happen? Or is she still mad at me? And what is she even mad at me for? There were too many questions in my head. I couldn't even answer any of them. I felt like a clueless and dumb person.

". . . Minri."

"What now?" I blurted out loud in annoyance. I swirled my head around and was face to face with Lee Taemin.

"Oh! Taemin! Wh-What's up?" I asked.

Taemin stared at his feet. "Oh. Were you busy? I'm sorry, I just--"

"Aniyo, I'm free. Is there anything you need?"

"Nothing, really. I was just wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me."

A small blush crept onto my cheeks. I felt it burning against my face. "Really? Sure!"

Taemin smiled in relief. "Alright. I just have one request."

"Nae?"

"Can we eat elsewhere? Instead of the cafeteria?"

Now I was getting really curious. I wanted to know what Taemin was hiding. Maybe that was why I said yes. Or maybe it was something more. Maybe it was because . . . I wanted to become friends with him. Maybe it was because I wanted to fix his broken heart. Whatever it was, I said yes.

"Do you often eat here?" I asked.

"Not really," he replied.

I stood on my tiptoes and watched the view. The trees, the sky, the clouds, the birds. Everything seemed . . .beautiful. It was as if this sunny day could never turn gray. As if this sunny day could mean the possibility of more and more possibilities. More and more fixed hearts.

"Don't you love sunny days?" I asked.

" . . . I used to." Taemin replied slowly.

I turned around. He was looking at me again with those melancholic eyes. My own heart burned with fire. His heart was only made of burnt ice.

"What did you use to do?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Before. Before it became like this."

His eyes were off in the distance again. He always seemed to be living in the past. Living in old memories that couldn't become reality.

"I used to . . . be happy," he finally said. His eyes were trained onto the view. "I would talk with my friends, my family . . . my sister."

"Why don't you anymore?" I wanted to know.

"Because some things aren't meant to be."

It ached to hear him say such things with such bitterness, as if there was no point in life. As if being alive was a burden in itself. I walked toward Taemin and sat down on the ground beside him. He shifted his weight and looked away. I scanned his lunch and sighed, picking it up.

"Aren't you hungry?" I swished his sandwich in front of him.

He shook his head. "Not really."

"You say that a lot," I noted.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said. "But seriously, you should eat. You were the one who invited me to have lunch with you. There's no fun in an empty stomach."

"An empty stomach . . ." Taemin whispered, staring at the ground. "That isn't something to be worried about if you're already empty on the inside."

Somehow, I knew in my heart that he was broken. No matter how shy or silent someone is, they don't talk like life has no purpose. Unless their purpose in life has already faded away. I knew that whatever Taemin had cherished before, whatever or whoever, was already gone. Then I wondered to myself, How did Taemin use to be? How did he use to smile? Or talk? Or laugh? How did he become so shattered? And what was the thing that shattered him?

"Taemin-sshi," I said softly.

"Yes?" He turned his head towards me.

His closeness gave me the warm and fuzzy feeling again. I scooted myself farther away before answering him.

". . . Think of this sandwich as your life's filling."

"What?" He eyed the sandwich in question.

"I said, think of this sandwich as the filling of your empty life. Eat it and think of it as your first step to breathe again," I explained, holding the sandwich in place. "If you don't try, how can you ever continue to live like this?"

Taemin hesitated. "I-I'm not hungry."

"I don't believe you," I said, frowning. "How can a girl like me have a bigger appetite than you? My sandwich is already digesting in my stomach. So eat up now!" I ordered.

He laughed. The first that I ever heard. It was a bird's chirp at sunset. "Alright. I'll eat. So don't look at me like that."

I blinked. "Like what?"

Another small smile. "Like you're going to eat me up."

I apologize to my readers for not updating for so long. To be honest, I've been having the most awful writer's block for the past few months. I can't seem to get my head around thinking like an author recently. But I'm back (halfway) and I'm ready to please my crowd again. Be warned, it may be slow. I might become a turtle at the rate I'm writing, but it's better than nothing. Thanks for reading, everyone!