“MY BABY GIRL!” Ji Yeon was suddenly tackled into a hug. “HOW’VE YOU BEEN CUZ?!”

“Oppa!” Ji Yeon exclaimed.

“I haven’t seen you in forever!” Jaejoong said, arms wrapped tightly around his favourite cousin.

Ji Yeon laughed over his shoulder. “What are you doing here?”

Jaejoong finally retracted his arms (which were crowded with shopping bags of brand-named stores). “I’m in town for the week; got some business to do,” He replied, beaming.

Ji Yeon gave him a speculating look. “Do you still work at the bar?”

He cleared his throat before saying “Manager,” while holding up a peace sign. A sly grin tugged at his lips.

“EHHH?”

“Yup. That’s why I bought my little cousin some pretty clothes—don’t worry it’s not like the y stuff I buy for my employees, I think these will actually suit you: simple, cute, elegant—though I did slip in a hot pink—“ He peeked inside the bag to check before smiling. And the shopping bag handles with both hands, he gave them to her.

Ji Yeon gratefully accepted the gifts. “You didn’t have to though,” she smugly looked up at him.

“Yes I did!” Jaejoong insisted. “Or else you’d dress cheaply for the rest of your life.”

“—comfortably,” Ji Yeon emphasized.

“Comfortably, cheaply: same thing. I don’t want my cousin to dress like she shops at the thrift store. I want her to be hot and y okay?” He quirked his brow at Ji Yeon, who shyly bowed her head and began fidgeting with her fingers.

 “Aigo, so cute!” Jaejoong exclaimed before tackling her into one last bear hug.

“Yah, Oppa!” Ji Yeon scolded.

He quickly let go again, and after a quick chat they waved goodbye. “I’ll visit soon, okay? Goodnight!”

---

The next morning, Ji Yeon couldn’t believe her eyes. She was coming out her front mini gate when she saw Key leaning against the brick wall, a shoulder bag strapped across his chest and playing on his phone.

 “Key?”

“Huh? Oh,” He turned around and shoved his phone into his pocket. “Hey,” he said.

“Hi…” Ji Yeon replied unsurely.  “What are you doing here?”

“Just on my way to school, you know.” He scratched his back.

“This is totally out of the way though…”

 “I’m—I’m taking a detour, I do that sometimes—for exercise, obviously.

“I see…"Ji Yeon nodded her head slowly. “Well have fun.” She walked past him and began down the street.

“Hey, Ji Yeon-- wait!" Key called after her.

She stopped and turned around to see Key looking about kind of nervously.

 “Why are you leaving by yourself? Let's go together..."

---

When they got to school Key learned a couple of things. One, Ji Yeon still doesn’t trust him from past experience.  Two, she got home safely yesterday. And three, he had never despised Minho more.

In between classes his friend would visit. Was It to check up on him? No, not at all.

“Heard you got hurt, are you alright?” Minho asked Ji Yeon as he sat down in Key’s seat. (Key was sitting at the back of the room intent on reading his biology textbook with the class geek).

“Yes, I’m fine. It wasn’t that bad. I was able to walk and stuff, though… some people thought otherwise.”

Key gulped.

“That’s good.” Minho leaned in. “There’s something in your hair.” He gently brushed her bangs to the side, lingering a bit too long.

 “Is it gone?” Ji Yeon asked, bowing her head.

“Yeah,” Minho smiled.

Key narrowed his eyes, glaring at Minho's back. *There was nothing in her hair to begin with.*

As Minho continued his flirting session, Jessica found her opportunity to approach the feline.

“She’s always surrounded by guys, haven’t you noticed?”

Key didn’t answer.

“Why do you even bother?” Jessica pressed on.

“Are you seriously talking to me about this? Please go away,” Key finally said.

“Look, she’s all over Minho, and she doesn’t even care about you.”

“She’s more caring than you think.”

Jessica snapped. “Ugh!” She stamped her foot and stormed back to her own desk, sitting down angrily.

----

If there was another thing Key found particularly irritating, it was the guy who sat two desks away from Ji Yeon. He had been sneaking glances at her every few minutes in class. But it wasn’t a look of adoration. It was… something else.

“Ji Yeon-ssi, wanna be my partner for the physics lab?” The boy, who Ji Yeon learned was named Seungho, asked on the way out of class.

She thought for a moment: *it would be rude to say no, and I don’t have a partner anyway*

 “Yeah, okay,” she replied

“Great.” The boy blew an air of relief. “Um, library after school?”

Ji Yeon nodded. “Don’t forget the sheet alright?”

“Alright.” The boy grinned and then practically skipped away with his friends (with Key watching his every move).

“He’s trouble, Ji Yeon,” Key told her as they walked to the cafeteria.

“How? We’re just doing the physics lab.”

“Physics lab—yeah right. That guy and his friends… they look… suspicious.”

“You can’t judge someone just by how they look.”

“I’m not judging, it’s more like… male instincts? And plus, you know that the library is completely empty after school—might I even I add, pretty dark.”

“They have lights.”

“That’s not the point!” Key exclaimed. “It’s the atmosphere.”

“What do you think he’s going to do? It’s only a physics lab… in the library.”

Key folded his arms. “What if it was a physics lab with me?”

“I’d call security,” Ji Yeon hummed casually.

Key puffed his cheeks. *Wow, anyone but me, huh*

-----

The halls were slowly emptying out as people left to go home. Ji Yeon got her bag and headed upstairs. Seungho was waiting in front of the library when she got there.

“Hi,” he smiled.

Ji Yeon returned the gesture and they went in together.

They pulled out their textbooks and set up the experiment accordingly.

“I guess I’ll measure the distance,” Seungho said. He took the metre stick and compared it with the ramp. As he put the metre stick down his hand brushed Ji Yeon’s fingers.

“Sorry,” he said quickly

“It’s okay,” Ji Yeon replied assuringly. *He has nice manners* she thought.

They set the lab cart at the top of the ramp.

“One, two… three,” Seungo let the cart go and the ticker tape machine started punching holes into the tape as the cart ran down the ramp.

When the cart came all the way down they removed the tape and began recording data according to the dots on the tape.

“Six dots equals 0.1 seconds,” Seungho muttered quietly as his hand came closer to Ji Yeon and slowly began sliding around her waist. 

Ji Yeon blinked and went completely stiff.