The playful chatter only lasted for so long. Inevitably, the conversation steered towards my whereabouts that morning. So without a moment’s hesitation, I told them about Rinah and her dilemma. Minyoung shook her head condescendingly at my actions. Her expression clearly said that the reasonable idea would’ve been to take the kid straight to the police.

Kiseop, on the other hand, patted my head softly. “You did well,” he praised, proud of me. “Can I come see her once too?”

“I’ll ask her mother,” I promised, happy. “But if something like this ever happens again, can I just call you to come and help me?” I asked. In reply, he nodded with a smile. “It’s easier when you’re around,” I admitted.

Minyoung coughed. A thing she tends to do when feeling left out. “So who were you with for the whole day?” she inquired, glad to have our attention back, “just Rinah?”

I shook my head. “Nope, we had her neighbour, Shin Dongho, lead the way back to her home.”

“Hm,” she hummed thoughtfully. “Isn’t he that popular boy in class 3-b?” she paused, trying to remember his features. “Wait,” she suddenly gasped. “Isn’t he the best looking boy in our school?” She clasped her hands together wistfully. “Please introduce me.”

A weird feeling gathered at the pit of my stomach. “D-do you like him?” I inquired timidly. For some reason, I didn’t want to introduce Minyoung to Dongho. Something about her didn’t let me. Scanning her large brown eyes and slim figure, I reformed my thoughts. Everything about her wasn’t letting me.

Giggling, she replied, “Well he’s pretty darn adorable if you ask me.”

“That means yes,” Kiseop translated with a teasing eye roll. “As long as the boy’s good-looking, trust Minyoung to have her eyes on him.”

“Hey,” she countered. “Points if he’s rich too,” she joked, laughing playfully.

Is Dongho well off? I tried to picture his house in my mind, retaining what I could from this morning. And frankly, I didn’t like what I remembered – which was nothing. My eyes had been glued onto Dongho, shameless as that might sound. I bit my lip, unsure of what to say.

Luckily, I didn’t have to say anything. “He has to be rich,” Minyoung concluded ecstatically. “He’s very popular. Those two qualities usually go together.” She nudged me light-heartedly. “Come on, please introduce me,” she pleaded, looking at me as if I were some sort of golden ticket to the luxury ship that was Shin Dongho.

I blinked, taken aback. What should I choose: my friend’s happiness or having this boy to myself? The answer was simple. “I can’t,” I told her, rejecting her request. “He barely talked to me today, and I don’t even think he’s going to recall my name.” Alright, hopefully that was a lie. He did say that he wouldn’t forget. “Popular boys have better things to do, I guess,” I shrugged.

“Oh,” Minyoung looked down, clearly dismayed. Good-natured as he is, Kiseop patted her back comfortingly.

- Internally, I had slightly regretted letting my friend down, but predominantly, my mind was still fixated on Dongho. I was positive that Minyoung would get over it. Her crushes were never serious, and they barely lasted a week or two. Logic was on my side, I remember thinking. I was filled to the brim with rotten selfish thoughts, and worse, I was unaware of my despicable behaviour.

Was this when Minyoung began to change? Possibly, this was. But then again, it’s also fairly probable that the alteration of our correlation had begun to occur at a far earlier time. I never was able to truly figure it out, even to this day.

Truthfully, getting what I want was practically second nature to me. All I had to was ask for it and it was mine. In fact, there were times when I didn’t even have to voice out my desire. But I knew nonetheless that this time around was different. I just wasn’t aware of how or why. The only thing clear to me at that moment was the inevitable fact that I wanted to stay by Dongho’s side, no matter what consequences may come with it. -

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- Never in my life had I ever been so anxious to attend school. Yet the next day, I was fussing over every little detail as I got ready. My hair was perfectly parted, as it hung long and straight, reaching just below my chest. My uniform was free of the smallest of wrinkles as well. And I knew because I had checked.

For the first time in my life, I had wanted to look absolutely faultless. On the way to school I even practiced exactly how I was hoping to greet him if he so happened to pass by. I had a conversation rehearsed, in an attempt to milk what I could from a chance encounter.

I would start the exchange with, “Shin Dongho? Oh cool, I didn’t think we’d see each other around much.” He’ll know that I cared enough to remember his name, yet the casual sentence that follows should dissipate the thoughts of me having too much interest in him. Even though I did, I didn’t want to scare him off.

Next, I’d bring up Rinah. “Should we go see Rinah today?” I’d ask, or a suggestion somewhat similar that. Then I’d end it with, “Sounds great. I’ll see you by the front gates after school.” Hopefully, he agrees to the initial suggestion.

By the time I got to school, I had firmly believed that I was ready for him. But of course, Dongho was never predictable to begin with. -

Just my luck, the chance encounter that I was hoping for came that day. Possibly because I had gone out of my way to pass by his classroom a few dozen times, but I didn’t care. I wanted to make my own fate.

I caught him just as he was coming back from lunch. Taking a deep breath, I began to say what I had so carefully gone over in preparation of seeing him. Shin Dongho? Oh cool, I didn’t think we’d see each other around much. Should we go see Rinah today? Sounds great. I’ll see you by the front gates after school.  I was more ready than I’ll ever be.

But he beat me to it.

“Kim Hyewon?”

I looked up at the mention of my name, only to be met with deep brown eyes that belonged to none other than Dongho himself.

“Oh cool,” he murmured quietly. “I didn’t think we’d see each other around much.” His expression was the same as I had remembered it. That unbreakable poker face dominated his features once more. However, something about the way he spoke was different. If I wasn’t mistaken, he sounded rather amused. “Should we go see Rinah today?”

“Dongho,” I greeted him with a smile. “Can we? I miss her already,” I admitted with a small laugh to ease the awkwardness of a second meeting. “Besides, I have something to ask Ms. Jin,” I told him, with Kiseop’s request in mind.

He nodded curtly. “Sounds great, I’ll see you by the front gates after school,” he said, before turning to leave.

Grinning at my success, I was ready to just about hug myself in the halls when I realized something. The conversation we had - in spite of my previous thinking of having my plans ruined with him initializing contact - sounded pretty familiar.

“Wait a minute,” I whispered, finally becoming conscious of what just happened. I looked at the back of his figure as he continued down the halls and gasped. My rehearsed conversation; how did he know? He couldn’t have possibly known.

However just as I was about to conclude that what occurred only took place due to pure circumstance, he turned a corner, and I could swear he had one of those rare smiles of his on his face.