“Yah, Jinki-ah, look at what you did!” Sunwoo complained as she softly punched her younger friend in the arm, “We're probably going to have to sit in the front because you were running late!”

All the first and second year students were lined up alongside the school building, scattered like wild animals on the sidewalk as they patiently waited for their school bus. Today was their first year trip to Jangheung in Gwangju. At the end of the grading periods, the entire school took one day off to go to wherever their grade wanted to go. This year the first years decided to do an overnight stay in the countryside since a majority of them had never stayed at the Hanok before, let alone ever visited the country side. Of course, that trip wasn't all for nothing. Their grade's president, Yoon Jieun, believed it would be a wonderful opportunity for them to complete their service hours, so other than relaxing, they were also going to be helping out the senior villagers by lending out a hand. Talk about Jieun being a party killer.

“Look, I'm sorry but I had to make sure that Dongup-ssi was going to be at home to watch over Daejae!” Jinki defended herself, pulling her arm away and making at face at her close friend, “Who wants to sit in the back anyway? That's where all the troublemakers go,”

Jinki and Sunwoo weren't best friends, but they were close. Jinki didn't have a set best friend since she never really trusted anyone with her friendship...well that is, if she didn't count Edwa---Seunggwan. Turning her attention back towards the gas blowing bus, her nose wrinkled at the long line ahead of them. She didn't realize that they were at the total end of the line. It wasn't long before her eyes fell upon a head of slightly wavy caramel hair with unmaintained roots. Seunggwan was way ahead of the line talking with Chan and Hansol about something that was probably amusing since they were all laughing. It wasn't until he turned his head that she realized she had been staring at him. Embarrassed, Jinki brought her eyes down and looked away, hoping that Seunggwan wouldn't get the wrong idea. She was not staring, she was simply judging him for his lack of hair care. Seriously, he needed those roots retouched.

“What were you smiling at?” Sunwoo questioned the younger girl's sudden actions, “You're acting really weird lately,”

“Who? Me? No, I'm not,”

“Yes you are. That look on your face is exactly like the look Jieun's been giving to Dongjin,” the older girl pointed out, “And we all know she's got the hots for your older cousin,”

“Ew, gross,” Jinki responded, seeming rather unfazed that the most annoying person in the grade liked her cousin. Then again, she could care less about Dongjin since he didn't approve of Chan being her crush. Until he approves of Chan, then consider his opinion irrelevant.

They went back and forth for a while, bickering about Jieun and Dongjin and eventually wound up talking about how cute each others' outfits were. It was the first time since the school year started that they got to wear something other than their uniform and it was kind of a big deal. Sunwoo was your classic all-American girl with the “All Knit Everything” look: skinny washout jeans, black Doc Martins, cable knit sweater and matching scarf and hat set, with a white long sleeve shirt underneath. She literally looked like she had stepped out of a Fall edition of Seventeen magazine.

“Oh but your outfit is really cute too! Super preppy, might I add,” Sunwoo pointed out what she could see of Jinki's outfit pointing out from underneath her hoodie.

Underneath the light blue, bear printed sweater was still something uniform-esque (even though the main point of 'dressing down' was not to wear a uniform). Over her basic white Peter Pan collared blouse, she wore a Persian Green pullover cardigan and on her bottom half was a basic black pleated skirt with black tights and all black T-Straped flats. Of course, the uniform look was something Jinki felt right at home in. Besides, she didn't like being bogged down by multiple layers of knitted items. It was too much for her small frame to carry. Turning back around, Jinki half-heartedly joked, “Thanks, but I'm sure you'll be seeing outfits a lot similar to this over the next three days,”

“Jinki, the point of dress down is not to wear something similar to our school uniform,” Seunggwan's voice suddenly interrupted their conversation, making Jinki cringe, “But I guess I'll let that slide since you can't do anything about it now,”

Without any warning, Seunggwan lightly grabbed her by the wrist, excused Jinki and him from a rather confused Sunwoo, and returned to where Chan and Hansol were standing. Peering over her shoulder, Jinki threw a panicked glance to her friend as if she were saying, “Hello? What are you doing just standing there? Help me!” Eyebrows raised in surprise, Sunwoo watched Jinki being dragged away, unable to figure out why Seunggwan would want anything to do with her friend. It wasn't like those two even talked to each other in class no matter how close their seats were. Then again, why did she care? The two of them looked cute together so she let it slide. Looks like she was going to be sitting alone this time around. Over with Seunggwan's little group, Chan and Hansol warmly welcomed Jinki when she stopped abruptly in front of them, almost tripping over her red duffel bag that Seunggwan dropped on the ground next to the rest of their luggage.

“Bu Seunggwan, you don't just go up to girls, grab their wrist, drag them somewhere, and expect them to like you!” Jinki yelled frustratingly at Seunggwan, ignoring the others' presence, “This is exactly why I like...”

Clearing his throat, Seunggwan interrupted her again, making an eye gesture towards Chan, “Jinki,”

“Oh, Chan!” Jinki's voice suddenly raised a few notes higher as she brushed her hair out of her face. She was no longer rude, spoiled Jinki, but the new, and improved Jinki that she had been working on for a few months now, “I didn't know you were coming!”

Well, it wasn't flawless yet.

“Hey, Seunggwan,” Chan grabbed the older boy by his shirt sleeve, pulling him off to the side to let the other students file out of the bus to get assigned to their designated hanoks, “Can I talk to you for a second?”

The class had finally arrived to their destination after a few hours of being stuck in a terrible, unmoving traffic. The time to get there was an estimated hour, maybe even an hour and a half, but unfortunately with the rain and general congested roadways, they got there in almost three. Who would have expected the trip to the countryside would be full of traffic? A lot of the students had just woken up from their naps, eyes still dropping as some of them were still half-asleep. Seunggwan was one of those students who were still sleeping, but all that went away when he was pulled over harshly to the side by Chan (which he finds seriously irritating).

“What do you want, Chan?” Seunggwan growled underneath his breath, pushing Chan off him and running his hands through his already messy hair, “Do I look like I'm in the mood to talk?”

For Seunggwan, the bus ride was a pain in the neck. Well, it wasn't exactly a pain in the neck, but it did make him a bit upset. See, the way the boys had planned it was that they were all going to sit in the row together; Chan, Hansol, and Seunggwan. But because Seunggwan had to play matchmaker, in the end, it was Chan, Jinki, and him sitting in the row. Hansol sat across the aisle from them with two other girls who didn't seem to care for him anyway. Anywho, Chan and Jinki were talking up a storm the entire time Seunggwan was awake. Sure, he was glad that they were getting along well, but he sometimes wished that maybe they would include him in the conversation.

“No, you don't but whatever! Here me out, okay?” Chan whispered so that everything he was saying would only be heard by Seunggwan, “I really want to thank you,”

“For what?”

“You know,” the younger boy made a few gestures with his hand, hoping that Seunggwan would get what he was hinting at. Eventually, he gave up when Seunggwan just looked at him with an annoyed expression. Peering over his shoulder, Chan checked to make sure that no one was listening before turning back to Seunggwan, “I want to thank you for introducing me to Jinki,”

Seunggwan's face fell, and “Oh,” was pretty much all he could say. He wanted to be happy for Jinki that Chan was finally starting to accept her more as a friend, but at the same time, he had no idea what to say. A “Congrats,” didn't really seem like an appropriate compliment for the situation since they weren't dating, but he had no clue what to say. In the end, he ended up just staring and blinking at Chan, hoping that Chan would get the hint that his “Thanks” was well received. But no, Chan had to start walking and talking the entire way the the hanok the three of them - Chan, Hansol and Seunggwan – were all going to share.

“Jinki's everything that I've ever wanted in a girl,” Chan continued, staring up at the sky, “She's cute, funny, smart, kind...the only thing she can't do is play games, but if anything she can learn, right? She's a techy person so I'm sure she'll catch on quickly if she tried!”

“Oh you don't even know half of what Jinki really is,” Seunggwan thought to himself as Chan listed off the qualities he liked most about her.

In Seunggwan's opinion, Chan had just described every girl in their grade. So plain, so predictable, so...unexciting. But knowing Jinki, she was the exact opposite of what Chan had described. She was something more...more vibrant. Sure, she was rude, and spoiled, and hard-headed, and sarcastic, and lacking a sense of humor, but really Seunggwan believed that it was her way to hide her loneliness. Jinki never came home to anyone in the house, and her parents were always gone. He doubted that they even knew how old she was. Underneath all that toughness, she was a fragile, sensitive, dependent girl. Someone that needed a strong person to stand by their side. Biting his lip, Seunggwan tilted his head to the side and thought, “Is this why she likes Chan so much? Because he claims that he's high and almighty?”

“But anyway, hyung, I really do want to thank you for introducing me to her,” Chan grinned up at Seunggwan as they laid their bags down in their rooms, while Hansol set up their mats, “I know she was your friend and all, but I hope you don't mind me getting...”

“No, no, it's fine,” Seunggwan interrupted, not wanting to hear the rest, “I'm fine. She's nothing but a friend to me anyway. Go ahead, if you like her you should totally go for it,”

That's all she was to him. A friend. They had decided on this the day he made that promise. They made it clear that no matter what, they would never like each other and that Seunggwan was going to do everything he possibly could to set her up with Chan. That was the goal. If he started liking her, then not only would he fail his mission, but he would break his promise. So no. He didn't like her. Chan was starting to and that meant he was one step to finishing his mission. Just a few more and then he would no longer have to help Jinki. They would no longer have to be friends. No longer need each other. That was the ideal situation.

“Really, hyung?” Chan finished setting up his mat on the farthest side of the wall and started placing his pillow in a electric blue and alien green pillow case, “You're awesome! The most awesome friend I've ever had!”

Seunggwan's mouth pulled up into a slight smile as he set up his brown bed set, but he quickly wiped it off his face when there was a light tapping on the small paper frame that they had for a door. The three of them looked up and saw a rather small figure's shadow traced along the beige paper; Seunggwan immediately knew who it was. Just from the height alone he could figure it out. Turning to the other two, he asked if anyone wanted to go answer it. Being the scaredy cat he is, Hansol hid underneath his purple covers, while Chan shook his head because he was already in the middle of changing out of his clothes. Sighing, Seunggwan got up, walked to the door, only opening it slightly so that Chan's body wasn't exposed to his new crush.

“Jinki? What are you doing here? I thought you were sharing a room with Sunwoo and Aemi?” Seunggwan leaned in close so that only Jinki could hear. The last thing he wanted was for Chan to intrude in his private conversation. Chan had done enough talking with her for the afternoon.

Raising an eyebrow, he noticed that Jinki's eyes were rather sparkly. No, not like the stars, but like the ocean sparkly. Jinki looked like she was on the verge of crying. Doing a once-over, Seunggwan made sure that she wasn't hurt or anything before telling Hansol and Chan that he was going to go out for a few minutes. Taking her out of earshot, Seunggwan asked her what was wrong and if anything was okay. He was starting to get worried especially since she wasn't talking and all she did was look at the ground.

“S-Seunggwan t-there's something in m-my room,” she managed to squeak out, “I h-have no idea w-what it is a-and it's creeping me out!”

Not forcing her to explain more of what was going on, he took his hand in hers and headed over to where her hanok was. In the back of his mind, he was trying to figure out what exactly her problem was. It was probably something small since this was her first time ever leaving the urban part of South Korea (which he found rather interesting for someone who was born in Jeju-do like him). Once they arrived at the hanok she said was hers, Seunggwan knocked on the door to make sure all the girls that she was rooming with were decent.

“Just go in there...please,” Jinki mumbled, “And get rid of it,”

Sighing for possibly the hundredth time that day, Seunggwan reluctantly slid the door open only to find one mat on the floor. All of Jinki's belongings had been shoved along the right wall. The only peculiar thing there was the oddly placed tea kettle in the middle of the room; upside down, might I add. All in all, there was a cold atmosphere to the room as if the only occupant of the hanok was her. Hiding behind him, Jinki pressed herself against his arm, pointing a shaky finger to the tea kettle, “Over there, Seunggwan. There's a monster underneath that thing and I need you to kill it,”

“Seunggwan thank you so much!” Jinki jumped up to wrap her arms around Seunggwan's neck, bringing him down with her when her feet hit the ground, “If it wasn't for you, I might have died!”

A warm feeling ran throughout Seunggwan's body, quickly heating him up so that he could no longer feel the chilly autumn air. His cheeks grew a light shade of red, pink if you prefer to be more specific, but it was definitely not his regular skin tone. Jinki's pumpkin scent filled his nose, sending him to a whole other world. He had never been a big fan of pumpkins, or pumpkin scent rather, but for some reason Jinki's scent was rather...heavenly. It was a comfortable feeling, reminding him of how it was like around his house at this time. Mrs. Bu loved to bake pumpkin pie “just for the heck of it” because none of the Bu boys were fans of the highly demanded fall fruit.

“It was just a cockroach,” Seunggwan bluntly stated, snapping out of his thoughts, “It wouldn't have killed you. In fact, it probably wouldn't even have touched you,”

Pulling away, Jinki crossed her arms while pouting. Had she just not thanked him for saving her life? He was a hero! He should be proud of what he had done! In fact, he was twice the hero since he didn't even kill the darned thing. He just picked it up on a piece of paper and dumped it outside. Seunggwan should be proud of having saved both their lives. Seunggwan clicked his tongue as he slid his hands into his pockets, “Why are you looking at me like that for? I'm not your boyfriend, so that's not going to work on me,”

“You don't have to be my boyfriend for me to make facial expressions,” Jinki stuck her nose high up in the air, “My face has the freedom to do whatever it pleases,”

The two of them laughed at random, not even sure what they were laughing about. It definitely wasn't what Jinki said because that wasn't funny. But something was funny, I can assure you of that. There was something about Jinki's laugh that was rather cute. He'd never imagined that she would laugh so...so girlishly. Her hand covered as she did, embarrassed about laughing in front of anyone. She was afraid that her face looked okay when she was laughing so she just hid it behind her hands. A part of Seunggwan wanted to see her smile, since he had seen it once in the time they knew each other. Maybe if someone told her how cute – I mean, nice, she looked when she smiled, maybe she would take that hand away. Reaching over, Seunggwan patted Jinki on her head, ruffling her hair which made her rather irritated, “It's getting late now, Jinki. You should get to sleep. If you need anything, I'm just two rooms away, okay?”

“There's really no way that you could stay in the room next to mine?” Jinki looked up at him with the best puppy eyes she could pull off. It had worked on Chan once, so she figured that she might as well try it with Seunggwan.

“You're doing it again, Jinki,” Seunggwan rolled his eyes, making Jinki smile. She loved messing around with Seunggwan, especially when she got him to roll his eyes. The way he did it was just so sassy in every way.

Unfortunately, Seunggwan's strictness led her to having to sleep alone that night. The two waved goodbye, and he waited to make sure she got inside her room before he left to go to his own. The was an interesting sense of duty he felt over her; it was as if he needed to be there to watch over her so she didn't mess anything up. Or maybe that was just his natural motherly attitude that everyone always told him he got from his mom. When Jinki closed the door behind her, waving one last time at him, Seunggwan stood outside her door for a while, staring at her shadow moving about the room as she prepared her bed. Smiling, he remembered her pathetic puppy face that was etched in the back of his mind, “But I have to admit, some of your faces are quite adorable,”