“Here.”

I paused with my spoon halfway in my mouth as a fresh copy of the student guide skidded across the table and stopped beside my tray. Raising my brows, I looked up at Hyunji, who wore a triumphant grin as she slid her own lunch tray onto the table and took the seat next to mine.

“New information,” she said with a wink, delicately plucking the olives on her pizza and dropping them on the corner of her plate.

“About?” I asked with raised brows as I flipped through the contents.

The student guide was a manual distributed by the school newspaper team that contained details of every student attending East High. It contained sufficient information, such as our names, grades, and the clubs we partook in, but like every school publication, it was mediocre in terms of presentation, lacking colour, illustrations, and also possessing an unfortunate array of incredibly unflattering pictures of the student population.  I had my own copy back home, but I preferred to socialise and ask for a person’s name rather than search for it in the pages of this book.

“Joonmyun,” she replied, and laughed once I began to flip through the pages faster. “Chill girl,” she said, taking the almost destroyed guide from my hands and expertly turned the pages. “I dog-eared the pages.”

She slid it back into my hands and began explaining as I read. “He’s in the same class as Kris, and apparently has become the subject of interest of Mr Hwang, the music teacher, for his skill on the piano.”

“He plays the piano?” I asked breathlessly as I scanned through his bio.

“Yup,” Hyunji said cheerily. “I know what you’re thinking: he just got hotter.”

I stuck my tongue out at her and began searching for more articles on him. Since he was new, there was only one: a little short piece about his arrival and the brief interview they had with him. It didn’t say much, nothing that I didn’t know. It contained the same information he gave me that day about him just moving back from China. A few pages later were a picture of him and Kris. I suspected the reason Hyunji dog-eared that page was more for her benefit than mine.

“Are we talking about Joonmyun again?” Yixing asked with a sigh, joining us with his own lunch tray. His class had ended a little later than ours, since they had to clean up after some chemistry project that involved a lot of minor explosions.

“Right on time,” Hyunji said with a grin. “I’m just in the middle of sharing some new information with Aeri.”

Yixing rolled his eyes. “If only you put this much effort in researching for school work, then you’d have much better grades.”

She frowned and smacked him lightly on the arm.

“So, what about you?” she asked, leaning forwards to take a bite off her pizza. “Do you have anything to new about our little birdie’s new crush?” She winked at me.

Yixing shrugged. “He’s in the music club.”

“I know that,” I said, waving the guide at him.

“He’s good.”

“Anything else?”

“And a lot of girls like him. As in, really like him. They’re just about as crazy about him as you are.”

I frowned while Hyunji nodded thoughtfully. “Understandable.”

“You want more?” Yixing asked, annoyance evident in his tone when he looked up at us after sipping his soup. We nodded simultaneously.

“Well, I heard from Kyungsoo that the club usually has its meetings every Monday after school.”

I knew my expression must have hinted some of my thoughts, because Yixing frowned and set down his spoon to glare at me. “I am not going to help you sneak into the music room.”

I sighed and rested my chin on my hands. “Not that it would work anyway.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Yixing said, “he seems like an easy-going and friendly guy. I think I’m starting to get why you’re so crazy about him.”

“Thank you for finally realizing that!” Hyunji exclaimed, stealing a fry off his plate and dipping it in the ketchup. She gave him a sweet, innocent smile when he glared at her. Yixing sighed, shook his head, and dumped the half of the fries on her plate, taking the olives she pushed aside onto his instead.

“But,” he added, seeing the obviously discouraged look on my face as I twirled my pasta in my plate, “I also know that he practices in the music room after school on occasion.”

Hyunji grinned at me. “Great! You get a better chance at spying on him.”

I shrugged but didn’t reply.

“You’re planning on it, aren’t you?” Yixing asked suspiciously.

I smiled at him. “Just eat your olives, Yixing.”

It had been approximately two weeks since my correspondence with my mysterious pen friend began, and exactly my fifth letter since the first one I unintentionally left behind. Throughout our rather amusing exchange, we had learned the basics of each other’s backgrounds and shared our opinions on the school’s intricate social web. On the fourth letter, I learned that the writer was a boy. When pushed further, he refused to disclose any more information. He asked for my name, but I decided to keep it clandestine; in turn, he never gave me his.

The mysterious nature to our exchange did intrigue me into writing more, and before I knew it, I began to anticipate every letter that I was going to receive from this unknown boy. In a joshing manner, he had stated that if we were to continue our correspondence, we were going to need a safer place where our letters weren’t always in the threat of being found or soaked by water. He suggested an empty locker in one of the more secluded parts of the hallways in his third letter, and that had been our official mail box since.

We wrote to each other a few times a week, and I learned to discern the tell-tale smudge on the worn red paint on the locker door that marked the presence of a new letter. He had decided that we should streak a piece of chalk on the door if we left a new reply, and I had to admit, it truly did prove to be a convenience.

I quietly slipped a cream-coloured envelope into one of the slits on the locker door, pausing to hear the satisfying clunk in the metal interior before pulling out a pink chalk and smudging it on the middle left corner. I glanced left and right, and then ducked into the main hallway and followed the stream of the crowd towards the main doors.

The contents of the new letter I wrote were fresh in my mind, and I couldn’t help but run through it as I walked.

Hello You,

First off, regarding this locker arrangement, I have to admit, as ingenious as it sounds, I will still hold you accountable if on any occasion this particular locker is assigned for the use of a new student.

Anyway, thank you for asking. She doesn’t bother me as much now, but I assume that she’s merely gathering her ammo before targeting me again. I’m also very sorry to hear about your unfortunate encounter with Mr Jung, but hey, at least it wasn’t as bad as mine, which resulted to detention.

And no, I don’t mind you calling me ‘you’ all the time. Since we agreed to keep this anonymous, might as well do it through and through. No nicknames. Just ‘you’ and ‘me’.

From,

 Me ;)

I paused in my tracks as I passed a turn in the hall, biting my lip wonderingly. It couldn’t hurt really, to try this route again. After all, even if my previous attempts didn’t result into anything fruitful, I had to admit that it quelled with burning curiosity in me. Yixing had claimed that it was valid information and I trusted him; Zhang Yixing did not indulge in rumours, therefore, he never spread things with questionable legitimacy.

I veered down the turn, adopting silent, cat-like steps as I proceeded down its length. The room wasn’t far, just a few doors down the one I had just passed. Somewhere on the third door, I heard the faint sound of piano keys being hit.

Excited, I sped up my pace. I found the door to the music room easily, marked with a plaque that had letters spelling its name. The faint melody that floated out of the tiny crack of the door was pleasant, beautiful in its own simple way. Craning my neck, I peeked through the crack.  My one week worth of spy work was finally rewarded when I caught sight of Kim Joonmyun sitting in front of the piano, fingers moving swiftly as he played a song from the music sheets that rested just above his hands.

He looked so concentrated, the usual upward lift of his mouth replaced with a deep set frown as his eyes darted around to keep up with his hands. It wasn’t too hard a piece, but it still required focus. I recognised the melody as one of the classics my mother used to play at home after a long day at the office. I watched in awe as his fingers moved across the keys, easily hitting each note.

The song ended too fast. I had been too focused on Joonmyun to realise that the song had hit its final note. I saw him sigh and lean back, flipping through the pages as he searched for another song to play. Too intent in staring at him, I didn’t realise that my foot had unconsciously nudged the door, and the creak had all but screamed my presence.

Joonmyun’s head shot up and I stepped back, flustered and shy. I face-palmed myself, cursing my stupidity, just about prepared to bolt when I heard his voice calling to me.

“You can come in if you want.”

I froze in place, torn between running as fast as I could to escape from this embarrassment or face it head on and lie through my teeth to salvage my pride. Steeling myself, I decided on the latter.

When I pushed the door open, Joonmyun smiled at me. It erased the lines of concentration on his forehead and mouth, easing his features into that gentle and mildly curious expression that he always seemed to wear.  

“I was passing by and I heard you play,” I said to him. “Sorry if I interrupted.”

Joonmyun waved his hand dismissively. “Nah, it’s okay. I needed company anyway.”

My heart skipped a beat as he rose from his seat, my mind lingering on his words as I watched him cross the room. One whole month of crushing on this boy had not worn the effect he had on me. Although I had schooled myself into acting (passably) normal around him, I couldn’t deny that I was still a little star struck by him.

We met sometimes, whenever he waited for Kris during basketball practices while Hyunji and I waited for Yixing. He was always impeccably charming every time we talked, and was the type of guy who always seemed genuinely interested in everything you had to say.

Of course, I was not the only one who harboured such opinions on him. The whole school seemed to have fallen for his charms, teachers and students alike. Within the short span of a month, he had gathered an ample amount of friends and had become a favourite student to many teachers. He had also forged some sort of brotherhood with Kris and a bond with Kris’s teammates. Sometimes, they would playfully by asking him to join the team and overthrow Kris’s rule, and he would laugh and joke that they needed someone like Kris to keep them in line.

“Hungry?” Joonmyun asked, offering me some snacks he had just unearthed from his bag.

I shook my head.

“Well then, come here and watch me eat then,” he joked, patting the seat next to him on the piano. Nervously, I complied.

As soon as I sat down, Joonmyun placed a carton of chocolate milk in my hands. “At least drink this,” he said concernedly. “You look a bit pale.”

I remembered vaguely that I had skipped lunch in favour of a meeting with a teacher. Numbly, I poked the carton with the straw and drank.

Joonmyun was flipping through the pages of a clear folder, brows creased as he searched through different music sheets for something he wanted to play. He picked one out, placed it on the music rack, and began to play another piece.

“So, why aren’t you home yet?” he asked conversationally as his fingers moved swiftly over the keys.

“I had a project to do,” I lied.

“Your friends didn’t wait up on you?”

“I told them to go ahead.”

Joonmyun nodded, adopting a faster pace to keep up with the notes. “Nice of you to give them some alone time,” he commented.

I stared at him bewilderedly. “Huh?”

“They like each other, don’t they? At least, I’m, sure one of them does.”

I was at a loss for an answer. Although Yixing wasn’t entirely discreet, he didn’t flaunt his affections either. In fact, half the time, he would be chiding Hyunji over one thing or another, while she would just hum a tune and pretend that it bore no importance at all. However, being his best friend, it was easy for me to catch the looks he gave her, the smiles that he flashed that seemed just for her. Joonmyun had only known them for a month. How did he manage to surmise so much?

“I suppose it’s not your story to tell,” Joonmyun said when I still hadn’t said a word. He turned his head slightly to look at me and smiled. “Never mind. It’s not my place to pry anyway.”

A wave of uneasiness washed through me. If he was able to accurately summarise Yixing’s covert feelings for Hyunji, could it be that he had figured out the crush I had for him as well? I winced at the notion, casting a quick glance at his direction. I really hoped he hadn’t.

“You’re being really quiet again,” Joonmyun stated as the song began to take a slower turn. “You’re always so talkative with the others.”

I averted my gaze away. “Sorry.”

Joonmyun nudged me on the side with his elbow. “Come on, I don’t bite,” he said jokingly. “Tell me why you’re so quiet. Is there something wrong?”

“No,” I said hesitantly. “I guess maybe I’m more comfortable with my friends.”

“Well then, think of me as a friend.”

I bit my lip. That was going to be hard.

“If it makes you feel better, I already consider you as one,” he said.

Well, I suppose if I was going to hope for anything from him, I might as well take it as a start, I thought.

“Alright then. But you’re gonna have to put up with me. Yixing always said that I’m a handful to handle.”

Joonmyun grinned. “I doubt you’re any worse than my cousin. Now he is what I really call a handful.”

I smiled, and leaned closer to peer at the notes. “So, what’s the name of this piece?”  

Joonmyun told me, and for the rest of the afternoon I stayed with him and watched him play.

Dear Diary,

I had just the most wonderful encounter with Joonmyun today. I learned that he could play the piano, and listening to him play was heaven itself. He asked that we be friends and of course I accepted the offer. But honestly, I’m a mess. How do you act like a friend to your crush when you want him to think of you as something more?

Love, Aeri.