That morning I walked to school.

I know what you're thinking, 'why?', right? When there are five boys I live with who each have their own driver's license and a car.
Tae Yang initially offered to give me a ride to school, but I refused. So did Daesung, but I refused that too.
It wasn't because I was stubborn, or avoiding them. It felt as if I was just another weight on the back. I felt so... No, I felt like a burden.
So I woke up at half past five in the morning, took a quick shower, got changed into my school uniform—which was surprisingly shrinking! It was either left in the wash for too long, or I was growing. Either way, it still made me look barbie-like— and dumped all of my school things in my bag before leaving the building. And that was when I encountered Daesung and Tae Yang, both who, I learnt, wakes up at five in the morning to jog around the Han River then secretly eats breakfast in McDonald's.

Deep thoughts clouded my head that when I crossed the road—

BEEP!

I almost got ran over by a mother freakin' car!

The car abruptly stopped in front of me, and I felt myself shaking.

MOTHER FU—

I ALMOST DIED.

THUMP.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Goes my heart.

I needed to make a note of this. 
'In less than a week after my sweet-eighteen, I almost died.'

I turned my head to the driver and gave him the iciest evil glare I could possibly pull. The driver, who appeared to be a man—a pretty hot one I must say—opened the car door and walked out. He looked at me with a frown on his face and ran his fingers through his messy auburn hair.
I walked up to him angrily, muttering something Ji Yong liked to call 'colorful words'.

Mm. Same height as Seung Hyun, cute or should I say hot, and I could just about see some muscle through that 'Henleys' polo shirt he was wearing.

I would've fallen head over heels for him, but he almost MURDERED ME!

“Uh, dude.” I muttered bluntly. “WATCH WHERE YOU'RE DRIVING NEXT TIME!” 
The man glanced down at me and scoffed. “Aren't you a mouthy one for a short-stack. Maybe YOU should watch where you're walking next time.”

SHORT-STACK?!

Only one person has actually ever called me that...

I glared at him and poke his hard chest. “Says you! The traffic light was clearly red! And who you calling 'short-stack'?!”

I looked at back at his eyes again. It made me lost somehow.

.

..

...

WAIT!

Snap out of it Ririn!
I can't!
Yes you can!

Ah, great. Me talking to myself again.

He somehow loooks familiar though...

Out of the blue, the man started chuckling. “Same old Park Ririn... Spacing out in the oddest moments.” He patted my head gently, smiling.

Wait.
How did he know my name?

“How the—”
“You don't remember me?”

As the matter of fact, I didn't. But his eyes definitely looked familiar.

SNAP! 
AHA!

“LEE JOON?!”

...

Ah... Lee Joon.
It had been four years since I last heard of him after he left the orphanage at the age of eighteen. He, for some reason, rebelled against the rules of the orphanage, like staying up late after curfew, or sneaking out of the bedroom he shared with ME and climbing out of the big gates to go out and eat or something like that. I don't know! Guys go... to places I don't even wanna know about.
You're probably thinking why the nuns put us in the same room, seeing as we're from the different es. Well, back in the day when some guy put me in the orphanage, blah blah blah, all the girls' rooms were full. And since Joon's then room-mate was coincidently adopted the day I arrived, they made me stay there temporarily until one of the girls were to be adopted. Somehow, 'temporarily' turned into 'permanently'.

I was five back then and he was nine, so we didn't really get along because of the four-year age difference. Until the day he turned ten when none of the kids knew it was his birthday except me. (I remember finding this blue spiral notebook that he always wrote on under his bed. A picture of his one-year old self behind a huge birthday cake with 'HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY JOON' iced on top of it slid out, and the date was clearly labelled on the bottom left.)
So I made him a birthday card and asked one of the nuns for a chocolate-chip muffin since I couldn't afford a real birthday cake.
When Joon came back to the room, he was surprised to see the card and muffin...

...And the rest was history.

He and I became good friends ever since.

...

Joon's hand raised to my shoulder and pulled me closer to him until my face hit his chest. Unexpectedly, he enveloped his arms around me, and I felt myself turning hot.

BEEP! BEEP!

That moment definitely got ruined by some driver behind Joon's car glaring at us. Joon let go and patted my shoulders before walking back to his car. He opened the door, and before he entered he looked at me. “You coming or not?”
“I never received an invitation.” I replied, walking to the sidewalk.
I glanced back at him and gave him a small smile. “Nice meeting you again, Joon-chan.”

Looking back to those memories, I never realised how much I missed him. The day he left the orphanage, I brawled my eyes out. Then after a few months or so, he slowly faded from my mind. 
I had a new room-mate and a new best friend. It felt as if I've never met him.
But now that I've seen him again, I wanted to cry. I wanted to run up to him and give him a big hug.

Mm. Look at me. Talking all formal.

RING~!

I heard the usual ringing tone of my phone, well Seung Hyun's other phone, from my bag.

Strange. 
When Seung Hyun gave me the phone, he told me it was only for emergencies. He called it our 'life line'.

Haha.

I scurried through my bag and grabbed the phone. Immediately, I pressed the green answer button. I raised the phone up to my ears and said, “Hello?”

Seung Hyun's never called me through the phone before.

'Ririn? Where are you?'
“I'm walking to school, why?”
'WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?! I could've given you a ride'
“...uh.”

…

So this was the emergency?

'WHO KNOWS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO YOU!'

Worried much?

“Seung Hyun, I'm okay.” I giggled. “No need to be worried, it's only walking.”
'BUT—'
“Nuh uh. No buts.”
'BUT RI—'
“I said no buts! I needed the exercise anyway.”
'Ririn, don't argue with me.'
“Seung Hyun, don't argue with me too.”

Seung Hyun sighed from the other line.
HA! The sigh of defeat.

'Just be careful, okay?'
“Geez, I'm only walking to school. Why are you so worried?”
'Because I'm worried.'
I blinked. “Yeah... why?”
'BECAUSE I AM! Stop asking questions.'
“But I only asked—”
'I'll pick you up at four. Later.'

Click.

I looked at the phone with a confused look before putting it back in the bag.
Hm. Seung Hyun gets stranger everyday.