I was walking across the field after school when I spotted Dongjin crouched in the dirt off to the side. 

                “Dongjin!” I called, jogging over to him.  He raised his head at my voice and held out a hand.

                “Wait!  Be careful!” he exclaimed.  I stopped a few feet away.

                “Why?  What’s wrong?” I asked, looking around frantically.

                He gestured to a spot in the soil.  I crouched to get a closer look.  There was a small green sprout sticking through the earth.

                “I saw it and felt bad for it,” he explained.  I looked around.

                “It’ll get crushed if it’s here,” I said.  “Wait a sec.  I’ll be right back.”

                A few minutes later, I came back with a small flowerpot and a gardening spade.  Together, we dug up the small, vulnerable plant and placed it carefully inside its new home.

                “I wonder what it is,” Dongjin murmured, inspecting it.

                I laughed.  “I didn’t know you liked plants,” I told him.

                He shrugged.  “Everyone deserves a chance to grow.”

                I looked from him to the little bud and smiled to myself.

                “I hope you grow up well.”

-x-

                Dongjin kept the plant on a wobbly desk on the school rooftop.  Every day at lunch, we went up to eat and water it.  Little by little, it began to grow. 

                “It almost feels like we’re raising a pet,” I said one time.  We’d gotten out a ruler to measure the progress.  It was almost 7 cm tall now.

                “We should give it a name, then,” Dongjin suggested.

                I thought about it for a moment.  “Lucky?” I ventured.  “It was lucky you found it, after all.”

                Dongjin grinned. “Lucky, it is.”

-x-

                Dongjin came running into my classroom calling my name.  I gave him a questioning look.

                “Lucky has a bud!  Lucky is a flower!” he exclaimed. 

                My eyes widened.  “Really?  That’s awesome!”  Dongjin and I did a little happy dance together.

                One of my friends nudged me.  “What the heck is Lucky?”

                “Our plant!”

                She wrinkled her nose.  “You have a plant with Dongjin?”

                Dongjin and I shared a knowing smile.  They wouldn’t understand.

-x-

                The end of the semester was fast approaching and with it came monsoon season.  My friend and I were walking to class when I saw the rain start to come down hard outside from the hallway windows.  A horrible thought passed through my mind and I turned abruptly and began running.

                “Where are you going?” my friend called after me.

                “Lucky!” I yelled back over my shoulder, dashing up the stairs to the rooftop.  There was Lucky, perched on its same desk, exposed to the harsh rain.  I rushed out without much thought and collected the flowerpot, going back to the safety of the stairwell.  I almost collided with someone coming up.  Dongjin and I locked gazes.

                “Why did you go out like that?  Are you crazy?  You’ll catch a cold!” Dongjin scolded. 

                I wiped the droplets of water from my forehead.  “I wanted to make sure Lucky was safe.  It’s so close to blooming.  What are you doing here?”

                Dongjin held up an umbrella.  “I guess we think alike.  Almost.”

                I laughed and then shivered.

                “Are you cold?” he asked.

                “It’s the aircon,” I admitted.  Dongjin shrugged off his uniform blazer and draped it over my shoulders.  I suddenly felt too hot for an entirely different reason.  He took Lucky from my hands.

                “I’ll take care of this.  You should go get dry.”

                We agreed to keep Lucky inside from that point. 

-x-

                On the last day of the semester, I went into the classroom where we had been keeping the plant and found it gone from its usual spot.  I looked around frantically, wondering if one of the teachers moved it, or worse, thrown it away.  The bud had started opening up in the last few days, showing its pinkish hue. 

                I trudged out of the building, feeling completely crestfallen.  Outside, classmates were wishing each other a good break and promising to meet up over the summer.  Someone called my name. 

                I turned and there was Dongjin, holding a familiar flowerpot in his hands.  Lucky had completely bloomed, revealing a beautiful pink blossom.

                I felt so relieved my eyes almost started tearing up.  “I thought it was gone.  It’s so pretty.”

                “It’s for you.”

                My eyebrows rose.  “For me?  But…you found Lucky first.  It should be yours.”

                He shook his head.  “Lucky already served its purpose for me.”

                “What’s that?” I asked slowly, taking the flower from him. 

                Dongjin smiled shyly.  “It brought me closer to you.”