Victoria bites down on her bottom lip, clenching her fists every few moments as she tilts her head at Jin.

"Let me punch you. Really fast. It won't hurt, I promise."

The boy furrows his thick, brown eyebrows. "What? Why?"

"Just because," Victoria answers. "Please?"

"No," Jin replies, without a second thought. He resumes his work of flipping through a game magazine, shaking his head at the girl sitting beside him. They haven't known each other very long, but they quickly became best friends-- they were the types that sort of just clicked together and got along very well.

Victoria sighs, turning in her seat and kicking the ground beneath her.

A few days later, Jin asks Victoria to go shoe shopping with him. When they enter the shop, they're playfully bickering and horsing around. Suddenly, Victoria's attention is taken away by a pair of tennis shoes.

"You like it?" Jin asks.

Victoria shakes her head. "No, not really."

He shrugs but files the shoe away into his memory. They don't really find anything to his taste, so they leave soon after. A week or two later, when they're out with a group of friends downtown, Jin arrives a little late.

"What took you so long?" Victoria teases, shoving him lightly. Jin tries to catch his breath, hand shaking with the other boys around them, and when he finally has a break, he hands Victoria a bag.

"It's for you," he says, "they ran out of stock at the shop we visited so I looked around."

Victoria, feeling extremely touched when she sees the pair of tennis shoes she had instantly fallen for when they went out shopping together a couple of weeks ago, smiles brightly. "Wow," she laughs, a little speechless. "it's really nice of you, but I could really kick you right now."

"..."

She laughs. "It's a Chinese thing. You wouldn't get it."

So, Jin does a little bit of research. Apparently, friends and family should never gift each other shoes, because it means they want to send them away-- sometimes it could mean literal seeing someone off, sometimes it means wanting or helping someone to pass on to a better place. He finally understands why Victoria absolutely insisted on paying him back for the shoes.

Smart move, he scowls at himself.

The next time they decide to hang out, Victoria is dressed in clothing not unlike pajamas. Jin, needless to say, feels slightly overdressed.

"Sometimes, I just really want to smack you," Victoria tells him.

Okay, what had he done this time?

The look he gives her says it all. Victoria chuckles, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "It's--"

"A Chinese thing, I know," Jin rolls his eyes. "You Chinese people and your traditional customs."

"Ironic, coming from a Korean," Victoria laughs.

When Jin returns home, he tries really hard to research on everything he's worn or done, yet, no search results appear on his webpage. His only other choice is to ask one of the Chinese boys in their class.

"Huh," Lay mumbles at him, "so, you're basically saying Victoria is constantly wanting to beat you up?"

Jin nods.

Lay frowns. "Hard to imagine. She's such a sweet girl."

"You--" Jin is about to protest, but decides to keep his words to himself. Words spread fast around them. "Well, do you have any idea what it could mean?"

The Chinese boy smirks. "You seem to really care."

"A little," Jin nods shyly. "Well, I mean, I'd like to know why she always wants my neck."

"I'll give you a hint," Lay whispers, leaning in close. "Maybe it's time you confess to her."

Taking Lay's wise words of advice, according to Lay himself, Jin approaches Amber, one of the girls closest to Victoria that he happens to get along with quite well.

"Ohhhh," Amber whistles, before falling into her own little fit of giggles. "Seriously? Lay thinks so too?"

"What?" Jin frowns. "What does Lay think?"

Amber grins. "Well, my mom used to tell me: when she yells at me, it's because she cares, and when she hits me, it's because she loves me. It's a Chinese thing, really."

"Uh...," Jin blinks, his head an entire blank. "...Oh."

Amber laughs, looking past him towards a girl they are both very familiar with that is slowly approaching them in the hallway. "Uh-oh indeed. Hey Victoria!"