Who is he?, Ji-Eun thought to herself, her head slightly cocked. No matter what she was doing, he’d always pop into her mind, and whenever he did, a warm smile would appear on her lips. She stood at the counter at the cafe she worked at, and stared blankly in no apparent direction, clearly in a daze. She’d been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn’t notice that a customer had entered the cafe and had been trying to get her attention.

“Miss!” an angry, middle aged woman yelled out, snapping Ji-Eun out of her thoughts. It took a few seconds for things to register in Ji-Eun’s mind, and she blinked at the woman a few times before reality had hit.

“I’m sorry.” Ji-Eun quickly stammered out. “How may I help you?” she continued, with a smile.

The woman ordered a pumpkin spice cappuccino, which only took a few minutes for Ji-Eun to make. After filling the woman’s order, Ji-Eun slumped over onto the counter, resting her chin in  the palm of her hand, and her mind instantly began to wander back to that boy.

She thought about how he helped her… Twice. He helped her twice. Three times if you count him getting her bookbag out the river for her. As she thought about him a smile began to appear on her face.

The smile quickly faded, however, when a sudden realization had hit. She glanced down at her watch that read 7:43. Her eyes widened at the realization of her having only seventeen minutes to get to school, gaped open and she quickly threw off her apron, said goodbye to her co-worker, and ran out the door as she hastily swung her bag over her shoulder..

Kai got up early, but as soon as he was ready for school, he decided to lay back down on his bed. He had been laying there for about two hours, and the whole time he lay there, he only thought of one thing… That girl. I wonder if she’s okay, he thought to himself. Although he wouldn’t admit it, he was genuinely concerned for her, and was worried that she might try to hurt herself again. He wanted to ask her if she was alright but he didn’t know how to approach her. He never approached anyone. She’ll probably think I’m weird if I ask her how she’s doing, he thought, turning onto his stomach. He rested his chin on his hand, and another thought came to mind. No. She should be grateful… I’m like her savior. He shook his head and rolled back over onto his back. “Aish.” he quietly said to himself, tousling his hair, getting frustrated with the whole situation. He looked over at his clock and realized that he was going to be late. He sighed as he slowly looked back at the ceiling. After about another minute he got up and left for school.    

As he was approaching the school he could see a figure running. It was a girl.. It was that girl who stayed etched in his mind for the last few days. The same girl who had unknowingly caused him to lose a few hours of sleep for the past few nights.

He stared at her intently, his heart beating rapidly, as he watched her quickly enter the school. He unconsciously quickened his pace so he could catch up to her. Once he did, he quietly followed behind her, leaving about a three foot gap between them, just how he had done a few days ago.

Ji-Eun was so distracted that she hadn’t realized that anyone was behind her.

“Lee. Kim.” a sudden voice called out. The voice was deep, raspy, and very firm, and caused Ji-Eun to instantly stop in her tracks. She looked up at the teacher.

“Late, second time this week. Follow me.” he said, sternly.

Ji-Eun kept her head down and didn’t even notice Kai. When they reached the front of the school, the teacher slammed a bucket down in front of them, causing Ji-Eun to jump at the loud thud. She then looked up at the teacher wide-eyed. “I can’t go to class?” she said, her voice in a panic.

“If you wanted to go to class, you should have came to school on time,” the teacher snapped back before he turned around and headed to the teachers lounge.

A long sigh escaped Ji-Eun’s lips. She knew what today had in store for her... A whole day of cleaning windows. She groaned at the thought of it.

She looked over to see the Kim student the teacher had previously mentioned, and gasped when she looked over to see Kai standing next to her, surveying the windows with the same bored expression he always has.

His eyes slowly found their way to Ji-Eun’s and he heard her thoughts.W-w-w-what’s he doing here? he heard, her inner voice, sounding very flustered, her facial expression showed that she was shocked too. She stared at him wide-eyed, and blinked a few times, before she quickly shook her head and averted her gaze to the ground. Kai pressed his lips together tightly into a straight line, trying to prevent himself from smiling at the girl’s actions. He then looked back at the windows. “Let’s get started.”, he said as he bent over to grab a rag from the bucket.