It was campagin day. The day where students only attend school for half a day and the other half would be given to the candidates. The candidates for the election were only allowed that afternoon to put up their posters and give out all their flyers so Minji was desperately trying to give out her flyers to the whole student body.

 

"Please vote Jung Minji for president," Minji handed out another one of her pink flyers to a passing by student. The plastic smile on her face never faltering. The student smiled at her politely and took the flyer from her outstretched hand. Minji's smile widened even though she knew that she'd probably find all her flyers stuffed down every dustbin in the school. 

 

Jang Doyoon was out campaigning too. He was standing opposite of Minji, leaning against the school gate. Apparently, bribing people into voting for you was acceptable considering the fact that he had a polaroid of him attatched to his flyer which attracted many, many, girls. 

 

Minji sighed outloud, looking at her passport photo which she had chosen to put on the flyer. She had no choice since none of the selcas she took ever looked decent. 

 

Doyoon looked up and winked, giving a small wave. 

 

"Don't you have soccer practice today?" Minji shouted to Doyoon.

 

"I do. But I'm skipping it for this," Doyoon shouted back, gesturing at the small group of dizzy girls before him. 

 

Minji rolled her eyes. 

 

Mingyu and the kids had volunteered to put the posters up so Minji was a little antsy about the job being done correctly and quickly because anything could go wrong with Mingyu and Jihoon, especially once Jinah was added in the mess. 

 

She looked around the campus, hoping to spot the 3 of them doing what they were supposed to. She craned her neck, stepping up on the stairs leading to the school. 

 

Minji tip-toed but she couldn't spot them. 

 

"Where on earth are-" She stepped back hoping to get a better view but some dumb part of her forgot that she was on the stairs. 

 

Her heart quickened and her fingers let go of the small stack of flyers in her hands and the papers flew in the air. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the hard landing. 

 

However, she felt a pair of strong arms catching her tightly. Her eyes shot open and she struggled to stand up quickly. 

 

"Careful there," Seungcheol, her saviour, reached out to fix her messed up hair. He was dressed in his soccer uniform and he gripped the ball tightly to his side. 

 

Minji nodded at a loss of words. Seungcheol gave a thumbs up before turning to go. 

 

"Thanks, i guess," Minji began to pick up the flyers on the floor. 

 

"Dude, you're not going for practice again?" Minji heard Seungcheol say as he walked away from her position. 

 

She looked up only to see a weary Soonyoung, shaking his head, no. 

 

Minji froze in her spot as she observed Soonyoung's face. He had lost weight and his once puffy cheeks were thin. His eyes were glazed over and he had eyebags too. He rubbed his eyes. Minji felt something tug at her heart. She noticed that Soonyoung had been skipping soccer practice and sometimes, even school, frequently. She wanted to be there for him and help him but he rarely showed up for Music class. And whenever he was there, he would just lie on the table, sleeping.  

 

Minji looked down and wiped a stray tear. Picking up the remaining flyers, she wondered why she cared so much when he didn't. She thought that if he did, he would have already explained everything to her and they'd be okay now. They'd be together again. 

 

Sighing, she got back up and brushed her jeans. Her eyes scanned the crowd of students, searching for Soonyoung. They found him bending down, picking up one of her pink flyers. He skimmed through it and stared at the embarassing picture for a little too long. He turned around and his eyes met hers. He gave a small grin before rushing off out of the school.  

 

------

 

 

Mingyu gave her the ugliest look he could muster. 

 

Mingyu couldn't stand little children. They made him feel uncomfortable. Whenever children were around, he wouldn't know what to do or say. That had been one of the reasons why the both of them had stopped helping out at the neighbourhood kindergarten. 

 

"Why are you bringing that place up?" Mingyu groaned. 

 

"Because…." Minji paused, "I may, or may not, have seen this cute volunteer there and-" 

 

Mingyu snorted, "Yeah sure,"

 

Minji looked at him and pouted. Mingyu raised his eyebrows, expecting her to spill out the truth. 

 

"I just really miss the kids there. They're all so carefree and happy. It's just nice to be around those bundle of sunshines," Minji smiled at the memory of her playing tag with the children. 

 

"Okay, that's really deep. I'm going with the cute guy excuse," Mingyu got up. 

 

"And besides, I have so many new stories to tell the kids," Minji added, following suit. 

 

Mingyu just shook his head. 

 

Minji nudged him, "I know you love my stories," 

 

------

 

"MIN NOONA IS BACK!!" 

 

"MIN UNNIE??!??" 

 

"NOONA I MISSED YOU" 

 

As soon as the duo entered the small kindergarten, the children ran up and pounced on the smiling Minji. She bent down and hugged them all. 

 

"I missed you too," Minji ruffled their hairs. 

 

Mingyu stood awkardly at the door, he searched the room for the little girl that always creeped him out. He couldn't find her but before he could sigh in relief, he felt someone gripping onto his right leg tightly. He glanced down and sure enough, little Sungah was hanging on to him. 

 

"Oppa, you're back!" She squealed and tugged at Mingyu's shirt. He unwillingly bent down and she jumped into his arms. 

 

Minji turned towards her friend and laughed. 

 

"Noona! Tell us more stories!" Daejin, a small fluffy boy, said excitedly. He plopped down on the floor and the others followed, forming a semi-circle around Minji. 

 

At the mention of stories, Minji's eyes lit up. She began racking her brain for a perfect story. In no time, she was telling the children a tale of a princess who was locked up in a tall tower. The little girls were especially interested in the clothes and pets she had. 

 

"Well, she had a pet dragon," The girls gasped in horror while the boys giggled excitedly at the thought of dragons.

 

"But this dragon was special. It didn't burn the princess but protected her from the scary outside world," A chorus of "oohs" were heard. 

 

"That's a really dumb dragon. If I were it, i'd burn up the princess and make smores," Mingyu shouted from the back of the little audience. He looked so gigantic sitting crossed legged in the midst of kindergarteners. 

 

The children erupted with laughter. A little annoyed with this interuption, Minji brushed it off and continued. 

 

"Anyway, one day, the princess decided that she didn't want to stay in the tower anymore, so she..." Minji paused for dramatic effect.

 

"So she jumped out of the tower and died," Mingyu blurted outloud causing yet another chorus of laughter. 

 

Minji glared at Mingyu and mouthed, "One more time and i'll kill you," Mingyu held up his hands in surrender.

 

Minji cleared and smiled, "As I was saying, the princess got out of the tower and her dragon brought her to a town. The town was busy and interesting. As soon as the people saw her, they all waved and smiled. She liked the people," 

 

Minji bit her lip, "One day, she went to a royal party. There, she met a prince," 

 

"Was he handsome?" A little girl shouted from the floor. 

 

"Yeah, he was. Very," Minji thought for a while. The image of Soonyoung at the school gate flashed across her mind. She tried blocking it out. 

 

"Anyway, she went to the party and danced with the prince. They both fell in love," Minji smiled. She pictured Soonyoung's perfect smile. 

 

The boys all went "yuck" while the girls just aww-ed. 

 

"And they lived happily ever after?" Sungah asked. 

 

A flash of sadness washed over Minji's eyes, "No, they didn't," 

 

"Instead, the prince decided that he liked another girl and left the princess-" Minji spoke at a fast rate. She hadn't meant to say that but she felt herself being controlled by her feelings. She felt tears well up in her eyes but she held them back. Mingyu noticed this.

 

The little children's faces fell and some gasped in horror. They weren't used to cruel endings.

 

"SHE MEANT THAT THE PRINCE DECIDED TO MARRY THE PRINCESS AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER," Mingyu quickly butted in and rushed towards Minji. 

 

The children's faces lit up again and they clapped. 

 

"Tell us more!" The children demanded but Mingyu was already pulling Minji away from the chair. 

 

"I'M SORRY WE GOTTA GO. MINJI'S NOT FEELING SO WELL," Mingyu dragged Minji out the door, ignoring the whines and cries coming from the room. 

 

~

 

"What was that all about?" Mingyu stared at Minji. 

 

"I don't know," Minji stuttered, she honestly didn't. 

 

"You almost ruined a cutesy fairytale for 6 year olds!" Mingyu raised his voice a little. 

 

Minji shook her head, "They should know what they might experience later on in life," 

 

"What's bothering you?" Mingyu sighed, "Come on, tell me. Is this all about Soonyoung because I can deal with him," 

 

"No, you can't. In fact, the other time, you just made it worse," Minji recalled that day in the cafeteria. 

 

Minji looked into his eyes and saw hurt written all over his face. 

 

"I'm sorry," Mingyu looked down. 

 

"I'm sorry, too," Minji continued, "It's just, I always see him all tired and stuff and I can't help but feel helpless," 

 

"It's okay to feel helpless at times," Mingyu looked up at the setting sky, "As long as you know that you are loved," 

 

Minji smiled and strectched out her hands for a hug. A "forgive me?" hug. 

 

Mingyu pulled her into a hug and just like that, she was forgiven.

 

It was that easy because Mingyu was always like this.

 

He was always too nice.

 

Too nice for his own good.

 

Too nice that it could hurt him.

 

But he didn't mind.