Youngjae rested her arms on the ledge as she stretched her hands out, absently flicking at her lit cigarette. She watched the grey-white ashes free-fall themselves from the top of the building and then lifted the cancer stick to her lips again. Taking yet another hit, she closed her eyes and slowly blew smoke out between her chapped lips.

“You’re not very good at attempting to sneak up on me, student president.” she didn’t bother to look back. The door leading up to the roof top slammed shut before she heard him noisily make his way towards her.

“I may have a crush on you, but I will not tolerate smoking within school premises, Yoo Youngjae.” Daehyun finally spoke as he joined her by the ledge. Youngjae allowed herself to glance at him, and let her eyes linger on his full luscious lips before trailing down to the exposed tanned skin of his chest. She mused to herself, what kind of student president left his tie loosened and top buttons not buttoned? Then again, how on earth was he selected to be the student president especially since he wasn’t a senior?

She turned back to the horizon, switching the cigarette to her left hand since she was extremely considerate. “Go ahead, go tell on me,” she coolly said. “I won’t beg you for mercy or go down on my knees to give you whatever you fantasize of.”

Youngjae expected the student president to recoil or flinch from her foul use of words but instead, Daehyun let out a loud chuckle. “I didn’t exactly say I’m interested in getting into your pants, Youngjae,” his eyes gleamed mischievously.

She gritted her teeth as she threw the smouldering cigarette to the ground and stubbed it out with the sole of her shoes. When she looked up, she found him staring at her with a raised eyebrow. She stuck out her chin stubbornly, refusing to break the eye contact when he suddenly smirked. “You’re really out of this world.”

“ off.” Youngjae coldly shot back before stalking towards the exit.

--

Himchan rested her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her hands as she watched Moon Jongup scribble down his notes with her pink pen and pink post-its. The younger boy sneaked a peek in her direction, only to receive a dirty look from the tutor herself.

“Don’t you bring stationary to school? Books? Paper?” she chided and Jongup scratched at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I left them back in the classroom…” he trailed off, and Himchan wondered if he had drifted back into his own little daydream world or he finally managed to grasp the concept of the Krebs cycle.

“…Noona, who’s that over there?” the younger boy suddenly said, making Himchan raise an eyebrow and look up from the pink post-its.

“Who’s who?”

“That guy by the window, he’s been staring ever since we sat down here.” Jongup was pointing. Himchan grimaced in embarrassment as she followed his finger and her gaze landed on none other than Bang Yongguk. Immediately, her cheeks blossomed with fire from within. Quickly averting her eyes, she focused back on Jongup’s textbook and jabbed him hard in the ribs. “Get back to work, punk.”

Jongup’s wide smile was wiped off his face when Himchan threatened to leave him to fail for the finals. He went back to his note-taking, occasionally stopping to ask questions before falling into thoughtful silence. The silence drove her almost insane, knowing that Yongguk was literally staring at her from the corner right opposite her.

Flustered, she picked up her phone and opened Yongguk’s awaiting message. ‘You’re always with the kid’ it read. She started typing a reply, only to be greeted by another message. ‘Come over for a second’

She backspaced furiously. ‘Tutoring right now, . Also, there’re no seats.’

The reply was instantaneous. ‘Ah… you could always sit on my lap’

Himchan immediately slammed down her phone onto the table top, startling people within a five-metre radius. Jongup scrambled to pick up the pink pen that had rolled off the table, discretely moving his chair away from hers.

She glared up, and Yongguk simply flashed an infuriatingly bright—and adorable—gummy grin before pretending to be absorbed in whatever book he had on his lap. Exhaling deeply, she wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt and then dragged her chair towards Jongup. “Ask me something, Jongup,” she sweetly said, and the younger boy slowly shrank backwards.

--

“Bbang,” the single syllable left Himchan’s lips as she strolled past Yongguk, ing her pink schoolbag at him. Yongguk’s arms were already stretched out to catch it readily, and she inwardly triumphed.

He didn’t reek of sweat today, she thought as he caught up on her. He smelt of fresh laundry, the scent of her favourite fabric softener. She wanted so badly to snuggle up to him and then burrow her face into his chest to inhale deeply. Instead, she kept her hands behind her back and ignored the perfection next to her.

It all seemed so foreign, their supposed friendship. A month ago, she had been walking the same path back home with the same Yongguk, but she had her arm hooked around his. A month ago, they were still laughing about how dumb relationships were. A month ago, they were musing over what if one of them was to fall in love. And now... the situation seemed almost laughable.

“I’m dropping by the stall to get something.” Yongguk’s deep voice jolted her out of her ominous thoughts.

“Oh, okay.” She awkwardly replied, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. “Do you need me to come along with you?”

Please say yes.

Yongguk’s brows were furrowed as his dark eyes studied hers carefully. “Why not?” he finally said as they rounded the corner. “You’ve never asked for permission before, you know.”

Himchan swallowed thickly. “I don’t know,” she stupidly said, adamant on not meeting his eyes. She heard him exhale heavily as he shoved his